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

[Zan15]

Id rather people care about themselves and not put the burden on the shoulders of other people. If you need more money get more work or negotiate for higher pay. Its not a business's responsibility, nor the taxpayers responsibility to make sure you live a comfortable life

it is when the govt (the people you we elected) allow these companies to have so much leverage and power in the market that the worker has no ability to negotiate higher pay. When the erode and eliminate workers protections it becomes your problem

Hell were you not fighting against fast food workers trying to get 15 dollars in the last few post? So even when they try you don't want them to get it.



so i assume you are also for the removal of other burdens on the shoulders of the taxpayer, like corporate write offs, farm subsidies, mortgage interest deduction, child tax credits, property tax to pay for other peoples kids to go to school, etc etc etc????


if you start taking away the "help" you throw more people into poverty and dire circumstances. this always then results in a corresponding rise in crime as is evident every time we have a depression/recession
the savings will be out weighed by the negative impacts.

[Kraenen]

You seem to think that people on food stamps have time for a home cooked meal with their family. Let me run down my day for you when I was on food stamps during graduate school. 8 am - 12 pm my GA position (tuition waiver, no pay). I did get a lunch break. 1 pm - 5 pm my Internship position (class credit, no pay). 5 pm - 8 pm classes. So I need to make food I can take with me to lunch or microwave real quick, or snack on during the day. It's not exactly easy to make a home cooked meal. And if I want to spend my food stamps on an energy drink or soda to get through 12 hour days then I will... deal with it. It's my tax money coming back to me.

The 8pm is pretty rough for dinner, but you can easily premake your meals on the weekend, or have running leftovers throughout the week. That and a decent rice + chicken + vegetable meal is maybe 30 minutes tops (for the rice mostly) if you really want to make an individual meal every single day. Breakfast is 10-20 minutes (cereal or eggs or toast+jam/PButter) and your lunch looks like it has 1 hour. Even in your scenario it doesn't look very hard to make home cooked meals for yourself. For a family it would be more time and effort, but someone in graduate school has plenty of opportunities (and hopefully the foresight) not to start a family before delving into such a project.

[minteK917]

Reading libertarian stooges is always funny. Its like that one kid in college that read something from Ayan Rand once and think he discovered his calling in life. One day he always find out she eventually became a sellout anyway. Everyones a sellout once they need something. Your weird fantasy never existed, never will, when your time comes you wont even stand by it.

[Louisa Bannon]

People can't cook. Many can't taste. Popular culture teaches all the wrong things. Adverts make everything even worse.

It's easy to each cheaply. It's easy to have a victory garden, even on a window sill. Everyone can at least grow herbs.

Most people should eat mainly vegetables. Eat some fruit. Eat meat occasionally, 2-4 times a month. Nuts, dairy, eggs, etc. Combo rice and beans to replace meat. Take a multivitamin just in case.

Easy peasy.

Of course most people are complete idiots.

- - - Updated - - -

Everyones a sellout once they need something.

I know and generally agree with where you are coming from, but the whole point of civilization is to do things together cooperatively. When I hear folks talk about less government or some other obstructionist bullshit I know that what they really want is the law of the jungle - which, of course, they would never survive. Such people are 100% morons.

I don't mind banding together to get things done, as long as we respect the little guy just as much as the 1% - which has never happened in all of human history, of course.

Gotta say, I am not that interested in micromanaging the finances or grocery shopping habits of people on the dole. There's this thing called respect, if not for the individual precisely then for the theoretical rights they possess.

[Orlong]

so i assume you are also for the removal of other burdens on the shoulders of the taxpayer, like corporate write offs, farm subsidies, mortgage interest deduction, child tax credits, property tax to pay for other peoples kids to go to school, etc etc etc????

Yes I am

if you start taking away the "help" you throw more people into poverty and dire circumstances. this always then results in a corresponding rise in crime as is evident every time we have a depression/recession
the savings will be out weighed by the negative impacts.

If they commit crimes, then we throw their ass in jail and get them out of society. At that time, they will then receive free food and shelter from the taxpayers while in jail

[Mafic]

20% is a very conservative figure. It is easily 50% of the budget of food stamp recipients. The remainder is spent on meats and veggies with meat being a big chunk.

