# The ethics of food stamps (AITA?) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 10, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457 "2024-12-10T20:51:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/302 "2024-12-15T01:19:28Z")
Moderating: Enough about eggs. Sorry to contribute to that hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/303 "2024-12-15T01:49:40Z")
Not nothing really. I said “good egg” as in affirmation you’re ok using any egg you want. No government conspiracies. Not arguing with anyone. Not saying I know best, just telling my experiences. No worries. It’s ok. We’ll be fine having differing opinions on such as the lowly, yet perfect egg. Your egg stories are great, as well. But I think this is a hijack, I’ll respond no more. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/304 "2024-12-15T06:13:49Z")
That reminds me of Iowa’s governor, KKKim Reynolds (sp) who didn’t take Federal money for a summer lunch program for children “to fight childhood obesity.” However, qualified families can get up to $7,000 per child from the state, for private school vouchers. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/305 "2024-12-15T06:15:40Z")
My old town had a backpack program for qualified children, where they would be given a backpack full of food for the weekends. Guess what was being done with the food, and the backpacks too? The program had to be discontinued for this reason. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/306 "2024-12-15T11:15:01Z")
They were being sold? Thrown out? What? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/307 "2024-12-15T18:23:24Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Guess what was being done with the food, and the backpacks too? What kind of nefarious deeds can be accomplished with a pack of peanut butter crackers? ETA: also, this thread has given me a constant yearning for caviar. (Yes, some people think it’s tasty. Yes, a little goes a long way.) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/308 "2024-12-15T18:50:31Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > ETA: also, this thread has given me a constant yearning for caviar. (Yes, some people think it’s tasty. Yes, a little goes a long way.) I love caviar. I wonder if the friend from the OP was talking about tobiko (flying fish roe) or ikura (salmon roe) to go on his kimchee dish. A little goes go a long way, and it can be quite inexpensive. I can get it in very small amounts from any Asian market. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/309 "2024-12-15T22:20:02Z")
I like caviar, too. But I like nearly all fish/seafood. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/310 "2024-12-15T22:35:52Z")
It was more than peanut butter crackers. I helped pack them when my kids were in school. It was enough for one kid to eat in a weekend. Cans of soup. Fresh fruit, mainly apples and oranges. Lunchables. Snack crackers. Juice boxes. It was stopped here too. Mainly because of waste, trading on school buses. Trash left around. I assume some got home and others ate it. If you had 4 kids that was a fair amount of food. I guess you could sell it to someone. The back packs we used cost about $1-$2. Those nylon ones with strings. They were basically tossable. If a kid returned them we re-used but they rarely brought them back. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/311 "2024-12-16T02:26:18Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > It was more than peanut butter crackers. I was being rhetorical. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > It was stopped here too. Mainly because of waste, trading on school buses. Trash left around. That sucks. Trading? Hell, teaches kids the concepts of capitalism. The trash thing? That’s a damn shame … that a school couldn’t collectively teach kids the concept of “trash goes in the trash can” so instead, poor kids go hungry. So now, we have litterbugs AND hungry kids. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/312 "2024-12-16T03:39:14Z")
Well, the school administrators think kids shouldn’t trade food. So many allergies the school might be liable for if it happened on their watch. Trash tossing in an approved container has been a problem since we started having it. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/313 "2024-12-17T06:12:51Z")
Those seem like lame reasons to end the program. Perhaps some sort of an adjustment? I don’t know your district of course, but maybe a way to supervise? Ir some sort of teachable moment? Anyway, the program is obviously over, and that’s really too bad. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/314 "2024-12-17T07:18:01Z")
There’s still the breakfast program and free lunch. Up through middle school you can get an after school snack if you’re a bus rider. I seem to remember them having a special lunch program even through covid shutdowns. But, no more weekend backpacks. To tell you the truth it was wanning in popularity before they shut it down. Kids were teasing those with the free food. Like kids will. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/315 "2024-12-17T08:05:21Z")
Australia tried to introduce a ‘food stamp’ type of thing. Called Indue, and it quarantined 80% of a person’s government allowance to only be spent on rent, utilities and food. But the food was only to be spent at two major supermarkets, meaning that the individual couldn’t go to a farmer’s market, or to a road-side seller with cheap bananas (for example)…they were at the mercy of the Big Two (Coles and Woolworths in Aus). It also meant that you couldn’t go to an opp shop and buy clothes, you couldn’t go to a garage sale to buy a new bedside table or bed, the money was quarantined and you only had access to 20% of your allowance. Needless to say, this Indue fcukup was originally designed to (and directed) towards folks living in Aboriginal communities, but was later extended out to others where the community were mostly living on welfare benefits. It was a dismal disaster on all fronts (except for those indigenous communities who asked for it to be extended) and Indue has thankfully been discontinued for everyone else. It’s just a rude and paternalistic affront to families who are trying to get by the best they can. And limiting sales to only two supermarkets reeks of criminal conspiracy IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/316 "2024-12-17T09:19:42Z")
Yes. In the US food stamps can be spent nearly anywhere that sells food - including a few of the larger farmer’s markets. There are still issues with government benefits in the US, but limiting food assistance to just two stores is not one of them. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/317 "2024-12-17T10:00:11Z")
Wow. Yeah, this totally sounds like something sponsored by those grocery chains. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/318 "2024-12-17T10:47:59Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Yes. In the US food stamps can be spent nearly anywhere that sells food - including a few of the larger farmer’s markets. Even on Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/319 "2024-12-17T11:30:35Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Kids were teasing those with the free food. Like kids will. That was a major reason it changed in my area as well. The food bags became something of a reverse status symbol, and students would take a variety of measures to avoid taking them home. It didn’t mean that food aid ended, just that distribution through the schools through easily-identifiable bags given to kids ended. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/320 "2024-12-17T22:44:16Z")
When I was a young girl, my mom worked two and sometimes three part time jobs trying to make ends meet. She and dad were divorced and he had a new family and leukemia so he couldn’t afford child support sometimes. We went hungry a bit. I remember one time mom actually qualified for some snap benefits, but she could not bring herself to use them. She was so ashamed. She sent my brother and I down to the store to buy some stuff, but I don’t think they would let us use them. I was ashamed too. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2025, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457/321 "2025-02-19T21:40:59Z")
Congratulations, busybodies, you have RFKJ on your side! > **[RFK Jr. suggests banning candy and soda from the $113 billion government...](https://fortune.com/well/2025/02/19/rfk-jr-snap-program-candy-soda-ban/)** > > The SNAP program is run by the USDA and is administered through individual states. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-food-stamps-aita/1011457.md?page=17)