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Food Stamps Restriction
Replies
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This is exactly what I am thinking. If you need a candy bar, a pack of cookies, or a donut, it can come out of your other funds.Packerjohn wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »GlassAngyl wrote: »Average SNAP benefits per person are about $130 a month. It's hard to fit in nutritionally diverse foods in that budget. Despite all the Judgy McJudgersons out there, people on SNAP have to get creative about feeding their families. Yes, there are ways to eat healthy and stretch a budget and I know that it's possible because 1) I've done it and 2) at least once a week there is a thread on here about how to eat healthy for cheap. Eating healthy doesn't have to be expensive, but it DOES require an education into food economics.
Many people, to include those who don't depend on assistance, don't have the basic knowledge of how to make healthy, cheap meals. People who do need assistance are just like everyone else - they're trying to feed their families the best way that they know how. Why should we demonize them for making sub-optimal nutritional choices? Do YOU make perfect food choices at the grocery store every week? I don't . . ..
@DamieBird, that may be the average, but that's like adding in a senators average wage to a fast food workers wage and announcing to the nation that the "average" working American makes $20 an hour so the government dont understand how Americans can possibly be struggling. In this case their are more single people or people who just needed a "little" help and averaging it with those who have larger families. My grandpa "qualifies" for $32 a month food stamps because of his disability check. After taking out his rent and bills, he can still afford to drink 2 beers a day and buy cartons of cigs. Then he complains that they aren't giving him enough food stamps to live on. Technically he doesn't need them at all!
Average that into a family of 4 getting $500 a month because neither parent works. It looks so much better saying that "On average they are ONLY getting $281.." Sounds ugly saying "Elderly man can't afford food but smokes and drinks and two parents can't find work conveniently in 10 years. My brother quits and finds new jobs often enough that I know that to be a lie!
There ARE hard cases out there! I don't believe that's the case for the majority of them on stamps. I learned that self-preservation can be a powerful motivator for people. I also learned that if you give then something for free everyday, then suddenly stop, they become enraged and demand to know why you are no longer giving it to them.
Soooooo . . . I'm sensing that you have a passionate response to this issue because you have seen people near and dear to you who abuse the system and/or take advantage of a benefit that you're working very hard to keep yourself above. There's nothing wrong with that. As humans, it's natural that we will evaluate any given scenario with a perspective based on our own experiences.
The problem (for me) is when you (in the larger sense, not YOU specifically) see a few people here or there taking advantage of a system and assume that no one out there is truly in need of assistance. Further, placing a moral judgement on those who live in poverty is wrong and misguided. Most people who qualify for SNAP benefits are the working poor, and yet society likes to demonize them into being bad people because they don't have a better job. In this thread alone, I've seen criticism against 'treats' like soda and candy or chips in a moral sense. Please tell me why anyone is a better person than someone else based on their income? Why are poor people less deserving of a little compassion and perhaps a soda or bag of chips or candy bar, if that's what they need to get through the day?
Speaking from personal experience, I try to eat mostly nutritionally dense food, but even when my budget gets tight, I'm going to spare a few dollars if at all possible to buy the occasional candy bar. Something that small can really lift your mood if you're having a *kitten* year or a *kitten* life.
All of that is assuming that the average person even understands basic nutrition. If you've spend any time at all on these boards, you know that most people don't have a clue about how calories and nutrition work until they take the time and effort to learn and ask for advice from helpful and understanding internet strangers. And yet, you magically expect someone who needs food assistance to know all of this? I don't know your personal stats or reasons for why you're on MFP, but chances are it's because you want to lose some weight. You didn't get fat by only eating appropriate amounts of nutritionally dense food. None of us did. But, it comes across that you're blaming someone on SNAP by a totally different standard. How dare they be (potentially) overweight?!?! Don't they know that they're spending MY tax dollars?! I'M not paying for them to get a soda!!! What an utterly solipsistic viewpoint.
I sincerely hope that you never find yourself in need of food assistance, but if you ever do (because life can throw some freaking curveballs at anyone), I hoe that you're met with more compassion than it seems you give.
If I ever found myself in that situation, you could bet your bottom dollar I would be spending the assistance on the most nutrient dense, cost effective foods I could find for my family and myself. No soda, candy, chips.
Don't you think this makes sense?
