Proposed Florida bill bans use of food stamps for sweets/snack foods

[Kiva]

haha....I think what I meant is that if you limit things to 5 ingredients or less, it will have a huge impact on what they purchase. The list of crappy foods with less than 5 ingredients is short - at least things that people buy for 'meals'. Most of what poor people buy is pre-packaged meals. Microwave, etc. The HS students we work with - 95% of whom come from poor families -...none of them no how to cook anything that isn't in the microwave. Few of them even know how to do mac n cheese.

They don't buy fresh ingredients because they have no idea what to do with them.

[Black]

Kiva wrote:
They don't buy fresh ingredients because they have no idea what to do with them.

If that was all that food stamps would cover, I think that knowledge would proliferate pretty quickly.

[Kiva]

Black wrote:
[quote=Kiva]
They don't buy fresh ingredients because they have no idea what to do with them.

If that was all that food stamps would cover, I think that knowledge would proliferate pretty quickly.
I tend to agree. You'd have to provide some sort of support, but I think you could do it. However, it's possible they would buy the approved foods, sell them, and go back and get what they want.

However, such an intervention would be the 'nanny state". That discussion is always interesting. The conservatives that hate the government the most tend to want to use the government to punish / manipulate poor people the most. Go figure.

Generational poverty is an amazing thing.

[$tevie]

Forbidden junk food is undoubtedly even more delicious than regular junk food.

[$tevie]

OH and what next? No food stamps for foods using hydrogenated oils, then for foods with high saturated fat content, then for foods with antibiotics and hormones, and then for foods with gluten. Who is going to pay these folks on welfare to buy all their food at Whole Foods?

[Grace62]

Kiva wrote:
The HS students we work with - 95% of whom come from poor families -...none of them no how to cook anything that isn't in the microwave. Few of them even know how to do mac n cheese.

They don't buy fresh ingredients because they have no idea what to do with them.

I'm not sure that the lack of interest in cooking that you see in high school students (which I would say is typical of MOST high school kids) translates to what is happening in their homes. My own kids are not interested in cooking, despite my efforts to point them in that direction. And I'm a good cook who makes healthy meals. Back in high school that was definitely not the case for me though.
Most teens have not had to manage a family food budget, plan meals, or do the cooking.
Adults I meet at the food bank in our community, where I've volunteered for about 15 years now, greatly appreciate that we now have fresh fruits and veggies from local community gardens, and fresh dairy products. We can barely keep enough of that on hand.

I'd rather trust families in need to make their own grocery shopping decisions.

[Kiva]

my BS theory is that the reason they're not interested in cooking is that they're addicted to convenience. They've grown up in an environment where they get to have almost anything they want immediately and very easily. Why go through the trouble of cooking?

A great suggestion that was made to me one time was that teenagers should have a family responsibility to cook one family meal per week. You'd set out requirements re: health, etc. They'd have to shop for it, etc. YMMV, i suppose..

Personally, I don't think the answer is regulating food stamps, etc....but in providing some education regarding healthy choices, cooking, etc. However again, in the age of convenience.....it's just too damn difficult, I guess.

Grace62 wrote:
[quote=Kiva]
The HS students we work with - 95% of whom come from poor families -...none of them no how to cook anything that isn't in the microwave. Few of them even know how to do mac n cheese.

They don't buy fresh ingredients because they have no idea what to do with them.

I'm not sure that the lack of interest in cooking that you see in high school students (which I would say is typical of MOST high school kids) translates to what is happening in their homes. My own kids are not interested in cooking, despite my efforts to point them in that direction. And I'm a good cook who makes healthy meals. Back in high school that was definitely not the case for me though.
Most teens have not had to manage a family food budget, plan meals, or do the cooking.
Adults I meet at the food bank in our community, where I've volunteered for about 15 years now, greatly appreciate that we now have fresh fruits and veggies from local community gardens, and fresh dairy products. We can barely keep enough of that on hand.

I'd rather trust families in need to make their own grocery shopping decisions.

[Bill in NC]

We already restrict the foods available on WIC and people seem to love that program.

So I don't see a problem restricting ready-to-eat junk foods like chips, candy, soda.

Also, those are relatively expensive foods for the empty calories they contain, so why waste public funds on them?

Here the state charges a different rate of sales tax (nearly 8%) on pre-cooked foods and foods considered 'unhealthy' versus 2% on other foods.

[Lux Interior]

$tevie wrote:
Who is going to pay these folks on welfare to buy all their food at Whole Foods?

Will they have to change their unofficial nickname from "Whole Paycheck" to "Whole Food Stamps"?