In my home state of Virginia, there is a ban of buying any processed foods with food stamps. I don't know how effective it is, since most mercants aren't aware of it, but you're barred from buying twinkies and sodas with food stamps. It's a good idea, I just don't know how effective it is.

I usually don't care much for Mayor Bloomberg, but he is right on this one. He wants to ban the purchase of sodas and sugary drinks with food stamps. I don't want to bash low income people. My own family was on food stamps decades ago. My mom got off as soon as she could, and she bought healthy foods while she was on them.

The proposed ban on buying soda with food stamps does not go far enough. I used to be a cashier at a food store. People would buy cart loads of Oreos and Ding Dongs and ice cream with food stamps. That is lunacy. Only real nutritious food should be food stamp eligible.

Read the link and notice all the whiners about this. I would like to ask: Should beer be food stamp eligible? How about fast food, such as McDonalds and Burger King? Why not Red Lobster? Aren't the poor allowed to eat in style once in a while? Oops, I better not give them ideas.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/new-york-plan-to-ban-using-food-stamps-to-buy-sugary-drinks-sparks-controversy/19665431

No beer for you

http://www.fns.usda.gov/SNAP/Retailers/ELIGIBLE.HTM

http://65.216.150.153/texis/search?pr=FNS
NO beer should not be food stamp eligible and is not.
And of course that is not directed at you ,Seinfeld reference



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-- Modified on 10/7/2010 9:42:46 PM

you know these politicians  are going to waste or time with this useless legislation that will not work.


I say lets cut law makers pay for coming up with dumb ideas

Why not administer the food stamp program similar to how WIC is administered.

WIC covers specific foods, the kind of foods new mothers and babies need most for healthy development - milk, cheese, baby cereal and formula, etc. Rather than a blank check to buy anything that bears a resemblance to a food product (think beef jerky and corn chips here), it specifically covers healthy nutritious foods only. Why not set up food stamps the same way?

You have it exactly backwards (shocking!).

No one is telling anyone else what they can eat. But I'm damned sure telling you what I will pay MY hard earned money for you to eat.

You are hung up on "gov't" telling this, or trying that, and have completely forgotten (perhaps overlooked? ignored?) the fact that it is TAXPAYER money putting food in other people's mouths who did not work to earn that food. Why should the taxpayer be paying for someone on welfare to eat cherry bon bon's (yes, you can buy them with foodstamps) and sucking down a Coca Cola?

Lets not forget that we are now going to be responsible for paying for that same person's health care. So first, as a tax paying citizen, I have to foot the bill for their 4,000 calorie a day junk food habit, then have to pay for their diabetes medications, cholesterol medication, high blood pressure medication, and eventually, their triple bypass surgery.

So yeah, I have NO problem with the food stamp system being overhauled. I dont see lobbyists beating a path to get their particular food added to the WIC program.

Its not too difficult to figure out which foods are unhealthy, and thus not covered by food stamps, and which ones are. A simple calorie guide is all it would take. Any food with more than 30% of its calories coming from fat, or who's calories come from highly processed sugars (think Twinkies), does not make the list. Over and done. Perhaps we'd even start seeing a radical shift in the food we see on our shelves, iwth a greater emphasis placed on reduced fat content. Sort of like the "NO Trans fat" craze you see on every food product available today.  Boy, that would be a TRAGEDY!

Why in the hell should tax payers be funding others in the first place.  If someone is hungry and wants to eat, let em get up in the morning, go to a job, do something constructive, just like those of us who do it every damn day.  Whatever happened to the concept of being a contributor to society instead of a leach?  Take the darn money being given away for free, and use it to hire these folks into a government sponsored jobs program.  Thus we don't have an issue of what these folks can buy... they can buy any damn thing they want with the money they now earn.  NYC has tons of opportunities for people to contribute constructively to the welfare of the city.  For example, let these folks become citizen street cops who walk the streets looking for suspicious activity, let em report it to authorities... my guess is that the vast majority of the food stamp recipients could certainly perform this simple task.  Everybody wins, and then we don't have to go down a path of government interfering in the private decisions of what somebody is allowed to eat.  If its true that these folks are just the down troddin and all they need is a "chance", then here it is ... now let em go jump on it and become contributors instead of ....