I think it's unrealistic to think that you would NEVER buy something that doesn't make absolute 'sense'.
If you need a candy bar once a month it could be purchased from your other funds.
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I would be for it, except I recently learned Sunny D has less sugar and fewer calories than most real orange juices (heck, even some apple juices) Soda is an easy one to prohibit because there is no nutritional value, but what happens with other foods and drinks? A single pack of instant oatmeal has more calories than a slice of bread; do we start banning oatmeal (even most cereals)? If so, do we give greater allowances for pricier healthy choices like produce to make up for what is lost on the cheaper options? I certainly think something could be planned to make such a bill practical, but the reality is that those responsible for developing such legislation are neither informed nor interested enough to do so.2
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janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »Unfortunately I see the signs in all those stores every day EBT accepted in everything from Fast Food to 7/11 when they should be at grocery stores buying affordable food.
An EBT card will also sometimes include cash benefits. If people are buying hot prepared food in Maryland with an EBT card, this is how they're doing it. They're using the cash portion of their benefits, not the food stamp portion.
Wait. So, are you saying I can't peak over someone's shoulder at the checkout and accurately judge if they are frauds, cheaters, lazy benefits abusers, or just someone who needed a leg up for a couple of months and is behaving reasonably? Interesting
My family was on food stamps for a bit (my dad lost his job and had significant health problems and my mom had been out of the workforce for a while raising us so she wasn't able to get a job adequate to cover family expenses at first). She cooked virtually all our meals and was great at making the grocery budget stretch, but we had treats sometimes (on our birthday, we were allowed to pick out whatever kind of sugary cereal we wanted -- something we didn't have any other time).
We were all working hard at that point in our lives. I know people in this thread have shared their experiences of how easy it is to get public assistance, but it was actually relatively hard for my family -- maybe it was where we lived. We had to sell one of the two cars we had in order to qualify (meaning the whole family had to juggle different work and school schedules around one car while not living close to town). I was older, so I was able to get a job (and another of my siblings was too). It was one of the more challenging periods of my life. There were probably times when I was that person using an EBT card to purchase something that looked "unworthy," 2 liters of off-brand soda for somebody's birthday or a box of off-brand Frosted Flakes (my mom was working and going to school, so I did a lot of the grocery shopping). And since I often had one or two very young children with me, I imagine people often assumed that my poor life choices put me in the position that I was in. A sixteen-year-old with a toddler, buying sugary cereal, perpetuating a cycle of poor choices, malnourishment, and poverty . . .
So when it comes to looking at someone in the grocery store or 7/11 and assuming I know what led them there and the circumstances of their lives, I'm not a proponent. Sometimes our assumptions are right, but sometimes they're wrong.
There are cheats and lazy people. But if we have to err, I want to err on the side of kids having food.
This is my opinion also.
If someone wants to cheat the system or commit fraud they will do it and we should try to stop it but is that really worth children going hungry? I'm willing to pay for a few people to abuse the system if it means less hungry children. I grew up in poverty and most of the people I grew up with still live in poverty, I wouldn't want to do anything that causes a child to be hungry.8 -
Government money, government rules. Don't like it, get off government money. Problem solved.6
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There is so much condescending bull**** in this comment thread. Here's my take on it. I've been on SNAP twice in my life. Once about 5 years ago, and recently went back on. The last time I was on it, I lost 70lbs. This time, I'm losing weight again. Healthy choices are absolutely doable on as Years ago, we were very nearly destitute. I mean rolling nickels to buy toilet paper broke. I don't think the $3-ish I spent once every week or two for my son to have some Pringles and me to have a diet soda was hurting anyone's precious tax dollars. In the years following my first stint on assistance, I made plenty enough money to put myself into a tax bracket that more than made up for my brief time on SNAP.20
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stanmann571 wrote: »SmithsonianEmpress wrote: »I like the idea of ruling out complete crap from being purchased. It is not a right to buy junk food, it is a choice, and a luxury one at that, since soda and energy drinks have zero nutrition. The SNAP program was designed to help people in need eat healthier and to assist in food cost. If you don't want to be regulated, stay off goverment assistance programs. I was able to buy plenty of healthy foods the 9 months I was on SNAP.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. 1. Soda...specifically Sprite....has saved my life on many occasions when my glucose level plummeted...I'd call that nutritious for the given situation 2. The program was NOT designed to help people in need eat healthier. It WAS designed, however, to help people "in need"...however you define that....gain assistance in food cost. The individuals who make the rules decided that a vast major of users of this program need to be educated on nutrition and thus came all the stipulations. A recent example...used to be able to get 2%,1% and skim milk. Now only 1% and skim is allowed.
