Let’s have a writing contest, you guys. Now that a Trump appointee is against it, let’s all think up reasons for why subsidized high-fructose corn syrup sold as food is not only a good thing but actually a basic human right.
Yeah Fuck any poor bastards with diabetes that wanna keep something on hand to boost their bloodsuger /S
Even ignoring that, just because you are on food stamps doesn’t mean you don’t deserve some indulgences.
There was time in my life when most of my food came from a public pantry. I know it’s not the same as stamps, bit same principle.
Anyway, birthday rolls around; didn’t think anything of it cuz I was in the “it’s just another day…” phase of life, and even if I wanted to do something for it, I wouldn’t have been able to afford it. Roll up to the pantry for that week’s pickup, and they break out a fucking cake and a hand-written birthday card! Nothing crazy - maybe 6-inch diameter, enough for the wife and I to split. But that shit pulled my ass right out of a depression spell like nothing else came close to before or since.
When I finally got a reliable income coming in and paid off the critical stuff and got a little bit of savings, my first ‘splurge’ was a $1k donation to that pantry with a note saying that their assistance pretty much single-handedly saved me from homelessness and probably from suicide; and enabled me to take the steps I needed to get the job I have now and ultimately become self sufficient.
Food is more than just nutrients; and junk food is more than just food that’s junk.
And pantries are bad ass. If anyone reading this is struggling and not yet using one, GO SEE IF YOU’RE ELIGIBLE! Many people are resistant to ask for help prior to hitting absolute rock bottom, but a little help now (even if you only-kind-of need it) could save you from needing a LOT of help later. They’re also an awesome source of info on local resources - whatever your unique situation is, they can probably point you in the right direction to start getting shit under control.
…I should make another donation - shit’s extra fucked nowadays.
I bet it would feel very different if you just used food stamps to buy your own cake
Probably, but then that would have enabled me to give my wife that or vice versa. We don’t have kids, but a lot of food stamp recipients do - same spiel.
And even outside of special events, maybe that can of soda with dinner is the carrot-on-a-stick that gets a person through an otherwise miserable day cuz, shocker: poverty fucking sucks.
That’s the cool thing about not having arbitrary restrictions on shit like this: people are free to handle their own unique situation at their own discretion, including whether or not junk food is worth including in that week’s budget.
I used to live in a kinda poor area. Lots of people on some sort of program. And that program had really restrictive rules about what you can and cannot buy. For example, you could buy Skippy peanut butter but not Skippy light peanut butter (whatever that is). It caused great confusion for the people who needed food, huge amounts of labor for the poor grocery person, and a long wait for the other shoppers in line - just so the government can save a few cents. Unbelievable.
WIC most likely
I thought it was already blocked? 🤔
Huh, guess not.
https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligible-food-items
Households CANNOT use SNAP benefits to buy:
Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes, or tobacco
Vitamins, medicines, and supplements. If an item has a Supplement Facts label, it is considered a supplement and is not eligible for SNAP purchase.
Live animals (except shellfish, fish removed from water, and animals slaughtered prior to pick-up from the store).
Foods that are hot at the point of sale
Any nonfood items such as:
Pet foods
Cleaning supplies, paper products, and other household supplies.
Hygiene items, cosmetics
Gotta stop those poors from having any joy. Only misery will suffice.
Why is it in our interest to pay for food that causes obesity and health issues?
If the concern was really about health, they’d be regulating maximum sugar % in all sodas and candies, not banning them to the poor.
I want you to consider what you would do if you had $300 per month to buy food. How often would you use any of that money to buy soda and candy? Would you do it on a regular? Or would you do it just for special occasions to lift your spirits when things were bad?
This isn’t about health this is about punishing the poor for being poor.
Because giving more people reasons to enjoy life benefits us all. Also, fuck rich people. We should all be clamoring to take as much from them as possible to improve the lives of those who have less.
You can drink soda and eat candy without becoming obese or having health issues as a result.
What if it’s not happening that much and this is just a shoe horn to get legislation to destroy benefits? What if most states already remove some purchases from the EBT/food stamp total?
It’s like drug testing for welfare. It’s sounds like a good idea until you realize it costs millions, produces almost no results and the government performing said drug tests can’t be bothered to not do it in s corrupt way?
Why do you consider what someone else eats to be a matter of “your interest”, at all?
