Missouri may be banning steak and seafood from Food Stamp Program

[lauradis]

Homeless shelters in our area have soup kitchens next to them or near them.

Most of the housing situations are vouchers to 2 star or less hotels that have access to micro waves.

What I keep hearing is excuses of why poor able body adults need to be treated like children, which IMHO is awful.

Fear and hunger are great motivators to change your life. Can everyone be non poor, nope. Should we give people money to buy their own food? Don't know Should we the taxpayers feed people? Yes The question is how?

 

[Laura66]

how to cook No bake oatmeal cookies in the Micro wave. They are yummy and cheaper then a package of premade cookies.

1. Directions
   1. Mix together sugar, margarine, milk, cocoa, and vanilla. Heat in microwave 2 minutes. Stir. Heat in microwave 2 more minutes. Stir in peanut butter until well blended. Add oats. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Allow time to cool.
   2. * Measure oats carefully; too much and they will be too dry.

Are you kidding? Milk cocoa and vanilla and peanut butter. They also need wax paper and a microwave?
It's easier and I'm sure cheaper to buy in this case.

 

[lauradis]

You do realize a lot of people truly don't have so much as a microwave???
Many working poor are working multiple jobs and may not have the time to plan meals a and cook ahead. It really does make sense for them to buy the cheaper, processed food because it stretches, can be stored and is easily accessible and what's available in the stores that are convenient for them to get to.

the difference is everyone is making excuses of the why nots, how about a little they can do it if they choose too. Where there is a will to do something, you will find a way to get it done. period. Do you understand that if Im a mother on welfare working, I could use my free tax return to pay for almost a full year of local community college, to become a LPN. From LPN after a job I can still live poor and become an RN all in less then 6 years from being on welfare to making a livable wage????? why not take the money tax payers give you and turn it into something good.
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[lauradis]

Are you kidding? Milk cocoa and vanilla and peanut butter. They also need wax paper and a microwave?
It's easier and I'm sure cheaper to buy in this case.

I have made it tons of time without wax paper, they just stick to the plate a little. all you have to do is melt the butter and sugar.

 

[Jedana]

I hate when people rant about what food can be bought!
Do they realize that fresh fruit and other healthy items are expensive! Starchy, processed foods are cheaper are easy to stretch.
Also - getting to stores is oftentimes a hardship for many living in poor neighborhoods relying on public transportation.

When DH and I were both laid off of work in 2007, we had to get help. We lost everything---our cars repossessed, struggled to pay rent (thank you Catholic Charities, for helping for the worst 2 months), and many a night, I went hungry so that the kids and DH could eat. (He had to eat, was on home dialysis then. No insurance due to screw ups by the social worker at the clinic, ran up $500,000 in medical bills in that 6 month time. Too many people out of work for too few jobs in our area----they opened a new Walmart and 10,000 people applied for less than 1,000 jobs.)

We walked three blocks to the bus stop, took the bus past our house the 3 miles, walked the 2 blocks to get to the store, did the shopping, and reversed the process to get home (with each of us carrying a backpack of food plus bags in our hands). For a family of 4, we received $425 a month for 6 months, and then DH got a part time job selling software and his disability and insurance kicked in, and we started to recover. It took him another year to get a FT position, and I stopped looking----any money I make would have paid daycare and maybe bus fare.

We had to stretch, that's true, especially with his diet----no sodium, which meant no processed foods-----but we did it. If you want to succeed for your family, you figure out a way to do so.

Do I think that people on Food stamps should be eating caviar and lobster? Not really. But I don't think they need to be eating Cheetohs and drinking Mountain Dew either. People who want to cheat will do so, no matter what rules are put into place. Decades ago, it was selling the paper food stamp booklets for cash; now it's buying the food and selling it for cash. I think there should be a limit to how long you get assistance, and that when you reach that limit, you must either be working or in school for the help to continue. I also think there should be a price limit, as other posters have stated---I think 7.99 a lb on meat is fine. I pay $5.99 a lb for 90/10 ground beef (it's $4.99 lb for 80/20). I also think there should be a limit on how much you can purchase for "junk" food---chips, candy, snack cakes, etc. $50 a month is more than enough to purchase those items. The rest should be spent on meat, fruit, veggies, etc.

