... I'm not the most socially conservative person on this board, so this probably won't surprise most but...
If you have a portion of the population that is actually at risk for starvation, wouldn't having a program to provide these people with basic staple food items be more conducive to keeping things civil then saying "Go steal it." ?
(and, for the record, I really wouldn't mind having a government paid program that provided 'free' food for the poor, as long as it was strictly cheap, realtivly wholesome food that a person had to get from specific locations. Not this feely good EBT card made to look like a debit card so poor people don't feel bad and buy whatever crap food you want, regardless of it's nutritional value and price tag *expletive deleted*it. Just your basic bag of groceries that will insure a person won't starve and tastes decent if you put enough salt and maybe some cheap spices on on)