Are food stamps good or are food stamps bad? Yes.
Also known as a Link Card
and various other bureaucratic names.
Why are food stamps good?
They provide a (supposedly) temporary means to
provide food to individuals and families in times of distress.
In many cases,
particularly for the elderly, they provide the only nutrition to which they have
access.
Why are food stamps bad?
Well, they are not really so bad as much as they
are exploited, misused and often miss their target.
And on top of everything
else, as they are structured, they are a public relations disaster for the needy.
How
so?
Everyone has a story about standing in line, agonizing about the relative
merits of the cost of ground chuck versus the cost of ground beef.
In front of
you is someone who rather appears as if they need a gym membership rather than more
food.
They have a large cart heaped full of shrimp, cakes, sugary drinks, microwaveable
meals and various empty calories.
Out comes the Link Card or Food Stamps (or whatever
the state names them to not sound parasitical) and the bill comes to $376!!!
And
half the time as you watch them, they push their cart to a car far nicer than yours
wearing clothes far nicer than yours.
Think this is anecdotal or "My neighbor
heard from a friend..."?
Ask any checkout clerk. They will tell you horror
stories. Wedding cakes with food stamps.
Can't buy dog food with food stamps?
"Honey run back and get an extra pack of hamburger."
(Caveat: There
are many recipients who very scrupulously count every penny & buy the best value
canned vegetables and cheap cuts of meat.)
And this is on your dime. Your tax
money.
And this IS a public relations disaster for the truly needy.
How can
anyone expect a citizen to view this process rationally or generously?
It's almost
as though the people who hate and despise food stamps wanted to structure it to appear
as exploitive
of taxpayers as possible to hasten its demise. Well it's working.
And
it seems they managed because that's the impression bystanders get.
But why would
those who don't think the deserving poor deserve anything allow the program to continue?
Because
contrary to the intent of the program as administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
to
channel America's agricultural surplus to those who need it most,
it has now become
a multi-billion dollar program to channel billions of tax dollars to those who need
it least.
The multinational food processors.
Remember, there are only two cents
of wheat in a three dollar loaf of bread. The bag costs more.
How does that benefit
American farmers?
(It does benefit American farmers who also have shrimp farming
operations in Thailand. All none of them.)
Did you know one half the apple juice
in America comes from China?
(Betcha didn't know Washington State- famous for
its apples- was in China.)
How to remedy this?
Improve it. Triple its capacity.
Are you nuts? You
just said how maladroit it is. What gives here?
Food Stamps have a sister program
called WIC (Women, Infants, Children).
Guess what can be bought under this program?
Ingredients.
Oats,
flour, milk, butter, cheese, nuts, sugar, salt, vegetables, fruits, peanut butter,
chicken, hamburger, fish, noodles, orange juice, eggs.
Any problem here yet?
What
can't be bought?
Cigarettes, alcohol, Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Lobster, Shrimp, Filet
Mignon, prepared meals, candy bars, Slim Jims, soda pop.
This look sensible yet?
Convert
all of the Food Stamps program to WIC parameters.
Do you know what would happen?
First,
you could feed about three times as many people on the same dime.
This wouldn't
hurt the supermarkets because a dollar spent is a dollar spent.
Second, the shopping
basket of the recipient would more closely match the shopping basket of the taxpayer.
Very
important in getting the payers on board. This would go a long way towards nullifying
any undue resentment.
Third. If you're unemployed, you don't need a convenience
meal.
You are home with nothing to do, so you can cook. Turn off the TV, get off
the phone.
If you can't cook- learn- it is a useful life skill.
Granted, the
disabled or infirm need to be considered, but a lot of able-bodied folks receive
food stamps and should at least have to boil water.
Full disclosure:
This author received Food Stamps for a few months when
his leg was shattered.
An insurance settlement was in the works and these
were required to be paid back along with the hospital bill.
In the meantime, he
and his two children lived it up.
Real cheese instead of Velveeta.
This author
has a confession.
He bought a delicacy. Pecans. But not the shelled ones. The
ones you had to shell for yourselves.
That's the way it should be. I had time
on my hands.