Arkansas Lawmaker Plans to Ban Junk Food from Food Stamp Purchases

[McFuu]

This thread is filled with all kinds of misinformation on the cost of food and what is considered healthy. I've looked up the Snap allotment for food and easily spend less than that amount monthly on food. And I'm not hurting for money or cutting corners.

[Deleted]

Only in the land of the free...

[Spectral]

Most SNAP recipients are employed.

They don't work much, on average. Per CBPP (a pro-SNAP entity):

About 93 percent of SNAP benefits go to households with incomes below the poverty line, and 58 percent go to households below half of the poverty line (about $10,080 for a family of three in 2016).

Some quick math tells us that $10K/year at minimum wage is 1390 hours of work (less in many states). That's a shade under 27 hours/week.

Put another way, more than half of SNAP spending goes to households that work less than 27 hours/week.

Put another another, it's wrong to say that SNAP recipients don't work, but accurate to say that they don't work much.

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Shush, they can just work harder!!! IF they aren't at work 23 hours out of the day the are losers and haters.

The majority of them barely work 23 hours per week, much less per day. Let's not act like most welfare recipients are working their fingers to the bone.

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Only in the land of the free...

... would people expect that other people that work more than them should pay for their potato chips.

[Captain N]

This thread is filled with all kinds of misinformation on the cost of food and what is considered healthy. I've looked up the Snap allotment for food and easily spend less than that amount monthly on food. And I'm not hurting for money or cutting corners.

I'm interested in what numbers you put in since a single parent with one child who is paid $10/hour full time ($1600/month) and is paying $100/month for subsidized child care in the state of Illinois is only receiving $48/month in SNAP Benefits.

Even tacking on $500/month in rent still only raises the benefits to $129/month

http://fscalc.dhs.illinois.gov/FSCalc/calculateFS.do

[I Push Buttons]

They don't work much, on average. Per CBPP (a pro-SNAP entity):

Some quick math tells us that $10K/year at minimum wage is 1390 hours of work (less in many states). That's a shade under 27 hours/week.

Put another way, more than half of SNAP spending goes to households that work less than 27 hours/week.

Put another another, it's wrong to say that SNAP recipients don't work, but accurate to say that they don't work much.

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The majority of them barely work 23 hours per week, much less per day. Let's not act like most welfare recipients are working their fingers to the bone.

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... would people expect that other people that work more than them should pay for their potato chips.

Its almost like employers employing people at minimum wage don't want them to work full time since they would be forced to provide them with other benefits and health insurance if they did so.

[Cthulhu 2020]

The reason there has been so little in the way of food stamp restrictions is they know people will just buy normal food with food stamps and buy other things with their own money. You can't claim to have seen someone buying alcohol WITH food stamps because it would be a blocked purchase. But what you might have been seeing is people buying food with food stamps then running alcohol through a separate check.

It's called supplemental nutrition program for a reason, because $125 a month ain't going to cover food unless you're eating saltines.

[Spectral]

Its almost like employers employing people at minimum wage don't want them to work full time since they would be forced to provide them with other benefits and health insurance if they did so.

This does not contradict anything I wrote. It also suggests at least two reasonable courses of policy to solve that problem.

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It's called supplemental nutrition program for a reason, because $125 a month ain't going to cover food unless you're eating saltines.

It obviously ain't falling short on the supplementation given the obesity rates among the poor.

[I Push Buttons]

This does not contradict anything I wrote. It also suggests at least two reasonable courses of policy to solve that problem.

You are sitting there insulting people working less than full time as if every single one of them chose to work less and is lazy and thus doesn't deserve help.

An argument that is beyond retarded.

[Spectral]

You are sitting there insulting people working less than full time...

Where?

...as if every single one of them chose to work less and is lazy and thus doesn't deserve help.

Where?

Be specific. Quote me commenting on work ethic or whether anyone "deserve[s]" help. It's not there - you read something that's not there.

[I Push Buttons]

Where?

Where?

Be specific. Quote me commenting on work ethic or whether anyone "deserve[s]" help. It's not there - you read something that's not there.

Indeed... You are just going on and on about how little people who receive SNAP work because you just want to inform everyone of those statistics for no apparent reason and have no ulterior motive whatsoever...

[Spectral]

Indeed... You are just going on and on about how little people who receive SNAP work because you just want to inform everyone of those statistics for no apparent reason and have no ulterior motive whatsoever...

I like factual accuracy a lot. I realize it's not important when you're busy with rhetoric though.

