Food stamps- should there be restrictions on what you can buy?

Great Debates
1

In my job as a cashier at Wally World, I deal frequently with people who purchase their groceries with food stamps. OK, I’m fine with that. I really don’t mind the idea that people who are in poverty can get some government help paying for the groceries.

However…

I am frequently apalled at the amount of money food-stamp using customers spend on things such as chips, cookies, snack cakes, soda pop… Well, actually I’m appalled at the amount of these things just about everybody buys. I can’t believe that people would eat this much crap on a regular basis. I personally eat these things only occasionally, usually when I’m PMSing and just have cravings for salty, fatty, starchy foods or for sweets.

Like I said, I’m fine with the idea of government help with buying the groceries. But I’m really starting to think that maybe there should be some restrictions on the kinds of foods you can buy with food stamps. I think that food stamp purchases should be restricted to actual nutritious foods. Chips, cookies, sodas and candy in my view fall under the category of treats, and I don’t think treats are something that should be paid for at taxpayer expense. Also, there’s the “empty calorie” factor- such foods don’t provide nutrition. All they do is contribute to hyperactivty, obesity, diabetes, and other assorted conditions of ill health. Again, if someone wants to eat an unhealthy diet, they should not do it at taxpayer expense. They can pay for their junk foods with their own money.

So, bread, meat, milk, eggs, fruits and vegetables, maybe some prepared or “convenience” foods since many food-stamp customers are working parents who may not have time to actually cook from scratch, yes, by all means. As a taxpayer I’m happy to see you and your children well nourished. But really, when I see people buying six big bags of chips and as many packages of cookies, and a half-dozen two liter bottles of soda, and bags and bags of candy…

I think junk foods should not be purchased with food stamps.

Hell, I don’t think these things even qualify as food.

2

Well, I don’t get the soda thing either, and I don’t understand why a logical person would buy so much crap and processed food with food stamps either; it’s so much cheaper to eat actual food, if you know how to budget your food dollar properly! Beans are so cheap, as is pasta, and both are extremely versatile. There is also a reason why so many peasant cuisines depend heavily on onions, cabbage, root vegetables, etc. If I had to feed my family on food stamps, I would know that processed foods eat the budget like nothing else.

But cookies? Well, you can make them yourself out of staple foods, and much more cheaply than buying packaged ones. And should kids from a family on food stamps never have the chance to eat a cookie or some potato chips? There has to be some balance, but I don’t know if you can legislate people away from making stupid nutritional decisions.

3

Eva Luna, the cookies you bake yourself also taste better than the packaged ones, and probably aren’t as bad for you, since they don’t have all those ingredients I can’t pronounce…

Also, I think it’s unrealistic to think that if you couldn’t buy chips and cookies, kids of families on food stamps would never taste them. They would simply be relegated to their proper place as an occasional treat.

4

I worked at shaws and often thought the same way…

there would be nice people that bought healthy staple food (the 20 pound bag o rice, lots of veggies, pasta, beans. cheese, flour … you get the idea)

Then there were the people who bought food with a lot of crap mixed in… but one lady told me the store brand 3 litre of orange soda was cheaper than a thing of store brand OJ… but um soda is sugar in a bottle… juice is good for you… oh well…

but the people that really miffed me were the ones with Tbone steak and a bag of lobsters courtesy of our tax dollars… I can’t afford to eat like that! Or the guy that gets in my line 5 times to buy the 25 cent pack o gum so on trip six he can use his quarters to get cigarettes!!! Yay for the EBT cards!

They do have a program that is more strict about what people can buy. The WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program gives vouchers that clearly state the foods allowed on each voucher. They are for formula or cheese, juice, milk, eggs and cereal. or tuna, carrots and greens (breast feeding moms) The cereal needs to come from the WIC approved list. Many many many irate people have complained to me that “the other store lets me get lucky charms” Um … shop there… or complain to wic that you would rather feed your kids pure sugar instead of cheerios or kix.

5

Actually, I think the WIC vouchers are a little too strict. Only allowing tuna and veggies for breasfeeding moms? I think older children should be allowed to have veggies and tuna, too. But, I’ve never seen anyone complain about what WIC allows you to buy, but here in Vegas, WIC customers are overwhelmingly Hispanic, and the Hispanic crowd does seem somewhat less inclined to feed their children junk food than the rest of the population.

