A good friend claims Hersey makes the best chocolate.
Despite my trying to entice her with Ghirardelli chocolate squares and another friend offering a box of genuine Belgian chocolates, well, she refuses to even taste anything not from Hersey.
Of course, this is America and one is entitled to their opinion and they have the right to eat what they want…Unless you are one of the 40 million citizens on food stamps.
As reported by the Food Research and Action Center, over the past month four states – including Arkansas – have asked the federal government to waive food stamp rules so that they can restrict which foods are eligible for stamps. In recent years, and again this session (House Bill 1222), the Missouri legislature has talked about restrictions too. Most of the bills ban ‘sugary drinks,’ candy, cookies as well as “luxury foods” such as canned tuna.
Let’s take a look at the bureaucratic problems…
As standardized during the Richard Nixon administration, the first goal of the food stamp program was to be easy to understand (and implement) by food retailers. Items for basic human consumption (save tobacco and alcohol) are all food stamp eligible. Bread yes, beer no, bananas yes, toilet paper no. Yes, today grocery stores have very sophisticated bar-code based tracking systems. But even today convenience stores, dollar stores, farmers markets and other retailers accept food stamps. Many lack the software and trained staff to enforce the bans.
Next, some Illinois food stamp recipients buy their food in Missouri. In northern Missouri some stampers shop in Iowa. Arkansans, Kansans and Cornhuskers probably shop in Missouri too. If each state has different allowable items, what’s a retailer to do? Turn away customers?
Plus, a law means nothing if it is not enforced – that means a lot of extra oversight by the states with restrictions, work they won’t get federal reimbursement for handling.
There’s also the human side of the equation…
A few decades ago I got into a squabble with a school which required kids on free school lunches to go through a different line than the ‘paying’ customers. They claimed it wasn’t discrimination but I bet it felt like it.
Similarly, back aways a major grocery store chain here had a sign over one check lane stating that all W.I.C. clients must use that line.
If people feel like they are being singled out they are less likely to apply for or use benefits for which they are eligible. Having to separate their food purchases into food stamp eligible and non-eligible segments would be pretty apparent to neighbors and fellow shoppers.
Plus, why must being financially challenged result in you giving up an occasional treat for your kids? Red beans and rice can be quite tasty. So can a morning bowl of Froot Loops. Or a Hersey bar earned with a good test grade in school.
Repeated studies have found food stamp families are actually a bit better in their grocery store choices than most of us. We now let parents decide whether or not to get their kids vaccinated for measles: is the choice of dessert more deserving of state law than immunizations?
Remember, in Missouri about one citizen in 10 gets food stamps. That means most every time you visit a grocery store at least one of your fellow shoppers is using their benefits. This March food stamps pumped $128 million through store cash registers. That’s real money and probably ten times what food pantries about the state distributed.
My friend recently threw a baby shower for her daughter in law. She bought a lot of Hersey kisses wrapped in blue foil.
Glenn Koenen
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