Trump's team is reportedly interested in banning junk food purchases for 41 million SNAP users

[Herbivore 1,115]

36 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

I would strongly disagree that buying chips or oreos is "simply living".  Yes, comfort foods are a part of life but they are not essential. 

I guess I feel like food assistance funds should only be used on essential meals. So while I don't think we need to worry about fresh vs frozen, perceived quality, name brand, etc... I do think we need to consider what makes up these essentials. 

Like what is the difference between buying Oreos at the supermarket or at the gas station? Besides value. It's still Oreo cookies and it's still a luxury. 

I am all for allowing families using benefits to go for cheap TV dinners and similar things regardless of the reason, but I agree, time saving and convenience is important. As long as it's fulfilling the need of essential meals 

Families getting benefits can absolutely buy snacks and buy a kids birthday cake. They can do this with their own money. These benefits are meant to be a supplement. they should be used on the essential items, which in turn should allow families to use their regular funds on any non essential snacks they feel they need. If they feel they can't afford this stuff without government assistance then you don't buy them.   any time in my life where I felt I needed to cut back on some spending, fast food and snacks were the first to go. 

I know you were just giving an example on the fly but if a person doesn't have a car, do they really need to walk to Wawa to get a sandwich over making their own ham and cheese at home? I feel like someone in this situation is probably getting other living assistance that would allow them to be living somewhere with a fridge. 

If you don't have a fridge, can you buy 2 slices of bread, 2 slices of ham, and a slice of cheese? But yeah, if the plan generally followed what you are saying here, I would agree it was a good path. 

[wiffleball 4,788]

2 hours ago, listen2me 23 said:

Who is lobbied by frito lay is the question

Actually, did a case study in college.

#1 lobbyists for EBT?  - Soft drink companies. 

[wiffleball 4,788]

At the nascent stages of Covid, an erstwhile young congressman suggested effectively eliminating gas station sweets in exchange for making hot "to go" food from restaurants covered by EBT. 

Remember when all the restaurants were suffering due to covid lockdowns?  This Would have added a huge spark without having to authorize any new funding.  And; better quality foods for families. 

 

Made way too much sense. 

Can't have that. 

[WhiteWonder 2,675]

1 hour ago, Herbivore said:

If you don't have a fridge, can you buy 2 slices of bread, 2 slices of ham, and a slice of cheese? But yeah, if the plan generally followed what you are saying here, I would agree it was a good path. 

Well I was suggesting that anyone on this type of assistance probably has housing assistance and has a fridge. So they are buying a loaf, half pound of lunch meat ham and store brand kraft style cheese slices. 
 

Are there a lot of people with government assisted food budgets who don’t have a way to store food and have to utilize Wawa or places like 7-11 with a microwave?

(I know it was a quick example you gave)

[Hardcore troubadour 14,930]

1 minute ago, WhiteWonder said:

Well I was suggesting that anyone on this type of assistance probably has housing assistance and has a fridge. So they are buying a loaf, half pound of lunch meat ham and store brand kraft style cheese slices. 
 

Are there a lot of people with government assisted food budgets who don’t have a way to store food and have to utilize Wawa or places like 7-11 with a microwave?

(I know it was a quick example you gave)

MDC’s wife got pregnant behind a Wawa. 

[edjr 6,578]

3 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

MDC’s wife got pregnant behind a Wawa. 

why you gotta go there?

[Hardcore troubadour 14,930]

1 minute ago, edjr said:

why you gotta go there?

[Herbivore 1,115]

57 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

Well I was suggesting that anyone on this type of assistance probably has housing assistance and has a fridge. So they are buying a loaf, half pound of lunch meat ham and store brand kraft style cheese slices. 
 

Are there a lot of people with government assisted food budgets who don’t have a way to store food and have to utilize Wawa or places like 7-11 with a microwave?