6

To my knowledge, there are some restrictions to what people can buy with food stamps. I don’t remember what they all are, but I know here in Texas, you can’t buy liquor with food stamps, which makes me VERY happy.

Does anyone know if they change from state to state?

As for my opinion, I really don’t mind what they buy with them in terms of junk food or “real food”. If they want to blow their months supply on one really good meal, I say let them. If they want to buy cookies and soda for the kids, fine. But things like cigs and alcohol, I’m against. I don’t know, perhaps because for me, soft drinks are more of a stapple in my diet (not too proud of it, but at home, I pretty much always have a soft drink when I’m thirsty). I’ve gotten good about not eating too much junk food, but again, snacks are kind of a standard in every household, and if I have guests over, it’s good to have something to offer them. Alcohol and tabaco products, though, I see as more “specialty items,” things that aren’t really stapples or standards in anyone’s diet, unless they’re addicted in some sense, and although I recognize people’s needs to feed their addictions, I don’t think the government should be paying for them (by the way, I do drink, and I smoke cigars on occassion…if I have to pay full price for my booze, so should everyone else, damnit!).

7

A Modest Proposal:

Purina should develop People Chow, a pellatized product that contains all nutritional requirements for a human being (perhaps they could make different chows for different age groups – Cycle One, Two, Three and Four). The product should have a bland but not unpleasant taste and come in 50 pound bags. This would make things much easier…

8

When I worked as a cashier in Pennsylvania, food stamps could only be used to buy food (and pet food IIRC). Anything else, even staples like laundry detergent, had to be paid for in cash.

Definately verboten were cigarettes. Not that people didn’t try to buy cigarettes with food stamps, every freakin’ day.

9

A public health bonus: if food stamps were only used to buy actual food with nutritional value, then Medicaid expenses would probably go down, too, since there’s a large overlap between people eligible for food stamps and people eligible for Medicaid.

10

Hey, an actual food stamp recipient here!
My wife and I both work, full time, and have a 10 month old baby. I make $6.25 an hour at my job, she makes $8.50 an hour with 200 dollars out of her check every month going toward insurance for her and the baby. I could go get a better paying job, but then I would have to shell out the extra money for child care, since our jobs fit perfectly together with one of us being home with the baby all the time. I could easily get a job working 60-70 hours a week making as much as both of us (I’m in foodservice), but I’m almost forty years old. I just don’t have the energy that I had ten 15 years ago. I’d end up stressed out and exausted all the time and I really don’t want to be that kind of a dad to my son.
If we were to go get better jobs, we would have to pay more for transportation, since we can’t really afford a car and all the expense that comes with one, we’d have to pay big bucks for daycare, and we wouldn’t get to see each other or our son as much. We’d probably end up with less than we have now.

We get anywhere from 200 to 300 dollars a month in food stamps. We don’t get cash, we don’t get medical. I do most of the cooking, so at the beginning of the month, I buy all the meal type food that we need. Like I said, I’m a food service guy, so I know how to buy food. I can do a whole months menu on 200 bucks. And yes, usually there are some nice cuts of steak in my order. we have about a hundred bucks left for incidentals, chips, soda, milk, extras and the occasional donut and candy bar.

I’m a social-libertarian (ok, I was a teenage anarcho-commie punk rocker :slight_smile: ), so I have no moral or ideological opposition to welfare, but I totaly agree that there are lots of lazy assed bums out there who abuse the system, especially with social security disibility programs (I know a girl who gets SSI because she has panic attacks for fucks sake), but I resent the fact that the three of you look down at me for getting food stamps. I’m legally eligible dammit, so how is my recieving this government benifit any different than, say, getting a tax refund at the end of the year? Tax deductions are a form of welfare too when you come down to it.

This little rant could be a lot better, but I just got up and haven’t had my coffee (which I bought with food stamps…and not the cheap shit either. I like 8 O’clock columbian) yet, and I have to go get my boy up in a few minutes out of the crib that we got free from a SIDS prevention organization, and then I’m going to feed him a breakfast of eggs, oatmeal and juce that I got from the WIC program.

I spent twenty years putting money INTO the system, so I figure I’m just taking some back.

If this thread was in the pit, I’d tell you guys to suck my ass, but since its not… :slight_smile:

OTOH, last year, I took a second job at a convienence store, and yeah, it used to piss me off when people would come in and buy, say, a $6.00 box of cheerios with their stamps. Haha…those would be the same people who would buy a bottle of ephedrine, a pack of Blunts and ten lottery tickets every day. I asked one guy if he’d quit his job if he won, and, well, he didn’t HAVE a job. He did have a really nice new-ish SUV tho’.

