Hooray for foodstamps

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Call me old-fashioned, but it seems to me that if you lose your job and have no money you're supposed to stop buying overpriced organic imported specialty luxury foods from places like Whole Foods or Trader Joes or the local ethnic grocery.

But hey, now we have food stamps so that people can keep up their upscale lifestyle even when they don't have any money of their own.  That's why you work so hard for your money, right, so that you can subsidize other people's overpriced food habits?

http://www.salon.com/news/us_economy/index.html?story=/mwt/pinched/2010/03/15/hipsters_food_stamps_pinched

(I wish I could afford to eat that well, but I have a job, so I can't...)

[41magsnub]

I just read this a little bit ago.  Raised the blood pressure a bit...

[lupinus]

I find it highly annoying.

I can understand having the occasional nice meal, especially around a holiday or something, but there are a lot that make nice things a habit.

[SteveS]

I don't think that people should have to eat crap like ramen noodles and hamburger helper, but they should make some attempt to use coupons, sales, and other discounts rather then high priced stuff. 

[RevDisk]

"At first, I thought, 'Why should I be on food stamps?'" said Magida, digging into her dinner. "Here I am, this educated person who went to art school, and there are a lot of people who need them more. But then I realized, I need them, too."

Sigh.  How stupid can one person be?   Look, I really like art.  I go to museums, galleries, etc.  I went to college and received an education (which is not the same thing as being an "educated person").  A college degree (or any level of education, certification, etc) does not come with an entitlement to live well.  Hard work and common sense is what lets you live bloody well. 

The primary problem is folks thinking they are entitled.  I loved the guy thinking he was above ramen.  Hell, there were times I would have happily sliced someone's throat for ramen. 

[TMM]

here's what bothers me:

The two friends weren't tabulating the cash in their wallets but what remained of the monthly allotment on their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program debit cards, the official new term for what are still known colloquially as food stamps.

"Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program"?!?! what the hell is that? i wonder how long and how many people it took to make that one up. if it quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, then it might be a....

TMM

[Phantom Warrior]

I have less problem with how they spend the money than that they are receiving it in the first place.  Maybe if they were receiving the much maligned processed food and government cheese instead of cash (or the equivalent) they'd be less willing to go on the dole.

[lee n. field]

Our youngest daughter works in a local Sav-A-Lot.  On LINK card day (Ill-i-noise' equivalent) she comes home ranting.

[RevDisk]

I really don't have the problem with "food stamps" that I do with many other welfare programs.  At least in theory.  WIC doesn't seem to have nearly as much of an issue.  Only acceptable food is on the list, I've never seen anything outrageous on it. 

Again, the problem is when idiots with a sense of entitlement get on said programs.  "Why shouldn't I buy organic smoked salmon and Perrier?"  Because even if you were gaming the system, stock up on rice, flour, canned goods, tuna, etc.  It'll give you a hell of a lot better bang for the buck. 

Personally, I'd prefer we scrap SNAP and expanded WIC. 

[RaspberrySurprise]

Most of the people using bridge cards (Michigan name for food stamp card) where I work aren't buying anything outrageous. Except the lady that bought lobster tails for about twenty dollars and crab legs coming to about forty dollars. For that much money I could probably feed myself and my fiance for at least a week or more.

[Monkeyleg]

I ate almost nothing but macaroni and cheese for about a year when I was in my early twenties. One night the only thing in my apartment to eat was a can of sardines, and I hate sardines. I don't even know where the can came from.

This story makes me want to puke all over their "foodie" food.

[Inor]

Excuse me?!?!

I LIVED on ramen noodles, mac & cheese, and fish that I caught from the local lakes when I was paying my way through college.  To this day, I cannot stand fish because I ate it every day for 4 years!  Foodstamps should pay for the absolute bare minimum sustenance possible to encouage folks to do something productive with their lives and GET OFF FOODSTAMPS!  Food stamps are meant to keep you alive, not make you comfortable, happy, or buy "comfort food".  GRRRR!!!

[coppertales]

Yeah, what really bites is when you follow them out the store, they jump into a fairly new Caddie parked in a handicapped spot......chris3

[Seenterman]

This crap pisses me off. Stuck up "Art" types that think they deserve oh so much better than us serfs.  Even though where paying for them to eat, these clowns should be prosecuted for fraud and giving 3 free meal a day in Club Fed, those are meals I'd be happy to pay for.

[wmenorr67]

Hell if I could afford to get on food stamps I can imagine how much money that would free up for me to buy other things that my family needs and/or wants.

[darius]

I just read this a little bit ago.  Raised the blood pressure a bit...

Maybe we need to go back to issuing commodities, which were essentially surplus taken off the market by the gubmint. My first inlaws got them and they were nutritious but not a bit fancy.  Peanut butter, a greasy version of Spam for meat, dried milk, beans, flour, and other basic foodstuffs. Quite a bit of butter, and they would give my wife and I some once in a while, which was a real treat for us.

[MechAg94]

Maybe we need to go back to issuing commodities, which were essentially surplus taken off the market by the gubmint. My first inlaws got them and they were nutritious but not a bit fancy.  Peanut butter, a greasy version of Spam for meat, dried milk, beans, flour, and other basic foodstuffs. Quite a bit of butter, and they would give my wife and I some once in a while, which was a real treat for us.