[Bullettime]

Meat is an even larger amount due to the higher price. Of course soda and "junk" items are thrown in since, while being bad, allow the money to go much further.

Also, it's funny when people are up in arms against soda but sodas are just as bad, if not even better in some cases, than most fruit juice unless you want to pay a huge amount for the healthier juice. You pay a dollar for a 2L of soda but unless you want to pay upwards of 5 dollars for a thing of healthy fruit juice, you go with the cheaper Juicy Juice style options that have more sugar content in them than even dark soda. Light soda, such as Sprite and such, are significantly better for you than most juice options on the market.

[Mafic]

Meat is an even larger amount due to the higher price. Of course soda and "junk" items are thrown in since, while being bad, allow the money to go much further.

Also, it's funny when people are up in arms against soda but sodas are just as bad, if not even better in some cases, than most fruit juice unless you want to pay a huge amount for the healthier juice. You pay a dollar for a 2L of soda but unless you want to pay upwards of 5 dollars for a thing of healthy fruit juice, you go with the cheaper Juicy Juice style options that have more sugar content in them than even dark soda. Light soda, such as Sprite and such, are significantly better for you than most juice options on the market.

Soda and junk food doesn't allow you to stretch your dollar more. That has been disproven before, because the nutritional value of a chips or soda is simply not there for the human body.

The only way for that to be true is in food deserts, but even then convenience stores have frozen food which is technically a junk food is still better than junk food and soda that "stretches" a dollar.

WIC program and its strict guidelines is a good example of stretching a dollar properly.

Cereals, milk, eggs, beans, bread, veggies, and fruits. Those are the basics that the WIC program wants children to be fed, and this is a very healthy diet for adults too.

Juicy Juice has higher sugar content than a soda because it is natural sugar which is why it is the one of the few juices allowed by the WIC program. Sodas, especially the light and diet sodas do not use natural sugars, but often swap natural sugars with aspartame. Aspartame is a more potent sweetener in smaller concentrations than a natural sugar, which is why there is "less" of it. While aspartame has been heavily studied it is still an artificial sweetner that overall can cause severe health problems in enough people to be worth avoiding if possible.

Actually if you want to really stretch your dollar Kool aid+ Sugar + water and bag of potatoes > chips and soda.

1. You can control the sugar content when you make a pitcher of Kool aid. A batch of kool aid and some sugar is way more cost effective than even sodas on sale. You can also sub sugar with honey to make Kool aid.

2. Potatoes can be boiled, microwaved or even made into home made chips. You can add salt and pepper as desired or sour cream, bacon bits at the fraction of the cost of a bag of chips.

[Zan15]

Yes I am




If they commit crimes, then we throw their ass in jail and get them out of society. At that time, they will then receive free food and shelter from the taxpayers while in jail

so instead of giving them food and paying for it, you want to put them in jail so you pay for their food, and now housing and medical care. not to mention their families will have even less money and qualify for more benefits.

sounds like a good plan, you should be on trumps team it would fit right in

[Mafic]

so instead of giving them food and paying for it, you want to put them in jail so you pay for their food, and now housing and medical care. not to mention their families will have even less money and qualify for more benefits.

sounds like a good plan, you should be on trumps team it would fit right in

That is one of the big blind spots with conservatives. Conservatives are often the first to bring up cost to taxpayer, but when it comes to this issue they are blind to the fact it costs way too much to jail people. Worse, it costs states way more to execute people than to rehab. With rehab there is a chance that person can become a future taxpayer which is not surprising European countries that tend to be socialistic tend to favor this approach instead. But even a capitalist can appreciate the chance to rehab someone is a potential consumer of goods. So, it is a win/win scenario for socialists and capitalists if a person can be rehabbed and out of jail ASAP to become a productive member of society.

[kamuimac]

People can't cook. .

well then they deserve to be starving - cooking your meal is one of most essential life skills human can have - even people with real mental disorders are tought how to wear cloths , cook basic meals , take care of their hygene - if someone is unable to cook for himself he is clearly a very severily mentaly chalenged person .

[Captain N]

well then they deserve to be starving - cooking your meal is one of most essential life skills human can have - even people with real mental disorders are tought how to wear cloths , cook basic meals , take care of their hygene - if someone is unable to cook for himself he is clearly a very severily mentaly chalenged person .

So you're insulting those of us who have decided to hire a housekeeper/cook?

