Laura Clawson, Daily Kos - Maine
Gov. Paul LePage is the latest to push for harsher limits on what foods
people can buy with food stamps. Because it's not enough that people
have tiny food budgets and periodic humiliation in the grocery checkout
line, we need laws that stigmatize people's eating habits, too.
"Multiple
Red Bulls in one purchase, Rock Star energy drinks, 1-pound bag of
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and 3 gallons of Hershey's Ice Cream in one
purchase," Bethany Hamm, an official with the state Department of Health
and Human Services, said during a hearing on Thursday, MPBN News
reported.
"We have all seen these types of purchases occur -- and it's unacceptable," Hamm said.
...
An obstacle to imposing SNAP dietary restrictions is that federal law
doesn't give states the ability to change what food stamps can buy.
That's why the Maine legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Roger Katz
(R), would seek a waiver from federal rules from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, which administers SNAP.
The USDA has turned down
several such requests from other states in recent years, so what we're
looking at in Maine is yet another attempt to trash poor people in the
news for its own sake, not to make actual changes
1 comment:
Education is the answer, most people have no clue how to eat and live healthy.
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