By design, “Food Stamps” (now done by EBT cards) provide at the maximum only 80% of the cost of minimally nutritious “budget” home-cooked meals. Experienced and trained cooks cannot make Food Stamps cover the full cost of nutritionally-adequate eating. Junk food is a particular waste – wise folk living on food subsidies understand a “frivolous” bag of potato chips is a special, rare treat. Fresh fruits and vegetables are strangely ‘pricey’ — canned stuff is a lot cheaper.

What the hell did Wilson just say?

I too was aghast at the wasting of ‘food benefits’ on junk food. I am equally aghast at Abdul suggesting that water should one of the privileged foods to be bought on a restrictive food choice list!

Wilson, next time proofread before you hit the send button then.

Indy water sucks. I filter mine just so it tastes a little better.

Abdul, get used to it. We are just going to keep paying and paying and paying.

Here’s a small example of how bad the problem is:

Our average grocery bill is about $250/wk (family of 7!). My wife was at the Kroger checkout one week when the bill came out above $300. The cashier’s response was OMG! Is your bill always this high? You should be on food stamps!

People actually ecpect the government to take care of them. That cashier never even considered what our household income might be. Her first instinct was “High grocery bill – the government should pay.”

The ignorance is amazing. The way I translate that is “I have a high grocery bill – YOU should pay it”.

Ignore Wilson

Abdul, Maybe they ate all there breads fruits vegetables and this was there dessert for the week.

Hey, they get fed free now as yutes. When they get older, DOC will feed them. Vicious cycle.

The reason they were at the Kroger is because school is out and that is where they normally get there bountiful harvest breakfast lunch and dinner.

If tobacco products and alcohol were allowed to be bought with food stamps, believe me, they would have smoked and drunk their dinner.

Ignore anonymous nobodies that advocate ignorance.

Wilson, you need a life, and some judgment. I have no idea how you can support the things you do.
Signed, an Anonymous Troll

Anonymous troll, you need a life, and some judgment. I have no idea how you can support the things you do.
Signed, Wilson46201

P.S. Isn’t it time to stop the stupid personal attacks while hiding behind fake names? Your personal vendetta is hijacking discussion threads. This is Abdul’s Blog, not some playground for your fantasies of revenge or slander.

It really isn’t that complicated: Junk food is a whole lot cheaper than “real” food (fruits, vegetables, etc.). If you want to link the Link program to healthier options, you’d also need to support increasing the overall benefit and — shock! — the expansion of a social program.

As for the receipt, how closely did you watch her? Maybe she watched the items add up and only needed to know how much the total was. Maybe she regularly knows those items and knows what the total should be.

And it’s very arrogant to presume to know her parenting approach based on one observation. Of course, I’m sure it motivated a lot of people to call in and bitch about their taxes.

Mike,

I was right behind her. I am a trained reporter. I pay attention to everything around me, even when people don’t think I am. I watched her mannerisms, looked for non-verbal cues, body language, etc. I stand by my observation 100 percent.

Abdul

“I am a trained reporter.”

Funny, I have a journalism degree as well, and I don’t recall any classes in mannerisms, non-verbal cues, body language, etc. being part of the program. You’re claiming a proficiency that’s more applicable to an LCSW, LMHC, LMFT, etc.

However, I’m more interested in this clarification: Do you support expanding the “Link” program’s funding and scope to accomplish your desire to limit the types of food it can be used to purchase?

I also have a Masters in Public Affairs and Communications and have taught the class for the past 5 years. So I know what’s going on.

I also have a Masters in Public Affairs and Communications and have taught the class for the past 5 years. So I know what’s going on.

As far as expanding the LINK program goes, you won’t have to expand it if you eliminate non-healthy food and include more health items. Seems like pretty simple math.

I completely agree with Abdul. There needs to be some kind of regulation on what these people buy with those funds. If they can lock alcohol and other products, they should be able to tighten restrictions on types of food.

And not to make this about Wilson46201, but he curiously disappears during other posts which unmistakenly point out Bart’s poor judgments and lies in the media, but then Abdul gives his educated opinion on the use of our tax money and Wilson defends the poor decisions of these individuals. BTW, Wilson, while you’re ragging on others for being anonymous, it’s not as if you’re exactly giving your full name. “Wilson46201″ is just as anonymous as “Anon 2:00.”

Dear Mike, Abdul’s excellent observation skills is what sets him apart from all the other ‘journalists’. He delivers INFORMATION as opposed to reguritating AP stories. More people should try Abdul’s approach if they want to be respected as a ‘journalist’.

Dear Grover, you are correct that Wilson does run and hide and ususally tries to change the subject when he doesn’t like a particular thread. However, if you go out to any Dem event, ask to meet Wilson and he out there for everyone to see.

Dear Abdul, great job! Keep up the good work.

Here’s a simple solution – a government issued list of items to select from.

toiletries
cleaners
Meats
Dairy
breads/cereals
etc.

No brand names are given – just product type, size/qty, and price. Shoppers using public money must select the lowest priced products within the list of approved purchase items, or that item will not ring up at the register. If Jiff peanut butter is on sale and is less than the store brand, they must buy Jiff.

In other words, as much as I dislike the welfare system, I do believe in being generous to help people in legitimate need. But when a brother asks me to buy him lunch I don’t treat him to filet at Palomino. He gets a combo meal and I can still afford to feed my own family.

There’s no reason that the government should operate any differently. It’s our money. It’s distribution and spending should be carefully controlled and regulated to ensure that it stretches as far as possible.

“Masters in Public Affairs and Communications”

Your bio only mentions a Masters in Public Affairs Reporting from UIS (and your J.D.). Do you have two other degrees that were left out?

“you won’t have to expand it if you eliminate non-healthy food and include more health items. Seems like pretty simple math.”

