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June 25, 2012 at 6:30 pm #603732
JVMemberThis is an interesting article/issue, and I’m curious to hear everybody’s thoughts.
If the government is paying for your food, does it have the right to exclude food such as cookies, chips, soda, etc.?
http://www.indystar.com/article/20120625/NEWS/120625027/A-healthy-food-stamp-just-heavy-hand-
June 25, 2012 at 6:32 pm #761910
hooper1961Memberi see the answer should be yes
June 25, 2012 at 7:23 pm #761911
Ms. SparklesParticipantI think it’s a good idea, but I also think we should tax the bejesus out of candy, fast food, soda ect… and use that to subsidize fruit and veggies.
Unfortunately after watching the special interest groups decimate Obama’s / USDA’s attempts to make school lunches healthier…I have no faith that if this could get enought traction to get passed that it would stay for long before those same interest groups tore it apart.
Neither tomato paste nor french fries should count as a serving of vegitables!
June 25, 2012 at 7:26 pm #761912
dbseaMemberHeck Yeah they do. It’s the gov’s (our) money and it should only purchase “real” food, not crap. Many times seeing the pile of soda and Doritos paid for with subsidies and wondering what the hell we’re paying for?
June 25, 2012 at 8:22 pm #761913
anonymeParticipantYes, absolutely. “We” are also paying for the epidemic of diabetes that accompanies such diets.
June 25, 2012 at 8:48 pm #761914
KBearParticipantSo the government SHOULD be able to make people buy broccoli?
June 25, 2012 at 8:56 pm #761915
HunterGParticipantOr at least a tastier alternative!
June 25, 2012 at 9:22 pm #761916
JanSParticipantthe official word form the gov’t.:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/ora/menu/Published/snap/FILES/ProgramOperations/FSPFoodRestrictions.pdf
June 25, 2012 at 9:37 pm #761917
JiggersMemberThe government is so ffd up. First off, the amount they give to foodstamp recipients is a joke and hardly enough to survive on and most run out of foodstamps way before the end of the month. Secondly, do you know how expensive it is to eat healthier?, especially when you are on welfare and have two,three, maybe four kids to feed? Grocery stores should be against this because the top money making isle is… you guessed it, the chips,candy and soda isle. If you live in a impoverished neighborhood with only junk food stores around like a 7-11 for example,how can the government force poor people to have to get on a bus(if there is one)and get to a major store like Albertsons which maybe 15 miles out? There are many areas like that in our country now. They can barely afford to ride the bus with their kids alone. There is no ways that this idea will pass.
June 25, 2012 at 9:41 pm #761918
JVMemberKBear, it SHOULD NOT make you buy anything. It just shouldn’t allow purchases of unhealthy foods with tax-payer money. (And maybe a loud buzzer or siren should go off if they try to!) =)
If they want to buy it with their own money, that’s their business. If we are paying for it, then we have the right to decide what is acceptable. (Unlike Bloomberg deciding that New Yorkers can’t buy sugary drinks over 16oz….WITH THEIR OWN MONEY!!!)
June 25, 2012 at 9:56 pm #761919
JVMemberJiggers, that proves my point. If they couldn’t buy a snickers, chips, and a coke, their money would last longer. Wouldn’t their/our money last longer if that $5 was spent on potatoes, rice, chicken, milk, bread, eggs, etc.?
I’m no Price-Is-Right champ here, but let’s say a Snickers, bag of Doritos and a Coke costs $5.
The same $5 could be spent on a box of cereal and a half-gallon of milk, and that is breakfast for a week.
June 25, 2012 at 10:18 pm #761920
anonymeParticipantHealthy food does not have to be expensive, especially if you eliminate the ‘requirement’ for meat on a daily, or even regular basis. I’ve managed to eat very well on a tiny budget by buying bulk grains and legumes, even when buying organic produce as part of the plan. It’s pretty much impossible to survive on food stamps, regardless of how frugal you are – which makes it even more important that not a single dollar be wasted on junk.
June 25, 2012 at 10:55 pm #761921
JanSParticipantJV…seriously…a box of cereal AND milk for 5 bucks? In what store. well, if you buy cheaper cereal, I suppose. But last a week, if you have kids? I doubt it…
June 25, 2012 at 11:08 pm #761922
oddrealityParticipantSeems a bit nanny-statish to me. Can they buy marshmallows so they can make their kids hot cocoa with marshmallow on top in the winter? Cake mix, brownie mix??How about a can of powdered cocoa so they can make their own fudge…flour! OMG they might make a pie or cookies!!!Where will it end??