(Edited for typo)

 

[lauradis]

Are you kidding? Milk cocoa and vanilla and peanut butter. They also need wax paper and a microwave?
It's easier and I'm sure cheaper to buy in this case.

Beside every thing but the cocoa power and butter and vanilla is available at most food pantries,, and milk too. I have even used powered milk to make them.

That's about 3/4 dollars at an aldis store and you don't use all of it in one batch. Which is about the going price for a bag of chips/ cookies at convenient store.

 

[luvsJack]

how to cook No bake oatmeal cookies in the Micro wave. They are yummy and cheaper then a package of premade cookies.

1. Directions
   1. Mix together sugar, margarine, milk, cocoa, and vanilla. Heat in microwave 2 minutes. Stir. Heat in microwave 2 more minutes. Stir in peanut butter until well blended. Add oats. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Allow time to cool.
   2. * Measure oats carefully; too much and they will be too dry.

Ok?? I used an example of a kid that doesn't eat oatmeal and needing breakfast or Mom not being there to cook oatmeal. I never asked what to do with it.

I HATE oatmeal cookies but there is also a no cook oatmeal cookie recipe. But I really don't get your point.

 

[SMD]

I have made it tons of time without wax paper, they just stick to the plate a little. all you have to do is melt the butter and sugar.

I don't know how many motels you've stayed in, but if they're the kind that are accepting housing vouchers or have families of 5 or more crammed into rooms they're not maintaining their microwave. Their tiny microwave that may not hold a plate. Not to mention that when families are vacating their hotel rooms in the middle of the night because they can't pay, they're not exactly grabbing their mini casserole dishes to make rice with their next microwave. You're not curing hunger or saving welfare with microwave recipes. Other posters are giving examples of why some people need to have the option to buy come processed items. You're trying to make many different pegs fit in the same hole. Nothing is that simplistic.

 

[lpereira]

8 pages and no one has brought up that neither Missouri nor any other state can put limits on food stamp purchases. The USDA in charge of this federal program though the states handle the paperwork. No state, since the programs inception has ever been granted a waiver to food stamp rules. Not one. Doesn't matter which party controls the federal government the answer has been no every time. So Missouri, which only meets part time during 5 months of the year, is spinning its wheels.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Some of the posts written here are heartless and quite frankly disgusting. Just remember it could be any one of us needing a hand, you have NO idea or control over what life can have in store for you.

 

[EMAW_KSU]

It depends on where you live. High cost real estate areas have lots of people using the mortgage interest deduction. In places where housing costs are lower, fewer people take the deduction unless it's a relatively expensive house, since the deduction tends to be less than the standard deduction.

Families making under $100K definitely qualify for it around here. Of course we're dealing with the median price of a 3 BR 2 BA house at around $700K.

I did not say that families earning under $100,000 didn't qualify for it. That stat was for people that utilize the deduction.

 

[Happy Snowman]

I expected a serious post about a "welfare queen" long before you posted your facetious response. A couple of posts were heading in that direction but stopped short. Your post probably scared away anyone still thinking about it.

" Government should stay out of "our" lives.............but should tell others what to do."




Yep, and those who complain the loudest about keeping government out of our lives would scream even louder if one of their welfare programs was curtailed. But of course it's OK for government to regulate those less "worthy."

Yep, If you are going to accept a government program, you follow the rules of that program.

 

[lauradis]

I don't know how many motels you've stayed in, but if they're the kind that are accepting housing vouchers or have families of 5 or more crammed into rooms they're not maintaining their microwave. Their tiny microwave that may not hold a plate. Not to mention that when families are vacating their hotel rooms in the middle of the night because they can't pay, they're not exactly grabbing their mini casserole dishes to make rice with their next microwave. You're not curing hunger or saving welfare with microwave recipes. Other posters are giving examples of why some people need to have the option to buy come processed items. You're trying to make many different pegs fit in the same hole. Nothing is that simplistic.

