Healthy Alternative for Food Stamp Recipients provided by the American Government

reply to post by darkbake


As for people who complain about food stamp recipients being fat, they are not educated either, or thinking, for that matter, but reacting. The same person would complain if the food stamp user bought lobster (representing a healthier alternative at a higher price).

Someone on food stamps is not only going to be on a limited budget, but they might not even have the skills necessary to figure out how to eat healthy and cook, let alone on a low budget.

Experimenting with that could very well cost a whole month's worth of food if something goes wrong. In most cases, $170 a month for food is around $6.00 or less a day, or in my case, $17 a month being 60 cents a day.

So in any case, thanks for your information!

Originally posted by whitewave
Excellent article and sources linked. Well done. Do you mind if I forward this information/article to my child's school? We're not on SNAP but I've been trying to get the local schools to grow gardens on campus for a while.
This is very good information the schools could send out with the "free lunch" application packet at the beginning of every year.

Thank you and I am sorry I missed your reply! I encourage you to get those free posters and post them around campus. Those links provided for the schools participation are important and stand more on a state and federal stance. They in no way represent all of the other programs that may be local to your district. You can visit your states agriculture department online and find more localized programs to participate in.

Originally posted by darkbake
Wow, okay I am actually in this boat, although for some reason I am only getting $17 a month on my SNAP. Thanks for the information, it is really useful, although it could take a few months or more to implement.

I think that being fat on SNAP would actually have to do with being less informed, it is easier to get fat on foods than it is to eat healthy, and also, when on a budget, it is a lot easier to get fat than to eat healthy.

The common denominator here is information, thanks, you provided it in a well-organized fashion.

You are welcome and thank you. Over 45 million Americans are on that same boat. Even though it is only $17 per month, you can buy a lot of seeds or a viable fruit tree. Trust me, you will feel empowered once you pick that first fruit. It's time to take back our health and the poor have all the tools to do this

Originally posted by darkbake
reply to post by darkbake

 

As for people who complain about food stamp recipients being fat, they are not educated either, or thinking, for that matter, but reacting.

You are right! I provided links that if 1 in 3 are obese, naturally 1 in 7 on SNAP will likely be obese. Food choices are the same whether they are on SNAP or not. Poor people will still eat the same as the privileged. The difference is, the poor can change this if they are equipped with the knowledge, motivation, and the tools that are actually provided by the government.

reply to post by beezzer

Is the term "Provide for the General Welfare" in there someplace?.

Yes, it is...

Originally posted by MyHappyDogShiner
reply to post by beezzer

 

Is the term "Provide for the General Welfare" in there someplace?.

Yes, it is...

The freedom to have oppourtunities is provided.

Oh, you meant welfare-welfare.

reply to post by Hollie


You know its the cheap food that makes you fat right?

The healthy food is expensive, and yes, I am disabled and on food stamps. I don't really care if that lowers anyones opinion of me or not. The fact is I would be struggling even more if I did not have it right now. 300 dollars a month is barely enough to buy a months worth of food. We buy alot of rice, beans, dry goods etc.

Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, all of this stuff costs much more than the starched, bleached crappy foods that are cheaper and don't have that much nutritional value. They're packed with sugar, starches and carbs = Fatty McButterpants.

Of course, you have alot of dummies that just know nothing about nutrition and will buy crap anyways. Then again there are folks like me that try to buy the best things that I can that are on sale, and still its barely enough. I pay extra special attention to what I put in my body these days because I am battling stage 4 melanoma and gonna start radiation again soon.

Originally posted by Cancerwarrior
reply to post by Hollie

 

You know its the cheap food that makes you fat right?

The healthy food is expensive, and yes, I am disabled and on food stamps. I don't really care if that lowers anyones opinion of me or not. The fact is I would be struggling even more if I did not have it right now. 300 dollars a month is barely enough to buy a months worth of food. We buy alot of rice, beans, dry goods etc.

Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, all of this stuff costs much more than the starched, bleached crappy foods that are cheaper and don't have that much nutritional value. They're packed with sugar, starches and carbs = Fatty McButterpants.