Do you think your boss…who pays your salary…should be allowed to dictate what you spend it on? Is it in “their interest” to make sure you’re spending their money on “the right things”?
Let them buy what they want you damn Nazi.
It’s not what every snap user wants. It’s just that garbage products are calorie dense and need little to no preparation, and those things absolutely matter when working several jobs or being homeless and convincing someone to let you use their address because a permanent address is necessary.
More calories per dollar for things like rice beans pasta. It’s a bit more complicated than that.
Convenience is king when you are constantly burned out and sleep deprived and “just need something good enough and easy”
Fucking hell, have you ever tried to live on rice and beans? You need half a dozen spices and salt just to make it taste like not sadness, plus prep time, prep space, prep bowls and pots, and then you need to wash everything. Compared with a frozen meal that cooks in the microwave and a disposable tray for serving, there’s really no contest. A “rice and beans” lifestyle requires a stay-at-home partner who soaks beans and washes dishes.
It’s a great frugal tip to stretch your grocery dollars, but if you’re poor, it’s not a moral failing to go with a cheap frozen meal.
but if you’re poor, it’s not a moral failing to go with a cheap frozen meal.
Agreed. HOWEVER, we should be educating people and coming up with new ways to eat cheap, quick, and healthy.
Use your ovens, folks. Food like bacon and bratwurst turn out great in the oven and you don’t have to babysit them, either.
You can make a relatively tasty rice with beans with canned beans and bit of salt in 10 minutes - if you are feeling fancy adding parsley will even move it to tasting good. I’m starting to suspect all the corn syrup is damaging american’s taste buds beyond repair.
Two things, canned beans and instant rice cost more than dry bulk rice and beans. And your recipe for “salt and parsley instant rice and canned beans” sounds like it’s going to taste like sadness.
This guy frugals.
I wish more people understood this. Beans are so good, but only if you can devote hours to them.
It’s just one of the myriad of recommendations people make because they don’t understand the problem. People think that the simple trick that worked for them would solve similar problems for everyone. Worse, they get angry when their advice is met with resistance. It’s like Napoleon feeding the alpacas.
I know this outside of the scope of the discussion, but you can cook dried beans in a instant pot in about an hour.
Obviously that’s still going to be a struggle for anyone where time/space/equipment are a huge factor. But it’s a big difference from letting them soak overnight.
Insta pot can help, but I don’t feel it add much value in the overall cook. Sautéing, caramelizing, deglazing, etc. takes time that no home-use kitchen gadget is going to help with. Soaking beans overnight is not the problem, as much as actual time it takes to make a meal. Planning, purchasing ingredients, prepping, cooking, cleaning…insta-pot is not worth the hype iykyk
I lived on easy hamburger helper. Everything is in the package, just cook some ground beef in a pan and mix the rest of the stuff in.
It’s not that hard, guys. You don’t need to eat candy to survive
That shit is full of sodium and really bad for you. Once they target sugar, what do you suppose is next?
Yeah, I’d say the bigger issue is low income people not having time to cook, and/or not having the ability to get to a decent grocery store.
You might also be living on the street or in a car and not have the means to actually cook.
I’d also like to see how he addresses food deserts. I already saw an article suggesting 18-65 are going to lose benefits.
You’re assuming that people have the time and space to prep rice, beans and pasta. Not everyone does.
I think if we remove the cooked food restriction it would make sense
Eh, can you get a bag of equivalent volume of apples for the same as a bottle of coca cola?
Same amount of sugar, one is considerably healthier.
IDC about soda, although it’s probably less harmful than water in certain areas.
Apples. Food deserts. I’ve never seen an apple at any of the dollar stores.
Soda is made from municipal water. If the tap water has an issue, so will the soda
Afaik you can’t buy tap soda on benefits, only sealed containers.
And consuming how expensive cars are I don’t want to hear people say “food deserts doesn’t exist because you can drive 10 Miles”
Next it will no sugary cereal, just oats and gruel for the peasantry.
I haven’t had sugar cereal in a decade. I don’t know how you could ever prefer them over oat flakes
“Ingredients only, no finished products. You want to eat? Work for it!”
What goon-affiliated product will they be able to purchase with food stamps instead? Lee Greenwood Bibles? My Pillows?
Oh good, we’ll have slightly less sugar-related inflammation while we all fucking die of bird flu
Interesting, why not start branding and labeling better that more products that have high content of X
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Where’s those fucking DOGE cunts when there’s real waste?
