Say No To Air Heads

The food stamps program is a good idea; but people tend to abuse it and buy food that they want to indulge in, and not food that they need. I work at a grocery store, and everyday I see people coming in with food stamps making purchases on candy, soda, chips, doughnuts, and cakes. The purpose of food stamps in this country is designed to keep people from being hungry and to increase nutritional value, not to be able to buy foods that are unhealthy and have no nutritional value. I think tighter restrictions should be placed on the use of food stamps.

The Food Stamps program distributes money through Electronic Benefit Transfer cards that act as debit cards to be used to purchase almost any kind of food. The program started in 1939, which was around the Depression Era. The plan finally became a program in 1964, and Congress required all states to offer food stamps to eligible households in 1974. In 1977 the Food Stamp Act occurred, which tightened the program regulations and eligibility requirements ("Food Stamps"). A few of the requirements to be eligible for the food stamp program are: households must have assets of less than $2000, gross monthly income must be less than 130% of federal guidelines or $2,097 for a family of four in most states, net monthly income must be 100% less than federal guidelines or $1,613 for a family of four, and must be working a minimum of twenty hours week to show you are trying to move from welfare to self sufficiency ("Food Stamps"). One thing that cannot be looked at to be considered as an eligibility requirement is the value or lien of your house, which I don't agree with because someone who isn't receiving food stamps could have a smaller house than someone who is receiving them.

The restrictions on what can be purchased with these stamps are very vague. You can use food stamps to purchase foods or seeds and plant used for growing foods for consumption at your household. You cannot purchase tobacco, alcoholic beverages, pet foods, hot foods ready for consumption, or any non-food items. This is where my main point comes into play. There is no restriction on whether these foods are providing any nutritional value or not. The majority of the people who use food stamps buy candy, soda, potato chips, birthday cakes, and frozen dinners. None of these things provide nutritional value, so isn't that going against the purpose? People who aren't eligible for food stamps can't always afford to spend their money on candy, cakes, etc. I don't think of candy as being a food that we need in our everyday lives to prevent hunger. Allowing candy to be purchased through food stamps can cause more damage than just the nutrient deficiencies.

There are many beliefs that food stamps are a link to obesity. The statistic that adults who receive food stamps have a much larger Body Mass Index (BMI) than that of adults who had similar income levels and did not receive food stamps according to the National Health and Nutrition Data from 1988-1994 ("Food Stamps & Obesity"). With food stamps the micronutrients, protein, and food energy is more available, but studies show that those who received food stamps had a greater intake of meat, sugars, and total fats, but not an increase in consumption of fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. The food stamps are issued at the first of each month so food is abundant at the household during this time, and nearing the end of the month food will probably be low. This can cause binge eating which is a result of weight gain. People tend to eat when there is plenty of food to be eaten, so of course food will run out quickly. The statistics of obesity being linked with food stamps showed true to all people except white males ("Food Stamps & Obesity").

Another reason allowing food stamps to purchase candy and junk foods can be bad is this leads to higher health costs. If you have a poor diet then your immune system will be much lower allowing you to be much more susceptible to sickness and colds. Most people who are eligible for food stamps are also eligible for Medicaid, which is supported by the government also. That also comes from our tax money, so in turn we are helping to pay for what they consume and then the bad effects that come from it. Soda and candy have tons of sugar in them,