Current Events > Food stamps covers candy, baked goods, and Red Bull

(+) Yeah! (+)

Why?

I'm not an advocate against food stamps. I think they're a great thing for people who need them. But I don't think you should be able to purchase gum, pre-made cupcakes and cookies from the grocery store's bakery, as well as energy drinks. That's kind of ridiculous.

Why shouldn't you be able to treat yourself to some things, even if you're on food stamps?
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Why shouldn't it cover energy drinks?
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Because they're foods.

Hence, food stamps.



........
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I once witnessed two kids (around 16 years old) buying literally $80 worth of candy with foodstamps. That's all they bought.
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The company is getting the business regardless of what's being bought, so the economy is being stimulated and jobs are opening up and wealth is trickling down.

or something.
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Just scrap EBT and ship everyone a box of nonperishables once a month.

Or, if anything, there should be less strings. If you want to blow your foodstamps on booze, go right ahead. Just don't come crying for more when you've fucked up.

It's ok, tc. Let the freeloaders have a few scraps while the rest of us sit at the table and feast like kings.
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Capn Circus posted...

I once witnessed two kids (around 16 years old) buying literally $80 worth of candy with foodstamps. That's all they bought.

Was one of them flapjack?
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they could add more things to the excluded if they had a problem with it.

only thing i dislike on here is red bull.
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so what you're saying is that you're upset that people are buying food with food stamps
is this really how you want to spend your time lmfao
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Agreed how dare they buy baked goods like bread.

Only thing I can think of is maybe incentivize people to make good choices with food stamps where they get extra if a certain % of their purchases are "healthy"

The only thing that food stamps should be redeemable for is watered down gruel and stale bread. That'll teach the poor people not to be poor anymore.
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Oh no, not baked goods!
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Capn Circus posted...

I once witnessed two kids (around 16 years old) buying literally $80 worth of candy with foodstamps. That's all they bought.

Finally, another entry in my collection of Things that have Never Happened.
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I don't see the issue with candy and baked goods, especially for a family with children. Kids don't need to not only suffer through a family in need of ebt cards, but then also be denied the simple pleasures of a candy bar or a cupcake. Just because people will use them poorly doesn't mean everyone does.

Redbull just seems difficult to create an effective and enforceable rule. And the more restrictions you create the more likely people will sell their cards for less than their worth to buy what they want instead. Meaning they both get less money but are spending it on what you don't want and the cost to tax payers remains.
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https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/01/food-stamps-snap-welfare-soda-new-york-times/


tl;dr: grocery spending habit of food stamps recipients is basically no different from non-recipients
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Antifar posted...

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/01/food-stamps-snap-welfare-soda-new-york-times/


tl;dr: grocery spending habit of food stamps recipients is basically no different from non-recipients

Then... it's a success?

AltonBrownFan posted...

Capn Circus posted...

I once witnessed two kids (around 16 years old) buying literally $80 worth of candy with foodstamps. That's all they bought.

Finally, another entry in my collection of Things that have Never Happened.

No joke. All candy too, not chips and stuff. Straight up candy.
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smoke_break posted...

so what you're saying is that you're upset that people are buying food with food stamps
is this really how you want to spend your time lmfao

Gum =/= food

Capn Circus posted...

AltonBrownFan posted...

Capn Circus posted...

I once witnessed two kids (around 16 years old) buying literally $80 worth of candy with foodstamps. That's all they bought.

Finally, another entry in my collection of Things that have Never Happened.

No joke. All candy too, not chips and stuff. Straight up candy.

This entry just keeps on growing more and more marvelous. Thanks!
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They should only be allowed rice, chicken scarps, and salt if they've been good.

Capn Circus posted...

AltonBrownFan posted...

Capn Circus posted...

I once witnessed two kids (around 16 years old) buying literally $80 worth of candy with foodstamps. That's all they bought.

Finally, another entry in my collection of Things that have Never Happened.

No joke. All candy too, not chips and stuff. Straight up candy.

Uh huh. What a wacky life you live. Convenient how your stories always seem to fit exactly with your narrative eh?
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I worked as a cashier at a grocery store in high school/some college and one time this morbidly obese middle aged white girl told her friend "get whatever you want, it's on me!" Their total came to around $250 - all consisting of candy, soda, store made cakes, donuts, chips, chocolate, and store made cold pizzas. As well as actual groceries such as steak, crab legs and a bunch of frozen food. All of it was covered with her food stamps.

But for every 1 person that abuses it, there's like 20 who actually need and use it right. Can't really single out the minority for the entire program.

ARZ_Cards4Life posted...