Never said it was simple and the percent of people homeless that receive food stamps is very low, like most pp have posted most food stamp users are the working poor, that live in houses not hotels.

 

[lauradis]

Ok?? I used an example of a kid that doesn't eat oatmeal and needing breakfast or Mom not being there to cook oatmeal. I never asked what to do with it.

I HATE oatmeal cookies but there is also a no cook oatmeal cookie recipe. But I really don't get your point.

Hungry kids will eat oatmeal or anything infront of them if hungry enough. You must have been blessed in your life to never go without food for long periods of your life.

my point is Im sick of people that have not lived the really poor life style, making excuses for poor able body adults.

 

[HelenePA]

what about people who are disabled? do they get different rules?

 

[Dawnlight]

I have been a recipient of food assistance and I still feel that there needs to be restrictions on what can and can't be purchased. I have been a recipient of aid for heating my home in winter; we were given an amount equal to 2 months of heating. There already are restrictions on many programs; there is still lots of abuse that needs to be dealt with.

This notion that only people who have never had to use those resources are the ones who wish to place restrictions on those who do need them is wrong. I agree that there is a need for programs like EBT to help people in temporary need, and I'll admit that I did feel humiliated having to pay with that card, but humiliation is not going to kill anyone. Humiliation may motivate someone to better their situation. Unfortunately, I believe that those who feel humiliated are the ones who use it temporarily and as intended, while those who feel entitled to the support don't feel one ounce of humiliation.

 

[Laura66]

Never said it was simple and the percent of people homeless that receive food stamps is very low, like most pp have posted most food stamp users are the working poor, that live in houses not hotels.

You know this for a fact?
I know a few working poor - in my nice neighborhood - who have had their water or electricity turned off or nearly turned off.
No one is saying there isn't abuse - but I'm willing to bet it's no more than any other other government programs available to anyone - regardless of income.
Glad you were able to rise above - but for many it's more than just getting by on food stamps. And you telling them what they should buy and how they should stretch their allotment - without any knowledge of their living arrangements or personal life - or what stores are available and what they carry is ignorant.

 

[MIGrandma]

Some of the posts written here are heartless and quite frankly disgusting. Just remember it could be any one of us needing a hand, you have NO idea or control over what life can have in store for you.

I am more than happy to give a helping hand to someone who through no fault of their own, such as pp Jedana, has fallen on hard times. It's the ones who make welfare their "career" that I feel need to be stopped. When they are living off taxpayers year after year after year and doing nothing to better themselves in order to get a job and provide for their family they dont deserve that monthly check.

 

[luvsJack]

Hungry kids will eat oatmeal or anything infront of them if hungry enough. You must have been blessed in your life to never go without food for long periods of your life.

my point is Im sick of people that have not lived the really poor life style, making excuses for poor able body adults.

You have no idea what I have or haven't done in my life. Do not assume.

So just give the hungry kid the food that makes him gag? I mean he is poor and hungry, he will eat anything? A little heartless don't you think?

A huge portion of those able bodied folks on food stamps have jobs. You do realize that don't you? I did. Worked 2 jobs in fact. So yes I bought a lot of stuff that was ready to eat or easy to fix because when going from one job to another you don't have time to cook. And I certainly didn't have time to make cookies. Job 1 started at 5:30 am, 2nd job ended at 10 pm. 20 minute commute from home to and from those jobs. Any time off was spent with my kids not cooking.

 

[Mizzoufan]

I am more than happy to give a helping hand to someone who through no fault of their own, such as pp Jedana, has fallen on hard times. It's the ones who make welfare their "career" that I feel need to be stopped. When they are living off taxpayers year after year after year and doing nothing to better themselves in order to get a job and provide for their family they dont deserve that monthly check.

So what about those taxpayers who can't afford food without help? There are so many people out there who work there hind end off that just can'tt make it. Who aren't able to get higher paying jobs? Or the elderly? I pay taxes and don't mind my money going to help those that are in need.