“Would you like fries with your food stamps?”
It was recently reported in the news that some fast food chains like KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell would like to have the right to accept food stamps. Up until now, most states only allowed food stamps to be used to purchase unprepared foods. Now the question of whether or not food stamp benefits should be able to be used for fast food is debatable for several reasons.
First off, prepared food generally costs more than basic groceries do….in some cases. I don’t find anything wrong with expecting a person who is receiving assistance to use it wisely and in a perfect world where people always appreciate the help they are given, this should be done automatically. But as we all know, this world is far from perfect so setting some guidelines like this I believe is a fair thing to ask. Another issue is the quality of fast food and the long term affects it can have on a person’s health and then in turn the enduring future healthcare costs of people who indulge just a bit too much with it.
But when you are broke and money is tight, very often, your thoughts are for your immediate survival and what it will take for you to make it through another day RIGHT NOW. When you are in a situation like that, being concerned about your long term health is much like worrying about putting money in your 401K for your retirement when you don’t even know if you will be able to make the rent this month or having money to feed your children dinner tonight. In that same frame of reasoning, like it or not, fast food is still FOOD by definition and while it might be bad for you, it can still sustain a person and nourish them and sadly enough, there are some occasions when a fast food meal will cost a person much less than some healthier food choices will.
I once saw a woman being interviewed on TV about the food choices she made for her family. She and her husband were barely earning enough money to make ends meet and on most days, their dinner consisted of buying some burgers off the Dollar Menu to feed themselves and their two kids. When asked why they were making such poor food choices for their family, they said that a burger fills their kids and only costs $1 while a bunch of broccoli costs over $2. Financially, it just made more sense for them to feed their hunger with cheaper food that was bad for them simply because healthier food alternatives cost much more. You know something……they were right! I don’t know if any of you comparison shop as much as I do but it is a very sad fact that any kind of specialized foods, meaning low fat, low sugar or sugar free, low sodium or sodium free or diet in general, costs significantly more than their less healthy counterparts and when you are on a very VERY tight budget, every penny counts. Believe me. Let me give you some examples from my local grocery store:
1 can of Campbells Tomato soup : The regular costs about $1 per can, but can also be found on sale sometimes for about 60 cents a can. Their “Healthy Request” version, made with sea salt and lower in sodium, costs about $1.89 a can and I NEVER find it on sale anywhere.
Kraft American Cheese Singles: An average 12.oz package with 16 slices costs $2.99. Kraft’s Fat Free American Cheese singles offers 16 slices, but is only 10.7 oz., and costs a whopping $4.99.
Hershey Chocolate Syrup – A regular bottle is 24 oz. and costs $3.29 while it’s lower calorie alternative costs the same…..but it’s about half the size bottle.
Jello Instant Chocolate pudding – A box of the regular costs about $1 while a box of the Sugar Free alternative costs about $1.59.
Burger King – One regular hamburger costs $1.09 while their Veggie Burger alternative costs $2.99.
And yes, a broccoli bunch DOES costs $1.99 so the fast food burger IS a cheaper choice.
So what does all this say? Who can we really say is at fault here? The poor person who is just doing their best to get by and feed themselves and their family? A food industry who gives these same poor people little or no choice or alternative but to feed their family crap because it’s all they can afford? An industry that preaches healthy eating yet makes little or no effort help people practice what it preaches? For a country where obesity, high blood pressure, cancer and diabetes are at epidemic proportions, shouldn’t a better effort be made to make healthy food alternatives more readily available and affordable for those who can barely get by financially as it is? Wouldn’t it save the government money in the long run because if people ate better, chances are health costs would go down overall?
It all seems so obvious, yet even the most obvious things can remain unseen by those who refuse to even care or bother to look.
Hi, Moonlight…I will first of all say that I would much rather see the children get a real meal as opposed to fast food, but I am not in total disagreement with the fast food being purchased with food stamps. Now, I will tell you why. I was in a convenient store not long ago, and a little boy, probably about eight years old was in front of me at the checkout counter. The counter was covered with chips, cokes, cookies, candy, and other misc. junk (in the true meaning of the word junk) Ok, this eight year old pulled out the Lone Star Card, (the Texas equivalence of food stamps) and paid for the junk food with that. The total was over $20, and the clerk never batted an eye. Keep in mind that this child was alone, without a parent. I would certainly rather see the child eat this than to go to bed hungry, but this shows where we have come as a society. Some parents are not only not working, but they are so lazy that instead of cooking a meal for their precious children, they send an eight year old to the store to by junk for their dinner. I would much rather have seen that child sitting at McDonalds (and I hate McDonalds) than to think of him eating chips and candy for dinner. Even that child’s mom may have gotten off the couch if there was a burger in it for her, and at least the child would have gotten something hot to eat. I do see your point with this blog, and it is a catch 22 situation. Personally. I cannot stand fast food. I eat real food every single night. And yes, there are ways to be more efficient with grocery shopping. I am pretty good at that…Good blog… 😀
Since a homeless person or family can receive foodstamps, where is he or she to store healthy food choices even if they can afford them? Where are they to cook these healthy food choices?
One extreme would be to have the government prepare the meals and serve them to the recipient. The other extreme would be to give them the money and let them spend it how they want. Sounds like the system is a compromise. Just an observation.