I would honestly rather see this than the cards.  Or at least try to find a way to restrict the cards to those same staple foods. 

One idea would be to require they only buy store brands.  :)

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Yeah, I lived on Ramen and pasta and beans for much of my twenties, too.  Never once complained that I was entitled to more or better.  I made more and better for myself.

I could strangle those folks who think they deserve better.

Maybe we need to go back to issuing commodities, which were essentially surplus taken off the market by the gubmint. My first inlaws got them and they were nutritious but not a bit fancy.  Peanut butter, a greasy version of Spam for meat, dried milk, beans, flour, and other basic foodstuffs. Quite a bit of butter, and they would give my wife and I some once in a while, which was a real treat for us.

Kill two birds with one stone.  Instead of paying farmers not to produce food, pay farmers to produce food and then give that food to the poor.  That's not an "ideal" solution, but it's certainly better than paying farmers not to grow food and also paying stupid stuck up hipsters to eat overpriced snobby food.

[Doggy Daddy]

About 30 years ago, we managed to get ahold of one loaf of the gub'ment cheese.  That stuff was really quite good!   

DD

[GigaBuist]

I got stuck behind a woman with two little girls in the checkout lane of a local mart who was using EBT to pay for her purchase.

All she had were 4-5 cases of soda, 10 frozen pizzas, and various frozen snack food.  Surprisingly she was overweight.

God help those kids, 'cuz it sure didn't like like momma was going to feed them right.

[Balog]

We get a Papa Murphy's pre-made take n' bake pizza every once in a while. Always pisses me off you can pay EBT for them.

[Silver Bullet]

you're supposed to stop buying overpriced organic imported specialty luxury foods from places like Whole Foods or Trader Joes

The Trader Joe's I've been in have been very reasonable, if not downright inexpensive.  Lots of tasty pastries and tamales in the freezer section, too.  Excellent prices on wine if you can find your brand.

[Scout26]

My dad owned a tavern on the West side of India-no-place.  He used to "buy" .gov cheese and butter from the folks that would come in.  That was good stuff.  He used to bring it up to me when I was in school. 

While I was in school Ramen would have been a step up.  Chicken Noodle Sh*t: 5lb box of generic elbow macaroni, 5 cans of generic cream of chicken soup.  Heat and stir.  Eat for B-fast, lunch and dinner for the next 5 days.   

We ate venison, pheasant, grouse, fish, squirrel, rabbit, and home grown tomatoes.  If the apartment complexes would have allowed it we would have rototilled half an acre or so and planted crops.   We ate what we killed, caught or was given to us by family on hunting trips. 

My roommate and I were in the Army Reserves, drill weekends we would beg, borrow, and steal first C-rats, then later MRE's (They got issued for lunch both Saturday and Sunday).  Our best haul was when my roommate brought home 43 unopened MRE's after a drill.  It was like freakin' Christmas.

He delivered pizza's and would give the owner "Bambi Eyes" and could bring home either a pizza that wasn't delivered for whatever reason or be allowed to make one.

I took a second job at McD's as a closer (3-4hr shift), just so I could get the free meal that was the only bene.  I opened on non-drill weekends, free breakfast !!   

I donated plasma for food (and beer) money. 

[red headed stranger]

About 30 years ago, we managed to get ahold of one loaf of the gub'ment cheese.  That stuff was really quite good!   

DD

Back in the day, (I was grade school age.) I had an uncle that was on welfare.  He would always bring us the loaf of cheese and the bags of rice because he wouldn't use it. 

As I recall, the cheese made really good grilled cheese sandwiches. 

[darius]

My dad owned a tavern on the West side of India-no-place.  He used to "buy" .gov cheese and butter from the folks that would come in.  That was good stuff.  He used to bring it up to me when I was in school. 

While I was in school Ramen would have been a step up.  Chicken Noodle Sh*t: 5lb box of generic elbow macaroni, 5 cans of generic cream of chicken soup.  Heat and stir.  Eat for B-fast, lunch and dinner for the next 5 days.   

We ate venison, pheasant, grouse, fish, squirrel, rabbit, and home grown tomatoes.  If the apartment complexes would have allowed it we would have rototilled half an acre or so and planted crops.   We ate what we killed, caught or was given to us by family on hunting trips. 

My roommate and I were in the Army Reserves, drill weekends we would beg, borrow, and steal first C-rats, then later MRE's (They got issued for lunch both Saturday and Sunday).  Our best haul was when my roommate brought home 43 unopened MRE's after a drill.  It was like freakin' Christmas.

He delivered pizza's and would give the owner "Bambi Eyes" and could bring home either a pizza that wasn't delivered for whatever reason or be allowed to make one.

I took a second job at McD's as a closer (3-4hr shift), just so I could get the free meal that was the only bene.  I opened on non-drill weekends, free breakfast !!   

I donated plasma for food (and beer) money. 

I had forgotten about the cheese, wasn't bad.  My son worked at a pizza place and would make up one he knew darned well was't ordered, but home it came.  We had pizza for breakfast too.