Now the bolded comment you made above....RUDE RUDE RUDE and again RUDE! Your assumption is that everyone on the program wants to be on the program---classified ignorance. Oh, and kudos for your 9 month healthy shopping spree but for many people this assistance program is for a lifetime.
IF your "temporary need" is "for a lifetime"... it's not the program that has failed. it's you.
I see now why you only have 6 friends on here. Smh. You know, a closed mind gets you know where in life.7 -
SmithsonianEmpress wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »SmithsonianEmpress wrote: »I like the idea of ruling out complete crap from being purchased. It is not a right to buy junk food, it is a choice, and a luxury one at that, since soda and energy drinks have zero nutrition. The SNAP program was designed to help people in need eat healthier and to assist in food cost. If you don't want to be regulated, stay off goverment assistance programs. I was able to buy plenty of healthy foods the 9 months I was on SNAP.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. 1. Soda...specifically Sprite....has saved my life on many occasions when my glucose level plummeted...I'd call that nutritious for the given situation 2. The program was NOT designed to help people in need eat healthier. It WAS designed, however, to help people "in need"...however you define that....gain assistance in food cost. The individuals who make the rules decided that a vast major of users of this program need to be educated on nutrition and thus came all the stipulations. A recent example...used to be able to get 2%,1% and skim milk. Now only 1% and skim is allowed.
Now the bolded comment you made above....RUDE RUDE RUDE and again RUDE! Your assumption is that everyone on the program wants to be on the program---classified ignorance. Oh, and kudos for your 9 month healthy shopping spree but for many people this assistance program is for a lifetime.
IF your "temporary need" is "for a lifetime"... it's not the program that has failed. it's you.
I see now why you only have 6 friends on here. Smh. You know, a closed mind gets you know where in life.
I only have 6 friends, because I reject 90% of friend requests because they don't send any introduction.
Additionally, I know what poor looks like, I know what needy looks like and I know(from experience and observation) that a preponderance of those receiving assistance don't "need" it.7 -
SmithsonianEmpress wrote: »
It's exactly that simple for MOST people receiving assistance. Self inflicted problems.6 -
SmithsonianEmpress wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »SmithsonianEmpress wrote: »I like the idea of ruling out complete crap from being purchased. It is not a right to buy junk food, it is a choice, and a luxury one at that, since soda and energy drinks have zero nutrition. The SNAP program was designed to help people in need eat healthier and to assist in food cost. If you don't want to be regulated, stay off goverment assistance programs. I was able to buy plenty of healthy foods the 9 months I was on SNAP.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. 1. Soda...specifically Sprite....has saved my life on many occasions when my glucose level plummeted...I'd call that nutritious for the given situation 2. The program was NOT designed to help people in need eat healthier. It WAS designed, however, to help people "in need"...however you define that....gain assistance in food cost. The individuals who make the rules decided that a vast major of users of this program need to be educated on nutrition and thus came all the stipulations. A recent example...used to be able to get 2%,1% and skim milk. Now only 1% and skim is allowed.
Now the bolded comment you made above....RUDE RUDE RUDE and again RUDE! Your assumption is that everyone on the program wants to be on the program---classified ignorance. Oh, and kudos for your 9 month healthy shopping spree but for many people this assistance program is for a lifetime.
IF your "temporary need" is "for a lifetime"... it's not the program that has failed. it's you.
I see now why you only have 6 friends on here. Smh. You know, a closed mind gets you know where in life.
Members have the option to reject friends requests.1 -
suzannesimmons3 wrote: »OliveGirl128 wrote: »SmithsonianEmpress wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »SmithsonianEmpress wrote: »I like the idea of ruling out complete crap from being purchased. It is not a right to buy junk food, it is a choice, and a luxury one at that, since soda and energy drinks have zero nutrition. The SNAP program was designed to help people in need eat healthier and to assist in food cost. If you don't want to be regulated, stay off goverment assistance programs. I was able to buy plenty of healthy foods the 9 months I was on SNAP.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. 1. Soda...specifically Sprite....has saved my life on many occasions when my glucose level plummeted...I'd call that nutritious for the given situation 2. The program was NOT designed to help people in need eat healthier. It WAS designed, however, to help people "in need"...however you define that....gain assistance in food cost. The individuals who make the rules decided that a vast major of users of this program need to be educated on nutrition and thus came all the stipulations. A recent example...used to be able to get 2%,1% and skim milk. Now only 1% and skim is allowed.