Of course, you have alot of dummies that just know nothing about nutrition and will buy crap anyways. Then again there are folks like me that try to buy the best things that I can that are on sale, and still its barely enough. I pay extra special attention to what I put in my body these days because I am battling stage 4 melanoma and gonna start radiation again soon.

edit on 7-9-2013 by Cancerwarrior because: (no reason given)

I am sorry to hear about your health. However, it simply is not true that healthy foods are more expensive. A can of beans, packed FULL of sodium is .99 cents. A bag of dried beans which equals 4 cans of beans is .89 cents. Mahtma rice in a bag is .99 cents and healthier with more servings than Rice-A-Roni which is $1.99. Frozen vegetables cost the same as canned (full of sodium) and are fresher. A fresh banana is .25 cents meanwhile a small can of fruit cocktail in syrup is $1.49. I got these prices from a Winn-Dixie flyer BTW. I can give you many more examples but you are no dummy and can find healthy whole foods on the cheap.

Cheap food certainly can be healthy. I have provided a link to find recipes that are cooked with cheap foods that provide in detail nutritional values. I do not frown upon any person that is getting food assistance. I also hope you got more from the OP than people's opinion of others that are getting these benefits, because that would be disheartening. I have linked the readers with valuable tools in order to take advantage of their health at the government and taxpayers expense.

reply to post by Hollie


First I'd like to thank you for providing us with such an informative and well thought out post. Your intentions seem sincere, but I'm left wondering if you're one of the folks Obama just hired to help people get on foodstamps and other government programs. So forgive my bluntness, but are you? (not that there's anything wrong with that)

Secondly, I have a problem with your 4% fraud figure. I grew up poor and have a unique perspective on the food stamp culture in this country. Today I travel and work in all kinds of neighborhoods and can tell you first hand that the majority of snap recipients would rather plant couches and beer bottles in their yards than plant gardens. I happen to know and see so many people screwing the system in so many ways that a 4% figure seems more delusional than conservative.

Year before last when food prices tripled overnight I looked into Depression era recipes. Those people were on ration cards and sometimes only got 1 egg per person per week! Sugar was rationed as was gasoline. There are several recipes that reflect those times and the ingenuity of housewives on a budget/ration card.

I've actually made those eggless cake, butterless breads/pastries, etc. They're really quite good and cheaper substitutes are available for many foods. I've become a rather skilled forager and really prefer my "lawn lunches" to the more expensive fare. They're more nutritious too.

My garden went to hell this year because I no longer had access to water unless I wanted to haul it out in buckets to water the garden (I didn't). If it was a matter of starvation, I would have but I'm in a good position and can afford groceries right now so I'm using my monies for other preps.

I have lots of seeds in storage but, as I found out last year, those seeds really need to be replenished pretty much every year. Some germinated but many did not.

What you're suggesting (and it IS a good suggestion) would require a massive education effort. Worth the effort IMHO. I'll send for those posters and get started Monday. Thanks again for the good info.

Originally posted by Bone75
reply to post by Hollie

 

First I'd like to thank you for providing us with such an informative and well thought out post. Your intentions seem sincere, but I'm left wondering if you're one of the folks Obama just hired to help people get on foodstamps and other government programs. So forgive my bluntness, but are you? (not that there's anything wrong with that)

Secondly, I have a problem with your 4% fraud figure. I grew up poor and have a unique perspective on the food stamp culture in this country. Today I travel and work in all kinds of neighborhoods and can tell you first hand that the majority of snap recipients would rather plant couches and beer bottles in their yards than plant gardens. I happen to know and see so many people screwing the system in so many ways that a 4% figure seems more delusional than conservative.

Hi there and thank you for taking the time to read the OP. The 4% figure was a guess from my memory while doing research. It appears to be a 3% fraud or error rate though. Source

Like you, I was a product of the food stamp system, and, like you, was witness and used for LOTS of fraud. Back then food stamps looked like monopoly money. My mother used to give me a $10 dollar monopoly bill to go into the convenience store and buy .99 cents worth of candy. The store would then give me $9.01 back in real money. Then she would buy her beer and cigarettes with the rest. Since this time, reform has taken place, and is a constant to this day. Thankfully!

