Should the "food stamp" program be expanded ?

Expanded = More dollars available and/or covering more items and people eligible.

I say yes. Exactly how, I'd have to study it for several hours.

You can buy soda with food stamps. Should you be allowed to buy alcohol with food stamps? In moderation alcohol is better. Beer formed a large part of our ancestors diets.

may be part of your normal diet. Who can really decide?

I don't want a damn commission set up. What I do want is to see things such as hygiene products included in the program. If you can't afford food chances are you can't afford diapers, tampons, or deodorant.

:sarcasm:

During the mid 1970s, meat went up more then the regular inflation. The price went up so much, that some people organized a boycott to get the price down. Argentina then started to export beef to the US, the US beef producers then lobbied Congress to restrict Food Stamps to US meat NOT imported meat. I think this was undone under Reagan, but also under Reagan you ended up with a Farm Crisis as Farmers started to lose money given the higher costs of fuel AND the lower price Farmers were getting for their crops.

Some foods, like raw or frozen vegetables, get rated with a "+", and your food stamp dollar gets to purchase 50% more with them, other really clearly junk food items get rated with a "-", and you have to pay 50% more for them if you use food stamps. Most items in the supermarket would probably be left as neutral, meaning no extra or penalty.

People who buy bags of uncooked rice, beans, or other nutritious foods that actually require a minimum of effort to prepare get to eat better, and those who simply want low-nutrition convenience foods get less of them. My guess is that the extra given to the thrifty will be more than paid for by those who get less due to their poor choices.

I could do it, if you name me Food Czar. But I don't want to live in Washington DC, I'd rather live in Seattle Washington because they got good bike lanes.

As Food Czar (FC), I would allow food to be bought using food stamps. To qualify, food would have to be recognizable by my grandma. I would name her "Food Recognition Czar" or FRC. If she can't figure out what it is, then it can't be on the list. And she doesn't use scissors or knives to open cardboard boxes. This means the stuff would have to be known as real food (RF).

Sorry about it, cereal crowd, if you are on food stamps, you'll have to figure out how to eat something else for breakfast. Toast, yogurt, cheese, fruit, eggs. It'll take some time to get used to RF, but you'll be OK. And you'll acclaim me as your best FC.

:rofl:

.....with heavier scrutiny on fraud.

and nutritious foods, along with programs to help people learn about healthy eating.

Let's face it: the working class is suffering from malnutrition. We are basically helping poor Americans eat a less healthy diet than folks with better incomes. This is wrong. It is a crime. We can and should do better.

Fresh fruits and vegetables should be subsidized by the government. There should be a campaign to educate consumers about healthy choices in foods. These two efforts could help enormously the people who need the nutrition the most, rather than reducing their health and their lives!

They eat plenty of crap too. In fact in most houses of the perpetually comfortable I have the displeasure to clean fresh produce is rare.

A lot of people are barely able to afford decent food right now, and it's said that prices are headed for a sharp increase soon. When you consider how many poor people are diabetics in this country, an interruption in the food supply could cost a lot of lives.

and to the judgmental, arrogant assholes that presume to decide for poor people what they get to eat: FUCK YOU!

wow, hard to see that shit around here

We have no right to judge someone on their diet. What I eat could be far different than what you eat.
We do need additional amounts added on for hygiene products.

What I would love to see is more education in the schools. Good old fashioned Home Ec isn't what it was. We need mandatory classes that teach how to prepare inexpensive, healthy meals at home. We need classes that teach students how to mend clothes, to stitch a hem, to darn a sock, and to attach a button. We need classes on budgeting. We need classes on basic home repairs and auto repairs.

Sorry if I got off track but I feel that it's our own faults that Americans live a fast food, instant gratification lifestyle. The emphasis needs to be taught to our children on how to eat well, how to make do, and how to live within their means. Of course, that would need funding that few want to offer.

Right...heaven forbid the poor and unemployed splurge on something that might..in the short run..
make their life a little happier.

:hi:

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delivery of the following items:

1 durable and capacious canvas sack (black)
1 handgun
1 box of ammunition
1 map of the local area with regions shaded according to per-capita income.

Extra credit for being able to do a really good Christopher Walken vocal imitation.

You can buy soda with food stamps. Beer is more nutritious and in fact was a staple of our ancestors. So should you be able to buy alcohol with food stamps? If you say no, then you believe in regulating what people can and can not use food stamps for.

It was more a rhetorical question. If you ban one unhealthy thing why not others?

so the poor can be healthy? Why not help the poorest of Americans become stronger and healthier in our society?

As it is, only the rich can afford the best food available. My husband and I struggle along trying to get the best and healthiest food we can, but it is a fight every week, to keep to our budget. It is wrong and it is unfair.

One side seems to think its progressive to fight for the rights of the poor to eat feed their kids twinkies all day long. The reason poor people are feed their kids so much junk is it is cheap. We should increase food stamps and I think do like you say. perhaps we could make it so that any fresh fruit or vegetables rang up half price on ones food stamp card.

:eyes:

Where in the world did you get that?

Your comment is almost unreadable. BTW.

I really don't have a problem with people on food stamps buying junk food in moderation. The problem is that because people are given so little in food stamps, they basically have to maximize their caloric intake. The best way to do this is to consume foods that are high in sugar. This is cheap and keeps them going. I think we need to make a value judgment and say that this is not expectable. We should raise the amount people receive in food stamps but also make it contingent on them not consuming a bunch of junk.

I know I said before that no junk food should go towards food stamp purchases maybe this is too harsh, I wouldn't mind a small fixed percentage going toward junk food.

i.e. food stamps. There are many local venders, as well as wholesalers. Very cheap! However, the needy may not be able to find transportation there, or may be working.

There is also the growth of community gardens, but I don't know much about that.

different neighborhoods to serve the poor areas by having it within walking distance. This is making a difference.

And HOORAY, we once again have a large supermarket in one of our poorest neighborhoods. When all the Shaw supermarkets were pulled from the state, that one did not find another buyer. But now, Stop and Shop has opened in the old Shaw's. It serves the neighborhood with good fresh food and also as a place of employment for neighborhood residents...a win/win situation!

'food stamp polls' since October. Among the topics are included junk food, organic food, alcohol, sodas, cigarettes.

IMO every child should be able to get free food at school, none should go hungry while trying to learn.

Add to this breakfast, so that every child can start the day with a good breakfast.

Also, my personal complaint, is that the school lunch program needs to be healthier. If people saw what we feed our children at school they'd understand why kids only want to eat crap.

And make them valid at farmers markets, CSA's, and other local sources of nutritious food.

Part of the reason junk food is so cheap is because we subsidize crap like HFCS, and account for very few of the externalities involved in our industrial food production methods.

:thumbsup:

Well-paying jobs need to be expanded so fewer people will need food stamps.

and jobs/education to all. Food stamps are a band-aid.