Now the bolded comment you made above....RUDE RUDE RUDE and again RUDE! Your assumption is that everyone on the program wants to be on the program---classified ignorance. Oh, and kudos for your 9 month healthy shopping spree but for many people this assistance program is for a lifetime.
IF your "temporary need" is "for a lifetime"... it's not the program that has failed. it's you.
I see now why you only have 6 friends on here. Smh. You know, a closed mind gets you know where in life.
Members have the option to reject friends requests.
I reject everyone who random requests me with no details. Which is a lot....if you want to be my friend tell me why
For some people, friend requests are a popularity contest. For some of us, it's a minimal IQ test.6 -
Am I the only person who thinks it odd to have any "friends" on here at all? I just don't get it, so I don't accept any. Why do I want friends on here? To look like I have a lot of friends? To message someone back and forth who I have never met? I'm not trying to be funny, I truly don't get it. I might have one "friend" on here. She's a real life friend. I don't even know if she is on my friend list. My list might be 0 friends, lol. I guess I'm just too old to understand "friending" people I don't actually know, whether it be on here, Facebook, or wherever. I hope people don't take it personally when I don't accept their friend request. I don't even know what accepting a friend request means. Am I obligated to maintain a messaging friendship? To like other people's posts? That's just way too much pressure. I have a hard enough time making time in my life for my actual real-life friends.
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suzannesimmons3 wrote: »OliveGirl128 wrote: »SmithsonianEmpress wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »SmithsonianEmpress wrote: »I like the idea of ruling out complete crap from being purchased. It is not a right to buy junk food, it is a choice, and a luxury one at that, since soda and energy drinks have zero nutrition. The SNAP program was designed to help people in need eat healthier and to assist in food cost. If you don't want to be regulated, stay off goverment assistance programs. I was able to buy plenty of healthy foods the 9 months I was on SNAP.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. 1. Soda...specifically Sprite....has saved my life on many occasions when my glucose level plummeted...I'd call that nutritious for the given situation 2. The program was NOT designed to help people in need eat healthier. It WAS designed, however, to help people "in need"...however you define that....gain assistance in food cost. The individuals who make the rules decided that a vast major of users of this program need to be educated on nutrition and thus came all the stipulations. A recent example...used to be able to get 2%,1% and skim milk. Now only 1% and skim is allowed.
Now the bolded comment you made above....RUDE RUDE RUDE and again RUDE! Your assumption is that everyone on the program wants to be on the program---classified ignorance. Oh, and kudos for your 9 month healthy shopping spree but for many people this assistance program is for a lifetime.
IF your "temporary need" is "for a lifetime"... it's not the program that has failed. it's you.
I see now why you only have 6 friends on here. Smh. You know, a closed mind gets you know where in life.
Members have the option to reject friends requests.
I reject everyone who random requests me with no details. Which is a lot....if you want to be my friend tell me why
I automatically reject any requests from people who don't have profile pictures. I also reject all requests from guys.1 -
suzannesimmons3 wrote: »OliveGirl128 wrote: »suzannesimmons3 wrote: »OliveGirl128 wrote: »SmithsonianEmpress wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »SmithsonianEmpress wrote: »I like the idea of ruling out complete crap from being purchased. It is not a right to buy junk food, it is a choice, and a luxury one at that, since soda and energy drinks have zero nutrition. The SNAP program was designed to help people in need eat healthier and to assist in food cost. If you don't want to be regulated, stay off goverment assistance programs. I was able to buy plenty of healthy foods the 9 months I was on SNAP.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. 1. Soda...specifically Sprite....has saved my life on many occasions when my glucose level plummeted...I'd call that nutritious for the given situation 2. The program was NOT designed to help people in need eat healthier. It WAS designed, however, to help people "in need"...however you define that....gain assistance in food cost. The individuals who make the rules decided that a vast major of users of this program need to be educated on nutrition and thus came all the stipulations. A recent example...used to be able to get 2%,1% and skim milk. Now only 1% and skim is allowed.
