Should the government bar food stamps from being used to buy sugary and fatty foods?

[loinburger]

[The Mad Monk]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

It has just as much sugar and calories as pop. It is bad for you, more so if you are an 18 month old.

Just curious: does that mean all sugars are created equal? I know a glass of juice has as many calories as a can of Coke, but I would have imagined that there's a nutritional difference between the naturally-occurring sugars in juice (I'm talking true juice here, not "juice drink," SunnyD, etc.) and beverages (like pop) that contain processed sugar.

Am I wrong? Please try not to shatter my illusions unless you have to; after 3 years of working on Afghanistan, I have so few left...

[Dinner]

Part of me says yes but the reality is the more restrictions you put on this the more people will just start breaking the rules.

[Lorizael]

Just curious: does that mean all sugars are created equal? I know a glass of juice has as many calories as a can of Coke, but I would have imagined that there's a nutritional difference between the naturally-occurring sugars in juice (I'm talking true juice here, not "juice drink," SunnyD, etc.) and beverages (like pop) that contain processed sugar.

Am I wrong? Please try not to shatter my illusions unless you have to; after 3 years of working on Afghanistan, I have so few left...

As I understand it, there's really not much difference between sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. IANAD.

[Ben Kenobi]

Sometimes things are not that black and white. I read about a case where a family was selling their food stamps so they could buy much needed medicines.

And then you have folks that sell their food stamps to buy medications which they then sell and repeat the process each month. Make a tidy profit that way.

Prosecuting fraud helps, not hurts the needy, by helping to ensure that the aid actually gets to the people that need it.

[Ben Kenobi]

More government interfering with the market and preventing voluntary exchange

Given that it's the government benefit we are talking about, I don't have a problem with it. Foodstamps have gone up to what, 1 in 7 or so now.

Do you really believe that 1 in 7 Americans are so hard up that they can't afford to pay for their own food?

As for juice, the problem is the portion sizes. Nothing wrong with smaller portions of juice and juice is really healthy if you can find the mormon stuff that doesn't have added sugar. Their grape juice is addictive.

[giblets]

Food stamp fraud happens when people "lose" their card and request another one from the government, which really doesn't have much to do with whether they actually need assistance to buy food. In fact, I would expect the neediest to be more likely to try to get extra cards and sell them. If you actually need assistance buying food, you still have an incentive to get additional cards through fraud.

[Ben Kenobi]

I would expect the neediest to be more likely to try to get extra cards and sell them.

You'd be wrong about that. The truly needy are generally reluctant to accept assistance.

[MrFun]

I didn't think juice was that bad. Is it in lieu of milk, or something like that?

all-natural, no-sugar-added fruit juice FTW

[giblets]

You'd be wrong about that. The truly needy are generally reluctant to accept assistance.

Right...

[loinburger]

He's actually right about that - given two people who are without food, the one who refuses to accept food assistance will be needier than the one who does accept food assistance, and thus will be "truly" needy.

In the same vein, if two people break their arms, then the one who refuses to have a cast put on will have a "truly" broken arm.

[Ben Kenobi]

He's actually right about that - given two people who are without food, the one who refuses to accept food assistance will be needier than the one who does accept food assistance, and thus will be "truly" needy.

What does it entail to sign up for food stamps? You have to have some knowledge of the system and be willing to file for it and deal with the bureaucracy. That generally means having either experience with the system (knowing how to apply, etc), and the rest. The system will never 'see' the people who most need it's help because that's not what it's designed for.

It is a clever way to keep food prices high though.

[giblets]

Yes, clearly no one would engage a system they've never dealt with before in order to get $133 a month in benefits that they truly need. Who knows how people acquired experience with the system in the first place- maybe it's genetic. Also, clearly if you give food stamps to people who already can afford to eat, food prices will rise somehow- even though apparently they're only using it to buy food that they would have otherwise bought with their own money????

[loinburger]

What definition of the word "reluctant" are you using? Not knowing about a program is not equivalent to being reluctant to utilize a program.