I worked as a cashier at a grocery store in high school/some college and one time this morbidly obese middle aged white girl told her friend "get whatever you want, it's on me!" Their total came to around $250 - all consisting of candy, soda, store made cakes, donuts, chips, chocolate, and store made cold pizzas. As well as actual groceries such as steak, crab legs and a bunch of frozen food. All of it was covered with her food stamps.

But for every 1 person that abuses it, there's like 20 who actually need and use it right. Can't really single out the minority for the entire program.

I once saw a dude buy about 20 2 liters of orange soda with food stamps.

Actually, that's more about "who the fuck buys 20 bottles of orange soda" than about food stamps.
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I've also seen people using food stamps while having a brand new iPhone, smart watch, designer purses, etc.

That always rubbed me the wrong way. But again, for every person that abuses EBT, there's 20 people that actually need it and use it right.

AltonBrownFan posted...

Capn Circus posted...

AltonBrownFan posted...

Capn Circus posted...

I once witnessed two kids (around 16 years old) buying literally $80 worth of candy with foodstamps. That's all they bought.

Finally, another entry in my collection of Things that have Never Happened.

No joke. All candy too, not chips and stuff. Straight up candy.

This entry just keeps on growing more and more marvelous. Thanks!

Why does this this sound unbelievable?

Hell, back when I was like 17, an ex (she was 19) had an EBT card and we would hit up 7/11 on the regular for munchies. Mmmmm pork rinds.
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Monday posted...

ARZ_Cards4Life posted...

I worked as a cashier at a grocery store in high school/some college and one time this morbidly obese middle aged white girl told her friend "get whatever you want, it's on me!" Their total came to around $250 - all consisting of candy, soda, store made cakes, donuts, chips, chocolate, and store made cold pizzas. As well as actual groceries such as steak, crab legs and a bunch of frozen food. All of it was covered with her food stamps.

But for every 1 person that abuses it, there's like 20 who actually need and use it right. Can't really single out the minority for the entire program.

I once saw a dude buy about 20 2 liters of orange soda with food stamps.

Actually, that's more about "who the fuck buys 20 bottles of orange soda" than about food stamps.

Lmao I've actually seen that. My store had this one guy come in every week at the same time and always purchase 20 of the same lean cuisine. Every single week. Never said a word. Just always purchased the same lean cuisine. All power to him... but wouldn't you get sick of it after a while? I assume he was eating that 3x a day

If you're working as a cashier you're probably on foodstamps too, right? :u Unless you've got someone supporting your ass.
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I've seen people use food stamps to buy loose cigarettes. You can buy anything with a ebt card it just depends on the store. What they ring you up for doesn't have to be what they give you, so stores in the hood abuse it.
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OpheliaAdenade posted...

If you're working as a cashier you're probably on foodstamps too, right? :u Unless you've got someone supporting your ass.

If you're an adult working as a cashier, sure. But considering most cashiers at grocery stores are teenagers... not really.

EggplantParm posted...

Why does this this sound unbelievable?

Hell, back when I was like 17, an ex (she was 19) had an EBT card and we would hit up 7/11 on the regular for munchies. Mmmmm pork rinds.

I'm 24 and still do this but remember a lot of CE is extremely sheltered so they often don't believe anything they didn't hear from their parents.

Also I don't have a problem with energy drinks. Monster is coffee to me. Would you complain if they spent FS on coffee?
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trillgully posted...

I've seen people use food stamps to buy loose cigarettes. You can buy anything with a ebt card it just depends on the store. What they ring you up for doesn't have to be what they give you, so stores in the hood abuse it.

Doesn't surprise me. I currently live in a shady area, and a few of the smaller stores around here sell cigarettes they've grabbed from reservations. (Cost of cigarettes here in NY is fucking insane, so people drive 100+ miles to buy them real cheap, then resell them for half the amount you'd spend in a store. Yes, they still make a profit)
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Schwarber posted...

They should only be allowed rice, chicken scarps, and salt if they've been good.

Capn Circus posted...

AltonBrownFan posted...

Capn Circus posted...

I once witnessed two kids (around 16 years old) buying literally $80 worth of candy with foodstamps. That's all they bought.

Finally, another entry in my collection of Things that have Never Happened.

No joke. All candy too, not chips and stuff. Straight up candy.

Uh huh. What a wacky life you live. Convenient how your stories always seem to fit exactly with your narrative eh?

I don't think I tell a lot of stories.. not sure where you get that idea from.
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trillgully posted...

I've seen people use food stamps to buy loose cigarettes. You can buy anything with a ebt card it just depends on the store. What they ring you up for doesn't have to be what they give you, so stores in the hood abuse it.

From my understanding, an EBT card has 2 options to pay - your cash balance and food stamps. People that are on welfare that get cash assistance get it on the same card food stamps are on. So an EBT card is essentially a debit card if you get cash assistance. Meaning you can buy whatever.

