20% of food stamps spent on soda & junk food.

[Bumbasta]

How can you spend so much money on soft drinks. How the.....

[Deleted]

Whole chicken is pretty expensive, especially compared to things like chicken nuggets or chicken patties.

How much does it cost there? Costs about $5 here for a whole one thats about 1 kg while 350g chicken nuggets cost like 4.1. Kg price for chicken nuggets is more than twice higher.

[Shadowferal]

Why is this such a huge topic for debate? Food stamps are a very, very, very tiny portion of the US budget. It'd waste more money trying to police what food people buy.

This is like trying to save a few pennies by spending $100.

Yup.
Those that are complaining are those that refuse to say a damn thing when trillions of dollars are spent on corporate welfare (and get zero returns). Just look at how much they complain about the businesses that are benefitting from people making unhealthy choices. Attempts at legislation were put into effect to regulate these choices but no one cares to mention that said attempts were rebuffed by those businesses and their paid stooges.

[Spectral]

Why is this such a huge topic for debate? Food stamps are a very, very, very tiny portion of the US budget. It'd waste more money trying to police what food people buy.

This is like trying to save a few pennies by spending $100.

Check out the Law of Triviality.

In the third chapter, "High Finance, or the Point of Vanishing Interest", Parkinson writes about a fictional finance committee meeting with a three-item agenda:[1] The first is the signing of a £10 million contract to build a reactor, the second a proposal to build a £350 bicycle shed for the clerical staff, and the third proposes £21 a year to supply refreshments for the Joint Welfare Committee.

The £10 million number is too big and too technical, and it passes in two and a half minutes. One committee member proposes a completely different plan, which nobody is willing to accept as planning is advanced, and another who understands the topic has concerns, but does not feel that he can explain his concerns to the others on the committee.
The bicycle shed is a subject understood by the board, and the amount within their life experience, so committee member Mr Softleigh says that an aluminium roof is too expensive and they should use asbestos. Mr Holdfast wants galvanised iron. Mr Daring questions the need for the shed at all. Holdfast disagrees. Parkinson then writes: "The debate is fairly launched. A sum of £350 is well within everybody's comprehension. Everyone can visualise a bicycle shed. Discussion goes on, therefore, for forty-five minutes, with the possible result of saving some £50. Members at length sit back with a feeling of accomplishment."
Parkinson then described the third agenda item, writing: "There may be members of the committee who might fail to distinguish between asbestos and galvanised iron, but every man there knows about coffee – what it is, how it should be made, where it should be bought – and whether indeed it should be bought at all. This item on the agenda will occupy the members for an hour and a quarter, and they will end by asking the secretary to procure further information, leaving the matter to be decided at the next meeting."[5]

Talking about Federal Reserve balance sheets and having any kind of coherent opinion requires technical expertise.

[Theodarzna]

Eating healthy and eating well for cheap has the unfortunate drawback of time consumption. Seeing as most people on Welfare actually do work but are paid little I suspect the choice is driven by a desire to spare precious time not spent at grindingly miserable jobs.

[TrumpIsPresident]

Food stamps should only be eligible for use with the most basic and cheapest of food stuffs.

We should strive to cut the amount of free money each person is getting by half and still feed them then take the money saved and use it to feed twice as many people.

But, oh no, because not letting poor people buy steak would be <insert your favorite trigger word here>.

[Shadowferal]

Food stamps should only be eligible for use with the most basic and cheapest of food stuffs.

We should strive to cut the amount of free money each person is getting by half and still feed them then take the money saved and use it to feed twice as many people.

But, oh no, because not letting poor people buy steak would be <insert your favorite trigger word here>.

Complain about big business which says you're interfering with their profits.

[Spectral]

Eating healthy and eating well for cheap has the unfortunate drawback of time consumption. Seeing as most people on Welfare actually do work but are paid little I suspect the choice is driven by a desire to spare precious time not spent at grindingly miserable jobs.

Probably not. Income is positively correlated with number of hours worked; you'll find that the typical six-figure employee works many more hours than the typical SNAP recipient if you look at the data. Most of the people in the professional/academic classes tend to view cooking time as enjoyable leisure time - I suspect that the cultural difference in how cooking is viewed has a lot more to do with this than actual availability of time.

- - - Updated - - -

Food stamps should only be eligible for use with the most basic and cheapest of food stuffs.

We should strive to cut the amount of free money each person is getting by half and still feed them then take the money saved and use it to feed twice as many people.

But, oh no, because not letting poor people buy steak would be <insert your favorite trigger word here>.

This is pretty silly. Americans are already overfed, including (and especially) poor Americans. There's more reason to try to improve the quality of food consumed than the quantity.

[cFortyfive]

Costs about $5 here for a whole one

Payed 19 € for a chicken yesterday :/

[Theodarzna]

Probably not. Income is positively correlated with number of hours worked; you'll find that the typical six-figure employee works many more hours than the typical SNAP recipient if you look at the data. Most of the people in the professional/academic classes tend to view cooking time as enjoyable leisure time - I suspect that the cultural difference in how cooking is viewed has a lot more to do with this than actual availability of time.

Have you worked a min. wage job before? I'm not talking just hours worked since hours worked are not all equal.