On $3 a day, the typical food stamps budget?

(See: http://foodstampchallenge.typepad.com/my_weblog/about_the_challenge/index.html)

That’s less than the cost of a gallon of milk, but it’s enough to easily buy two or three 2L bottles of soda.

Mr. Cleveland (or may I call you Grover?) — My name’s Wilson E. Allen – I’m the now-retired Township Clerk of Center Township and longtime Democratic Party Precinct Committeeperson. I’ve been an active participant in more than a few winning political campaigns. I’ve lived in the Near Eastside for over 30 years now so I have some acquaintance with poverty …

Back to the topic: Abdul’s right to be aghast at some folk purchasing choices but with the constant barrage of food advertising on TV, what else can you expect? I usually buy generic food if possible but the boxes aren’t attractive and colorful with cartoon characters. I have over 30 cookbooks – most young mothers have none. I can shop leisurely and thriftily – I dont have a kid or two demanding attention!

I think that if there were regulations the children would be forced to eat what’s provided for them and in turn possibly come out more humbled individuals, instead of demanding, unappreciative brats. They might actually appreciate the lengths their parents had to go through to make ends meet and the most out of the least. I know my grandmother didn’t have a choice during the Depression, after her telling me stories about how they made a huge bag of beans last the whole winter.

Nowadays we keep handing out and handing out, and these people stretch their perks to the limit without any consideration.

And Wilson, I’ve spent my whole life living in the nameless area between Haughville and the Valley in Center Township (right over by Washington High School), so I’m not some Suburbian chiming in without compassion. Bart just happens to be at the very bottom of my Christmas list at this point in time. He can pack up the Simons and the Irsays and get the Hell out of town, as far as I’m concerned.

Hey Mike, take a chill pill man!

Shorebreak you have a great idea there, but if someone wants to buy a name brand item they pay the difference. If Skippy is on sale and they buy Jiff they can just pay the difference.

I suggest this because I have a friend who was struggling to raise her son because the father was a good for nothing trying to hide from child support. She told me she wanted to buy Tide, not Surf. I told her go ahead and buy Tide, she was obviously making choices of what she was willing to compromise on and what she would not. Oh yeah, I helped track down the good for nothing father who had a VERY good job.

Finally, what ever happened to the parents being the parent and saying NO. Then, we you get a ‘treat’ it really is something special, not everyday expected.

Oh yeah, and Wilson, poverty isn’t limited to just the Near Eastside. No one really knows what the person beside them is going through.

Well, not to go ultraliberal, but I think this is one situation where it would be better for all parties involved if the government actually stepped in and told people what they could and couldn’t buy for the sake of their own welfare. Think about it, if they buy healthy food their government sponsored healthcare will be cheaper, which will means more people will get more money to eat with.

If those people don’t like eating the foods that are offered, they’ll be able to use their free time to go to school and get a job that pays well enough that they don’t have to be on food stamps. I see it as a win-win.

You know, I am a single mother, divorced since I was 25 and I am a police officer. I dont get assistance and I do have two children who run me anywhere from 150-200 a week in grocerys. I do have cook books and I dont like junk food. I do buy snacks but I have to budget for that. Why are people rewarded for not working. I have stood in line looking in my cart hoping after all my bills,i didnt get childsupport sorry, I had enough to feed my boys while the person(usually dirty but smoking name brand ciggis) bought steak and pop and junk food and even though they werent clean they wore more jewelery then I have ever owned. I am so sick of hearing I am disabled or blah blah blah, I have narcolepsy(sp) and I take a pill that our insurance doesnt pay for,I do, and I still go to work. I am not gonna say always,because you who know me know I will use my sick time in a heart beat, but I guess my point is, when I was told I have an incurable disorder I should quit being a police officer, get on welfare and collect ssi and I would be better off with more money to spend I was dumbfounded. What is wrong with this picture?

Lynnette, you actually have respect for yourself. I can’t wait to be done (I’m on the 20 and out plan), but I couldn’t imagine leaching off the government before then. My mother raised 4 boys on her own with a little bit of child support from my dad. Never did the thought cross her mind of going for food stamps, welfare, and all that. She used the system to help get loans for college, but that’s about it. For some people it’s just not an option. For others, it’s the only option.

“but with the constant barrage of food advertising on TV, what else can you expect?”

I expect, no demand, my government to DO SOMETHING!!!!

Something could be:
Ban the ability to ban twinkies, soda pop, flavored drinks, etc..

All folks need is general products and water. If they want Cokes, they need to get a job.

If it is too hard to do this, then the government needs to make food centers. At least this will get some of the dirty folks out of the Wal-marts, Krogers, etc..

Folks like Wilson only allow these folks to continue on their bad habits. Only a rabid pro-welfare state type would call a bag of chips a “special, rare treat.” Many of those on welfare look like they consume plenty of those treats!! Guess they are not so rare after all! Sorry, but I am sick of my money being stolen to provide treats and entertainment to layabouts and bums.

May I recommend reading some Charles Dickens so that you get-tough-on-kids types can learn what you are speaking about?

Charles Dickens is FICTION! Get over yourself Wilson.

i am a single mother-to-be and do to jobs in my community going over seas i am also unemployed. i got custody of a teenage girl and no child support of any kind i worked to stay in college but when i couldn't support my family i had to quit. i have never accepted hand outs but here recently i have had to ask for government assistance. i am not proud of it and am still working very hard to get a job but theres none in my community and i don't have the funds to relocate for one. i don't agree with buying candy and pop with government money but i do understand it is cheaper. i am trying to provide healthy meals for my family but it is very difficult and i learned to cook from my grandmother who had 13 kids of her own so i know quite a few tricks about stretching meals.