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Oregon Governor Lives One Week on Food Stamps
By JLP | April 26, 2007
I used to work in a grocery store and am quite familiar with food stamps. The lady’s buying habits in the video are MUCH better than I remember of the typical food stamp user, which is a shame since those with poor shopping habits are most likely to become those with poor health. I always thought they should limit what people can buy with food stamps. I know this goes against personal freedom but do people who are on food stamps need to buy soda?
Topics: Budgeting | 12 Comments »
April 26th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
How would we decide what foods can be purchased and what is off limits? In my opinion hamburger helper and mac & cheese should not be on the list, those are hideously unhealthy and may be “quick and easy”, but hardly appropriate food for 3 growing kids.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
I don’t think it practical to limit what it covers, except by category (e.g., no tobacco or alcohol). If mac & cheese is good enough (non-lethal anyway) for paying customers, it’s good enough for food stamps. It’s better than the alternative–giving cash–any day.
I’m unclear how WIC relates:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/benefitsandservices/foodpkggenfaqs.HTM#1
April 27th, 2007 at 7:30 am
Limiting what you can buy with food stamps isn’t limiting personal freedom, it is providing a service to people in need. But while providing that service the taxpayers shouldn’t be taken advantage of by buying things outside the norm.
I used to work the overnight shift at a supermarket. One man would come in and buy two shopping carts of soda on his EBT Card (Food Stamps Debit Card) he would then go into the parking lot and poor the soda out in a storm drain. Then he would redeem his bottles, get his cash and buy some beer. Since I was the only one working in the store besides the stockers I never said anything.
Another girl would come in with her WIC checks talking on her cell phone with her nails done in acrylic wearing Tommy Jeans.
One time I even saw someone buy Alaskan Crab legs and Fillet Mignon! And then ring up their case of beer and cigs separately.
It bothered me that I was working a second job, often 18 hours straight, to get by and these people were working the system horribly. Limiting what they can buy is most certainly a sound idea. For every one of the selfish people I listed above, there were five who honestly needed the help and didn’t abuse the system. They would take whatever help was offered because they have a genuine need. Sorry for the rant, this is a touchy subject of mine
April 27th, 2007 at 7:46 am
WIC is a program to help Women Infants and Children that is similar but in my opinion far seperior to food stamps. There are “WIC aproved foods” that are frugal healthy choices. If I recall corectly from my stint as a nusring student in public health you get coupons for stuff like eggs, healthy cereals and such. It Also limits fraud as they are used with a photo ID so they cannot be resold.
It also comes with some education and guidance for what constitutes a healthy diet. I have alway thought food stamps should be revamped to follow the WIC format.
April 27th, 2007 at 9:45 am
If they’re getting “free money” essentially, then in my opinion taxpayers have every right to limit what it can be used for. On top of that, some may not be educated on nutrition facts so forcing them to buy healthier stuff would be better than free reign.
If they want to buy soda let them do it on their own dime.
April 27th, 2007 at 11:40 am
I have absolutely no problem with “nutrition counseling” being part and parcel of receiving food aid. People should know how to shop for healthful foods, and be encouraged to do so.
But there’s something I really find appalling about saying, “The other taxpayers don’t think they should have to pay if you occasionally want cake and ice cream for your kids. Who cares if it’s their birthday?”
Poverty is grinding enough as it is without taking away the relatively affordable pleasure of snack food.
April 27th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
The problem is that this sort of control would be hugely expensive. The only stores that could easily implement this would be those that use barcode readers and have good inventory software – and the “approved list” will have to be compiled by some centralized bureaucracy that will need to be paid for, gotten to the stores, and integrated into their inventory control and payment software. And doubtless something will be missed: one may be able to easily deal with liquor and beer, but how do you define soda versus bottled water? Hamburger versus filet mignon?
One public policy issue is that you either pay for corruption by tolerating a certain level of it and by having processes and bureaucracy. Too much bureaucracy and it becomes more cumbersome and expensive than the corruption itself would be. None, and you get a free-for-all. Finding the right balance is tricky.