Look, I don’t want to subsidize people’s beetus diets, but, fuck me, do we not have better shit to do with our time and money?
Every single republican can fuck off and die.
“Let them eat roadkill.”
Edited in quotes, because people aren’t seeing it.
Alaska does this (admittedly it’s a separate system from snap) and most communities seem happy with the system.
a stopped clock is right twice a day
How much of the average food stamp budget goes to soda and candy?
If you can’t answer this, then it would be foolish of you to think it’s a problem.
Is it foolish of you?
According to the USDA, soda represents the most purchased item on food stamps. Candy represents the 11th most purchased item. Very few of the items on the top 20 list are very healthy. Vegetables and fruits are missing from the most altogether, even though these require no prep work before eating.
Thanks for sharing this. I decided to do a bit of my own research and came across some interesting information.
Your source: https://epicforamerica.org/social-programs/here-is-what-food-stamp-recipients-buy/
I’m not sure what ‘epicforamerica’ is, but it sounds like a propaganda outlet. They claim their source is the USDA, and the PDF they provided has a weird link to it: https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/ops/SNAPFoodsTypicallyPurchased.pdf
It says it’s from 2016, which could be true but I can’t find it with a quick search.
What I did find though was this official USDA website with a similar study from 2011: https://www.fns.usda.gov/research/snap/foods-typically-purchased-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap-households
Here are charts from the primary sources, the official USDA 2011 then the 2016 study ‘epicforamerica’ linked to:
Sweetened beverages actually comes out at #2 in ‘total expenditures’ when meat is grouped into a single category. ‘Epicforamerica’ decided to split them up for their own reasons.
Both charts show that soda expenditures are ~9.3% of what EBT users spend their food stamps on. That’s pretty reasonable if you ask me, and I think it owes more to the fact that a 2-liter of Coke is $2.74 at Walmart than anything else. That means if one person buys a 2-liter of Coke as part of a $27 grocery bill, then that’s immediately over the average amount.
Prepared desserts is at 7%, salty snacks at 3.4%, and candy at 2%.
So all in all, we’re looking at a little under 25% of expenditures being spent on junk food. That’s also reasonable to me. Soda is so high is because it’s actually just a scam. I’d be in favor of restricting food stamp recipients to only buying generic brands of soda, but that’s about it.
Heck, I’d be in favor of forcing most brands to sell their food at a lower price to food stamp recipients. The main reason they don’t have enough is because others have too much.
Also, it looks like ‘epicforamerica’ successfully manipulated you into thinking a certain way by withholding, distorting, or just straight up lying about information.
Vegetables and fruits are missing from the most altogether
Vegetables are actually #3 in expenditures, and fruits are #8.
People on food stamps aren’t buying these things because it’s fun, but because it’s cheap, easy calories because they’re homeless or working three jobs and don’t have the time to cook real food. The clock is not right here.
No, they are buying them because they want to. I used to buy milk and cereal. It has sugar, but it’s 3 grams per serving instead of like 15.
Don’t tell me you don’t have time to pour a bowl of milk
Those things are unhealthy, but restricting them is policing what poor people eat. It’s stigmatizing. Also, people will still buy these things because they’re addictive. So they’ll be paying out of pocket for it rather than using their SNAP benefits. It’s a lose-lose.
I dont get your argument. How’s it stigmatizing? Why should someone be able to spend it all on energy drinks and starburst? Just doesn’t make sense.
I support aggressively increasing food stamps for anyone in need. But I’d also support aggressive regulation, like no candy and shit. It just makes sense to me but maybe I’m missing something.
Why should someone be able to spend it all on energy drinks and starburst?
What percentage of food stamp users “spend it all on energy drinks and starburst?” People can only eat so much junk food before they get sick and sick of it.
Personally, if I’m on food stamps, I’m not wasting in on childish garbage like candy. I’d be eating those pork egg roll things all the time along with a lot more seafood. You know, the things that I can’t afford on my own. I can afford candy and soda on my own but still choose not to get it.
100% agree i cant fucking stand it when poor people enjoy anything
Yikes. Straw man much?
The purpose of food stamps isn’t the pleasure someone gets out of eating a candybar and redbull. The purpose is nutrition and food for those who can’t afford it.
Implying that I think poor people shouldn’t enjoy anything is ridiculous. Dumb comments are dumb.
