Obesity and Welfare

i think that they should only be able to purchase healthy foods like milk, eggs, potatoes, veggies, fruits, breads, beans, meat and stuff of that nature (no pop, candy, or compleate junk foods) i also think they should be tested for drugs and have to do UAs to show they arnt on any drugs (if your on welfare and doing drugs why are u spending what money you do have on drugs instead of food)

this^^^^

And if you don't have a car, and the closest place to buy a gallon of milk is a gas station?

If you can make it to a gas station you can probably make it to a grocery store.

And probably is good enough for you?

Listen, sorry if i'm hitting too close to home for you. It sounds like I hit a nerve. I'm just saying, I don't believe people should be able to use food stamps to go to a gas station to buy pop and candy bars. And if you're buying milk at a gas station, why not drive a little further down the road and get it at a grocery store so you're not paying double for it.

Not everyone on welfare owns a car....I imagine some people walk to the gas station if its close by?

As long as you can purchase alcohol, cigarettes and guns, it would be really strange to put a ban on like sugar wouldn't it?

I'm confused. You can't buy alcohol, cigarettes, or guns with food stamps.

You can with state cash aide.

Most lower income neighborhoods in the US do not have fruits and veggies available. I live in a lower middle income neighborhood and the local supermarket has a limited selection, at higher prices than the same chain a few miles down the road. There is no butcher, just some prepacked meats, and no deli. We spend the extra money on gas to go where there are better choices, but many of our neighbors are seniors who walk or ride their scooters. Even among the young families, many would have to take the bus to get to the other stores, which makes it hard to get a full week's worth of groceries for a family. I honestly have no idea why the ones with cars still use that store

The accessibility of fresh, healthy foods is a real problem for many low income people in America. I know here in Chicago there are whole areas that are considered food deserts because they don't have proper grocery stores. Convenience stores are the options for people with limited mobility, lack of funds for public transportation, etc. This is not an uncommon problem.

It is my guess that the majority of people on food stamps don't want to be, but are out of necessity. I can understand that their food choices may not always be the same as yours, but should you skip pizza and ice cream for your daughter's birthday just because food stamps are paying for it? Don't let the poor choices of a percentage reflect on everyone.

Those who live well below the poverty line and who rely on government assistance to feed themselves and their families should not be considered as inferior. How many of us are only one or two paychecks away from being their ourselves?

Having had both WIC and food stamps, making food stamps work like WIC would suck for you, the cashier, and the people behind you in line because it would be done by paper. I don't think there would be a way to allow only certain foods electronically, and food stamps are now electronic on a card.

Also, people already sell their food stamps for cash and would do so even more if restricted. I live in an area with lots of poverty and see this going down all the time. You can get a lot of food stamps for $40.

Not all healthy food is expensive. It’s all about shopping SMART! I have six kids and my house is not filled with boxed food and junk. There’s fruits, nuts, yogurt, etc. I can feed my family of 8 on $500-$700 a month ( I am not on food stamps) and my friend gets almost double that on food stamps.

In my town, there's a Farmer's Market deal where if you have children and are on EBT, you get $50 worth of produce for $25 on EBT. It's pretty sweet for us poor families attempting to watch their health.
.
.
.


I work in mental health care. Not only does this keep me below the poverty line, but it also has me advocating for a handful of individuals who are much more disadvantaged than I am. I spend a lot of time in the Food Stamps office lines for my work, and yes, MOST of the other people in line with me are morbidly obese.

It would be nice if there were easier to access programs for healthy eating than the Farmer's Market one I mentioned. Most of these people can't afford the transportation or the time off work to attend the market, and I'll guarantee none of them have heard of the program.

A gym discount would be nice.

But restricting use isn't a very good idea, from a social work perspective. The majority of people on Food Stamps are either full-time workers in low-wage jobs trying to support families ( like myself ) or they are people with physical and mental disabilities. Cheap, prepackaged, easy-to-prepare or ready-to-eat meals are the only things most of my clients are able to utilize in their daily lives. They'd be unable to prepare (wash, cut, cook, consume) raw produce, meat, or grains.

Do they need help to be healthy? YOU BET. Is restricting EBT purchases a viable way to do it? **** NO.

While I dislike the idea of people spending government money on junk food, I completely agree here. My dad is disabled and on Social Security Disability and due to his mental limitations, he is one of those people who would be unable prepare food. He can barely handle opening a can and heating it up.

That said - it really does annoy me when I go to people's houses who get food stamps (people who can handle preparing food) and all they have is candy, chips, ice cream, etc. They have way more food and junk then I could ever afford (before I started eating healthier).

I don't know what the answer is - but I don't think the answer is to completely restrict people's options and cut out convenience foods.

Welfare should be a bag of rice and a bag of beans. If you can't get a job why should you eat high on the hog???

You're assuming people on welfare don't have jobs. You might want to research something called "the working poor".

^^^^^^^^^This!!!! I'm glad someone addressed this. Being on welfare does not mean people don't have jobs!!

