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stigma??what stigma??? it's more like entitlement...the more they can get, the more they will take.....food stamps, medicaid, section 8, cash assistance (stupidest damn thing I've ever seen...they just buy gum and get $50 in cash as change and buy smokes and beer)
the whole system needs revamping..no able bodied single person should ever get a govt handout. If you have a child and get food stamps, you should be going to a food bank and they decide what you're going to get...not YOU. And you should be on mandatory birth control and any child born while on assistance doesn't qualify you for more assistance.
the card here in Florida has a picture of the American Flag..( all stores that take EBT have a large pic of the card) it's easy to tell the EBT card from a back card.
i wonder who these nefarious 'theys' are that you keep referring to?
guess you just can't imagine someone like yourself ever needing nutrition assistance. FYI, pride goeth before a fall! words you probably should pay close attention to!
just goes to show that so many who are against 'food stamps' are really against the people (the theys) that are stereotyped for needing them, what a shame...
I am in the camp that wishes there were a way to limit food stamp purchases to healthier choices. I think that often people who make poor choices are doing so because of ignorance of healthier ones. If we can tell recipients that they cannot buy soap and toilet paper with food stamps, I think we should be able to tell them they cannot buy soft drinks and bottled water. Perhaps classes about nutrition and food preparation should be a condition of receiving assistance. Sorry, but I do not buy the argument that healthy foods are too expensive. Fresh produce out of season certainly is. You have to learn what to buy and when. Frozen and canned basic vegetables are not expensive and are just as nutritious as fresh --- maybe more so, depending on how "fresh" some veggies actually are.
Yes, the working poor sometimes do not have time to make complex meals from scratch, but cooking from scratch does not have to be time consuming and complicated. It does have to be learned, though. If there is a non-working adult in the family, there is no excuse for using expensive convenience foods.
I have had a memorable personal experience with observing someone making purchases with food stamps --- the old fashioned paper kind. I'll admit, it was late, I was tired, I only needed a few items for breakfast the next day, and I was impatient. I was behind a woman with two carts loaded above the brim in the only open check out line. Inevitably, she did not have enough stamps to cover her purchases, which included things like canned iced tea and a signed and numbered Hormel ham. (Yes, the experience was that memorable.) I had to wait while she chose the items to remove from the order. Yes, I thought she was abusing food stamps --- even if what she did was completely legal.
There are some places where you really can't drink the tap water. Our tap water is supposed to be really good, but it has such a strong chlorine odor that we can't drink it unless we boil it or let it sit out a while, and then it has little bits of white stuff floating in it. I think bottled water is a necessity sometimes.
WIC has classes about nutrition and food prep. Most people I've known who had to sit through them said they weren't helpful at all. A big complaint was that the classes were bilingual and they had to sit through the same video in English and then in Spanish.
And yes, I've seen people abuse food stamps before, like my neighbor who tried to sell me some of her food stamps, or a customer I had once when I worked at a grocery store, who was buying $500 worth of smoked salmon in wooden boxes. People like that are the exception rather than the rule, and yet they're what most people think of when they think of a food stamp recipient.
There are some places where you really can't drink the tap water. Our tap water is supposed to be really good, but it has such a strong chlorine odor that we can't drink it unless we boil it or let it sit out a while, and then it has little bits of white stuff floating in it. I think bottled water is a necessity sometimes.
WIC has classes about nutrition and food prep. Most people I've known who had to sit through them said they weren't helpful at all. A big complaint was that the classes were bilingual and they had to sit through the same video in English and then in Spanish.
And yes, I've seen people abuse food stamps before, like my neighbor who tried to sell me some of her food stamps, or a customer I had once when I worked at a grocery store, who was buying $500 worth of smoked salmon in wooden boxes. People like that are the exception rather than the rule, and yet they're what most people think of when they think of a food stamp recipient.
If your tap water is safe to drink, then using bottled water for sensory issues is a luxury, not a necessity. I would filter my tap water before buying bottled water.
If you know people who did not think the classes were helpful, then perhaps they were already knowledgeable. I once met a young woman who had been told she was anemic. We discussed her diet, and she had absolutely no concept of what anything near a normal diet should be. She was feeding her two year old soft drinks and chips. She had never cooked a meal from scratch. Someone like that is going to be a challenge to teach. She would need to learn how to make a shopping list, go to the store and select purchases that take advantage of specials, use coupons, and prepare the food. The girl I am referring to resisted all suggestions as to where she could find assistance with meal planning and preparation. She did not work, so time was not an issue.
WIC is more restrictive than SNAP. Maybe SNAP should follow WIC rules, with the addition of raw meat?
Who's going to provide this education? And who's going to pay for it? Who's going to check up on people to make sure they're practicing what they've learned?
No doubt the experience would have been memorable no matter the means of payment.