(I know it was a quick example you gave)

yeah, first line there was more of a goof. I don't know the living arrangements of people on SNAP. It could certainly be that they typically have a fridge and stove. I do think looking at this and making positive cost saving and health related measures sounds like a pretty good idea. I have heard plenty of stories, maybe threads here, about people buying lobster and endless junk food, but I can't say I have ever really seen that. I am sure it exists, just not something I have seen. The soda numbers in the op are wild though. 61% of expenditures for SNAP, 51% for non-SNAP. I looked at the USDA report that the article cited, specifically with the link over the 61% sweetened beverages line and couldn't find anything in with 61% for this line item. In exhibit 5 on page 17 it says 9.25% of SNAP purchases went to sweetened bevs. Not sure where that 61% number came from. 

the below is on page 4 of that study. 

Overall, the findings from this study indicate that SNAP households and non-SNAP households purchased similar foods in the retail outlets in these data. Exhibits 1 and 2 summarize the findings. 

There were no major differences in the expenditure patterns of SNAP and non-SNAP households, no matter how the data were categorized. Similar to most American households:

About 40 cents of every dollar of food expenditures by SNAP households was spent on basic items such as meat, fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, and bread. 

Another 20 cents out of every dollar was spent on sweetened beverages, desserts, salty snacks, candy and sugar. 

The remaining 40 cents were spent on a variety of items such as cereal, prepared foods, dairy products, rice, and beans. 

The top 10 summary categories and the top 7 commodities by expenditure were the same for SNAP and non-SNAP households, although ranked in slightly different orders.

[shorepatrol 1,870]

5 hours ago, supermike80 said:

Tough one for me.   I can't quite decide where I stand on this.  So what I'm saying is I didn't help this thread at all.

 

It's not tough, cut it all. 

[WhiteWonder 2,675]

36 minutes ago, Herbivore said:

The top 10 summary categories and the top 7 commodities by expenditure were the same for SNAP and non-SNAP households, although ranked in slightly different orders.

And all of that is interesting I guess but mostly irrelevant in my personal opinion. Non SNAP households can buy whatever they want with their own money. 
It seems pretty reasonable and logical that if you need government assistance to buy your groceries, you should be limited to essential items for survival and sustenance and then, as mentioned before, you can choose to use your own funds on chips, soda, cookies, candy etc. 

i don’t even know why the OP article is comparing the two. If you tell me 10% of SNAP households are buying candy that’s 10% too much (obviously I don’t really care if they buy a small bag of candy each week)

[edjr 6,578]

1 hour ago, WhiteWonder said:

And all of that is interesting I guess but mostly irrelevant in my personal opinion. Non SNAP households can buy whatever they want with their own money. 
It seems pretty reasonable and logical that if you need government assistance to buy your groceries, you should be limited to essential items for survival and sustenance and then, as mentioned before, you can choose to use your own funds on chips, soda, cookies, candy etc. 

i don’t even know why the OP article is comparing the two. If you tell me 10% of SNAP households are buying candy that’s 10% too much (obviously I don’t really care if they buy a small bag of candy each week)

When my kid asks for a candy bar, I say no and I always let him know I could buy every one in the store. (candy bar, maybe people too)

[Fireballer 2,639]

“If you’re 5 foot 3, and 300 pounds,

My taxes ought not pay, for your box of Fudge Rounds”…

—The “Rich men North of Richmond guy”

[t.j. booker 217]

4 hours ago, Fireballer said:

“If you’re 5 foot 3, and 300 pounds,

My taxes ought not pay, for your box of Fudge Rounds”…

—The “Rich men North of Richmond guy”

 

[avoiding injuries 1,510]

Wawa has become popular around here over the past decade. They make decent sandwiches to go. They have a policy and it’s posted on where you order that no SNAP or EBT customers can get cheese or other add ons to their order and sandwiches can’t be toasted. I wish the grocery stores would not only stop junk food purchases, but also steak, seafood and other “luxury” food items. 

[Mike Hunt 261]

14 hours ago, League Champion said:

Damn, no more Grape Soda and Jolly Ranchers 

Pork rind sales will crash.

[Fireballer 2,639]

1 hour ago, t.j. booker said:

 

No offense…I actually submitted you in the “most liked geek” thread

[Fireballer 2,639]

1 hour ago, avoiding injuries said:

Wawa has become popular around here over the past decade. They make decent sandwiches to go. They have a policy and it’s posted on where you order that no SNAP or EBT customers can get cheese or other add ons to their order and sandwiches can’t be toasted. I wish the grocery stores would not only stop junk food purchases, but also steak, seafood and other “luxury” food items. 

