Fast food giant lobbies for food stamps

[proud2BlibKansan]

(RNN) – Some of the 40 million Americans currently receiving food stamps from the nation's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program may soon be able to use them at participating fast food restaurants.

Yum! Brands – the parent company of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silver's and A&W – is lobbying to have food stamps be accepted at their restaurants.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, SNAP allows low-income people to buy the food they need for "good health." A person receiving SNAP has a card similar to a debit card that has a monthly allowance for groceries. The balance is based on the person's monthly income and the number of people in the household.

more . . . http://www.kctv5.com/story/15672179/fast-food-giant-lobbies-for-food-stamps

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. Horrible idea

:mad:

[iamjoy]

2. It's A Great Idea

But only if the food stamps were limited so they could be used for fruits, salads and certain sandwhiches but could not be used for anything fried, burgers, ice cream or sugary drinks

[Riftaxe]

4. Right...because those foods are so much cheaper

then a $0.99 sandwhich. Why not restrict food stamps to only stores with incredibly overpriced items like Whole Foods?


I know it flies in the face of your need to dictate how people live, but until you find enough other slobs to elect you, tough luck.

[truedelphi]

12. I am with you on this. Most supermarkets are

Filled to the brim with foods that are as reprehensible as anything served on a plate by Fast Foods places like McDonalds.

In fact, I think if the Fast Foods places are allowed to have food stamps coming in, that will guarantee the program. Right now there is a huge backlash against the programs - I think one of the thing the "christian" ministers are preaching is that everyone needs to earn the wages used to purchase their food. Which is a decent message during normal times, but absolutely catastrophic for these times.

Right now, twenty percent of my home County is on food stamps. I think that smaller groceries would be out of business and even the giant corporations would be hurting if it wasn't for food stamps.

[iamjoy]

17. Well, IMHO

Fried foods and sugary drinks - those with no nutritional value - ought to be taxed and the money should subsidize fresh fruits and vegetables or other healthy choices. Revenue from these taxes could also be used to help pay for healthcare (since over-consumption of junk food contributes to a host of illnesses) and to promote healthy choices. That's not dictating how people live, you can still order the cheeseburger and fries if you want, you just pay for it (cash, charge, foodstamps, however).

Other than the complexity of deciding what's junk and what's healthy, is it really that different than taxing cigarettes and alcohol? If the primary reason some one is getting a crappy meal is because it's cheap and easy, shouldn't we have other equally convenient and affordable options available that are actually healthy? It doesn't seem right that all too often the better something is for our wallet the worse it is for our health.

[HappyMe]

13. I really don't think anyone has the right to tell

anybody what they can and cannot buy. They are poor PEOPLE, not pets, not experiments.

[iamjoy]

16. Uh, It Was a Direct Response

to some one who said it was a horrible idea to allow food stamps to be used in fast food restaurants. I'm suggesting a compromise.

[RB TexLa]

3. It's a good fundraising gig. Squeeze some more money out of argribusiness to stop it.

[Raine]

5. People on food stamps should be able to use them for any food

they want just like anyone else, it should be their choice. They shouldn't be treated like second class citizens restricted to what they are allowed to put in their stomachs.

[ZombieHorde]

7. I agree completely. nt

[elocs]

8. What a unique concept for a Democrat when we are so often paternalistic about these things,

that those getting food stamps need our nutritional guidance and direction.

Yes, they, we, I should not be treated like second class citizens because we need food help. We don't need to justify to Big Brother our need by having to take a drug test or by others who want to preach just exactly what kind of food we can buy.

[girl gone mad]

14. I agree.

It's disturbing to read comments from progressives complaining that those on food stamps should only be allowed to buy cheap unprocessed foods at a grocery store that they can cook and prepare at home.

The truth is that many people who depend on food stamps do not live near a good grocer and may not have ample time to shop for and cook every meal. While everyone should be encouraged to make healthy dietary choices, denying the conveniences of modern life to people on food stamps only puts them at a further disadvantage.