There are free resources already in place.. Every state in the union participates in the cooperative extension service:
Maybe you can explain to me why a person making that amount of money thought it was a good idea to have a family?
There are many people who WERE making more money when they had kids, and now in this economy or due to divorce are making minimum wage. To say anyone who can't pay their bills and save money when bringing home $230 a week or so is beyond ignorant, IMO. I actually work with people (nursing home) who are in these circumstances, and even when signing up for every extra shift they can get, still make so little they need assistance to get health insurance, food, heating help, etc. What should they do, give their kids away?? I am lucky enough not to need help, but feel very strongly that "There but for the Grace of God go I".
No, LOL! I used "girl" deliberately. She was about 16 or 17 years old.
I learned how to cook from my mother, who learned from her mother ....
I grew up in the era when most moms stayed at home and the vast majority of meals were prepared from scratch. Soft drinks were a treat, not for daily consumption.
I also admit I am familiar with the cooperative extension service because I was a member of the 4-H Club.
There are, unfortunately, families in which no one knows how to cook because no one in the older generations knows how to cook. Add in the removal of "home ec" from schools, and where are they going to learn? My three year old granddaughter already "helps" in the kitchen.
If your tap water is safe to drink, then using bottled water for sensory issues is a luxury, not a necessity. I would filter my tap water before buying bottled water.
Filters can't be purchased with SNAP benefits; bottled water can.
Quote:
Originally Posted by suzy_q2010
There are free resources already in place.. Every state in the union participates in the cooperative extension service:
Not every Extension service offers the same programs; not every state Extension offers the same programs in every county. And certainly not all Extension programs are free!
The resources are there, but there may not be anyone to deliver them to the intended population.
Online information is great, but that assumes that you have a computer, and that you can read. In English. Not everyone can.
Maybe they COULD afford to have a family BEFORE the hard times hit. Maybe a lot of things. I guess the next thing on the agenda is to sterilize people who make less money? Again, people make a LOT of assumptions about other people's lives. I know people who were doing quite well before all this economy tanking hit. I wouldn't advise them to get rid of their kids just so they can save money. Would you??
And sadly, people actually DID do some of this in the 1930s (like abandon their kids to adoption agencies and orphanages so they could get by). This is one reason we have programs like this now.
And here's the rub, in some cases people DO grow in their careers and succeed, but when they get to the level where you can easily afford things, you're expected to either travel all the time or be in "work" mode sometimes your every waking hour, which makes it impossible to have kids unless you "scale back" to a work/career situation that is hard to afford a family. So maybe if society wants only "successful" people to have kids, then maybe society should change so that success doesn't mean worship your job 24/7.
Quote:
Originally Posted by non-creep
You seem like a very decent and good person. I agree with your posts. If I could, I would feel sorry for the so-called "haves" who aren't content with their lot unless they're judging other people and projecting their frustrations onto discussion forums like this. The poor are always easy targets, IMO.
If there's such thing as karma, it would only be fair that such people were forced to experience first hand what it is like to be poor.
I haven't been on this or the "Employment" C-D boards anywhere near as much as when I used to say 3-4 years ago, but back then there were quite a few "haves" on here calling all the "have nots" lazy, unmotivated, etc. and then they lost their high-end job and didn't get another one for 1-2 years and suddenly changed their tune (i.e. now they were saying that employers should pay more, unemployment pay should be extended, etc.).
If your tap water is safe to drink, then using bottled water for sensory issues is a luxury, not a necessity. I would filter my tap water before buying bottled water.
It's not a sensory issue if it tastes so bad you can't swallow it.
If we don't allow people on SNAP to buy bottled water when they need it, then their kids will drink juice or other sugary drinks instead. That will contribute to childhood obesity, which will raise medical costs in the long run.
Not if you were on SNAP, you wouldn't; it doesn't cover water filters. It does cover bottled water, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81
Filters can't be purchased with SNAP benefits; bottled water can.
Not every Extension service offers the same programs; not every state Extension offers the same programs in every county. And certainly not all Extension programs are free!
The resources are there, but there may not be anyone to deliver them to the intended population.
Online information is great, but that assumes that you have a computer, and that you can read. In English. Not everyone can.
That is not for consumers, but for nutrition educators. So it's great if your state participates. Not all do.
I was referring to my own personal preference. I can afford bottled water, but if my tap water had a bad taste, I personally would buy a filter before buying bottled water.
Would it not make sense, though, to use discretionary money to buy a water filter --- perhaps even find one at a thrift shop or yard sale --- and use SNAP funds for food? The point is that tap water is safe. Buying bottled water is not necessary.
I used Extension services as an example because that is one that I am familiar with. I am sure there are others. Why can the same people who sign people up for SNAP not make it a point to know what local programs are available?
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I am lucky enough not to need help, but feel very strongly that "There but for the Grace of God go I".