Fast food might be a little cheaper but in the long run, it’s more costly.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/05/health/main591325.shtml
http://healthfood-guide.com/fastfoodeffectsonchildhoodobesity.aspx
http://blog.seattlepi.com/timigustafsonrd/2011/09/11/president-proclaims-september-as-childhood-obesity-awareness-month/
I just say NO….bad, bad idea.
I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see the fast food lobby push for this. Taco Bell just recently got away with not having to tell anyone exactly how much of their ground beef is actually beef. Somewhere between 34% and 88%. I’m sure purchasing this type of legislation will be fairly easy for them considering the current state of Washington.
My family can take $100 in grocery money and eat better and for much longer than we ever could if we spent that same money on fast food. It’s all a matter of buying basic ingredients and cooking from scratch. Instead of using Hamburger Helper, we buy pasta and spices in bulk or on sale.
It’s still very expensive for any family to eat healthy instead of spreading everything with cheap carbs like bread, pasta, rice etc. But after years of living on a tiny budget, we’ve been able to make it on about half the grocery money that most people need just to scrape by.
It makes me nervous to see legislation like this coming up for consideration. It’s one thing to allocate tax dollars to helping the poor avoid starvation. It’s something altogether different to essentially funnel tax dollars into the pockets of fast food corporations. I just think it sets a precedent where they will see poor people as a newly tapped demographic and set out to exploit them.
Instead of wanting people to become wealthier so they could afford to go out and eat, they’ll know that no matter how bad things get, they’ve got nothing to lose. Many restaurants donate old food to soup kitchens and homeless shelters. If it hampers their forecasted profits under these new rules, I guarantee they’ll quit.
BTW…good blog..
Prepared food is taxed. That is why up to now that prepared food has been off limits. When I was back in New York recently taking care of family business, I stopped at my favorite sub-shop and ordered a sub sandwich. While I waited for it to be prepared, I saw a woman pay for her sandwich with the New York State EBT card. I noticed that the cash register readout was the same amount that was on the big menu board. I was confused for a moment until I had to pay for my sandwich and 8.5% sales tax was charged…I was like…WTF? and the lady pointed at the cooler that had milk, soda pop, chip dip and peanut butter cups…then said “WIC”…
The locally owned fast food places are already selling prepared food to foodstamp/Wic recipients. And giving the benefactors a discount at the same time by not charging sales tax..
The national fast food folks are trying to get prepared food off the taxed list. They want to eliminate taxes and replace the tax amount with profit as they now can keep the price the same—more money for them. They could give a crap about helping the homeless—they are helping themselves. I think it is a good idea, as long as the no sales tax on prepared foods is extended to ALL.
Where I live, the homeless are fed by private donation at soup kitchens, and for the “fortunate” poor, there is food pantries and commodities to supplement food stamps, TANF and cash assistance. I guess fast food is fair, but not healthy—I could have sworn I heard a blood curdling scream in the distance when CNN announced this…That was Michelle Obama screaming in her husband’s face—her national hobby/ battle on obesity, the replacement of the food pyramid with the “Plate” pie chart and her advocacy of eating healthy will be a presidential campaign fund-raising party joke…
Here is where the law of unintended consequences lives. Consider…
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I, unlike my good friend Vic—love all the fast food chains. I am a bachelor and find the expediency and convenience great. I am on first name basis with managers of many local fast food places. I am also on first name basis with quite a few retirees that spend the day at the Burger King, McDonald’s and Arbies restaraunts…At any given time or restaraunt, there are 4 to 7 of these nice folks that are barely tolerated by the franchise manager—these managers are asking themselves what the hell are they going to do with all the new foodstamp folks that will hang out all day getting free refills and eating a dollar hamburger for four hours…(no room for the soccer mom and dad and kids….bad times at the voting booth for whoever is president when it comes to a head
Tough issue. Iffen I was poor again, I would want the comfort of a Big Mac and heavenly fries!! :love:
here fast food is Still more expensive than ‘unprepared foods’.
I’m with Lethal on that one McDonalds & even Sub-way which i see as the lesser of two evils is crazy expensive here (Australia) – as a family of four for a simple burger meal (burger, fries, drink & small or medium size) each we’d be lucky to get change from $40 – for that i could make at least 4 healthy meals – if i shop at the right places ie fresh food markets or buy in bulk & freeze for future use…i realise that with homeless ppl it is a different situation entirely as they are not able to store food but if you have a fridge/freezer then it can be done. I haven’t had to rely on food-stamps so i am fortunate but i think that ppl should be given a choice & be responsible for what they eat. In my job as a rep i’m often in supermarkets & i’m constantly appalled at the amount of food that is wasted or thrown away ot the back of the store (often only a day old or the package is damaged) – surely in cases like that – donations to shelters would be appropriate…now that i do not understand at all…ppl should not have to starve, it’s not right.
From the comments: I simply do not understand why we have
15 Million Homeless.
If you are homeless, you qualify for Housing.
Why do we have 15 million homeless.
If you are homeless, where do you Cook or Store RAW Hamburger?
Obviously there is something I simply do not understand.
what a great and thought provoking blog.