I too see couch potatoes, but obviously SNAP recipients aren't the only ones like this, especially if we have a 1 in 3 obesity rate in America. The goal of this OP is to bring awareness of the alternatives and benefits that SNAP can provide to those that have the initiative. I don't have any ideas for bringing about ambition accept for the fact that there is money to be made. Sometimes money can make a person more enthusiastic?

reply to post by whitewave


Do not forget, you can buy established food plants! I am not sure if you qualify for SNAP or not, but a link in the OP will take you to the right spot to find out. You might be poorer then you think so I would entertain looking, even if it is for only 10$ per month. That could get you a nice berry bush!

I do have a suggestion for your water issues though.. I have found that trees do not take near as much water as leafy greens and fragile vegetables. A mulberry tree can feed an Army and is easily propagated. They also do well in pots so that you can keep that baby under control. Also what I do to combat the water issue is to only grow native edibles. It has spared me a lot of heartache. I grow Everglades tomatoes instead of those nice delicious looking Cherokees. You get the idea

Originally posted by Bone75
reply to post by Hollie

 

First I'd like to thank you for providing us with such an informative and well thought out post. Your intentions seem sincere, but I'm left wondering if you're one of the folks Obama just hired to help people get on foodstamps and other government programs. So forgive my bluntness, but are you? (not that there's anything wrong with that)

I did not answer this part of your question because I did not expect to be associated as an employee of the POTUS and needed some time to think of an answer. Mainly because I don't know yet if this is a compliment, or an insult? Either way, that was a first for me, and thank you for making me do some critical thinking.

To answer your question, no. I do not, nor have I ever worked for any President. But I do have some questions for you. Are you saying that the President hires people to recruit citizens to become recipients of SNAP? If so, what is the job title called? Because if these people are taking calls, I have some questions regarding some new informationals that I would like to publish.

Originally posted by Cancerwarrior
reply to post by Hollie

 

You know its the cheap food that makes you fat right?

The healthy food is expensive, and yes, I am disabled and on food stamps. I don't really care if that lowers anyones opinion of me or not. The fact is I would be struggling even more if I did not have it right now. 300 dollars a month is barely enough to buy a months worth of food. We buy alot of rice, beans, dry goods etc.

Yeah exactly. I'm working on improving my food selection like that. The economy is kind of rough, and the work environment can be hostile towards someone who doesn't fit in to social norms as easily. After being out of work for 2 years due to circumstances beyond my control, it's going to be harder to get back in.

I mean, I was in gifted classes through high school and graduated from a private university with a major and three minors. I don't think there is any reason to be angry at something like being on food stamps that has the possibility to effect every single person in this country,

regardless of any type of socioeconomic factor from that person's parents or past or whatever.

Sometimes, there is even the case of autism, where the person could be a hard worker and extremely intelligent, but not able to fit into the increasingly more strict, complicated and also varying societal standards.

Our society is not stable enough for someone who is not naturally adaptable to make it as easily, so even something like that could force someone to the curb.

We live in a time period where any one of us could be rich one day, and lose our job and all of our money the next, and have to enroll in food stamps.

reply to post by Hollie

I am sorry to hear about your health. However, it simply is not true that healthy foods are more expensive.
A can of beans, packed FULL of sodium is .99 cents. A bag of dried beans which equals 4 cans of beans is .89 cents. Mahtma rice in a bag is .99 cents and healthier with more servings than Rice-A-Roni which is $1.99.

I have to disagree, food price has increased drastically across the board in the last few years alone. It will only keep going up. And it most certainly is the cheap foods that make you fat. Ever notice how whole grain bread is about 4 dollars a loaf and the white bread is about 1.50? Look at the whole grain crackers, they are always more expensive than the regular ones. Turkey is much better for you than regular ground beef, and its always a dollar or two a pound higher than ground beef. I can give many more examples.

Beans 99 cents a can? really? that's why shopping at a grocery store is unaffordable for anyone on food stamps. You go to walmart to get the most for your money (as much as I loathe walmart, I have to) their canned beans are half that price.