Wow.  I’m sure they’re on island with that stance.

[TBayXXXVII 2,482]

I think SNAP is too lenient.  It allows for the purchase of frozen foods and other crappy grocery items.  Some states allow fast food to be purchased with EBT cards.  If people are on government assistance, the government should absolutely control what you use it on.  It should be restricted to only the necessities and that's it.  Fruits, vegetables, and only "unprepared" foods.  No frozen dinners.  No frozen chicken nuggets/patties.  No boxed pizza.  No fast food.  No Oreos.   No sugary drinks.

The reasoning is very simple.  None of those things are necessary.  On top of that.  SNAP and Medicaid essentially go hand-in-hand.  Tax payers are paying for these people eating then we're paying for their medical costs when the food their buying isn't healthy.

[Cloaca du jour 2,147]

17 hours ago, edjr said:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trumps-team-reportedly-interested-banning-182502141.html
 

#winning

Poor Liberals. They are so torn. it is a GOOD thing, but Trump's idea so we must say it's bad.

Simple. You want junk food? GET A FOCKING JOB!

We do have the fattest poor people...not a bad idea!!!

[Cloaca du jour 2,147]

1 minute ago, TBayXXXVII said:

I think SNAP is too lenient.  It allows for the purchase of frozen foods and other crappy grocery items.  Some states allow fast food to be purchased with EBT cards.  If people are on government assistance, the government should absolutely control what you use it on.  It should be restricted to only the necessities and that's it.  Fruits, vegetables, and only "unprepared" foods.  No frozen dinners.  No frozen chicken nuggets/patties.  No boxed pizza.  No fast food.  No Oreos.   No sugary drinks.

The reasoning is very simple.  None of those things are necessary.  On top of that.  SNAP and Medicaid essentially go hand-in-hand.  Tax payers are paying for these people eating then we're paying for their medical costs when the food their buying isn't healthy.

Make them buy Soap and laundry detergent!!

[edjr 6,578]

11 minutes ago, Cloaca du jour said:

Make them buy Soap and laundry detergent!!

That's for the indians

[TBayXXXVII 2,482]

18 minutes ago, Cloaca du jour said:

Make them buy Soap and laundry detergent!!

I don't have a problem with that being allowed.  Those are more essential than fast food, frozen foods, or other junk.

[Horseman 2,358]

Watermelon is healthy.  

[wiffleball 4,788]

I remember working at a high dollar organic grocery store. 

 

There was this fit, great looking, well dressed,  big jewelry.couple. 

Really quite nice.

They would pull up for check out with at least 2 carts. She had a little over 800 in food stamps every time. They weren't buying oatmeal ; Steak, lobster, you name it. 

[HB Localboy 121]

80% of black womenz on welfares are obese.

 

When I'm in the grocery store and I see a black welfare chick their cart is ALWAYS over flowing with junk food and hundreds of dollars worth of groceries!  I like to stop them and ask them if they are a doctor.  Invariably, they always say "I ain't be no doctors, why you be axing me dat?" 

 

I reply, "You must be a doctor to afford all of those groceries, how else can you afford to pay for all of that?"  

 

[Horseman 2,358]

2 minutes ago, HB Localboy said:

80% of black womenz on welfares are obese.

 

When I'm in the grocery store and I see a black welfare chick their cart is ALWAYS over flowing with junk food and hundreds of dollars worth of groceries!  I like to stop them and ask them if they are a doctor.  Invariably, they always say "I ain't be no doctors, why you be axing me dat?" 

 

I reply, "You must be a doctor to afford all of those groceries, how else can you afford to pay for all of that?"  

 

I get your point, but, I think 80% of black women are overweight period.  The agricultural and industrial revolutions messed with their evolution pretty hard since they were already lagging behind everyone else. 

[HB Localboy 121]

1 minute ago, Horseman said:

I get your point, but, I think 80% of black women are overweight period.  The agricultural and industrial revolutions messed with their evolution pretty hard since they were already lagging behind everyone else. 

I think Jane Goodall was the first person to discover the reason behind that fact.