(CBS/AP) Are food stamps contributing to America's obesity epidemic? Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City seems to think so - so he proposed a plan to stop people from using the stamps to purchase sugary soft drinks, teas, and sport drinks.
But the Big Apple's top health cop got busted.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture rejected the proposal, saying it would be too big and complicated to implement. In addition, the department had concerns over its "potential viability and effectiveness."
What!?!? How complicated would it be to tell recipients and retailers "food stamps can't be used for soft drinks?" Don't they already do that for lots of things, like booze, cigarettes, etc. What a crock o' crap!!
ReplyDeleteThere should a major overhaul of the food stamp program. So many government programs have good intentions at their inception but grow into a monster that can't be slain. As a youngster my family would buy some soft drinks when our budget allowed. We didn't ask the government to supply them.
ReplyDeletepepsi co. says no! pepsi co. is a subdivision of u.s.a. corp.
ReplyDeleteNow come on - what else are they supposed to drink while their children are at school getting their free meals and they are home chatting on their free cell phone from Verizon and surfing the web with their cheap internet access from Comcast?
ReplyDeleteThey get Milk from WIC and they can buy Koolaid and tea from the store. Since they are not allowed to buy prepared food how can they buy ready made drinks? When others are cutting the budget these are the first things that get cut yet they are still able to get them. It ALL needs an overhaul.
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked as a cashier for a major grocery chain back in the
ReplyDelete'70's, food stamps could not be used to buy sodas or anything else taxable. People could also not buy anything imported. Canned meats often came from South America; when customers brought them to the checkout, we had to tell them they were ineligible. So how hard would it be to give food stamp users printed guidelines as to what can and cannot be purchased with the stamps and, if a customer presents an ineligible item, just tell him "Sorry, you can't buy this with stamps."
Beans Rice, and powedered milk should be the only things eligable
ReplyDelete