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

[The Mad Monk]

On one hand, the government does claim an interest in promoting healthy food, especially with the health care legislation, and especially where the government is paying for it. On the other hand, it could be construed as an invasion of privacy, and it would probably increase the cost of the program due to increased monitoring requirements.

What do you think?

[Lorizael]

I think we should do away with the vast majority of social services and instead institute a civil service that pays its workers in food, housing, healthcare, and education.

I know that's not what you're asking, but this thread will eventually spiral into the value of social services generally, so I decided it's more efficient to just jump right into that.

[loinburger]

On one hand, the government does claim an interest in promoting healthy food, especially with the health care legislation, and especially where the government is paying for it. On the other hand, it could be construed as an invasion of privacy, and it would probably increase the cost of the program due to increased monitoring requirements.

What do you think?

I believe the WIC program already functions like this, and I don't think its administrative costs are greatly in excess of the food stamp administrative costs.

A secondary benefit to restricting the foods available for purchase with food stamps is that it will also help to limit the ability of recipients to sell their food stamps. Ohio (and I think most other states) uses a card rather than physical stamps which in theory would make it more difficult for people to sell them, but in practice this meant that people would wait outside of grocery stores and solicit people to pay them cash for use of their stamp card (typically you'd get $2 worth of groceries for each $1 in cash you paid the food stamp recipient).

[Guynemer]

In theory, yes. In practice, governmental agencies like WIC currently recommend that parents give their kids juice, so the government is pretty ****ing incompetent at these sorts of things.

[DaShi]

Are we supposed to have tears in your eyes and pain in your heart when we hear that Walmart shoppers are basically buying crud?

[The Mad Monk]

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

[giblets]

No. Unhealthy people die faster and collect less social security.

[DaShi]

Unhealthy people are sicker and less productive. The effects of poor nutrition while children can last them a lifetime.

[Guynemer]

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

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

[The Mad Monk]

You're blowing my mind. I grew up on Hawaiian Punch and Hi-C.

[Ben Kenobi]

There are some truly needy folks that are being helped with food stamps.

Then there are the folks selling their stamps. The folks handing them out should go to the grocery store with a sign (will pay cash for food stamps), and keep track of everyone who accepts the offer. Then cut them off and charge them with fraud. Then there's the restaurants that accept food stamps. Fraud from the recipient is bad. Fraud from the merchant is something else altogether.

[rah]

Then cut them off and charge them with fraud.

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.

[Elok]

WIC's restrictions are a pain in the rear. Generally we end up buying the stuff we would have bought anyway and ignoring the stuff we wouldn't, like juice and whole wheat bread. Yes, I'm sure whole wheat bread is better for you in some way than white bread, but it tastes like arse.

[giblets]

There are some truly needy folks that are being helped with food stamps.

Then there are the folks selling their stamps. The folks handing them out should go to the grocery store with a sign (will pay cash for food stamps), and keep track of everyone who accepts the offer. Then cut them off and charge them with fraud. Then there's the restaurants that accept food stamps. Fraud from the recipient is bad. Fraud from the merchant is something else altogether.

More government interfering with the market and preventing voluntary exchange

[The Mad Monk]

You are just getting the wrong whole wheat bread. The good stuff is mildly sweet and nutty.