Thats why we buy alot of them( more dry than canned, although I use the canned to make chili in the cold months) because its one of the few things affordable on a tight budget. But eating beans every day is no good if you dont have fresh fruits and veggies. And buying even a few weeks worth of these is easy 100 bucks or more. I'm not talking about frozen/canned stuff, Im talking about actual FRESH fruit and veggies. And Rice a Roni is nothing like white/brown rice because its vermicelli and you cook it in oil first, so I'm not sure where you're going in that comparison. Also, brown rice is always more than the white rice.

All I'm saying is, for two people, 300 bucks a month is barely enough to buy a months worth of food. It's only going to get worse.

reply to post by darkbake

We live in a time period where any one of us could be rich one day, and lose our job and all of our money the next, and have to enroll in food stamps.

Boy, ain't that the truth. If you had told me a few years ago that I would be diagnosed with very deadly form of skin cancer and I would no longer have my good surveying job and would be struggling to pay bills and eat with 900 bucks a month disability and 300 bucks a month for food I would have not believed it. Hell, I never even got sick with a cold or anything before all this. I had my appendix out when I was 20, other than that I've never been to a hospitol for anything.

Now I have seen the opposite end of the spectrum also. I remember once when I was working at the local lumbermill and struggling paycheck to paycheck I went to the grocery store to get a few things on my way home from work one day. I was standing in the check out line counting in my head to make sure that the few items I had were not going to go over the twenty or so bucks I had until next payday.

In front of me was a black lady checking out. She looked nice, her hair was did, her nails were did, she was dressed in nice clothes and had on alot of jewelry. Her buggy was full of nothing but meat.....steaks, shrimp, catfish, etc. When the lady at the checkout finished ringing her up the customer pulled out a food stamp card and payed with it.

So I pay for my few little measly items and go to my truck to go home. I see the lady who was in front of me loading up a shiny new Escalade with a custom midnight blue sparkly paintjob, and shiny blue rims (custom also) .

All I can think of when I see this is how she obviously does not need food stamps since she can afford so many other nice things. I've seen more people around here like that.

But there is also people like me who generally need the help. I doubt I'll ever return to the workforce because my body is totally shot. Honestly with the type of cancer I have I will be very VERY lucky to see 40. All i can say is thank god for food stamps.

The food stamp program is being taken advantage of.

There are a lot of people that get food stamps and sell them. That is what makes me mad.

Originally posted by EvaMarie
The food stamp program is being taken advantage of.

There are a lot of people that get food stamps and sell them. That is what makes me mad.

How? they give you a credit card nowadays. You have to spend it on food. There is none of the monopoly money that they had twenty years ago.

reply to post by Cancerwarrior


They get the money and hand the card over. Then when the card is empty they hand the card back for a refill.

Didnt you know that?

reply to post by Cancerwarrior

How? they give you a credit card nowadays. You have to spend it on food. There is none of the monopoly money that they had twenty years ago.

The USDA issued some correspondence along the line of EBT 'selling'.

If the problem was small, they wouldn't have issued a 'letter' to Twitter etc.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, the Federal agency
responsible for administration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, requests your assistance.

The USDA has determined that the sale or offer to sell SNAP benefits in public or online
is an intentional program violation and has issued policy guidance to that effect. We have received
complaints that individuals are using Twitter accounts to post advertisements and make
offers to buy or sell SNAP benefits.

SNAP Fraud - Twitter

[ shocking !! ]


Other more 'undetectable' ways are easy.

1. People buy liquor etc. and the stuff gets 'rung up' under a different barcode at the stores. ( employee / owner gets a 'tip' for the service ) Then the goods get sold at a discount for cash.

2. People also buy food and sell it at a discount.

3. People 'share' the bought materials (for cash) with stores (or employees) selling the items.

Many snap cards are issued to people who might not even qualify.

Many people have work that pays cash.

Many people use false credentials to obtain snap cards.

Although the 'official' fraud count is low ( 2% - 6% ), that official count only includes what they actually detect, not what they don't know about.

This happens more in the 'inner city' environments.