Taco Bell and KFC want your food stamps

Well, look at the corporate side of this. The economy is crap, there aren't as many people dining out much less at fast food establishments, they are just looking for a way to supplement their income, since sales are probably way down. I know given the choice of dining out that one time a year when I can I would rather choose Longhorn Steakhouse or my favorite chinese buffet plac, and by pass the fast food joints. However it is so low cost that we haven't exactly given up the fast food altogether we can still afford to buy it once in awhile, but not as many can in this economic downturn. I am willing to bet a lot of sales dropped this month. We know the real wealthy does not dine there! Also Pizza Hut I can get free because friends of mine work there, so when they have leftover pizza or wings that someone didn't pick up at the end of the night they hook my kids and me up. They throw that stuff away anyway, so why waste it?

Originally posted by grey580
Demolition man predicted the future.

All restaurants will be taco bell.
After the fast food wars that is.

However this makes sense via corporate logic. The government has money to spend and lots of it.

1. Make a service or product.
2. Put a shill in a position of power to get the government to buy your service or product.
3. Profit!

The government does not have money to spend, they only have the ability to take money from the public, by force I might add, and redistribute that money where they see fit.

Originally posted by Domo1
reply to post by mblahnikluver

 

Food Stamps back when my mom had them were for basic foods not extras like shrimp and now take out for God's sake. This pisses me off!

If you're on foodstamps you should only be buying the basics. Not pop, chips, candy and now (possibly) fast food. I was slightly irked when I saw Papa Murphy's was accepting foodstamps.

Yea agreed! I remember when we were little and my mom had them you could get Corn Flakes, Frosted Flakes, Cheerios or Chex and now you can get anything you want. We never had snacks and even when we did they were Moon Pies and my god I loved those esp the raspberry ones...mmmm!

It's all about money on the other end..Someone somewhere is making money off of them being used all over now...

The whole purpose of them has been lost.


I have been in times where I really needed help BUT I knew I could survive on the basics like bread and pasta and things like that. I didn't get assistance cause I knew someone needed it more than me...What bothers me most with this is knowing the ones who need it most arent getting it cause the ones getting it are abusing it...Which is why Im all for drug testing and a time limit for welfare..

Originally posted by irsuccubus
reply to post by mblahnikluver

 

One of the things that can be bought with food stamps that many people are unaware of is seeds. You can purchase seeds to grow your own food and yet no one is being educated on this fact. I know that DPW offers classes and work training...why not gardening and agriculture?

You seem to forget that many that have food stamps are homeless, or live in boarding houses with no refrigerators or stoves.
How are they supposed to grow food, with no yard.

Many of these fast food establishments have some very good deals on certain days..deals you couldn't compete with if you had to go buy the ingredients.

Geez..some people are making it sound like KFC is a big fancy meal ... that only the rich can afford..??
And this fast food is no less healthy than a lot of the crap people buy ingredients for and make themselves.

C'mon people ..its food stamps..what does it matter..as long as there are getting some food with it. Put yourself in the position of a homeless person , or someone staying in the spare rooms of someones basement,but has no access to a kitchen all the time.

Originally posted by irsuccubus
reply to post by mblahnikluver

 

One of the things that can be bought with food stamps that many people are unaware of is seeds. You can purchase seeds to grow your own food and yet no one is being educated on this fact. I know that DPW offers classes and work training...why not gardening and agriculture?

Not in Florida! Anywhere they were sold I asked! But anyway I brought my seeds which proved useless being the soil is crap where I live and the rain killed the plants and I haven't got too much space either. I spent about 50 bucks cash for seeds which ended up yeilding about 5 green beans total nothing else grew oh, well, my herbs did so a lot of free seasoning for my food, lol. and one pumpkin from a plant someone gave to me, which we don't eat pumpkin I thought it was squash I think it depends on what state you're in whether they pay for seeds or not. But back to the OP I would not want to buy mcdonald's, etc. with my stamps. I'll use what money We earn for those "luxuries". That's what they are to me luxuries.

