Does anyone else think you should only be allowed to buy certain foods with food stamps?

since junk food had nearly no nutritional value...why do we allow people to spend our hard-earned tax dollars for a subsidy of the junk food industry? Fish, Eggs, Meat, Milk, Chicken, Bread, Fruits, Vegetables...did i miss anything? Not potato chips, Pepsi/Coke, Little Debbies, Oreos, ice cream, Donuts...they're all junk food. They shouldn't be allowed as part of the F.S. program.

I don't think there should be food stamps.

I wish they would do the food stamps like they do WIC. With WIC, you are limited to only basic, healthy foods. Milk, juice, tuna, peanut butter, milk, eggs, cheese, cereal, rice, beans and the like. The people that I know on food stamps eat better than the rest of us! Is it any wonder why so many just give up and live off the government? Edit: I agree that food stamps should be done away with, and WIC expanded to include more people. Heck, I wouldn't mind having me some govt cheese myself!! ;-)

Life is not that simple. Sure there are some people that abuse the food stamp program, like any large program someone is always trying to bet the system. But did you know we have a serious shortage in poor neighborhoods of stores that sell fresh meats and vegetables. If may not be true at your store, but many families are forced to shop at local bodegas or other convenience stores where fresh meats and vegetables are not readily available because they can't afford to travel outside of the neighborhood and the bodegas is the only store within walking distance. When public schools teach a child in a nutrition class to have an apple for a snack instead of chips, but the only thing available to them is chips, you are wasting your time. We need to encourage the development of supermarkets in economically depressed areas. Poor nutrition and a lack of health care means those growing up in these areas have a much shorter life expediency then most of the country.

Wait your turn; and find out the hard way. Its always easy to pick up a stone and cast at someone you don't know; or have vicariously walked in their footprints.

I find it hard to blame people for taking something that's offered for free. What do you expect people to do if you offer something for "free". I blame those that offer it in the first place, but the true nature of welfare is not to help the poor, but to keep them poor.

I totally agree. Unfortunately, the people who really need the assistance aren't ever able to get it because we have people that you see everyday with 3 kids who are too lazy to do anything for themselves! A friend of mine was at the grocery store one day this summer and he saw a women with her 2 bad little kids at the check out stand where cigarettes are sold and after ringing everything up she wanted to use her food stamps to buy cigarettes! I think that if you actually need the help and you are really and truly trying for yourself then fine you need the help, but, I think it should be like WIC that there are certain things that it will buy. I also think that if it isn't setup like WIC then you should have to submit your receipts to show what you bought. You should also have to show the ages of your kids and what you bought for them to eat. I personally think they should put birth control in the water and when you can prove that you can take care of your child, then you can take something that will counteract it. I was adopted because my incubator wasn't able to put drugs down and take care of me... Those are the same people that you have to see when you go to work everyday pulling that nonsense! To answer your question, yes I agree!

There are other issues to contend with. Some have issues with child care or transportation, so they have to bring the throng of kids at the store. Those kids pass through the impulse buy areas. Those impulse buy areas are positioned by the store so customers make purchases that they otherwise might not have. I believe there are already restrictions such as, you can't buy food from the deli portion of the store. I think a good solution would be the development of independent caterers who are allowed to accept food stamps, but only serve healthy meals, which would be available for take out. An example such as Natural Ovens which were contracted to do school lunches in the movie Super Size Me, seem like they would be a good model for this sort of business model should food stamps be allowed to be used in this manner.