[the game]

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Could you explain those weights to those of us who are American and don't deal drugs?

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Well that's not true. Our inner city youth have excellent proficency in the metric system and they don't even use that in school. I use the metric system all the time in manufacturing but I don't think I've ever used the metric system in regards to weight outside of buying weed lol. I cannot envision what 400 grams of chicken looks like.

I mean wow.

[Stacyrect]

I mean wow.

not wow, legendary

[belfpala]

A good way to half-ass the math is to just figure that a kilo is a bit over double a pound. So thinking of 400 g of chicken, you're thinking of a bit under a pound. Not perfect, but close enough for government work.

More or less, you can do that converting metic units to stupid-units. Speed, weight, volume, the conversion factor is 9/5. So, double if you don't need to be precise (or halve if going the other direction).

Anyway, didn't feel like reading through this entire thread. Did we establish a definitive set of of characteristics that create junk food? I mean, I could run to the grocery store right now and make something based on kale from scratch that would make your saturated fat, salt, sensors scream, followed by another scratch made dessert that will make your teeth fall out.

[Stacyrect]

Do you know the % of poor people who actually do this? I'm willing to bet it's infinitely small compared to the overwhelming amount of people who use their EBTs to actually buy food. Florida attempted to take food stamps from drug abusers and it blew up in their faces because the vast majority of people on food stamps aren't on drugs.

Also the discussion was about food deserts, not drug use among the poor.

It also must be said that the contempt for the poor in America is disgusting.

It depends. In wisconsin, I haven't seen anyone even use an EBT card. In connecticut, at the beginning of the month, their are like 30-40 people in front of each super market trying to sell you their card. Nevermind the people hanging out by the cash registers that call out like its a fucking auction, while waving that gray ass EBT card around. Mind you, this is all perfectly legal so long as they are the ones swiping the card at the register.

[Captain N]

Anyway, didn't feel like reading through this entire thread. Did we establish a definitive set of of characteristics that create junk food? I mean, I could run to the grocery store right now and make something based on kale from scratch that would make your saturated fat, salt, sensors scream, followed by another scratch made dessert that will make your teeth fall out.

Based on the responses of some people -- Junk Food is anything that isn't bread and water.

[Spectral]

Anyway, didn't feel like reading through this entire thread. Did we establish a definitive set of of characteristics that create junk food? I mean, I could run to the grocery store right now and make something based on kale from scratch that would make your saturated fat, salt, sensors scream, followed by another scratch made dessert that will make your teeth fall out.

Not sure if that's established or not. It seems like a decent pilot program would be straightforward things that won't confuse people - basically ban sugary drinks and the snack aisle. Yeah, you can make stuff that's bad for out of almost anything, but potato chips and soda are basically unmitigated nutritional disasters.

[TirielWoW]

It depends. In wisconsin, I haven't seen anyone even use an EBT card. In connecticut, at the beginning of the month, their are like 30-40 people in front of each super market trying to sell you their card. Nevermind the people hanging out by the cash registers that call out like its a fucking auction, while waving that gray ass EBT card around. Mind you, this is all perfectly legal so long as they are the ones swiping the card at the register.

I'm fairly certain it's not legal, even if they are swiping their card.

[Mad_Murdock]

Anyway, didn't feel like reading through this entire thread. Did we establish a definitive set of of characteristics that create junk food? I mean, I could run to the grocery store right now and make something based on kale from scratch that would make your saturated fat, salt, sensors scream, followed by another scratch made dessert that will make your teeth fall out.

I think some might be trying to split hairs just to fight the system. There is obvious junk food that has been preached against now for 30+ years. Candy bars, Potato chips, sodas, cakes, candies etc.

If times are tough I don't think it's unrealistic to tell folks to stick with the basics foods. Rice, Chicken, Beans, Fish, Veggies. My parents grew up in the 50s and 60s in backwoods Kentucky and even their parents knew what junk food was. You got your base meat and potatoes meals and maybe once a week you got some special treat like pie OR ice cream. It's odd that before there was a time of getting Govt money, people knew how to eat without being told. But now we're so evolved we can't figure out what junk food is.

[Stacyrect]

I'm fairly certain it's not legal, even if they are swiping their card.

Pretty sure it is, as they do this in police presence, and when people complain norwich, groton, and new london police say the same line. "They are not committing a crime so long as they do not give you their card and information to make the purchase, sorry, nothing we can do about it"