Sam_2.0
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Post by Sam_2.0 on Apr 13, 2011 10:15:55 GMT -5
VT proposed to limit the types of food that can be purchased using food stamps.
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Sam_2.0
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Post by Sam_2.0 on Apr 13, 2011 10:16:17 GMT -5
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reader79
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Post by reader79 on Apr 13, 2011 10:23:22 GMT -5
Not for nothing, but those fries look really good...
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qofcc
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Post by qofcc on Apr 13, 2011 10:42:34 GMT -5
VT proposed to limit the types of food that can be purchased using food stamps.
Excellent idea.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2011 10:54:43 GMT -5
I don't know why they don't do that already. It should be run more like WIC.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Apr 13, 2011 10:57:07 GMT -5
Isn't it already restricted? I know you can't buy prepared foods with it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2011 10:59:46 GMT -5
You can buy just about anything. Chips, pop, frozen pizza....
WIC is very strict. You have to buy specific sizes/brands/nutritional value.
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qofcc
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Post by qofcc on Apr 13, 2011 10:59:54 GMT -5
Isn't it already restricted? I know you can't buy prepared foods with it.
You can't buy one of those hot ready to eat $4.99 roast chickens or food from the self service salad bar at the grocery store, but you can load your entire cart with pop & potato chips and candy if you want.
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Sam_2.0
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Post by Sam_2.0 on Apr 13, 2011 11:00:48 GMT -5
Well, they are restricted on some types of foods, but I guess they want to add more in. Like disallowing sodas and things like that.
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cael
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Post by cael on Apr 13, 2011 11:02:48 GMT -5
I'm surprised that it's VT... but good idea and I agree! (I always see VT as a liberal hippie land, lol)
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Apr 13, 2011 11:02:54 GMT -5
The comments on the article make me wish it were possible to facepalm and headdesk at the same time How is it possible for people to not understand the logic behind this idea? If other people are buying your food, then THEY get to choose what you can and can't buy. If you want to buy food other than what OTHER PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO PAY FOR, then YOU buy it YOURSELF. Hard to understand? I think not.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Apr 13, 2011 11:04:41 GMT -5
But. . .but .. . but what will YM have to complain about if welfare queens can't buy crab legs anymore?!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2011 11:06:02 GMT -5
I just see this leading to fraud. People will sell their food stamps at a 50% discount in order to buy their preferred foods.
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constanz22
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Post by constanz22 on Apr 13, 2011 11:23:45 GMT -5
I just see this leading to fraud. People will sell their food stamps at a 50% discount in order to buy their preferred foods. Uh, they already do, but to buy cigs and alcohol... I think this change is long overdue and I've been in the social work field for 20 years. I feel very strongly that it should be run more like WIC, with certain foods allowed. I also feel that food stamp recipients should be able to purchase a reasonable amount of toilet paper, cleaning supplies and toothpaste, none of which is allowed under the current system.
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Sam_2.0
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Post by Sam_2.0 on Apr 13, 2011 11:33:32 GMT -5
I would agree. It would be nice if diapers were included as well. Although, I know around here they do get a certain portion of cash allowed depending on the situation. I guess that's what its intended for?
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Apr 13, 2011 11:39:04 GMT -5
You can get diapers with WIC, right? Or is it just formula and certain food?
Personally, I'd prefer to do away with food stamps altogether and institute stronger food banks instead. Family shows up and they are given enough food for healthy meals for 1-2 weeks, plus maybe a little extra for food storage (kind of like the Angel Food ministry). None of this crap where they can buy Pepsi and Doritos and sell the rest for cigarette money.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Apr 13, 2011 11:48:42 GMT -5
I'll also add that it is REALLY difficult to eat an adequately healthy diet when you're poor without putting a ton of time and effort into it that a lot of poor people don't have. That's (partly) why poor demographics have a huge obesity problem. Cheap food tends to be unhealthy food - plus, limited access to reliable transportation means that you can't shop around for deals as much.
But also, it's really easy to fall into the trap of unhealthy eating and even if the alternatives are available, buying what you're used to buying. I've done this myself, and I'm not poor. So making the unhealthiest of items unavailable is a REALLY GOOD first step. Even if it just makes people cut down on buying chips and pop and buying the occasional box of pasta instead, that's a start.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Apr 13, 2011 11:51:30 GMT -5
Okay someone needs to post the contrarian view and I guess it needs to be me today. For people a little down on their luck who aren't too bad off what is being proposed would be fine. Truthfully I don't see any reason to cover soda or candy but I will skip that part for a minute. What about people who live in areas like urban areas without grocery stores? The only place for them to shop are small quicky marts with very little selection and that is very high priced. The cheapest food is exactly what people don't want them buying with the food stamps. If they can't afford what is offered there they certainly can't afford a $40 cab trip to a real grocery store. Then there is the homeless.I know people will say they can go to a soup kitchen. Most soup kitchens around here offer lunch 4-5 days a week. What are they supposed to do for the other 15 meals? There are a few battered womens shelters I have seen and they are basically motel rooms. they don't have a kitchen. The whole reason Food Stamps started allowing people to go to a quick mart and use their food stamps to buy a sub or other cooked food was so that people like this could still use the program to get food hopefully that was good for them. ;D And truthfully I don't think I want some of the mentally ill people I see around who are homeless trying to cook for themselves. I could see them forgetting or something and burning where ever they live down.
