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Should fast-food restaurants be allowed to accept food stamps?
Results so far:
| Yes | 16% | 97 votes | Total: 601 votes | |
| No | 84% | 504 votes |
Yes
by Carolyn Teasley
Created on: September 26, 2011
In four states, Florida, Michigan, Arizona and California, recipients of food stamps are allowed to purchase fast food items. The main reason these states allow this is to help indigent people such as homeless, disabled and elderly (age 60 and over) people who have no means of providing warm food for themselves. Other states are starting to consider joining the band wagon. Oklahoma is one of them.
Food Stamp Purchase Guidelines
Food stamp purchase guidelines vary from state to state. Only food items can be purchased with food stamps. A current list of items states that do not allow fast food purchases that food stamp recipients can purchase are: fruits, vegetables, meats, baked goods at grocery stores. Other items are non-alcoholic beverages, edible plants, herbs, organic produce and seeds for growing fruits and vegetables. More items are: baby formula, goat's milk, Pedialyte and Pediasure, meals prepared and delivered by meal delivery services (Meals on Wheels), meals prepared in soup kitchens and nutritional supplements (Boost, Ensure, Isomil and Sustacal). Other items listed are: weight loss products (Slim Fast, Cambridge Diet and Nutrisystem), artificial sweeteners, distilled water, ice, cooking sprays and prepared sandwiches or salads that are not eaten in the store. (http//dss.sc.gov)
Businesses that will accept the food stamps are grocery stores, convenience stores and farmer's market vendors. Food stamps cannot be used in trade for non-food items, fast food, food sold in restaurants, edible food that can be eaten in grocery stores, tobacco, drugs or alcohol. (www.ehow.com)
Applying for Food Stamps
The USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is regulated by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) also called Department of Social Services (DSS) in some states. People who need to apply for the food stamps SNAP program, can apply in person, by mail or on-line through the state DHHS website. They can also print an application which will require you to provide proof of your monthly income, personal information of the members of the household and a list of current owned assets. You will be given an EBT card or SNAP card if you qualify. (www.ehow.com)
The idea of using food stamps to pay for fast food in states that do not accept them intice people to find different ways to get around the restriction. In Missouri, Domino's Pizza sells the pizzas made but have not been baked yet. Because the food is uncooked it does not break the federal regulation. (www.Dominos.com)
Yum! Brands, out of Louisville, KY owner of restaurants which include: Taco Bell, KFC, McDonald's, Subway plus others is lobbying for inclusion in the fast-food food stamp program. The four states that do accept food stamps have websites listed on the Internet of which fast food restaurants already accept food stamps for meals. (http://abcnews.go.com)
Listed below are the websites:
Michigan (http://www.michigan.gov/dhs/o,1607,7-124-5455_7034_7333-84112-,oo.html)
California (http://snap-load-balancer-244858692.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com/index.html)
Florida (http://www.live5news.com/story/15406724/fast-food-restaurants-want-a-slice-of-food-stamp-pie)
Why should poor people not be allowed to eat out with their families occassionally at a fast food restaurant?
Learn more about this author, Carolyn Teasley.
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No
by Sylvia Harrison
Created on: September 20, 2011
Food stamps and Link cards are made available to people who cannot afford all the basics in life. There are many programs available for those whose lives have either taken a bad turn or, for other reasons, cannot afford grocery store prices.
The idea of food stamps is to provide nourishing foods to those, especially with children, who just cannot afford them. McDonald's may have some nourishing foods on their menu but, in reality, grocery money will go a lot further at a grocery store. Since, in effect, it is partly my money as a working individual that supports food stamp programs, I would not like to see the McDonald's food choices taking my money over a gallon of milk and a carton of eggs.
There are many days in our lives where we would like to have, or do something, that we cannot afford to have or do. Though working individuals, things are very tight in most budgets. We don't eat out. We don't buy new clothes at fashion stores, we buy a lot of second-hand items at the local thrift shops and we budget our grocery bills to include cooking at home some of the items we might prefer to have "served" to us in a local restaurant, drive through or not.
Fast food restaurants are not bad places to eat. Most of them have menus that include some very good healthy choices. And perhaps, if the food stamp or link card bearer has a few bucks at the end of the week after paying bills, a trip to Burger King or Hardee's may be the treat they deserve to give themselves and their families. Fast food restaurants are not the place to utilize food stamps, though. If there is not enough left over at the end of the week in "real" money, the treat should be put off until there is.
In all budgets, putting together a grocery list and writing down all the meals that can be prepared with specific grocery products is a wise choice. Hamburger can make more burgers or bigger meat loafs if a handful of oats are mixed in. A package of chicken can last through 2 meals if one uses their imagination to fix part as fried chicken on Sunday and part in a casserole on Tuesday. (Notice that Monday was left as the "leftover" night.)
The allotment of food stamps to families is to make it easier for those families to make ends meet and still feed their children good, wholesome foods. Fast food restaurants should not enter into the food stamp program as an option. Education concerning correct food choices, preparation, budgeting, and new recipe ideas for various food groups might be a better choice.
Learn more about this author, Sylvia Harrison.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
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