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AFAIK food stamps cannot be used to buy prepared food. But they CAN be traded, at say, 50 cents on the dollar, for cash which can then be spent on booze, drugs, Mickey D's or whatever. Anyone on food stamps BTW is getting plenty for food if they buy it in supermarkets and prepare it at home. I have known people on food stamps (Nowadays actually a debit card I believe)who get considerably more than my food budget. I'm with you; poor management, not a shortage of resources, is the problem.

Of course its a poor management issue. I have a whopping $400 per month allotted in my budget to feed my family of 4, and that includes going out. Going to Costco and spending $200 will net 2+ months worth of staple food. Food stamps worth $300 a month is extremely generous, however, I get the sense that these folks are pissing it all away on Ho-Ho's and Cocoa Puffs, so of course it will never be enough.

As a lad, I shamefully took food stamps (during a few hard months of my many years as a hardcore liberal) and remember being amazed at how much food you could get for a few bucks if you concentrated on staple foods, which are really cheap. For example, ten bucks will buy one enough grits or tortillas to feed a family for a month, and even processed foods like mac & cheese, tuna, and cold cuts are inexpensive if you stick to store brands.

I'm not saying being poor is a barrel of laughs. I'm saying that it is impossible for an adult in possession of his or her faculties to starve to death in America today as a result of joblessness. Besides food stamps, there's federal WIC, various missions, homeless shelters, night shelters, and food banks to turn to -- not to mention churches and private individuals. Hell, if it came down to it a person could knock on any door in my neighborhood and say "I'm hungry" and they'd get fed!

To the queue-standers, I say "Instead of wasting all day standing in line for free food, folks, why not spend the day looking for a job? Even a crappy job at minimum wage is better than nothing."

Bottom line: "If any one will not work, let him not eat." [2 Thess 3:10 RSV]

(This applies only to those capable of working, of course. Little kids, the aged, and the truly infirm deserve our generous support).

50 cents on the dollar, for cash which can then be spent on booze, drugs

I used to have a boyfriend that was a contractor. frequently they would get contracts to work in the inner city, rehabbing section 8 housing. ALL THE TIME, the guys would trade money for food stamps. Usually fifty cents on the dollar.