April 27th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Food stamps should be more along the lines of wic. Our family went through a tight time and I took advantage of every sale, coupons, cooking from scratch, and gardening. I fed 2 adults/1 child on $35-40 a week and that included snacks/sodas. I would have gotten much more for 3 people had I qualified for food stamps. It was frustrating to watch those with food stamps/cards purchase prime steaks, seafood, expensive pastries, etc. They got the basics by going to different food pantries every week. There they got rice, pasta, chicken, etc. I know this from working in a social service office and listening to them tell me their strategies. They broke no rules so there was no reason not to tell me. I don’t begrudge those in need, but they should not eat better than the working poor or working lower middle class who don’t qualify.
April 28th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
I worked at a grocery store in high school and there were plenty of people who truly needed food stamps and WIC, and there were a few who gamed the system. And there always will be.
For people who get paid off the books in cash, it can be very easy to have a very nice income, but still qualify for food stamps. (but that is illegal in many ways!) The problem is determining who really needs the assistance, and who is looking for a hand out.
As far as saying they can’t buy soda… Where would you draw the line? No sodas, no sweets, candy, ice cream, sugary breakfast cereal, etc. Policing it would be a logistical nightmare!
WIC (mentioned in comment 4) only allows people to get approved healthy foods, and sometimes only the generic version. It would be much easier to align food stamps in a similar fashion.
November 10th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
In the past I have known families that were on WIC who wouldn’t make their kids eat the listed cereals and wouldn’t make them drink the milk. When the time came for them to get their next allotment, they were giving the cereal and milk away, if they hadn’t sold it for cash. As far as somebody using WIC and having a cell phone and acrylic nails, maybe she was buying the stuff for somebody that couldn’t get to the store. Some people only have a cell phone and no land line phone. It could even have been one of those prepaid cell phones. I once saw a lady in a fur coat and Cadillac using food stamps, well I did some checking and found out she was a caregiver for the person whose foodstamps she was using. At that time the person was completely bed-ridden and couldn’t get to the store. I have known lots of families that have been on food stamps and have never known any of them to buy expensive food items. Junk food, yes, but everybody is entitled to have some junk food. What a lot of people don’t realize is that food stamps are meant as a supplement to your cash. They aren’t meant to buy all of your groceries for a month. When you run out, you have a choice you either pay cash for groceries or else you are hungry. Most people are smart enough to make their food stamps go as far as possible. I really doubt if most of the stories I hear about people buying extravagant food items or all junk food are the complete truth. I also question the remark about the man buy all the soda and then dumping it out in the parking lot and turning the bottles in for cash to buy beer. Of course, here in SD we don’t pay a deposit on cans and bottles. I have also never heard of a grocery store letting food stamps be used to buy gum. The price of gum now you wouldn’t get much change back from a dollar stamp. It would have been different back when I was kid when a pack of gum was 5-10 cents. The sticks of gum were also larger back then. Here in SD we haven’t had the coupons as food stamps for at least 10 years, we have had the EBT card, and you don’t get change back on them. The point is even with a system like WIC it is still possible to take advantage of the system. I am on food stamps because my retirement social security is only $600 a month and I get $155.00 month in food stamps, I also qualify for senior citizens commodities because I am so low income, but I make my food stamps go as far as possible. I buy a family pkg. of med. priced hamburger, a 10 pack of turkey burgers, store brand products when they are cheaper than other brands. All summer I haven’t been able to afford to buy any of the seasonal fruits. I also have an adult mentally handicapped daughter living with me, so I do have to buy some products that she likes.
September 24th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
This is the stupidest conversation I have ever seen. I am guessing about all of “these people” that you have mentioned have worked and paid their taxes, so to put it straight for people who obviously do not understand this, they are spending their own money, so they can get whatever they want as far as I am concerned.
March 10th, 2010 at 3:55 am
I know sometimes people buy steak or crab and that might make people upset. But maybe it’s because they have something to celebrate. I bought steak on my birthday because I was unemployed and really had no money to go out to dinner, do something like bowling, etc. So I watched a movie with friends and grilled. People abuse the system, but it’s a down economy and you shouldn’t just assume you know why someone is buying something. When people are poor and all they have is their food ebt, it makes them maybe to buy some cookies or pop, etc. There’s more pieces to the puzzle…sugar is a legalized drug used to control people yadda yadda because healthy food in this country is expense bla bla no one is going to stop drinking their diet crutch caffiene when they are struggling and depressed, that’s the last time they are going to quit that kind of stuff.