Honestly, everyone needs treat now and again even if they are poor. …and frankly, if I was depressed about being on food stamps and being unable to find work I would not feel better munching on a stalk of celery. Chocolate might help a bit.Why do we always have to try to make poor peoples lives worse than they already are.
I may wish people would eat better but I do not want to legislate it in any form.More power to them if they can manage to eat anything for a full month using food stamps.
June 25, 2012 at 11:22 pm #761923
JVMemberJanS, must we ALWAYS disagree?
This is a topic where we probably agree, and you’re challenging my cereal/milk estimation skills?? C’mon Jan.
I never said the cereal was going to last a family of 4 for a week, I was saying that $5 is better spent on cereal/milk than junk.
Isn’t that obvious? Did I really need to explain that?
June 26, 2012 at 12:01 am #761924
pattileaParticipantFood Stamps should be like WIC (women infant and children), They say what you can buy what kind of cereal,juice,eggs, milk and peanut butter.
June 26, 2012 at 1:13 am #761925
JanSParticipantJV..don’t be condescending…I will quote “The same $5 could be spent on a box of cereal and a half-gallon of milk, and that is breakfast for a week.” Did I not read that right?
June 26, 2012 at 1:54 am #761926
JoBParticipantthere is an assumption in this conversation that i find troubling.
the assumption is that all of those people buying food stamps have someplace to cook and store their food.
that assumption couldn’t be farther from the truth.
next time you see that person in line at the checkout purchasing anything that can be eaten without any kind of prep, you might ask yourself if that person has a home.
it’s really really possible that they don’t.
June 26, 2012 at 4:08 am #761927
kootchmanMemberbut not probable.
June 26, 2012 at 4:29 am #761928
JanSParticipantyou say that, knowing Nickelsville…wow..
June 26, 2012 at 4:45 am #761929
miwsParticipantHe doesn’t think it’s difficult for Veterans to get healthcare and other benefits, either…
Mike
June 26, 2012 at 7:17 am #761930
Betty TMemberIt just shows how unknowlegeable some are doesn’t it. Now, I get all of $16.00! That’s the minimum. Don’t know what I’d do if not in subsidized senior housing. I have to drink soy milk and at the chain grocery nearest us its over $4 a half gallon. I just don’t see how the government could designate what food to buy when all can’t or don’t eat the same diets. Years ago you could buy hot deli foods and that was stopped. I have known people on the old paper Food Stamps and you got change, buy something just to accumlate enough for beer & or cigarettes. There have been changes over the years which I felt were good and others screamed their heads off about. Of course anyone with a half a brain can figure out how to do that even with a card. When you have problems sometimes the comfort foods help, I don’t mean the the bad stuff. The people I help feed are so greatful for hot food when they can have it. I agree with JoB 100%!!
June 26, 2012 at 7:59 am #761931
kootchmanMemberI said probable, not impossible. Take your best estimate.. I will even give you one from a leading advocacy group.. for the homeless.
One approximation of the annual number of homeless in America is from a study by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, which estimates between 2.3 and 3.5 million people experience homelessness.
Now I am a public school graduate soo bear with me…… but the USA population is somewhere in the range of 322 million.. meaning the homeless constitute 1% of the population. So the probability of meeting a fellow citizen who is homeless is about 1 in 100. See how simple math is? It’s not probable. If it was more … they would have political influence… and we know that isn’t true. You a vet now too Mike? Funny I haven’t heard from one qualified prior service yet that says it is overwhelmingly hard… just anecdotes from non vets that say it is.
June 26, 2012 at 8:49 am #761932
HMC RichParticipantThe way the USDA works, we don’t know how the 80 Billion in Food Stamps is spent.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/24/top-secret-what-food-stamps-buy/
Washington DC is out of control. They need to change a few provisions in the farm bill. Well that is what I think.
June 26, 2012 at 1:50 pm #761933
miwsParticipantWashington DC is out of control.
Yeah.
And it’s all happened in just under three years.
:rollseyes:
Mike
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