Now the bolded comment you made above....RUDE RUDE RUDE and again RUDE! Your assumption is that everyone on the program wants to be on the program---classified ignorance. Oh, and kudos for your 9 month healthy shopping spree but for many people this assistance program is for a lifetime.
IF your "temporary need" is "for a lifetime"... it's not the program that has failed. it's you.
I see now why you only have 6 friends on here. Smh. You know, a closed mind gets you know where in life.
Members have the option to reject friends requests.
I reject everyone who random requests me with no details. Which is a lot....if you want to be my friend tell me why
I automatically reject any requests from people who don't have profile pictures. I also reject all requests from guys.
Yeah...I've had some disturbing messages from men on here.....
Ha, yeah the messages we could share lol.
But, I do the auto reject because my husband and I guard our marriage very carefully, and it's a long standing 'rule' for both of us to not have online 'friends' of the opposite sex, (exception being family/relatives). We know 4 people personally, who's affairs started via fb, so that's made a pretty big impact on us. But yeah, the whole 'friend' thing doesn't mean a whole lot here-I don't even check my feed.2 -
US debt is at 20 trillion dollars. thats 13 zeroes after 2. so govt. spending is now being done by borrowing from the future generations. because of that, 1$ of additional debt is now causing a rise in GDP 1/3rd of what it used to 20 years back. there might be a time some decades down the line when new debt will cease to increase GDP.1
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LJGettinSexy wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »
So why can't people decide for themselves (common sense) what's healthy and appropriate for their families?
It's not an all or nothing issue.
To a great extent, that can decide. But the reality is, they are spending other people's money, and there are always strings attached when the government/public funding is involved.
I'm not in favor of adding any more restrictions, but when on public assistance in the USA, government restrictions are part of the 'deal.'
If you've worked and paid taxes and somehow need assistance, you're not spending other people's money. It is a system set up to help people in need. It's not a way of life for everyone receiving assistance. That's what wrong with society, no one can need help at one point or another. They're not stealing their way through life, they've applied for assistance and was accepted in the program. Yes, you must be approved tor receive government assistance.
I disagree. If you're on assistance, whether you paid in to it or not, you are spending government money. We all pay in to it. But we don't all go on assistance.
When taxpayer money is being spent, I think it's reasonable to expect some restrictions.5 -
US debt is at 20 trillion dollars. thats 13 zeroes after 2. so govt. spending is now being done by borrowing from the future generations. because of that, 1$ of additional debt is now causing a rise in GDP 1/3rd of what it used to 20 years back. there might be a time some decades down the line when new debt will cease to increase GDP.
http://www.economonitor.com/dolanecon/2015/12/01/dont-sweat-the-debt-why-the-federal-budget-is-not-really-out-of-control/?utm_source=hootsuite
I am not an economic expert, but I think most layperson's discussions about "the national debt" are fraught with misunderstanding, inaccuracy, and alarmism. I thought this was a good overview.
As I wrote in an earlier post, spending for food stamps is minuscule compared to other areas of the budget.6 -
LJGettinSexy wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »
So why can't people decide for themselves (common sense) what's healthy and appropriate for their families?
It's not an all or nothing issue.
To a great extent, that can decide. But the reality is, they are spending other people's money, and there are always strings attached when the government/public funding is involved.
I'm not in favor of adding any more restrictions, but when on public assistance in the USA, government restrictions are part of the 'deal.'
If you've worked and paid taxes and somehow need assistance, you're not spending other people's money. It is a system set up to help people in need. It's not a way of life for everyone receiving assistance. That's what wrong with society, no one can need help at one point or another. They're not stealing their way through life, they've applied for assistance and was accepted in the program. Yes, you must be approved tor receive government assistance.
I disagree. If you're on assistance, whether you paid in to it or not, you are spending government money. We all pay in to it. But we don't all go on assistance.
When taxpayer money is being spent, I think it's reasonable to expect some restrictions.
We don't all go "on assistance" (even though there is no way of telling when you might need it) by getting food stamps, but virtually every one in America is accepting a government handout in one way or another. I haven't experienced a hurricane or natural disaster in my lifetime, but I don't begrudge the people in Houston for the billions and billions of dollars they are going to get in the future.
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