Should food stamps only be used to buy certain foods? (military, dollar)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I take back what I said about the generic vs brand name portion. I forget that not all stores have a generic equiv. Plus someone mentioned the coupons, if used, would make the brand name cheaper. Good points. I stand corrected on that part.
When was it that you had to buy government cheese and canned meat and all of that? Did it stop in the 80's or so? And why is it not used anymore?
I am not a fan of the welfare state. But neither am I a fan of the nanny state. This thread seems to be combining the worst of both worlds.
Here's what I'd like to see: abolish food stamps, govt housing, and all the other govt. funded programs for the poor. Replace them with a monthly lump sum deposit into the recipient's checking account for a specified, limited period. The recipient is free to decide how to spend it- food, rent, transportation, etc. Sure, many will blow it on junk food, cigarettes, etc. But make them responsible for their deciscions. A person would have to be either a citizen or a legal resident to qualify. Having more children would not increase their payment. A recipient could only be on the program for a limited time, and there would be a life-time cap. The bar for qualifying for such a program I would set relatively high. Just because you are 20, single, and have 2 kids would not qualify you. You better find your baby's daddy fast- he needs to pay. If you can't find a job in your area- move to where the jobs are. No more 3 and 4 generations living in the same govt projects in the ghetto.
I think such a program could be relatively simple to administer, unlike the current maze of programs that all need govt workers to run.
I take back what I said about the generic vs brand name portion. I forget that not all stores have a generic equiv. Plus someone mentioned the coupons, if used, would make the brand name cheaper. Good points. I stand corrected on that part.
When was it that you had to buy government cheese and canned meat and all of that? Did it stop in the 80's or so? And why is it not used anymore?
I don't know much about the canned meat and cheese at all so my assumption could be way off but I have a feeling that if someone was living on government issued stuff like that their blood pressure would be WAY up. Lots of sodium I'm assuming in a lot of cheap canned stuff like that. At least thats what I would think.
No. I don't think the government should be teling people what to buy and eat. I don't like our current food stamp system but as long as this is what we have I say let them buy whatever they want and suffer the consequences of their choices.
I can say from experience that additional time to prepare ingrediants from scratch is not there. You look for high calories and low prep time/work because you simply don't have the time. Dried beans are dirt cheap for example but take hours to prepare.
I can say from experience that is BS, it might take 24 hours to make beans but the trick is to not sit there watching them hydrate. What are you looking at, 5 or 10 minutes work? If you're making bread that is time consuming but preparing say something like Chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans takes about 1/2 hour if you include clean up. It takes longer to cook but you can be doing something else while that is happening....
Seeing as our tax dollars go towards paying for food stamp cards, should there be limits on what can be purchased with them? I say we should cut out brand name products, soda, junk food snacks ie; Twinkies, Ho Ho's, etc, sugar cereals, etc. It should be used on nutritious foods, especially seeing as food stamps are mainly used for kids. I think we should have a say seeing as it's taxpayer money. In my teens, I worked at a grocery store. I witnessed daily what was purchased with FS. Most of it was food that is absolutely horrible for you and almost all of it brand name. If you want junk food, buy it with cash...not on my dime.
Now if we could only stop the other food stamp epidemic...people selling the card balances for cash.
Oh no, they spend their cash on cigarettes and booze.
No. I don't think the government should be teling people what to buy and eat. I don't like our current food stamp system but as long as this is what we have I say let them buy whatever they want and suffer the consequences of their choices.
They aren't telling them what to buy, they are simply saying that public money, should be used for food that has a value. If they want to buy garbage, they should do it with their own money.
They aren't telling them what to buy, they are simply saying that public money, should be used for food that has a value. If they want to buy garbage, they should do it with their own money.
The problem with giving people a lump sum is you then have no control over what they do with it. At least if you are paying for their housing you can also make sure they actually have a home for their kids, and that it is safe. Same goes for food stamps. In the majority of cases the kids are being fed, even if it is junk. The risk of what could happen to quite a few of these kids if their parents were just given cash doesn't bear thinking about. And while the parents should have to bear responsibility for that, the fact is those kids will suffer.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What are you looking at, 5 or 10 minutes work? If you're making bread that is time consuming but preparing say something like Chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans takes about 1/2 hour if you include clean up. It takes longer to cook but you can be doing something else while that is happening....