[highplainsdem]

6. A Yum! Brands rep also co-chairs the ALEC committee lobbying against paid sick leave.

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/10/11079/flu-burger-alec-wants-sick-people-serving-you-food

Will Philadelphia's and Seattle's new ordinances be overridden by their states? Or will the states back them up, as Connecticut has? If the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has any say in the matter, Pennsylvania and Washington State should override the city ordinances as Wisconsin has done.

-snip-

According to materials obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy, paid sick leave was a hot topic on this year's agenda of corporations and their allied politicians. "Paid family medical leave" was the only topic of discussion by the Labor and Business Regulation Subcommittee of the Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force, according to the meeting minutes.

Meeting attendees were given complete copies of Wisconsin's 2011 Senate Bill 23 (now Wisconsin Act 16), as a model for state override. They were also handed a target list and map of state and local paid sick leave policies prepared by ALEC member, the National Restaurant Association. In Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Restaurant Association lobbied for SB 23 to repeal the sick leave ordinance, as did the the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC), the local branch of the the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an ALEC member. The effect of the repeal will be more sick workers at work, making others ill, in order to save or increase profits by corporations.

Not surprisingly, ALEC's Labor and Business Regulation Subcommittee is co-chaired by YUM! Brands, Inc., which owns Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Fast food companies have fought paid sick leave across the country.

[FirstLight]

9. I'd ratther be able to use them at the farmer's market

they only take cash...

[izquierdista]

10. Great? Horrible? Great? Horrible?

How about throwing this into the mix: "The government is not here to serve Yum! Brand's profit margin. If they want to sell food to people needing assistance, they have to agree to sell it at cost plus 4%. Any debit from a SNAP card will be computed against a GAO audited schedule of the cost of Yum!Brands food items and a 4% profit will be added."

I don't know if my idea turns Great into Horrible or vice versa, but I do know that it will get the CEO of Yum! Brands to throw a major fit.

[madinmaryland]

18. I think you may be onto something. Take the profit factor out it for them and then

see what happens. Make them really decide if they want to support the less fortunate in this country or are they only in it to make a buck off the government and also the less fortunate in this country.

My guess is the latter.

[jwirr]

11. I know two ways this has already been used. When I worked as a

social worker we often worked with seniors who could no longer cook for themselves and you could use the food stamps to buy food at local restaurants for them. I have no idea if that option still exists.

In our area today we can use food stamps to buy Papa Murphy's pizza to take home and cook.

I hate to see this go too far because it allows too many people to eat less healthy but on the other hand there are people who either do not cook or are too old to cook and at least their children/they will get something to eat.

Food stamps do not go as far when used for fast foods.

[Motown_Johnny]

15. If they somehow discount products for food stamp users

maybe 10% off if you pay with food stamps


then the government reimburses the fast food place for 85% of face value



This would save the people 10%, save the government 15% and increase sales for the restaurants in addition to giving poor people more options for how to feed themselves.

[TheKentuckian]

19. I'm fine with it. It is silly that one can go to the grocery and buy the hot chicken

sold in the deli but can buy the stuff that is cold. The exact same chicken at the exact same cost, only the poor must eat it cold or use energy to warm it.

This is why Papa Murphy's can sell to food stamp users, it isn't hot.

By that same token, I guess fast food joints could set up a cold case and sell away tomorrow.

You can get your crappy Quarter Pounder cold and nuke it for the exact same cost as the guy with cash gets hot and fresh like the cold sandwiches at a gas station.

Hell, in some cases it can just be silly. Unless chicken is on sale, the KFC Sunday bucket is about as cost effective than making the same amount of chicken myself, maybe save a buck or two if my time counts for nothing. It isn't unusual for a whole uncut chicken to run 6-7 dollars, it comes with no spices, not a lick of oil, not a grain of flour, and is about as raw as it was when it was squawking.