A diet fueled by food stamps is making South Texans obese but leaving them hungry

[Harmony Blue]

67. I don't agree with this article

15 years in the grocery business and I can safely say there is no correlation with what type of food you buy whether you use cash, credit, or EBT. I have seen EBT users that buy a whole bunch of fruits, vegetables (even organics), others focus on meats and seafoods but the vast majority buy a combination of everything (fruits, vegetables, frozen foods, snacks, etc). Basically what all other Americans buy on average so nothing out of ordinary based on my observations.

A lot of people judge EBT recipients because of what they buy but they fail to understand the rational, logical choices they make on a monthly basis. Often, if they are eligible for EBT they also have WIC. If they have WIC as well, they quality for at least two of the three WIC checks: Fruits and Vegetables, baby formula and the remaining basics. The remaining basics of WIC are eggs, whole block cheese, or slice non packaged cheese (1 lb a.k.a 16 oz), fruits juices with no added sugar (eg Juicy Juice) or frozen/canned juices, sugar free bread (12 oz) cereal up to 32 oz (a.k.a. 2 lbs), four canned beans (32 oz total) or two bags of beans (32 oz total). The fruits and vegetables are often limited to a $10.00 limit and anything over that they pay the difference. Frozen vegetables can used for this check instead of fresh produce if they want. So, this allows someone to use the remaining EBT funds to purchase the heavy cost items using EBT (meat, cooking oil, bottle water if they don't have access to tap water, ice if they don't have a fridge, etc).

In my opinion, a healthy diet can be achieved if there is a will to do so. But people tend to jump to conclusions to quickly but fail to look at the entire picture. I understand stretching the dollar but Walmart would be the last place I would go to do it. They have cheaper goods, however, most of it is processed and not really worth it in the long run. The only redeeming value of Walmart in my opinion is that they have the best selection of Gluten free products and no one come close. However, if you want the best organic selection of foods in Florida you are better off going to a health food store, Earth Origins Market, or the supermarkets (eg Publix). EBT is accepted by a lot of the farm and vegetable vendors that have open air market places set up all over central Florida. Fresh tomatoes from Ruskin, Florida strawberries from Plant city, or even the various citrus grown locally.

People just need to be more educated about their options IMVHO. I grew up both in the United States but also outside of it and I have the knowledge to seek out foods that are fresh having lived in Europe. We as Americans seem to have drifted from our origins as well but we have to re-learn the knowledge we once had it seems. I agree with another poster this is lost knowledge all across socio-economic levels whether you are rich, middle class or poor.