I get the reasoning but not sure I agree. Only soda is being targeted, why not all junk foods and drinks?
My mom got foodstamps but bought nutritious stuff. Ive heard ppl bitching about those on foodstamps getting steak and potatoes for dinner, and Im thinking, wow, what an asshole. Better that than Oreos.

In all fairness, Pw I agree with you overall, but in this economy there are many ppl who have lost everything they have, who were once 'contributors". They aren't lifetime "leeches" but ppl who found themselves in bad situations, many of them dont LIKE being on the dole.
However, I agree with what you said about govt interference. When govt (taxpayers rather) buys your food, they are gonna control your choices. All those on assistance should have to at least seek employment.

That's exactly the rhetoric the politicians hoped would be stirred up.  Now every lobby under the sun will be trying to give the politicians money to insure their particular product makes the approved list.  Politicians get rich.  And, when something fails to make the approved list, the politicians get to argue how honest they are by not bowing to the lobby.  They can't loose and they love it....

I say government has no business in trying to tell folks what they can eat.  But then, who amongst us is surprised by yet another effort by government to get into the lives of citizens, afterall, it is a democratic controlled government at the moment and that's what they do.

What a paradox.... I first of all think the whole concept of food stamps is BS and should be abandoned in favor of mandatory work with jobs provided by government in lieu of free handouts ( see my earlier post).  But, if we are not going to do that and insist in giving away food stamps, I'm not in favor of govt telling someone what they can eat even though its our money... Geesh, I don't like that either... Of course I should be able to dictate where my tax dollars go so I can reduce the bill the free healthcare the same people are now going to get... Ahhh crap, Governmet won't give me a line item veto.  I didn't want Harry Reid to have a pork barrel project for Nevada...  Damn, the only way to win is not to play... Crap, I can't do that cause the law says I must pay taxes... Now what... We need a president and congress who are for change... Not again, had those and god did they sure fuck things up... But the repubs say they got a plan... Shit, had them before and they sure messed my 401k up...  I got a brochure for property purchases in Costa Rica... Aaaahhh, GA Gambler says they have great pussy, brochure says prices are cheap for property, the US guarantees their safety from other armies, natural disasters are paid by the US for repair... Hmmmm

I don't agree with you on much. But I agree with most of your points on the issue of food stamps. People that have physical or certified mental limitations need protection of food stamps. Money for healthy people is better spent putting those people to work repairing public infrastructure like parks, city halls, alleyways, et al. Skills like metal working and brick laying can be taught. People who don't show enough discipline to show up to work the public facility improvement jobs and the salaries that come with the work should get cut off.

and now because of the BUSH ERA,

the housing market scam,the stock market scandal,the pyramid schemers has become a place where............

take note people are driving around with NO CAR INSURANCE because they have to choose between eating,shelter and other basic

OR
paying for insurance

MANY  insurance company warned me about orange county and not having full coverage/gap coverage etc......yada yada yada

once middle class people or going to get free groceries and other items because they are financial in trouble/have hit a low ect.....


THE OC WAS HIT HARD BY THE REAL ESTATE BUBBLE  I.E.
OVER EVALUATION OF PROPERTY VALUES,upside down mortgages,variable interest rate loans/high interest rate loans .

some other name.they have a program at the community colleges and some jobs.

most programs they have them work CALTRANS cleaning the freeways or a county hospital or county facility as a janitor unless you are disabled



-- Modified on 10/9/2010 10:56:12 PM

more bureaucracy

making the program cost more.

to eat healthy is expense

also the government only gives an individual about $65,$95 or $104 is food stamps per month for an individual.

you try to live off of that.

there was a news guy who attempted to live off welfare and he was feature on Oprah .

he made it plain that you are going to have a easy time or be able to eat very healthy.

he also attempted to live on one minimum wage job as an experiment too

the "welfare to work program" is called CALWORKS but there are other programs

with other names like WTW ,GAIN,GROW