1.) Are the poor and elderly purchasing *pet foods * to supplement their diets?
2.) Are people really using *pet medications * to self-treat ailments?
3.) Can food stamps be used to purchase these items, if they are used for human consumption?
The cat food and dog food eating question came up during a class discussion about Social Security and “W’s” plans to SAVE the x’ers and y’ers from the fate of the boomers. Silly me, I made a comment about the poor and elderly eating dog food in the '70’s when the price of meat went sky-high. I also mentioned a recent article I read about emergency room staff treating undernourished elderly people (not much protein in horse hair and other animal by-products in pet food) and having to undo effects of semi-poisonings because poor/elderly people were showing up in emergency rooms after taking pharmaceuticals intended for domestic animals.
AND
for selfish reasons, want to know if I should be buying PETCO stock now! If the latest news reports are to be believed, I’m in the age group that’ll be checkin’ out the cooking shows on PBS that specialize in “Kookin’ with Kibble.”
I work as a pharmacist in a large “super-store” (grocery+tire/lube+vision center+clothes+hardware, etc). In my experience, there are quite a few people who cannot afford their medications. However, there are usually alternative medications that are less expensive (i.e. not everyone needs Prevacid for heartburn (>$130 for 30).Many can get by with a generic H2 blocker ($10 for 60)). It is expensive to live longer. For example, it is very expensive to be a diabetic, but 100 years ago, diabetics didn’t live to see old age. I don’t know what the solution is, but I know that direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription products makes people want the “magic” allergy pill they see on TV that costs $2 per pill, when they could get an over-the-counter product that costs 1/100th of the “magic” pill.
I do find it hard to believe that someone on social security cannot buy food. I may be blind to my surroundings, but with the 200+ people a day that I deal with, I just don’t see it. I’m not saying that these people are living lavishly, or even to the standards of a middle-class existence.
I have dogs, and pet food is expensive. I really think that ramen noodles and macaroni+cheese are the more likely diet staples. (Sound like most college students??)
This is just my take on the questions–no market studies or scientific data.
Most stores have very specific coding built in to the upc code. When the product scans, and it is a non-food (human food) item, it will not allow food stamps to be used.