This is the kind of ‘stuff’ that really pisses me off…
Do you know what Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia all have in common? Yes, they’re blue or blue-ish states, but they’re also using your tax dollars to send those who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits out for a night on the town. According to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), approximately $250 million worth of SNAP benefits is spent at restaurants, mostly fast food joints, each year in those states.
When SNAP was first established in 1964, the goal was for those who couldn’t afford it to buy basics: meat, fruit, vegetables, etc., that one could cook at home. Hot food or food already ready to consume was not eligible. However, according to Ernst’s office, a 1977 loophole allowed states to opt into something called the Restaurant Meals Program.
Full article, HERE from PJ Media.
It’s bad enough that they can get candy and soft drinks, especially candy ‘I’ can’t afford, but they can routinely go to McDonalds, Panda Express, and other fast food joints? WTH???
No wonder they are so obese! Hell, if I ate that much fast food, I’d weigh 400 lbs too!
One of the ‘real’ problems with the SNAP is that it was supposed to be supplemental aid to flesh to (so to speak), food that you cooked and served at home. Beans, rice, etc. plus the good old Government cheese (which wasn’t actually bad). I am now fully in the camp that the entire program needs to be restarted, including reapplying, a real approval process, and cutting the program back to its original intent.
There is no reason for people to be able to go spend $10+ on Mickey D’s for a Big Mac to feed one, when $10 will get beans and rice enough to feed a family. Yes, they’d actually have to not only have a pan, but know how to actually cook the rice and beans. Yes, I subsisted on rice and beans a few times in college when I got stupid, I’ll freely admit it. And potatoes and onions… sigh… Thankfully I learned how to save bacon grease as a kid, so I had something to give the potatoes and onions some flavoring.
What say you?
There used to be a class called “Home Ec (economics)” , it was an elective that was an easy “A” and started around 8th grade and up into High School . It taught cooking , some sewing, money management and budgeting etc. I suppose it is still around . I don’t understand the fast food diet . People have changed . I don’t eat fast food except on road trips , or vacations …you know , stop ,piss,fuel up, grab some garbage food and roll on . Fast food costs a fortune and doesn’t sit well in my gut .
I can make one whole chicken into 4 meals for my spouse and myself . I grew up and learned to cook watching my 14 year old sister cook dinners when mom and dad had to work late . Beans were a staple , better on the second or third day . People should be more frugal when on supplemental food programs (or just general in this economy) , and fast food shouldn’t accept food cards .
I honestly think some people can’t cook , maybe it came about with the breakdown of the traditional family structure. On the other side of that coin , I knew some bachelor friends , and some married guys that couldn’t cook for shit either . On occasion , as I still keep my CDL current, I do some side work for farmers in my rural area seasonally , and they can’t cook for shit either , I follow them into their homes for lunch , wash my hands and sit down as is the custom , and the farm wife serves them (us) or has the spread ready at the table . Some people think cooking is some kind of magic sorcery beyond their grasp , I enjoy it , cooking takes my mind off other things . I got long winded again , sorry about that, but yeah …no snap for fast food , and learn to cook .
Home Ec. What a joke now. At our HS, they use precooked chicken to make dishes so they don’t have to teach/worry about food safety. Missed opportunities all around for convenience. Too many premade meals, just add a couple ingredients-even for cookies/cakes. No from scratch. Why even have the class.
I also blame the locations switching to accepting SNAP (or WIC in Texas) benefits too. It may be the FF restaurants are just trying to gain more customers. A lot of them down here are down to a staff of the manager and a cook and the person at drive-thru AND front desk. Customer patience level becomes challenged.
I do agree – supplemental nutrition belongs in the home, not eating out.
and drug tests to keep it. i had to take them to earn the tax money they get, only fair. funny they have cash for drugs, but not food.
Well let me start by asking where in the Constitution is this Federal program an enumerated power? I’ll wait.
I trust you’re not holding your breath.
LOL. No, but I did get out the perpetual calendar.
It started as “Food” meat, potatoes, vegetables.
Then canned food and counter biscuits
then TV dinners and Swanson
Then Frozen Pizza was sorta like a Swanson meal
Then, it was pre made meals at the supermarket…Heat and eat stuff.
Then the restaurants said :Since you can get a prepared meal at the supermarket, Why is our burger any different?” (Which was sorta true)
And here we are today, free McDonalds for fat lazy people.
No matter how evil, wasteful and rotten you may think leftists are…they are always worse. It’s not possible to hate them enough.
Gov’t benefits (if we have them) should only cover staple ingredients. I’m buying store brands to try keep our grocery bills in check. There are tons of cooking videos and recipes online. There is no excuse for not knowing how to cook basic things like rice and beans.
Mamdani want government stores?
Let’s start with distribution centers for cheese, beans, rice, milk, etc. and invalidate SNAP for anywhere but there.
Of course, after awhile, they’d be adding ribeye.
You will fry in H** for saying Government cheese is not that bad. It’s been 40 years since I tried, but I still remember.
Yeah, that bad.
SNAP, like food stamps, can easily transform food into cigarettes, alcohol, and lottery tickets. It’s a lucrative black market commodity that allows unscrupulous merchants to trade the government largess at a rate that benefits with huge amounts of money. Until those that are caught at this crime spend at least 20 years in prison after conviction, this will continue.
I did all the cooking at home when I was in high school. My mother was terminally ill and my father spent most of his time taking care of her. He and I agreed. I would cook and he would wash the dishes.
Later, in college, I discovered you can make mac ‘n cheese on a hotplate, as well as soup using dried vegies. That hotplate was my first slow cooker. My living budget while in college was $10/week.
All- You raise good points, and yes, Home Ec used to be a ‘good’ class… sigh…
And I learned how to cook as a child, taught by both my mother and father, who both knew how to cook, albeit different things…LOL
Some rice, some dried beans, some water, some veggies, some seasonings, maybe some extra protein. It ain’t rocket surgery, although I admit I keep underestimating how much the rice and beans will expand. SNAP: Simply Need A Pot.
I had a recipe that I used in college, and when I was a young LT in the Air Force: Rice, hamburger, mixed vegetables, chicken or beef broth. Brown the burger, boil and drain the rice, put in a stew pot, add veggie and broth and simmer until the fluid is absorbed. Salt and pepper, onion /garlic powder, and you had a pretty good entre for several meals. Variations abounded.
Robert- Oh yeah, expansion…sigh…we ALL learn that!
I’ve been saying from 2012 (about) that the only thing SNAP should buy was the crap that Michelle forced school kids to eat.
Been a bachelor for years and a single custodial parent before that. I cook, nothing fancy, but healthy. I get looks at the checkout for the things that are not in my cart; chips, cookies, frozen dinners, etc.
When you cook real food, you create pots and dishes to be washed. Processed food, chips, fast food, etc. you just have trash to dispose of. Fits with a lifestyle of not wanting a job, IMO.