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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIowa Republicans want to ban SNAP recipients from buying meat, white bread, and American cheese
https://www.yahoo.com/news/iowa-republicans-want-ban-snap-173613972.htmlA bill co-sponsored by 39 Republican state legislators would limit those getting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to buying food on a more restrictive list from a separate program intended for pregnant women and children.
SNAP recipients wouldn't be able to buy a variety of foods, including white grain bread, buns with added nuts or seeds, white rice, pasta sauce, canned fruits or soups, baked beans, cheese slices, butter, or flour.
They would instead be limited to foods approved for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.
The foods people can purchase in the WIC program are much more restrictive than those allowed in SNAP. That's because WIC is designed to complement SNAP, and is meant to provide necessary nutrition specifically for as the name suggests pregnant women, new mothers, and infants, according to Michelle Book, the president and CEO of Food Bank of Iowa.
LakeArenal
(28,713 posts)And they might do it anyway eventually.
Marcus IM
(2,073 posts)All about cruelty. Like hosing the homeless in freezing weather.
jimfields33
(15,450 posts)Cheese causes triglycerides to rise. Meat is horrible to the environment. But so are some water drinking vegetables and nuts. So health isnt the factor here.
if the restrictions were sincerely based on care and concern (as well as efficient, wise use of funds)... there would be extensive, easy opportunities (training, groups, meetings, etc.) to learn about healthy choices and ways to prepare them...
money and programs would allow more use of SNAP at Farmer's Markets and access to fresher foods... the problem of food deserts would be addressed, etc...
I support access to high quality, healthy foods but this proposal reeks of something else
jimfields33
(15,450 posts)They could really do a great overhaul and help people. But they want to punish.
Marcus IM
(2,073 posts)BlueWaveNeverEnd
(7,520 posts)moonscape
(4,664 posts)least thats my understanding and experience.
viva la
(3,224 posts)That suggests they're just being mean. How on earth could you feed a family on $200 a month or so without cheap options like white rice and canned vegetables? Maybe they think everyone has access to a Whole Foods and a trust fund.
jimfields33
(15,450 posts)viva la
(3,224 posts)Still need flexibility in what to buy.
And what is their problem with seeds on buns?
Marcus IM
(2,073 posts)NutmegYankee
(16,177 posts)markie
(22,755 posts)now the Republicans want to adopt food standards that just a few years ago they were criticizing Michelle Obama for????
I will play Devil's advocate here... while the R's ideas and actions are vile... we would all do well to follow Michelle Obama's lead more often
viva la
(3,224 posts)like many small towns and city neighborhoods.
They might not be as healthy as fresh or frozen, but they're much cheaper and more accessible.
Hekate
(90,188 posts)Its an agricultural subsidy as much as anything. Or was. Used to be.
I guess the only important thing now is that poor people should be humiliated and harmed. That passersby should be able to spot the poor instantly because their children have bad teeth and rickets. They can mock little kids for being obese from cheap corn syrup and sugar.
Diamond_Dog
(31,657 posts)But lots of little kids will only eat a cheese sandwich or spaghetti
Better that than going hungry altogether.
Its all about the control, the cruelty, and the humiliation.
tanyev
(42,354 posts)When the nearest supermarket that stocks a wide variety of healthier options is a lengthy drive away, busy lives and the cost of gas or lack of any access to a car force many people to make do with whats available at a convenience store.
FalloutShelter
(11,747 posts)Only cake?
TheBlackAdder
(28,070 posts).
Each of these regions normally specializes in a specific type of rice, referred to in the United States by length of grainlong, medium, and short. U.S. long-grain varieties typically cook dry and separate, while U.S. medium- and short-grain varieties are typically moist and clingy or sticky. In general, long-grain production accounts for around 75 percent of U.S. rice production, medium-grain production for about 24 percent, and short-grain for the remainder. In 2021, the United States produced 191.8 million hundredweight (cwt) of rough rice, down 16 percent from 2020 but still slightly above the 2019 crop.
U.S. long-grain rice production is concentrated in the South (Arkansas typically grows 5658 percent of the U.S. long-grain crop.) California is the main producer of medium-grain rice, typically growing 7076 percent of the cropalthough Arkansas grows a substantial amount of medium-grain, especially in years when California is experiencing drought. Louisiana typically harvests a much smaller quantity of medium-grain rice. Short-grain rice is almost exclusively grown in California. All U.S. rice is produced in irrigated fields, achieving some of the highest yields in the world. Rice producers in the United States can seed aerially in flooded fields, or they can drill or broadcast (scatter) seed into dry fields. California producers seed primarily by air directly into flooded fields. Most producers in the Delta drill or broadcast seed into dry seedbeds, while growers in southwest Louisiana and on the Texas Gulf Coast seed both aerially into flooded fields and drill or broadcast seed into dry seedbeds.
Marketing years vary by Statein Texas and Louisiana beginning July 1, in Arkansas and Mississippi August 1, in Missouri September 1, and in California October 1. Some producers in Texas and southwest Louisiana are able to reflood their fields after harvest and achieve a partial second or "ratoon" crop from the stubble remaining in the field after the first-crop harvest.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/rice/rice-sector-at-a-glance/
It looks like the bean & rice #1 supplier will probably be NJ-based Goya.
Also, the only thing that's partially right is banning Processed Cheese Food, like "American Cheese". Shit ain't real.
.
TheRealNorth
(9,435 posts)Pretty much a, "Let them eat cake" statement of intent.
Freethinker65
(9,928 posts)And choose to do nothing about it diet-wise? Were against public health mask and vaccine recommendations?
Bayard
(21,801 posts)You won't be making samiches, peasants.
maxrandb
(15,187 posts)goes back to a national security issues for the United States.
That's right, mist of these programs originated from the military finding that they couldn't field an Army in the early 1900's due to the vast amounts of America's youth that were MALNOURISHED.
Look it up. It's true, and I can't understand why Democrats don't advocate for those programs based on the very valid national security ramifications.
jmowreader
(50,447 posts)the massive meat industry in Iowa will have a few things to say about that.
But...flour? One quick way to expand your food budget is making your own bread.
Behind the Aegis
(53,823 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(107,063 posts)"If they can't afford food they shouldn't eat." The GOP