As an intake interviewer at a local non-profit food bank, I speak with countless folks that are receiving food stamps. In fact, a large majority (70-80%) are. And a bunch of the 20-30% that aren’t cannot receive food stamps due to some problem (felony for example) in their past.
Many of them are very open about how they cheat on their food stamps. Most of the cheating involves changing the food stamps into cash which they can use to buy cigarettes and alcohol.
One popular cheat is to buy the choicest, most expensive cuts of meat using their food stamps and then selling the meat to their neighbors for $.50 on the dollar and up. Profitable scam. Happens every day.
I could write a book :)
Before the cards, they’d sell their stamps for .50 on the dollar. Same scam today, just updated.
This lifelong and generational freebie stuff needs to end. Six months of welfare twice in a lifetime should be the limit.
A variation of that is the person who works as a nanny or housekeeper "off the books", and does food shopping for her employer, paying with her benefits card, and then getting reimbursed with cash.
Meanwhile, getting their actual staples from multiple food banks.