first time i've heard this one...

"Agriculture Department officials have worked to make the program simpler and spread the word about who's eligible, spokeswoman Terri Teuber said.

"We want to ensure that all who are eligible know about the program and receive nutrition assistance with dignity and respect," Teuber said."

www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/28/food.stamps.ap/index.html

I'd love to see that program simpler too.  As in it simply doesn't exist.

Everyone should work for a year checking at a grocery store just to see the wasteful crap that "nutrition assistance" leeches* buy.

* - Not all, I realize that some are frugal and need the help, for them better systems should be established.

What else would you call it? Its getting food to qualifying  people. That qualifies as nutritional aid in my book.

Quoted: What else would you call it? Its getting food to qualifying  people. That qualifies as nutritional aid in my book.

the idealistic concept may be nutritional assitance, but it certainly isnt that in practice. as far as i know there are no stipulations to mandiate, fruits, vegetables, vitamins or supplements, or anything essentail to a healthful diet. i don't believe they provide dietary anaylsis or cooking instruction either. WICS comes closer to nutrional aid than anything about the food stamp program. to me, food stamps are just another hand out and a half assed attempt to solve a problem by throwing large amounts of money at it.

No, they don't mandate vitamins, etc, and yes, there are some limitations as to what can be bought with the stamps. Of course there will be some people who scam the system. The answer is not to dump the system as a whole, but to minimize the scammers .

The only limitations are that it must be food items and not ready to eat hot food.

My views on food stamps were set by two experiences checking.  The first was a family of large folks, parents, and a pack of kids, all big.  They would stop in twice a week and buy alot of food, with food stamps then proceed to drop ten or twenty bucks into the stuffed animal claw machine, every time.

The second was a woman who tried to buy three twenty pieces of fried chicken from the deli.  Alas, the register would not let that be paid for with food stamps, so she handed one of the hundreds in her wallet over to pay for it.

Replace food stamps with a program like WIC that states exactly what you can get.

God damned euphamisms.

Quoted: The only limitations are that it must be food items and not ready to eat hot food. My views on food stamps were set by two experiences checking.  The first was a family of large folks, parents, and a pack of kids, all big.  They would stop in twice a week and buy alot of food, with food stamps then proceed to drop ten or twenty bucks into the stuffed animal claw machine, every time. The second was a woman who tried to buy three twenty pieces of fried chicken from the deli.  Alas, the register would not let that be paid for with food stamps, so she handed one of the hundreds in her wallet over to pay for it. Replace food stamps with a program like WIC that states exactly what you can get.

Amen,  a kid in my class back in high school was on them and all they had were doritos and twinkies in their house. Needless to say they were all fat.  Should regulate what they can buy with them so they can get more nutrition/better health for less money by buying only healthy food.

Soylent Green.....Food for the poor..BY the poor...

Now comes in Soylent Blue and Soylent Pink.

Soylent Corporation is not responsible for any burning in Hell resulting from cannibalism

Nutrition Assistance.... which is exactly what it means when they buy Doritos, Twinkees, and Chedder Dogs with them.

Quoted: What else would you call it? Its getting food to qualifying  people. That qualifies as nutritional aid in my book.

As presently constituted, I would call it "welfare," "the dole," or "relief." There is no harm in reminding people that they are living off the charity of others, although this far into the 3d generation of welfare-dependent "families," it probably won't do much good, either. (Shame and gratitude are highly perishable commodities.) Ideally, I'd call it "Minimally processed bulk foods paid for by the state government and available only at the county warehouse."

The question is how long before "nutrition assistance" becomes synonymous with "welfare" and must therefore be discarded to protect the dignity of those who receive it.

Quoted: Quoted: What else would you call it? Its getting food to qualifying  people. That qualifies as nutritional aid in my book. As presently constituted, I would call it "welfare," "the dole," or "relief." There is no harm in reminding people that they are living off the charity of others, although this far into the 3d generation of welfare-dependent "families," it probably won't do much good, either. (Shame and gratitude are highly perishable commodities.) Ideally, I'd call it "Minimally processed bulk foods paid for by the state government and available only at the county warehouse." The question is how long before "nutrition assistance" becomes synonymous with "welfare" and must therefore be discarded to protect the dignity of those who receive it.

I have no problem with emphasizing that its public aid.
As for the bulk food, you must be too young to remember the government cheese handouts of 20 years ago.

ok, accepting that food stamps are abused for the most part by the recipients, SHOULD we, with the govt acting according to our will, mandate SPECIFICALLY what people can and cannot buy with their food stamps? is there an element of respecting human dignity here?

i've seen these welfare queens buying their cheesie poofs and pizzas with their food stamps but i've also seen recipients buying milk and veggies too...

Quoted: There is no harm in reminding people that they are living off the charity of others,

The question is how long before "nutrition assistance" becomes synonymous with "welfare" and must therefore be discarded to protect the dignity of those who receive it.

Post of the month.  Exactly.

nutritinal assistance includes Cheesy Poofs and Soda pop eh?
should be good for rice and flour

YOu have got to be kidding me. When will this stop. I am going to have to turn up my politically incorectness more now.

Well heck, I need some 2006 Corvette Assistance. Which federal agency handles that?

When I was in college working at a grocery store I would see the people who would come in with WIC and food stamps.  They would buy absolute crap including beer/cheap wine and cigs.  We shouldn't be handing money out to stupid people.

