People on food stamps make healthier decisions than most of us

[gollygee]

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/03/junk-food-stamps-snap

Instinctively, I'd find myself on the side of the reformers—anything to ratchet down Americans' consumption of empty calories. But deeper into the aisles of Dollar General, I begin to waver. Helber asks me to consider a single mother supporting two kids on a wage of about $9.50 an hour—a typical income for the people served by her food bank, even amid Austin's ever-soaring tech economy. Helber points out some of the hard decisions the mother would have to make. At $5, a pound of hamburger would be a solid choice—but she'd still have to get buns, condiments, and sides. By contrast, individual pepperoni pizzas are just a buck each, as is a five-pack of chicken-flavored ramen noodles.

So what about offering SNAP shoppers a carrot of incentives rather than a stick of restrictions? One USDA pilot program in Massachusetts provides a credit of 30 cents for every SNAP dollar spent on fruits and vegetables. The preliminary data shows the program resulted in a 25 percent increase in produce consumption. A similar program that doubles SNAP expenditures at farmers markets—you get $2 worth of fresh produce for every SNAP dollar you spend—has shown similar promise.

(snip)

Then there's the problem of access. Most incentive programs assume that you can easily get to a store that sells fresh produce—which you won't find at most Dollar Generals. The USDA estimates that 23.5 million Americans live in food deserts, poor neighborhoods where the nearest grocery store is more than a mile away. (A mile might not sound that far, but for those without reliable transportation, it is: Imagine lugging home a week's worth of food on foot, with kids in tow.)

I left the Dollar General realizing that dictating what you can buy with food stamps is the kind of thing that only sounds good to people who don't actually have to survive on a poverty income. No one denies me the occasional candy bar or Coke; why would I feel entitled to exert that kind of control over poor people? And guess what: SNAP recipients already eat more virtuously than the rest of us. A 2008 USDA report found that they are less likely than those with higher incomes to consume at least one serving of sweets or salty snacks per day. More recently, a 2015 USDA study concluded that, adjusting for demographic differences, people who take SNAP benefits don't consume any more sugary drinks than their low-income peers who aren't in the program.

[riversedge]

1. I hate it when I hear the vile --lobsters in their shopping carts.

[gollygee]

2. kick

[gollygee]

3. I'll try kicking this one more time

I keep reading people say in threads about sexism and racism that they want more discussion of classism, but then posts about classism sink. Not sure what to make of that.