Anyway, I just wanted to get my two cents in.
Jon

11

How 'bout the “Food Loaf” that Frank Zappa said they used in some prison. Its just a bunch of food, any food, baked into a loaf that meets all the daily requirements. Food stamp recipients can just get vouchers for food loaves. :slight_smile:

Jon

12

I have no problem with people being on foodstamps that deserve them.

But when you pack groceries for someone with more jewelery than Mr T and take them out to a brand new shiny powder blue convertible after they paid for their party foods with foodstamps you get a little bitter.

13

I don’t have a problem with people buying the occasional bag of chips or box of cookies with food stamps. While these can be considered “luxuries,” we all need some minor luxuries once in a while. I don’t think the poor should be begrudged the occasional treat.

That being said, however, there are problems with people who use this money mostly for junk. Unfortunately, most people (not just the welfare recipients) tend to be lazy; and it’s far easier to pick up a bag of chips than to make some more healthy home fries. It’s easier to grab a box of cookies than to toss a salad. As such, they tend to make bad food decisions.

I would love to restrict the amount of “junk” that a person can get on food stamps, but I don’t know any practical way of doing so.

Zev Steinhardt

14

Regarding the WIC vouchers–I don’t think they’re too strict at all. I received them for the first 8 months or so after my first son was born and they were–AFAIK–intended to be supplements to your food budget. It was a way to ensure that, during a week when money got tight, or an unexpected expense came up, there would at least be some eggs and cheese in the house to help keep you going.
I think a lot of the problem with food stamps is that some people simply receive more than they need. I’ve known quite a few folks who got enough to stock the pantry +200-250$ extra each month. When you don’t need to worry about making your budget, it’s easy to get carried away with the “free” treats. While I don’t think food stamps should be limited to the point that people on them can barely scrape by, I also don’t think they should allow for a level of extravagance a regular working class family (like mine) would be shocked by.

15

Well, some things should be stopped at the point of sale. I was at the store last week getting some groceries, and I picked up a pack of those Altoid Breath Strips at the checkout. After I left, I happened to look at the reciept and notice that the breath strips were included with the things I paid for in stamps. I thought that was kind of silly.

Jon

16

The income limit for WIC is quite high too. You can be well above the limit for any other kind of assistance but still get WIC. Thats a good thing. It gaurantees that kids are going to get SOME nutritional food even if the parents spend all their money on rent, bills, crack, or whatever.

Jon

17

I bought some food once with food stamps for a friend & I noticed the clerk had a creepy attitude when I showed them. Weird. That didn’t happen when I paid cash.

I think they buy that kind of food because no one has taught them how to shop nutrionally, plus stores displays of nutritional food suck- its usually way in back of the store. Also, it’s probably food they were raised on. I see alot of people paying cash for that kind of food too.

So I would rather educate them on proper food buying then restrict what they can buy.

How would you feel if they bought lobster? I bought some recently & its very low calorie, the package stated 8 cal for 3oz raw. Maybe they should buy that instead?

18

Some of the people on assistance may not live in places with working fridges or stoves. Some live in motels, or places with shared kitchens. It limits what they can buy and store (and eat). That may influence some of their choices.

That said, I do think food stamps should be used for items with nutritional value. I agree that the occasional “treat” is more than fair. I suppose, though, that some kind of regulation regardling frequency of Hostess Ho-Ho purchases on food stamps would be impossible (or expensive) to enforce.

19

I guess I’m in the minority when I say I’m against anyone getting food stamps unless they’re genuinely disabled or incapacitated (mentally or physically). The government should not be in the personal welfare business; such handouts should only come from charity, church, and family.

20

The problem with that Crafter Man is that children, for all intents and purposes, are physically disabled. They can’t go out and get a job to help feed themselves, and there’s no guarantee that mom or dad will take the steps to ensure that charity (if it’s available), church (if they’re religious), or family (if they have any) will cover that need. Should people who can work do so? Of course. Do many people who work still barely get by? Yep. I make okay money, but being a single mom with outrageous daycare expenses keeps me pretty much paycheck to paycheck. If I were less educated, or even less lucky, it would be very easy for me to slip into that realm where the cupboards become bare. And while I have family who would be able to help me should that happen, not everyone has that luxury.