Quoted: When I was in college working at a grocery store I would see the people who would come in with WIC and food stamps.  They would buy absolute crap including beer/cheap wine and cigs.  We shouldn't be handing money out to stupid people.

Those welfare cases kept you employed while you were a struggling college student.

Quoted: Quoted: When I was in college working at a grocery store I would see the people who would come in with WIC and food stamps.  They would buy absolute crap including beer/cheap wine and cigs.  We shouldn't be handing money out to stupid people. Those welfare cases kept you employed while you were a struggling college student.

No they didn't.  We would only get 3 or 4 a day.  Plus it is the tax payer spending the money not the wellfare cases.
BTW I think it would be a great idea to announce over the loud speaker everytime someone uses food stamps.

Quoted: When I was in college working at a grocery store I would see the people who would come in with WIC and food stamps.  They would buy absolute crap including beer/cheap wine and cigs.  We shouldn't be handing money out to stupid people.

From the food stamp website:

9. What foods are eligible for purchase with food stamps?
Households CAN use food stamp benefits to buy:

Foods for the household to eat, such as:
breads and cereals;
fruits and vegetables;
meats, fish and poultry; and
dairy products.
Seeds and plants which produce food for the household to eat.
Households CANNOT use food stamp benefits to buy:

Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes or tobacco
Any nonfood items, such as:
pet foods;
soaps, paper products; and
household supplies.
Vitamins and medicines.

Food that will be eaten in the store.

Hot foods

www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/faqs.htm#9

Sounds like your store was wrong to sell them the stuff and accept food stamps.

Quoted: We shouldn't be handing money out to stupid people.

But those $2000 debit cards worked so well in New Orleans........

Quoted: Quoted: When I was in college working at a grocery store I would see the people who would come in with WIC and food stamps.  They would buy absolute crap including beer/cheap wine and cigs.  We shouldn't be handing money out to stupid people. From the food stamp website: 9. What foods are eligible for purchase with food stamps? Households CAN use food stamp benefits to buy: Foods for the household to eat, such as: breads and cereals; fruits and vegetables; meats, fish and poultry; and dairy products. Seeds and plants which produce food for the household to eat. Households CANNOT use food stamp benefits to buy: Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes or tobacco Any nonfood items, such as: pet foods; soaps, paper products; and household supplies. Vitamins and medicines. Food that will be eaten in the store. Hot foods www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/faqs.htm#9 Sounds like your store was wrong to sell them the stuff and accept food stamps.

No they weren't buying beer or cigs with food stamps, my point is that they must be so bad off that they need the tax payer to keep them from starving but they just happen to have enough money foor beer or cigs.

Quoted: No they weren't buying beer or cigs with food stamps, my point is that they must be so bad off that they need the tax payer to keep them from starving but they just happen to have enough money foor beer or cigs.

Your original post made it sound like they were buying the stuff with food stamps. Thanks for the clarification. So now you are saying that just because they are on food stamps you should have the ability to critique the rest of their purchases? I don't think so.

Quoted: Quoted: No they weren't buying beer or cigs with food stamps, my point is that they must be so bad off that they need the tax payer to keep them from starving but they just happen to have enough money foor beer or cigs. Your original post made it sound like they were buying the stuff with food stamps. Thanks for the clarification. So now you are saying that just because they are on food stamps you should have the ability to critique the rest of their purchases? I don't think so.

I absolutely have the right to critique what they are buying!  They spend $10 on a case of beer and $35 for a carton of Newports but they can't afford $60 of food out of their own pocket.  It is fucking pathetic!!!!  They are living off the hardwork of others.

ETA I also think that any woman on welfare should be forced to take birth control.  It is much cheaper to give them $20 worth of birth control instead of shelling out an extra $35 dollars a week for the extra  mouth to feed.

Quoted: I absolutely have the right to critique what they are buying!  They spend $10 on a case of beer and $35 for a carton of Newports but they can't afford $60 of food out of their own pocket.  It is fucking pathetic!!!!  They are living off the hardwork of others. ETA I also think that any woman on welfare should be forced to take birth control.  It is much cheaper to give them $20 worth of birth control instead of shelling out an extra $35 dollars a week for the extra  mouth to feed.

Thats a pretty cheap case of beer you sell, there.

Just because someone is on public aid doesn't mean that they should live a totally spartan life . Certainly they should not live extravagantly, but at the same time everyone needs a certain degree of social outlet.  Taking your critique to its logical extension, some people might get offended that such folks buy soda or "unhealthy" drinks,etc, etc. Just because someone is on the dole doesn't mean I am going to tell them they have to never have a beer or light up a cig. I don't want to pay for that sort of thing myself, but as long as they are using their own cash, I think thats fine.Just because someone is on food stamps doesn't mean that they aren't working. They may make little enough that they qualify for the food stamps; I am not going to tell them how they can spend the money they DO earn.

Nor do I think that being on the dole gives us the right to dictate someones reproductive methods.

I am sure you'll come up with some example like the NOLA woman on Cape Cod with the 12 kids, but thats an extreme example.

IIRC, there are some folks on this board who at one point or another have had to use public aid; I am not surprised that they haven't spoken up here on this thread  because when they have in the past and tried to put things in perspective about how and why they had to use public aid, theyseem to  get dumped on.

Also IIRC, you are very young. The young have the benefit of unbridled enthusiasm for their beliefs.