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sil
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Post by sil on Apr 13, 2011 11:52:54 GMT -5
Hmmm....I get the lack of reliable transportation part, but does it really take a lot more time and effort to be poor than it does to be middle class?
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sil
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Post by sil on Apr 13, 2011 11:58:04 GMT -5
What about people who live in areas like urban areas without grocery stores? The only place for them to shop are small quicky marts with very little selection and that is very high priced. The cheapest food is exactly what people don't want them buying with the food stamps. If they can't afford what is offered there they certainly can't afford a $40 cab trip to a real grocery store
But if the poor were restricted from purchasing crappy food with food stamps, wouldnt small stores in poor neighborhoods respond by carrying some amount of food that could be purchased with food stamps? I'm not talking about free-range chicken breasts and organic blueberries, just staples like rice and beans, milk, and some inexpensive produce like bananas and carrots
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Apr 13, 2011 12:01:59 GMT -5
They do but it is so expensive that it almost forces people to not buy it. How many here would really spend 3 bucks for one apple when they only have 21 to spend for a whole week? Truthfull most of them are pretty nast looking too.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Apr 13, 2011 12:03:18 GMT -5
What about people who live in areas like urban areas without grocery stores? The only place for them to shop are small quicky marts with very little selection and that is very high priced. The cheapest food is exactly what people don't want them buying with the food stamps. If they can't afford what is offered there they certainly can't afford a $40 cab trip to a real grocery store.
This. When I lived in NYC (the second time), I was a block away from a *very* basic grocery store. It had enough to keep you going and it had a lot of crap. Very little in the way of fresh fruits / veggies, affordable meat, and high-quality grains.
I wasn't poor but I didn't have a car. To go to some other grocery store, I would've had to take a train somewhere (probably somewhere in Manhattan, which was at least a 40-minute train ride from my apartment) and buy only what I could carry. Most likely I'd be looking at a 2-mile walk, minimum. How much food can YOU carry that far?
I was living by myself at that point and making good money, so like I said, this wasn't a huge issue for me. I just ate out a lot and found things in the corner store that I felt like cooking. But if I'd been poor and especially if I'd still had other mouths to feed, that would have been exceedingly difficult.
And just a few months earlier, that had been my situation. It was made very slightly easier by the fact that there was another adult so she could help carry groceries home. Everything else about it was harder. And we certainly weren't worried about eating healthy.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Apr 13, 2011 12:05:51 GMT -5
Hmmm....I get the lack of reliable transportation part, but does it really take a lot more time and effort to be poor than it does to be middle class?
Was this tongue in cheek? I can't really tell.
If you were being serious, ARE YOU SERIOUS? Everything is hard when you're poor. Everything. Finding a job, looking for work, grocery shopping, finding things to do, finding affordable living situations, getting out of untenable living situations, moving, getting from Point A to Point B.
Everything is a struggle. I've been poor and it is really, really hard. It sucks. (Of course, for me that was a really good motivation to not be poor anymore.)
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qofcc
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Post by qofcc on Apr 13, 2011 12:08:27 GMT -5
I would rather they allow the prepared food and toilet paper and diapers that they currently dis-allow and dis-allow the junk food.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2011 12:09:18 GMT -5
Good, I am glad someone is doing this. Btw, I actually think WIC needs to change their requirement for milk, they require you to get low fat milk, but what if the women is underweight? Maybe her doctor recommend whole milk? I think WIC should allow any time of white milk, personally. But, lord and I pleased that someone is trying to fix FS.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Apr 13, 2011 12:10:12 GMT -5
Finally someone has been taking YM posts seriously!!
Lena
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2011 12:12:06 GMT -5
Yes.. I think something more like WIC would be a good idea.
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sil
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Post by sil on Apr 13, 2011 12:13:27 GMT -5
Ok, I see how the "food desert" problem can be a major hurdle for eating well. Still, it would seem that allowing purchases of junk food using food stamps doesnt help resolve the problem, it only adds to the obesity issue.
Limiting the food choices that can be bought by food stamps should provide ample incentive for purchasers to make better food choices. The outstanding problem is then, how do you provide incentive to food providers to offer better food choices?
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Wisconsin Beth
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Apr 13, 2011 12:14:16 GMT -5
Kids under 2 are supposed to drink whole milk, not skim or 2%, unless the pedi recommends something else.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2011 12:15:35 GMT -5
Kids under 2 are supposed to drink whole milk, not skim or 2%, unless the pedi recommends something else. But WIC only allows low fat. I disagree but what can you do?
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