Even if one spends say 6 hours at Wal-Mart vs. 6 hours tutoring, the level of post work exhaustion is telling. I recall a roommate whom once getting a job at a grocery store would come home so exhausted the thought of spending an hour on cooking, cleaning ect to be dreadful.

Professional/Academic classes usually leave our jobs at least somewhat satisfied with what we just spent 8 or so hours doing. Wal-Mart workers do not leave with that.

[Spectral]

Have you worked a min. wage job before? I'm not talking just hours worked since hours worked are not all equal.

Even if one spends say 6 hours at Wal-Mart vs. 6 hours tutoring, the level of post work exhaustion is telling. I recall a roommate whom once getting a job at a grocery store would come home so exhausted the thought of spending an hour on cooking, cleaning ect to be dreadful.

Professional/Academic classes usually leave our jobs at least somewhat satisfied with what we just spent 8 or so hours doing. Wal-Mart workers do not leave with that.

I've worked physical, fatiguing jobs - farm work, kitchen work, auto body work. I did not find these more mentally/emotionally taxing than lab research or my current job.

I'm pretty skeptical of the claim that 6 hours at Wal-Mart is the reason someone doesn't want to cook when they get home. Again, I think the big difference there isn't actually fatigue, but how cooking is viewed.

[Martymark]

$1 for a gallon of sugar water with apple flavor
$16 for a gallon of real apple juice

When a poor person has $180 a month to spend on food, which should they choose?

[Santti]

Isn't junk food rather cheap in the US? If that is true, it's no wonder, really.

[Spectral]

$1 for a gallon of sugar water with apple flavor
$16 for a gallon of real apple juice

When a poor person has $180 a month to spend on food, which should they choose?

Between those choices? Water. Just water, water.

I also have no idea where you're spending that much for a gallon of fresh pressed juice. Stop shopping at Whole Foods, I guess? Likewise, I have no idea where you're spending that little for "juice".

[Deleted]

Makes sense, right?

I mean, the only thing i've seen scare the middle working class more than the poor is the suggestion of taking their guns. :P

[Spectral]

Isn't junk food rather cheap in the US? If that is true, it's no wonder, really.

No really, no. It's probably cheaper than the average in other countries, but only to the same extent that food in general is cheaper. Shopping at the store across the street from me yesterday, I could buy pork chops for $1.78/pound or spend $3 for an ~10 ounce bag of chips (I bought the pork and put it in the fridge and spent a much less reasonable amount on ground sirloin because that's what I actually went across the street for in the first place). If you're tight on money and choose chips, you're making a pretty poor choice.

[Deleted]

Food stamps should only be eligible for use with the most basic and cheapest of food stuffs.

We should strive to cut the amount of free money each person is getting by half and still feed them then take the money saved and use it to feed twice as many people.

But, oh no, because not letting poor people buy steak would be <insert your favorite trigger word here>.

Or you could raise minimum wage, instead of bickering about what poor people should eat.

Insane, i know.

- - - Updated - - -

No really, no. It's probably cheaper than the average in other countries, but only to the same extent that food in general is cheaper. Shopping at the store across the street from me yesterday, I could buy pork chops for $1.78/pound or spend $3 for an ~10 ounce bag of chips (I bought the pork and put it in the fridge and spent a much less reasonable amount on ground sirloin because that's what I actually went across the street for in the first place). If you're tight on money and choose chips, you're making a pretty poor choice.

Isn't part of the freedom of getting free currency-related stuff, getting the right to spend that on what they see fit?

You don't see people moaning about what you spend your money on. Be that stipendiums, company money, etc.

Are you really just triggered by poor people, lol?

[Spectral]

Isn't part of the freedom of getting free currency-related stuff, getting the right to spend that on what they see fit?

Well, that's the question, isn't it? Obviously the answer is one of degree rather than category, since I don't see a lot of people suggesting that SNAP be replaced by straight cash transfers. Most people seem basically fine with designating aid as strictly for food. As I've mentioned a couple times in the thread, I'd generally rather scrap most of these sorts of programs and replace them with straight cash transfers; this is more efficient and provides additional distributed aid at lower cost. If there's concern about nutrition outcomes, this would be better handled by separate policies with the most obvious one being to stop subsidizing HFCS production.

You don't see people moaning about what you spend your money on. Be that stipendiums, company money, etc.

There's an obvious difference - can you spot it?

Are you really just triggered by poor people, lol?

Ha, lololol you got me! God, you're such a clever one!

[Santti]

No really, no. It's probably cheaper than the average in other countries, but only to the same extent that food in general is cheaper. Shopping at the store across the street from me yesterday, I could buy pork chops for $1.78/pound or spend $3 for an ~10 ounce bag of chips (I bought the pork and put it in the fridge and spent a much less reasonable amount on ground sirloin because that's what I actually went across the street for in the first place). If you're tight on money and choose chips, you're making a pretty poor choice.

I see. I guess I've been under the false impression that junk food is a valid choice with a tight budget, in the US.

[Total Crica]

Food stamps should only be eligible for use with the most basic and cheapest of food stuffs.

We should strive to cut the amount of free money each person is getting by half and still feed them then take the money saved and use it to feed twice as many people.

But, oh no, because not letting poor people buy steak would be <insert your favorite trigger word here>.

You should ensure employers pay their employees enough to not need food stamps and then you could go back to worrying about your own food.