ARZ_Cards4Life posted...

OpheliaAdenade posted...

If you're working as a cashier you're probably on foodstamps too, right? :u Unless you've got someone supporting your ass.

If you're an adult working as a cashier, sure. But considering most cashiers at grocery stores are teenagers... not really.

Not where I live. Most the cashiers here are middle aged women. :v That's not an exact statistic of course, but all the grocery stores I've been to around here seem to be that way. Mostly middle aged women and then young adults/college aged people.
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whats wrong with that?
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ARZ_Cards4Life posted...

trillgully posted...

I've seen people use food stamps to buy loose cigarettes. You can buy anything with a ebt card it just depends on the store. What they ring you up for doesn't have to be what they give you, so stores in the hood abuse it.

From my understanding, an EBT card has 2 options to pay - your cash balance and food stamps. People that are on welfare that get cash assistance get it on the same card food stamps are on. So an EBT card is essentially a debit card if you get cash assistance. Meaning you can buy whatever.

Why, exactly, do these need to be different things?

I've seen people use food stamps to buy loose cigarettes. You can buy anything with a ebt card it just depends on the store. What they ring you up for doesn't have to be what they give you, so stores in the hood abuse it.

This is true. The agency I work for is in charge of investigating public assistance fraud, and our undercover people have been able to buy just about anything from shady businesses using EBT. One guy even purchased a funeral
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ARZ_Cards4Life posted...

most cashiers at grocery stores are teenagers.

Lol what? Is that why stores are only open after 3 o clock? Oh wait...
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While there are certainly some items that are disappointing to see EBT recipients use their cards on, I have my doubts there are ways to better regulate their purchases that doesn't cost more than whatever money they would save.
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EggplantParm posted...

AltonBrownFan posted...

Capn Circus posted...

AltonBrownFan posted...

Capn Circus posted...

I once witnessed two kids (around 16 years old) buying literally $80 worth of candy with foodstamps. That's all they bought.

Finally, another entry in my collection of Things that have Never Happened.

No joke. All candy too, not chips and stuff. Straight up candy.

This entry just keeps on growing more and more marvelous. Thanks!

Why does this this sound unbelievable?

Hell, back when I was like 17, an ex (she was 19) had an EBT card and we would hit up 7/11 on the regular for munchies. Mmmmm pork rinds.

You read a story about a bunch of kids draining an ebt card and you actually buy it outright without question? Man, some of you CEmen are dumb as shit.
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I think it's bullshit. Want to buy Red Bull and candy? Have at it. Hot food from Wawa? Hell no!
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MonkeyBones23 posted...

Why shouldn't you be able to treat yourself to some things, even if you're on food stamps?

this. what kind of logic do anti-food stamp people use. That we should eat bread, rice and beans...eat until we are no longer hungry. cuz we aren't people, with wants in our lives. We are strictly an obligation and when our basic primal needs are met society has paid its debt, lol.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Just scrap EBT and ship everyone a box of nonperishables once a month.

Or, if anything, there should be less strings. If you want to blow your foodstamps on booze, go right ahead. Just don't come crying for more when you've fucked up.

I'm pretty sure that is how programs like this work. They don't just pass out more money because you spent what they gave you.
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Seems a lot of this bullshit could be evaded by just resurrecting the old Post Office Depository.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Savings_System

MorbidFaithless posted...

ARZ_Cards4Life posted...

most cashiers at grocery stores are teenagers.

Lol what? Is that why stores are only open after 3 o clock? Oh wait...

At least the stores near me and the one I used to work at were mostly teenagers/college kids. We had a few middle aged ladies but that was it. The older workers were managers or butchers.

hockeybub89 posted...

I think it's bullshit. Want to buy Red Bull and candy? Have at it. Hot food from Wawa? Hell no!

I'm pretty sure hot food is one of the few exclusions. You can purchase a cold sandwich but not a hot one. Doesn't really make sense. You're allowed to buy an Italian sub but not a meatball sub. I don't get that.

Monday posted...

I once saw a dude buy about 20 2 liters of orange soda with food stamps.

Actually, that's more about "who the fuck buys 20 bottles of orange soda" than about food stamps.

Kel has fallen on some hard times.

I think a lot of people are missing the point here.

The food stamps program was made for lower income families to provide food for their family to live off of. Meat, produce and even spices and seasonings to make food for your family.

It was not created to buy an ice cream cake, a huge bag of Snickers, a multi pack of gum and a case of Red Bull. That's abusing the system. Those things are not meant to live off of. If people want that, they should be paying with their own money for it.

For the people saying they should be able to treat themselves. They're still able to purchase junk food like chips and ice cream. But I'm sorry... stuff like gum, breath savers, energy drinks, and pies should be excluded. That's extreme.