Let me just put this out there before I get labeled as heartless. The hunger issue in this country and the world at large is one very close to my heart. I spent years as a personal chef and one of my favorite things to do was donate food as well as my time. I have also walked in their shoes as I have sat in the DPW office begging for insurance for my kids when they were little more than babies. They are very depressing places and very few people sitting in there can be considered living high on the hog. When applying for benefits one is often subject to the worst kind of treatment from those bureaucratic douches who are only a few paychecks from the breadlines themselves. They dont respect you. they dont look at you like you are human and they damn sure dont care what kind of situation might have brought you before them. It sucks. SUCKS!!! You are stripped of your humanity and reduced to a number. This is in no way a free ride because it costs you a little bit more of your dignity each time you have to go back in there and face those dead eyed f**kers.

Now...that being said...I do not believe that making nachos bel grande available to food stamp recipients is going to do a gawt damn thing to alleviate the woes of the disenfranchised in this country. The inevitable health problems that will arise from this new influx of customers will just end up putting money into hands of big insurance. So basically your tax money is being ping-ponged around big corporations to make sure that there is a steady stream of revenue, no matter which evil team you play for. One sets em up....the other knocks em down. Meanwhile we the people are trapped in the middle. Taxpayer and Disenfranchised citizen alike.

reply to post by gabby2011


How many food stamp recipients do you know...because I know a lot. I live in a heavily hispanic area where at least 75% of them carry those little green cards. These are people with yards...with porches....with access to buckets and all sorts of other containers that food can be grown in. Its a myth that welfare = squatting in the dirt poor. Some people are just broke with no prospects. Land can be a holdover from a death in the family and community gardens are started in abandoned lots all the time. So thats no excuse. Sorry. It can be done. Anything can be done if you are motivated enough and I am not going to make excuses so that people can be poisoned by those who really dont give a damn about them.

Been a long time since I used Food Stamps. There was an actual booklet of stamps that you used and it was pretty embarassing to use them especially if there was any type of line.

The one rule I remember is that you couldn't use them to get a fountain drink, a heated meal that you could eat on the premises (like a burrito or something, however if you didn't nuke it there it was allowed) or anything like that. You weren't able to use them at a resturant of any type.

I agree that there should be more done to get a person off of food stamps. Unfortunately, I don't have a clue what the answer is as I work a fulltime job and still qualify for them.

reply to post by ldyserenity


Im in PA so you have a point about it being possibly different depending on the state you are in. I was in Dollar tree earlier this season buying seeds and a woman in front of me paid for hers with her card. The cashier told me that it was perfectly fine to do so. I thought that was an awesome thing because it could really help those who were willing to put the work in and grow their own food. And some people are. I know its not the easiest thing....damn bugs wrecked my cantaloupe crop this year, lol....but few things worth doing are.

reply to post by irsuccubus


this is a terrible idea.
these foods dont actually fill you up and would take away valuable nutrition that people need!

Majority of food stamps are used to buy candy/pop(soda)/cakes/popcorn/chips/frozen food(processed food as bad as fast food)

Seriously, what is the difference eating frozen lasagna, versus one double cheeseburger from mcdonald? Proteins and carbs can sustain the human body and is the basic groups of energy and growth

Didnt Taco bell just get an influx of mutant chickens or something? Oh yeah....I can see this doing plenty to help humanity.

There is only one way I would ever be in favor of this idea....

and that is if it will open the door legally for the States to regulate the fast food industry and force them to actually serve meals that are healthy. If this would force Taco Bell to use real meat instead of over process meat like substance.... then let's do it!

However, if these same places are going to continue to sell food that is not healthy and can actually harm you, then forget it. What these places currently serve is not a "necessity". Junk food is a luxury.

can someone explain to me how food stamps work please.Im from the UK...

