Everyone is so jacked up about people buying junkfood with foodstamps.
When i was on food stamps, they gave me $500 a month for Me and my SO. (I was preggo).
This was a lot more than i expected, i told my case worker that we did not need so much, that they can give at least $150 to someone who needs it more. She said that $500 is what i qualify for, so thats what i would get. I can fill my freezer with $130, and my fridge and cabinents with $200 for a whole month. So yeah, i bought junk food because they would not take what we did not need back.
So who is woman enough to tell me that a child who's parents is on welfare does not deserve a freaking cheetoh puff for a snack or a bowl of icecream before bed?
Why does everyone care so much what people on foodstamps are buying anyways? Some people have conditions to where they need sweets or their blood sugar drops too low. My grandma use to buy 10 candy bars a month for when her blood sugar would drop and she was not home. She could just grab one out of her purse and she would be fine afterward. She was on food stamps. There are children like this too, so who are these people to judge what they buy with their foodstamps?
Sorry, this is kind of a vent. The economy is hard right now, and food is food, even if it is junk food. Families on foodstamps should be able to get snacks with their bridgecards without being judged. Its not like thats all they buy, and if they do, oh well, they still have to eat, that just means they will not be healthy.
*************EDIT********************
One of the replies got me thinking....(stay with me), WIC offers milk and cheese and such, with the agreement that those who get it, attend classes that teach us how to feed our children healthy nutritious meals. So why not do this with foodstamps as well. There are many people who are so use to living off of fast food that when they get on food stamps they don't know how to budget it, or even prepare a healthy meal. This way they can have the knowledge of preparing healthy nutritous meals that a lot of lower income families couldn't afford to do before getting on foodstamps. I already have in mind at least 3 people who desperitly need a class like this.
Thank you for saying what I've been thinking since I got on CM.. which has been about a month or two, I think. While it's been nice to have people say supportive things, it's also been reminding me why I prefer male friends. lol.
There were at least 8 food stamp posts since I got here (that I saw), and we just got on them recently. We would buy more of the healthier foods but we simply cannot afford it. We've had to change our eating habits drastically and I now understand what it feels like to be on both sides.. people just do not realize what it's like until they've been there, but it's often the people who have no idea that have the biggest mouths.
We are a family of 5, and we used to have a weekly grocery budget of at least $300. Now it's less than $500 a month. I crave fresh foods on an almost daily basis.. I'm so sick of the processed crap. BUT if they take away the junk/processed stuff, many of us would not thrive because we'd be eating very, very little. How is that fixing anything? The answer is not restricting what food stamps can buy. It is a much deeper problem than that.
Anyway, that's my vent. :)
Quoting allornone:
Donate food to the food bank just rotate the food so you are not buying for the food bank. I buy a container of jiff this month I don't use it send it to the food bank and buy a new one for home
I do this at the end of every month when i clean my cabinents and fridge out. I have been there and know what its like to have to go to a food bank when they are low on food.
Quoting allornone:
Donate food to the food bank just rotate the food so you are not buying for the food bank. I buy a container of jiff this month I don't use it send it to the food bank and buy a new one for home
What is your greatest accomplishment? UPDATE
- mom2cheesebug
on Feb. 14, 2012 at 2:06 AM