Some of what you mention is covered by fraud laws. Selling food stamps is illegal. The buying cases of soda to dump out for bottle returns could be handled by making the bottle deposits require cash. Buying baskets of candy bars sounds like someone reselling them for cash and profit and that’s fraud also, one that’s hard to prove but immoral none the less.
I can see how witnessing people scamming the system is upsetting. Worse, likely watching it going on for years and not being able to do anything about it.
But… sometimes you might not realize how many people go buy using food stamps as they were intended. The law-abiding people are invisible.
As someone who’s lived on food stamps most of my life trying to get by on my extremely meager disability benefit, I feel sorry for someone who needs to save up their food stamps to get a wedding cake. And envious that they managed it. I know when I got married, I made us a cake. We couldn’t have saved up enough food stamps for something like that because we needed them all to have something to eat. We had no honeymoon, no flowers, no wedding dress, no guests, no party. I wore a dress I already owned, we got 1 ring for less than 100$ and we walked to the church down the road and got married. Then we went home, had a slice of cake and that was that. I’m grateful we had the food stamps to get the flour and sugar for the cake, and the supper I made us later. But we weren’t exactly living the high life on food stamps.
I don’t know how people buy luxury food items with food stamps. One time before food delivery was so common, I couldn’t go to the store for an extended period of time when the car broke down and was unfixable, so we had no transportation any longer. The store was too far away to walk so we were stranded. We lived on my emergency supplies I’d carefully built up for years. dried beans and biscuits and such, and our food stamps built up for a while, to the point that they were going to expire. We finally had a way to beg a ride to the store from a relative that was in town, and we spent it all at once which must have raised some eyebrows. We filled the freezer before they took back the money. But it was hamburger and tater tots and such. I haven’t had a steak in probably 20 years or more, likely 25 years thinking about it and then it was at my mother’s house, and she bought it.
I know it’s easy to forget, especially when a person sees the abuse of the system frequently, but some people aren’t cheats. I know you only have my word for it, but I haven’t sold my food stamps. I don’t do drugs. And poor people like stuff that tastes good too, especially when a lot of them don’t know how to cook and don’t have much in the way of things to cook on or with. And sometimes their cookies or whatever frivolous seeming thing they might squeeze in are kinda all they get that’s enjoyable.
I’m sure glad I have had the freedom to choose whatever food I want to buy to suit our situation, our needs and our tastes. I hope the system stays the same on that.
I’d be happy to get those farmer food boxes though 
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And sorry Sheena, this isn’t all directed at you, I guess. People have discussed a lot about EBT users on here and they make it sound like its only strung-out junkies and people committing fraud etc. I certainly understand the high level of resentment that the illegals are getting benefits and so much more than the citizens. But there are so many people are on EBT using the system correctly. Single mom waitresses, college students, people with disabilities, etc. We’re just the invisible law-abiding citizens. But we’re here.