Originally posted by pwndnewb

I agree that there should be more done to get a person off of food stamps. Unfortunately, I don't have a clue what the answer is as I work a fulltime job and still qualify for them.

In michigan average jobs that was worth 30$ an hour has now become 15$ an hour, after a year, before that the starting pay is 12$ an hour.
I've been working through multiple jobs and the highest paying job I ever had was 9$ an hour. i'm 27 with an associate. Seriously, on average a person who is making over 35,000 a year is still considered poor, so what is the answer?

reply to post by purplemer


So if you only earn a certain amount a month you qualify for food stamps (factoring in number of children etc.) the govt. gives you a debit card and you can use it to buy food. You can't go into a grocery store and buy already made deli food but can purchase anything that is not taxable (I believe). You can't buy beer, smokes and things like that but you can buy pretty much any type of food you want. It's pretty disgusting to watch a woman with 5 kids in tow buying tons of junk food with food stamps. In my opinion it should only be used for things like rice, vegetables, meats (reasonable) etc. The American tax payer should not be funding someones 'late night munchies' at Taco Bell.

Wow what a horrible idea. Well maybe not so much for Taco Bell, that stuff seems cheaper than cheap.

When I look at the price of any of the meals KFC offers and compare it to the price it would cost to make it at home I am completely blown away. Chicken is cheap and easy to do anything with and they make a killing on it. Anyone that uses food stamps that way is just going to be fat and hungry.

Originally posted by Domo1
reply to post by irsuccubus

 

I highly doubt that most people on foodstamps are going to be able to grow seeds for food. Requires land etc. Good point though, I never knew that.

In a perfect dream world, It is mandatory to take gardening and self sufficiency classes in grade school just in case, that way everyone knows how to basically fees themselves..
Wouldnt that be awesome?! Only in a dream..

One of the things that bothers me most about this is the probability that these big corporations are lobbying for this while wasting tons of food every day that could be feeding those in need. Even if the food was used to feed the employees who are very likely working poor anyway.

I work at a convenience store chain. Last night, I threw away over 5 dozen donuts with nothing more wrong with them that that they do not have a hole. At my chain, at the end of the night, any donut with a hole is boxed as "day old" to be sold the following day. They are written off as wasted anyway. The donuts without a hole, such as long johns, bismarks, etc are pitched. I'm assuming because these are pricier donuts that the company doesn't want to give away cheaply. The employees can be fired if caught taking the wasted donuts or other wasted foods. Corporate considers that stealing.

It's just crazy the way corporations get away with this kind of behavior and yet would have no problem whatsoever with encouraging the poor to spend their food stamps at their stores.

I also am privy to the types of purchases the food stamp recipients make with their stamps. It really is frustrating to work a lot of hours and not be able to afford the occasional treat, yet watch these folks buy energy drinks and junk food with their benefits. Some of them spend twenty bucks several times a week buying stuff my kids ask for and are told we can't afford.

An article I read recently talked about how a large part of the food stamp recipients are children and therefore could not be bilking the system. Maybe on paper, it shows children, but how many children are in charge of what gets purchased? My guess is that the children are the reason for the benefits, but the parents are making lousy purchasing decisions and the kids are still hungry or malnourished.

That being said, I have also lived on food stamps before as a single parent. It is, in fact, very hard to buy nutritious foods with the meager amount of support an honest person gets. This is speaking as a parent who tried hard to supply nutritious meals at home. We rarely, almost never, ate out unless someone else was buying. A lot of times, the funds ran out and I had to resort to the food pantry to finish out the month. At no time, did we buy food at convenience stores. In my opinion, the persons I see spending exorbitant amounts of food stamp benefits at my store must be procuring them dishonestly or are receiving help from outside sources as well, such as family and food pantries. I was never able to live honestly on aid without hardship.

Well, what if these people can't cook? Then healthy foods are not an option