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Food Stamps Restriction
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GlassAngyl wrote: »Totally for it. And they should add all junk food items as well. Leave baking items and they can make junk from scratch...
Then you'd complain they were spending the money on steaks and shrimp, I here it all the time. Food is expensive for the working poor ( not making a living wage and not poor enough for aid) and soda is cheap. Natural and healthier choices are twice as much as junk food, or haven't you noticed8 -
Haven't seen a good food stamp thread since back in my parenting board days, good times lol.
Years ago we qualified for WIC and I thought that was a really good system. There was a list of allowed foods and that's what the vouchers covered. It's been years but I know dairy and certain kinds of cereal were allowed, along with peanut butter, and I think beans/bagged grains? We also got vouchers for formula as part of that program.
Food stamps in the U.S. are meant to SUPPLEMENT someone's groceries, not completely pay for all of them, so I have no problem with having restrictions on what can be bought with them.
Also it almost never comes up, but if one is receiving food stamps then they're also eligible to receive other assistance-most notably free school lunches for their children. On top of that, many schools now have programs in place where bagged suppers are sent home with kids-meaning parents literally are only feeding their kid's breakfast, (the bagged meals go home with them on the weekends as well, plus many schools around here offer summer food programs for students). And at least here, we have numerous churches that offer food banks-you literally can rotate through them every week and get bags of food-including meat and fresh produce, (my parent's do the food bank circuit around here and they have more food than they know what to do with it).
eta: unless the school offers breakfast, which most do now, and then parents don't even have to feed their kids that. I'm sure this varies greatly based on location, but around me at least there's all sorts of food resources available if one is low enough income to qualify for fs.7 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »distinctlybeautiful wrote: »
100% on board with this.
Judge much!5 -
LJGettinSexy wrote: »GlassAngyl wrote: »Totally for it. And they should add all junk food items as well. Leave baking items and they can make junk from scratch...
Then you'd complain they were spending the money on steaks and shrimp, I here it all the time. Food is expensive for the working poor ( not making a living wage and not poor enough for aid) and soda is cheap. Natural and healthier choices are twice as much as junk food, or haven't you noticed
This is thrown out all the time, but many times it's just not true. I eat a very 'healthy' diet and I fit it in, along with the rest of my family's groceries, on a pretty small grocery budget. Beans, whole grains, frozen veggies, frozen chicken etc are all pretty inexpensive.
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LJGettinSexy wrote: »GlassAngyl wrote: »Totally for it. And they should add all junk food items as well. Leave baking items and they can make junk from scratch...
Then you'd complain they were spending the money on steaks and shrimp, I here it all the time. Food is expensive for the working poor ( not making a living wage and not poor enough for aid) and soda is cheap. Natural and healthier choices are twice as much as junk food, or haven't you noticed
I have not noticed this. I have however checked out behind someone buying live lobsters with food stamps.10 -
Strawblackcat wrote: »I'm in favor of what someone else suggested a few pages ago by making SNAP work more like WIC. Nutritious items like fruits, vegetables, meats, while grains, and dairy items would be approved for purchase by the program, and items that didn't have approval (like cookies, crackers, soda, etc.) Would be paid for by the buyer's money. SNAP is meant to help people afford to buy enough food to eat. It's not meant to cover 100% of a person's food budget. If someone in SNAP wants to buy soda, that's fine, but they should use their own money to pay for that and use their SNAP benefits to buy actual food.
If my food budget is $20 and $10 of that is from SNAP, why does it matter I'm actually purchasing the soda with? If I use my SNAP to buy $2 worth of beans and then use my $2 that I didn't spend on beans to buy soda or vice versa, it's the exact same result.13 -
I believe, and I was once a food stamp recipient, that had I been restricted more, I would have had to make better food choices. I only see this as positive.8
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Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »In my state you can buy absolutely anything besides alcohol and cigarettes. Anything with a nutritional label on it qualifies. It is too easy to get them in my state. I have many friends on it who get 200 a month and are in school or who are not working but their husband does and they just lied on their application. WAYY too easy to take advantage of. I am all for food stamps for those who truly need it, but unfortunately many people 'work the system'.
That some people will apply for food stamps when they know they're not in genuine need (as you did when you were in college) or that people will lie to qualify for food stamps doesn't change the fact that there are people who really do need assistance.
