Mary Mervis Delicatessen used to serve a daily rush of 1,000 customers, who lined up for the Lexington Market stall’s meats and cheeses, corned beef sandwiches and shrimp salad. But traffic, already down to about 400 people a day since the Freddie Gray riots, has plummeted by at least half again since the century-old deli lost food stamp eligibility.
“People don’t come to the market because we can’t accept food stamps anymore,” said Eliott Bodner, the deli owner.
The deli is among a group of Baltimore public market vendors who have lost or are in danger of losing eligibility to take payments through SNAP, the federal supplemental nutrition assistance program for low-income people. Because of changes phased in over the last several years and heavier scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, market merchants such as delis, bakeries and crab shacks no longer meet federal requirements for vendors.
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32 comments:
Basic assistance, basic foods.
Oh snap...
so now they actually have to cook their own meals! what a travesty!
Food stamps or food assistance should not be for take-out or luxury food items. It should only pay for fruits/vegetables/lean proteins at the grocery store. No cooked foods or unhealthy items.
June 18, 2019 at 8:08 AM
Yes
.....Because of changes phased in over the last several years and heavier scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Agriculture - LONG OVER DUE.
Article makes it seem like a bad thing.
It isnt.
There should be an approved food list.
Everything is universally bar coded. It not that hard
Agree. If people want the delicacies of a "Deli", they need to go to work. Statistics now show there are more jobs than people willing to work. Prosperity through productivity! Idleness is satan's work; get busy!
Good - they have become leeches as well!
The scary crowds hanging out in the streets around the market are a big part of what keeps paying customers and visitors away.
What a shame food stamp recipients can no longer get their corned beef sandwiches and shrimp salad!
Can't "meet" the "meat" requirements. Love it!.
If your customers are 40% food stamp buyers, it's no wonder no one else is going to the market.
1 fish 2 fish ru watching ?
June 18, 2019 at 8:21 AM
Gobbling up those MSM lies.
If I had a choice between welfare with healthcare and some minimum wage job with no healthcare which one do you think I am going to choose?
To bad the media didn't bother to tell you the abundance of jobs are low wage and part time with no benefits.
I commute 45 minutes out of Smallsbury because it was not possible to find a job paying a livable wage with benefits.
I guess its just part of the culture here.
Rich vs poor, employers making sure they are keeping you in your place. Landlords charging city rents when the community only has an abundance of minimum wage jobs.
And the best one yet. "Luxury Apartments" (meaning we charge you a lot for some undersized box on the 3rd floor).
Anyone else notice that all these mega buildings are now labeled as "luxury" apartment?
Long overdue REPUBLICANS DON'T BOW TO THE BS EBT PRESSURE
Lexington Market is infested with Rats anyways consider it a favor!
You are so right 10:34
Does that mean no more Crabs at Old Mill
Actually it was handed to them as they stood in line - bags of flour, blocks of cheese, peanut butter, lard, all in big bulk. Welfare receipients where expected to bake bread, peanut butter cookies, pies. No one ate out. They were happy to get what they could. I know because as a child I stood in that line. I also helped pick potatoes. Do Millennials even know where potatoes come from? I ended up working for high ranking military officials so my hard work built character and payed off. To this day I thank the Lord for his food that was given to us free in our time of need. Something younger people will never know.
There use to be a list of food welfare receipients could buy. When dems got in they felt it was too much trouble for welfare receipients to cut their own cheese - so they cut it for them and put it on the list. What else did they have to do -Really.
You have to start somewhere. My suggestion - cross the bridge, get a roommate, find a high paying job in DC and work your way up. Welfare will even give you money to get a place to live, food, clothes, and money to spend until you get your first pay check. They don't want the money back. They want you to have a job and be off of welfare. Now what can you say to that? Just need to leave your home town where there isn't any work or money. Such a deal. No excuses. I know this to be true because they did it for me. Moved from Penna to DC. I am retired now and have a good income. Just do it.
The laziness of the Obummer generation is finally...FINALLY being flushed.
Yet, Lame stream is still talking about Russia and cover ups. Amazing that positive news is never reported anymore. Will they ever see the light?
TRUMP 2020!
Welfare should be for 3 months a year ONLY.
Listen up Skipjacks! The vast majority of their business is EBT cards, etc. Don't believe me? Go in and watch sometime. It's a disgrace. I can't afford what they get and I work 2 jobs.
They get all of that crap because they never shut their complaining, cussing, moaning, crying, biatching, mouths. So they get what they want in order to shut them the hell up. All time crying about what white people eat, where they eat, what they have, where they live, where they shop, what they buy, and they cannot. Just cannot understand the concept of working for what you want. They believe that they should be able to do the same. You do not have a right to go to the movies, to go to McDonalds, to eat steamed shrimp or stea,or anything else for that matter. You want it, get you lazy butt out the door and go to work.
Yes, I went there once, and never again. If they could eliminate the beggars and toothless crack addicts shuffling around in and around the place, it would be a huge improvement.
I read somewhere, awhile back, that some inhabitants were outraged and complaining because so many of the vendors were white, or “worse”, Jews.
Food stamps should not be able to be used for ready to eat packaged or takeout food. Vegetables, rice, potatoes, breads, healthy meats. Not sandwiches, ice cream and crabs.
Isn’t that the truth.
I don’t think they could use food stamps at the Old Mill. But I personally watched a pair of individuals order two bushels of crabs at Fat Boy’s. Decided to get a frozen five pound bag of shrimp with their crabs.
They were talking about the crab feast they were going to be having, some big party. No big deal, I didn’t pay much attention to them. I was waiting for my two pounds of fresh catfish.
Until the bigger one turned to the other, and said she only had ninety dollars left on her card, then the other said no problem “I got all mine right here.”
I watched as they used the ninety dollar SNAP card, and pay the balance with the other’s EBT card.
Seriously WTF.
Agreed. It’s one thing to get so much handed to you, but to be so ungrateful and demand more is sickening.
I had this neighbor she bought tons of food on her Snap and she'd text out a menu and cook and deliver platters of food for cash. I have to admit it was entrepreneurial and she's a great cook but she is also a CROOK. I would think someone that clever and talented could have a job. I see that more and more lately. Perfectly capable smart people riding the gravy train and thinking we are all stupid Rubes.
And 1 fish 2 fish.
I worked in a grocery store for years! People came in and bought lobsters, crab meat and best steaks with snap! I went home without and knowing I paid for their food!
You know its a sad state of affairs when people are fighting about the scraps the poor people get when disproportionately more of your tax money supports corporate welfare. Carry on sheeple.
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