Trump Budget Swaps Food Stamps for '100 Percent American' Food

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ohio jones
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Re: Trump Budget Swaps Food Stamps for '100 Percent American' Food

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Valerie wrote:Actually, Discount Drug Mart DOES carry fresh fruits, vegetables and pretty good quality - and seeds as well
Oh, I was confused; somehow I thought you worked for the three-letter competitor, and I've never seen such items in their stores.
ohio jones wrote:
Hats Off wrote:After a quick look at Mike's grocery lists, there are few items on them that we would buy. I would love to browse the store sometime and try a few of those "luxury" items.
In particular, the following are not likely to be on my shopping list:

Code: Select all

Fisher's Dill Brussels Sprouts
AW Old Fashioned Bear Jam
American, Yellow
My yellow Americans, I hereby withdraw my objection to the first two items. However, I will only partake of them on Martin Groff Day, which is already over for this year. But just bearly.
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JimFoxvog
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Re: Trump Budget Swaps Food Stamps for '100 Percent American' Food

Post by JimFoxvog »

Wayne in Maine wrote: Ask Valerie how often she sees people buy fresh fruit and seeds with their SNAP benefits.
The people I've known that use SNAP use it that way. The farmers' market vendors at my market who went through the hoops to be able to accept SNAP got this business. I don't think it helpful to stereotype the poor.
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Re: Trump Budget Swaps Food Stamps for '100 Percent American' Food

Post by JimFoxvog »

Josh wrote:It’s apparent government can’t really do anything without a ton of people not liking it.

In this case, giving food away to hungry people attracts criticism.
The criticism I've seen is taking away hungry people's choice on what food to get. The box would replace a significant part of the value of the card that can be used for the food of one's choice.
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Bootstrap
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Re: Trump Budget Swaps Food Stamps for '100 Percent American' Food

Post by Bootstrap »

Suppose you did the same thing in health care. It would be the single payer healthcare system with limited benefits, right?
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Bootstrap
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Re: Trump Budget Swaps Food Stamps for '100 Percent American' Food

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Josh wrote:I would trust that the smart people in the USDA and HHS will do this. Let’s just let government agencies do their jobs and ignore media and partisan hype.
Snark aside, this really isn't what I want for public policy - public policy should be debated in public. It's not the same thing as an investigation into possible wrongdoing by government officials.

USDA and HHS have to follow the laws and policies set by Congress. Of course, people in those agencies probably know more than the politicians about the things they do, so it would be wise to hear their recommendations too. But I really want a transparent process with room for informed debate.

Perhaps especially when the government plans to set up deals with a small number of businesses to spend a lot of money with them.
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mike
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Re: Trump Budget Swaps Food Stamps for '100 Percent American' Food

Post by mike »

JimFoxvog wrote:
Josh wrote:It’s apparent government can’t really do anything without a ton of people not liking it.

In this case, giving food away to hungry people attracts criticism.
The criticism I've seen is taking away hungry people's choice on what food to get. The box would replace a significant part of the value of the card that can be used for the food of one's choice.
Do you see a problem with the fact that much of what people do choose to spend their SNAP is in fact junk and/or luxury foods? If so, do you think this is merely an accepted consequence of freedom of choice, or do you think there are any reasonable ways to change this?
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mike
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Re: Trump Budget Swaps Food Stamps for '100 Percent American' Food

Post by mike »

Bootstrap wrote:Suppose you did the same thing in health care. It would be the single payer healthcare system with limited benefits, right?
Suppose one would advocate for freedom of choice in public education, like we currently have with the SNAP program. It would look like a voucher system, right?

An interesting discussion. It is truly fascinating where people advocate for freedom and where they advocate for increased government control.
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Bootstrap
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Re: Trump Budget Swaps Food Stamps for '100 Percent American' Food

Post by Bootstrap »

mike wrote:
Bootstrap wrote:Suppose you did the same thing in health care. It would be the single payer healthcare system with limited benefits, right?
Suppose one would advocate for freedom of choice in public education, like we currently have with the SNAP program. It would look like a voucher system, right?
Absolutely. And personally, I would love to see that in education. You could also imagine a program that is more like the real Blue Apron program, letting private businesses ship boxes that would be eligible for SNAP benefits. Wouldn't Aldi, Walmart, and Amazon be able to do this as cheaply as the U.S. Government? And perhaps they could also allow families to choose - for instance, the two Syrian refugee families we work with might choose very different - and healthier - options than many American families. Why do we want the government to compete with private industry on this front?

For that matter, suppose Mike's store were to find a way to provide similar boxes at the required price, any reason he shouldn't be allowed in the game?

Is it important to have shelf-stable things in the boxes? We get a box of fresh vegetables every week from https://ungradedproduce.com, which rescues the vegetables that don't look quite pretty enough for the shelf at the store. Any reason that kind of thing should be excluded?
mike wrote:An interesting discussion. It is truly fascinating where people advocate for freedom and where they advocate for increased government control.
You need a little of each, I think. And for any particular kind of program, the devil is in the details.
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Re: Trump Budget Swaps Food Stamps for '100 Percent American' Food

Post by MaxPC »

mike wrote: Suppose one would advocate for freedom of choice in public education, like we currently have with the SNAP program. It would look like a voucher system, right?

An interesting discussion. It is truly fascinating where people advocate for freedom and where they advocate for increased government control.
Indeed. The inconsistencies are entertaining to see. Mankind needs God not government.
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Bootstrap
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Re: Trump Budget Swaps Food Stamps for '100 Percent American' Food

Post by Bootstrap »

mike wrote:An interesting twist proposed on the SNAP program in Trump's proposed budget. A portion of SNAP benefits would be direct delivery of a parcel of staple food products.

!!! SNIP !!!

https://www.newsmax.com/headline/trump- ... id/842874/
Interesting that the picture at the start of the article shows someone shopping for avocados. The new program wouldn't ship fresh fruits or vegetables. It would cut back money people could have used to buy them. I'm guessing most SNAP benefits aren't spent on avocados ... I wonder why they chose this particular picture?

Image
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