[Deleted]

This is what i get form it. Yes a higher % of their money goes to soda and "candy" and junk food food, 9.1 vs 7.3%. But, dont get it wrong. Remember the 9.1% of the Food stap economy is much smaller. also add in the fact that Junk food is much cheaper many places. I can honestly not see anything wrong in it.

Where is the damn humanity? some pople who work 60+ hours a week is still on Food stamps, So you are telling me they dont get to pick what they want to eat? First of all, some can just not afford None Junk food, or rich new salats, Some dont have time for it, yes some are just lasy, probaly a lot who Missuse the system, but i dont belive most of thise people do it as a missuse, it is just their life situation.

so people on food stamps should not be able to enjoy anything? They should just sit in a dark room eating the head of a Lettus? I see it as borderline Human right, to be able to enjoy some of it, yes not all your income should go to it, then we can talk about it, but this is a none problem

[zenkai]

This is what i get form it. Yes a higher % of their money goes to soda and "candy" and junk food food, 9.1 vs 7.3%. But, dont get it wrong. Remember the 9.1% of the Food stap economy is much smaller. also add in the fact that Junk food is much cheaper many places. I can honestly not see anything wrong in it.

Where is the damn humanity? some pople who work 60+ hours a week is still on Food stamps, So you are telling me they dont get to pick what they want to eat? First of all, some can just not afford None Junk food, or rich new salats, Some dont have time for it, yes some are just lasy, probaly a lot who Missuse the system, but i dont belive most of thise people do it as a missuse, it is just their life situation.

so people on food stamps should not be able to enjoy anything? They should just sit in a dark room eating the head of a Lettus? I see it as borderline Human right, to be able to enjoy some of it, yes not all your income should go to it, then we can talk about it, but this is a none problem

You know what's cheaper than Soda and 1000x better for you? Water.

[kamuimac]

So you're insulting those of us who have decided to hire a housekeeper/cook?

you can afford houskeeper and cook from minimum wage ? seems like a good wage then . maybe thats the problem time to fire them and you wont have to live of stamps

[SirBeef]

That really works when you need a sugar rush to get ready for ur 2nd job or to go to ur first job.

Ontopic: Junk/unhealthy food is way more cheaper.......

If you ate healthy you would have all the energy you need. I cut out soda and fast food a while back I eat less than I did over all back then and have so much more energy to do things. I don't even need a boost 2/3rds into the day anymore.

[kamuimac]

You know what's cheaper than Soda and 1000x better for you? Water.

noooo you want to take their consitutional right to soda drinks how dare you - are they animals to drink just water ? next step you will for sure suggest them eating lettuce as its cheap and healthy

[Senistian]

I really love the conversations on this forum, or from people in general. Its like, "oh I have never been in your situation but let me tell you how to do it" I mean really? You don't have a clue what people are dealing with but you'll sit there and try to tell them what they should and should not do. Amazing honestly.

[SirBeef]

Everyone can at least grow herbs.

My sister-in-law, who is a trained chef, cannot for the life of her grow herbs. They always die or wilt to easily on her. It's this long running joke within her family.

[Captain N]

you can afford houskeeper and cook from minimum wage ? seems like a good wage then . maybe thats the problem time to fire them and you wont have to live of stamps

I never claimed I was working minimum wage -- You made a statement that says people unable to cook for themselves are mentally challenged. That's an awful broad brush to paint with and doesn't take into account those like myself who had hired a cook in the past because the wife and I were both working 12 hour days and didn't want to cook when we got off work.

You should avoid hefty generalizations about why people choose not to cook. Not everyone who avoids cooking is doing it because they're suffering some sort of handicap as you implied.

I really love the conversations on this forum, or from people in general. Its like, "oh I have never been in your situation but let me tell you how to do it" I mean really? You don't have a clue what people are dealing with but you'll sit there and try to tell them what they should and should not do. Amazing honestly.

It's even more interesting when you have folks who are just barely above the poor people they're chastising making those claims. The ironic part about this forum is it's usually your high income people who are completely OK with assisting the poor either through higher taxation on themselves, the promotion of higher minimum wages, or stronger safety nets. The people you're referring to are namely the group of people who did everything right and still managed up with a mediocre wage but somehow believe it makes them as successful as a millionaire.