People should take responsibility for their own actions, including actions like applying for public benefits when they don't need them.11 -
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I was on food stamps and I had a full time job that paid *kitten*. I used all the money I made on bills. When you are poor AF it's nice to be able to buy a treat once in a while. Pop is what $4-5 for a 12pack who cares if they buy that it's does not take all the money.8
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Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »In my state you can buy absolutely anything besides alcohol and cigarettes. Anything with a nutritional label on it qualifies. It is too easy to get them in my state. I have many friends on it who get 200 a month and are in school or who are not working but their husband does and they just lied on their application. WAYY too easy to take advantage of. I am all for food stamps for those who truly need it, but unfortunately many people 'work the system'.
Then your state needs to overhaul its program. The problem is with your state, not SNAP.
Most states would not allow students on SNAP unless they were 1) Not declared dependent on their parents taxes, 2) Paying for tuition and living expenses themselves, 3) Not receiving scholarship money. Any student considered a dependent would not qualify. Scholarship money would be factored in, just like earned income, and may reduce the benefit if the student was otherwise eligible.
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janejellyroll wrote: »Strawblackcat wrote: »I'm in favor of what someone else suggested a few pages ago by making SNAP work more like WIC. Nutritious items like fruits, vegetables, meats, while grains, and dairy items would be approved for purchase by the program, and items that didn't have approval (like cookies, crackers, soda, etc.) Would be paid for by the buyer's money. SNAP is meant to help people afford to buy enough food to eat. It's not meant to cover 100% of a person's food budget. If someone in SNAP wants to buy soda, that's fine, but they should use their own money to pay for that and use their SNAP benefits to buy actual food.
If my food budget is $20 and $10 of that is from SNAP, why does it matter I'm actually purchasing the soda with? If I use my SNAP to buy $2 worth of beans and then use my $2 that I didn't spend on beans to buy soda or vice versa, it's the exact same result.
It's one thing to need help feeding your family and another to ask for help feeding your family and then use that help for luxuries.13 -
No one has mentioned that many Fast Food places take benefits. You can get your quarter pounder, biggie fries, and a shamrock shake on benefits.
Taco Bell, Arby's, McDonalds, Churches, Dairy Queen, Dominoes, Wendy's, etc, etc.7 -
TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »No one has mentioned that many Fast Food places take benefits. You can get your quarter pounder, biggie fries, and a shamrock shake on benefits.
Taco Bell, Arby's, McDonalds, Churches, Dairy Queen, Dominoes, Wendy's, etc, etc.
No they do not.9 -
TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »No one has mentioned that many Fast Food places take benefits. You can get your quarter pounder, biggie fries, and a shamrock shake on benefits.
Taco Bell, Arby's, McDonalds, Churches, Dairy Queen, Dominoes, Wendy's, etc, etc.
Where? That's certainly NOT the case where I live.
"The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (the Act) defines eligible food as any food or food product for home consumption and also includes seeds and plants which produce food for consumption by SNAP households. The Act precludes the following items from being purchased with SNAP benefits: alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, hot food and any food sold for on-premises consumption. Nonfood items such as pet foods, soaps, paper products, medicines and vitamins, household supplies, grooming items, and cosmetics, also are ineligible for purchase with SNAP benefits."
https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligible-food-items6 -
TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »No one has mentioned that many Fast Food places take benefits. You can get your quarter pounder, biggie fries, and a shamrock shake on benefits.
Taco Bell, Arby's, McDonalds, Churches, Dairy Queen, Dominoes, Wendy's, etc, etc.
Not in my state.1 -
It is 100% the case where I live. In the south
http://firstquarterfinance.com/what-fast-food-places-take-ebt-food-stamps-snap/
http://blogs.findlaw.com/law_and_life/2011/09/food-stamps-for-restaurants-accepted-in-az-ca-fl-mi.html
It was done to allow people that live in "food deserts" to have availability to food.2 -
Chef_Barbell wrote: »TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »No one has mentioned that many Fast Food places take benefits. You can get your quarter pounder, biggie fries, and a shamrock shake on benefits.
Taco Bell, Arby's, McDonalds, Churches, Dairy Queen, Dominoes, Wendy's, etc, etc.
No they do not.
http://firstquarterfinance.com/what-fast-food-places-take-ebt-food-stamps-snap/2 -
TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »It is 100% the case where I live. In the south
http://firstquarterfinance.com/what-fast-food-places-take-ebt-food-stamps-snap/
Not for everyone and this makes sense... homeless people don't exactly have stoves and fridges.
“In some areas, restaurants can be authorized to accept SNAP benefits from qualified homeless, elderly, or disabled people in exchange for low-cost meals.” Note that based on the published information, the Restaurant Meals Program (as this initiative is known) is available only for homeless, elderly, or disabled recipients of EBT."10
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