Wow...this kind of hits home for me. I am a mother of two kids, usually a family of four (issues with the 4th right now)...that being said I have a good job and take good care of my family, my grocery budget is around $400/month for the 4 of us. Yes we eat out about once a week or so, but as far as foods I buy for the house its about $100 per week...often times less. I buy healthy foods...I do NOT buy donutes or sweets. Once in a while i'll get a small pack of cookies but that would be MAYBE once a month. My sister has two kids. Its just her and her two kids. She is on state aid (in Washington State, I know it varies by state!) and she receives OVER $450 per month in food benefits. She doesnt have a car so often times I drive her to the grocery store to do her shopping when I need to do mine. And it always amazes me at how much JUNK food she buys. Very little of anything healthy. Never any fresh fruits or veggies (tons of canned fruits though). Tons of chips, sodas, juices, cookies, ice cream...and she even gets on me for not allowing my kids to have the sweets her kids get. My kids are 9 and 13 and even they make comments about the amount of sweets. And her kids' teeth are rotting out of her mouth...seriously, the front 4 teeth are black. Its so sad! And it upsets me because she always runs out of food stamps by the 3rd week of the month (usually sooner) and then shes asking me to buy her food or take her to the food banks. I have tried to talk to her about her choices but she doesnt care. I fully believe its because she doesnt have to work for that money. She's chosen to remain unemployed for over 3 years, living in a house rent free owned by a bank that doesnt want to foreclose (it wasnt her house to start with either).
My neice is the same way. She has 3 babies and a husband. The husband doesnt work, she does in fast food. they SELL thier food benefits to buy weed. THAT makes me angry.

I work hard to provide for my family as I believe most of us do. I dont have many examples of people on state aid in my life and I just HOPE my sister and my niece are a rare exception and not commonplace. But I DO feel that there should be limits on what they can buy. I dont think they need to be able to buy all the sweets and sodas...and I do feel drug testing should be enforced. I know of 5 kids that would benefit from these changes (all my nieces and nephews).

This would actually be an easy fix. If you pay for certain items with food stamps, they cost you double. So a loaf of bread $1.00 and a loaf of jelly roll $10.00. See how far the stamps go then. This way you're not taking away what they want to buy, it's just going to cost them more.

Wow- I like this idea!! I actually like the original OP's idea too- I just don't think it will ever work. But, with WIC- there are certain items you can buy- specific, is that discriminatory? No- its for Women, Infant and Children nutrition. If Welfare became a nutritional program- that would be so much different. Yes people should pay out of pocket for extras- like potato chips or candy. This is not food- this is extra.
Here is the sad point mentioned by one below- many who are on welfare are disabled- and can't cook, do much for themselves. But how many of them are disabled due to weight related issues. Could they get off disability by being forced to eat heathier? Also- yes love the idea of nutritional courses being a part of receiving benefits.

I have done the price comparisions- and it is cheaper to eat healthy. We may not be eating asparagus or artichokes, but carrots are cheap, so are potatoes. Bananas and apples relatively cheap.
Remove sodas, chips, candy, all junk even for a month- try to eat healthy and see how far that $$ will go. But again- all about education, showing people how to shop- farmers markets are local and full of inexpensive produce- just have to shop the seasons.
Reality is most don't want to give up this crap anymore than they want to give up smoking or drinking- and they want someone else to pay for their bad habits

The system is broken. Badly. In a perfect world, I'd love to be able to say, anything purchased with an EBT card must have high nutritional value. However, you can feed a family of 4 for like $5 if you're buying garbage. You can't do that if you're buying organic veggies and free range meats.

I would suggest maybe allocated percentages- for the record, I have NO frame of reference, so I'm just going to use some nice even numbers for the sake of easy math- Say a family gets $100 worth a week in EBT. No more than $20 can be spent on things that can be construed as 'luxury'; cookies, chips, soda, etc.

I'm not opposed to the idea of limiting what can be purchased via food stamps or other wellfare, however, I think the idea is fraught with lots of pitfalls.
What constitutes healthy food? If someone has a special dietary need, is there an exemption of some type?
What about new products brought to market?

If we're going to require weight loss or management, what about people with physical disabilties? How do you enforce the weight rules? Mandatory weigh-ins each month?

I know people who sell their food stamps for half price to any willing buyer (usually other family members who dont qualify but want to cut their grocery bill). This gives them the cash they need to buy cigarettes, beer etc. That kind of negates the idea that making junk food more expensive so their $ goes less far moot... to some people cigarettes are more important than food. For others, that twinkie is worth it I guess.

I am of the mind that people who seriously need help buying groceries would be HAPPY to get actual food. Forget the stamps. Start more food pantries where qualified people "work" a few hours in the pantry in exchange for a bag of groceries (rice, beans, etc) to take home or even hot meals already prepared, depending on family size etc. It should be temporary while they get help working out a long term strategy. The pantry can also offer help and instructions on preparing the food, and offer help to those who dont have a place to prepare it.

Help people, but dont hand them cash and hope they do what is right. Many people (certainly not all, but a definite population) got where they are - needing handouts - because of poor decision making skills in their lives or poor priorities. Give them food, education, and tools to learn to make the right decisions with the help they do get and help them find a way to not need it forever.

I'm not opposed to the idea of limiting what can be purchased via food stamps or other wellfare, however, I think the idea is fraught with lots of pitfalls.
What constitutes healthy food? If someone has a special dietary need, is there an exemption of some type?
What about new products brought to market?

If we're going to require weight loss or management, what about people with physical disabilties? How do you enforce the weight rules? Mandatory weigh-ins each month?

-shudder-

So why should others give "the working poor" more than they need to survive? A bag of rice and a bag of beans will keep them fed. If they want to better their situation try getting a better education, find better employment, relocate for better employment opportunity. I could keep going.

I came from a poor family and worked hard to get an education and worked hard to work my way into a decent job. Anyone can do it, our society is just good at making excuses IMOP.