I think that the EBT Food Stamps program needs to be completely redone.
It should be structured like WIC so you can only buy food with nutritional value. It will be easy with lower income families to qualify, but they will only be allowed to get milk, juice, water, cereal, bread products, fruit, veggies, meats, dairy products, and certain pastas and grains. This will drastically cut down on the overuse of the system to buy junk food.
EBT cards should only be allowed to use at grocery stores and local farmer’s markets.
Free school lunches should be tied in with the EBT program.
The EBT allotment for geoceries should slightly increase during the summer months when school is out of session to accomidate for the lack of free school lunches.
This will probably get a lot of hate. But I Agree with this to some degree. I think it should be a percentage of healthy food versus junk food. If we want people to be healthier this would be a good start. This would never pass by the people on food stamps it would have to be a gradual change. For example maybe the limit starts out at 50% junk to healthy food. And adjust the percentage down until it is something everyone can agree on.
while I appreciate your compassion we need to be less sensitive of peoples feelings. These programs should be to help people survive till they get back on their own. There needs to be incentive to provide for your self. I’d be ok with exceptions for those with disabilities.
Yes the EBT system needs to be changed but what right do we have to tell someone what they can or cannot eat? Do you want someone to tell you that you can’t have a bag of chips to snack on? Do you want someone to tell you that you can only buy things that everyone else considers good for you? That’s not ok. Let people buy what they want, it’s not for us to tell people what they can eat. Not to mention technically nothing is “healthy” anymore, unless you grow it yourself, you don’t know what the farmer fed his chickens whose meat he’s selling at the farmers market, you don’t know what chemicals that gardener sprayed on his carrots he’s selling. You don’t know if the “organic” food at the store is actually organic because you aren’t there from the very beginning and many of the “organic” food brands have added things not good for us or claimed they were organic when they weren’t. What people choose to buy is not our business, what is our business is those that abuse the system and how the state decides who gets it what amount they get, for example my mother on SSD gets about $1200 a month that’s it, that’s not anywhere near enough to live on, you know what she qualified for, for EBT? $20 a month.
The changes should be as follows:
1 Count the monthly income AFTER taxes
2 Bridge the income gap better, for example I make enough money to not qualify for assistance and only by literally a couple of dollars, but I don’t make enough to put food on the table, unless if course it’s highly processed, bad for you food from the dollar store
3. Take into consideration all normal bills that take away from the monthly income ie rent/mortgage, lot rent, phone, utilities, car insurance, car payments medications. All these things people have to have.
4. Adjust monthly amounts to follow food prices if food goes up $20 then so do the benefits, if they drop $50 so do the benefits
5. Remove cash assistance, that’s always abused
6. When applying you must have your finger prints and or picture taken and kept on file and connected to AFIS and Interpol and any other finger printing and identification program, this will allow any state to be able to look and see if you have food stamps in another bordering state, if your using an alias and it will allow police to track a criminal down if they apply elsewhere. This will cut down on people with multiple names using a variation of those names to get more benefits then they’re allowed, for example Jason Manual Julio Ortega that lives in Lewiston Idaho can’t get food stamps there and then literally cross a bridge to Clarkston Washington and apply as Manual Jason Ortega.
7. Allow hot meals from grocery stores
8. If you commit a crime, depending on severity depends on if you are temporarily removed or permanently removed from getting any EBT from any state.
And finally add in people’s child care and Medicaid benefits and the WIC all into one with the food stamps.
I believe they should only be allowed to buy healthy food; Dairy, Protein, Fruits and Vegetables. EBT is to assist those in need during hard times not a way of life. Yeah, it sucks they can’t buy their favorite junk food but then again, they are not going without and getting healthy nutrition. EBT should only cover healthy options and also not become a way of life.
I believe because they are getting TAX PAYERS dollars that we can say what they can and cannot use the EBT cards for. It should only be used for; DAIRY, PROTEIN, FRUIT and VEGATABLES. Back when food stamps started this is the way it was. They are meant to help those during rough times and not a way of life. If people want their junk food, they can purchase that on their own just like their other devices such as cigarettes and alcohol. This is about helping people get nutritious meals without living off of rice and beans. Time for some tough love and stop the abuse of EBTs so more can be helped by lowering the guidelines to get EBT cards for LEGAL citizens.