I mean shit, I’m as left progressive as it gets. Id support and additional “pleasure joy” food stamp specifically earmarked for fun candy and treats and shit. Just supplemental to the real food nutritious one. I dunno. While we’re at it, make the billionaires pay for it.
Your way is “here’s money for food because you cant afford it, you can spend it all on skittles if that makes you happy”.
Yikes. Straw man much?
im made out of meat im not sure what youre implying
The purpose of food stamps isn’t the pleasure someone gets out of eating a candybar and redbull. The purpose is nutrition and food for those who can’t afford it.
the purpose of food stamps is to steal money from hard working americans and give it to minorities
Implying that I think poor people shouldn’t enjoy anything is ridiculous. Dumb comments are dumb.
i didnt imply anything i dont know where you got that from
I mean shit, I’m as left progressive as it gets. Id support and additional “pleasure joy” food stamp specifically earmarked for fun candy and treats and shit. Just supplemental to the real food nutritious one. I dunno. While we’re at it, make the billionaires pay for it.
sorry i thought you were a patriot but i guess a broken clock is right twice a day
Your way is “here’s money for food because you cant afford it, you can spend it all on skittles if that makes you happy”.
please dont put quotes in my mouth
These people literally think we’re broke when in reality, if we cut our defense budget by like, 25%, we could probably give candy to the entire fucking nation (I did not do the math).
But it’s absurd. Let people enjoy their fucking rations, Jesus Christ. Nobody wants to be on food stamps.
I’m as left progressive as it gets
Lmao, you’re clearly not
I honestly don’t see how this is much different than Michelle Obama trying to get junk food out of schools. Nobody here seems to want to cut benefits from people in need but some of us don’t see an issue with some restrictions. Candy and soda is poison. We have never let people buy alcohol with food stamps either.
Does anyone seriously think Michelle Obama is “as left progressive as it gets”?? Is the overton window so fucked that neoliberal ideas are now considered progressive?
When Michelle Obama did that shit, I ended up underweight and had to start spending more money on food
You sound like the kind of person who doesn’t give homeless people cash so they can’t spend it on drugs. Just let people find a little joy and make their own choices
Why does their joy have to be in guzzling cola? States are already taxing high sugar items on the rest of us ffs, how is this any different?
If they want to buy these items they still can, just have to use their own coin, not ours.
not ours.
Ok buddy, first off you’re not the one who’s paying a substantial amount of this. Second, prices are only high so people richer than you can be even richer.
Third, you are displaying front-and-center how easily manipulated you are by imagining food stamp users who only get soda and candy.
These conmen are literally controlling your mind, and you’re too ignorant to do anything about it. Sad.
fucking moochers is what they are i mean they should really only be allowed to have plain rice and water heck maybe even make them eat dog food im glad theres people like you and yawweee who agree with me
Dude, it’s even dumber than that.
Has anyone here ever been on food stamps? You get a couple hundred dollars per person per month. That’s more than my food budget off of food stamps. I don’t buy soda and candy already, why would I get it when I have more resources to buy better food?
This is just a distraction for useful idiots like wildncrazyguy138.
Yeah, if the goal was actually to make people eat healthier, he’d be trying to limit the availability of those items to everyone, not just poor people.
Or he’d be increasing the availability of healthy food instead of taking things away
No matter how available it is, people just eat what they like. If society is paying for it, might as well make it healthy
Or not bow to special interests and support research on the negative health affects of these things.
Change SNAP from money to a system that says “X gets _lbs of raw meat, _pieces of fresh vegetables, _pieces of raw fruit etc”. The inventory systems in stores know what is being rung up so I don’t see why it couldn’t work. It also means SNAP automatically adjusts for inflation and regional pricing. Probably won’t stop people selling their SNAP for cash though.
So what happens when a store is out of raw meat, or raw vegetables, or raw fruit? What if someone is a vegetarian, or has allergies or other dietary requirements that prohibit certain items? Who’s monitoring and enforcing this (and how much is that monitoring and enforcing costing?)
Rather than spending the time and effort policing what food people buy, why don’t we instead spend that time and money addressing the poverty problem that makes SNAP necessary in the first place?
Addressing poverty instead of putting Band-Aids on the effects would be great. I was just addressing the line of thought of getting people to eat healthier.
Yeah I absolutely hate this guy, but agree with this. I don’t know it just seems so logical. Others arguments replying to you aren’t convincing at all.
