The debate over putting restrictions on purchasing junk food continues on today. There is a limit on available fresh foods. The cost of food is a factor when determining what to buy. People get what they can in order to survive. People should be allowed to purchase junk food with food stamps.
Many people have supported the idea of putting restrictions on the purchase of junk food with food stamps, but the basis for the majority of those arguments is mostly speculative and unfounded. While it is true that tax payers’ dollars are being used to purchase the junk food, the cost is lower than the price of organic foods, the other reasons provided by the opposition appear weak and can easily be refuted. For example, when they claim that the program is feeding into the country’s unhealthy habits and worsening the obesity epidemic, they are wrong. The people on food stamps are
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In the poorer areas, people have less access to and opportunities to purchase organic food. Fifield says, “it’s also harder to eat healthy if you live in high-poverty areas, where there often is limited access to fresh foods”. Not everyone has access to fresh foods so they must buy what is available.
The cost of food is also a big factor when deciding what to buy. With the cost of food and the level of income that a person receives, they buy what would allow them to get more, so they buy what is cheaper. It is stated that, “people buy junk food because it is cheaper than the fresh organic stuff” (Berenson). Since the price of junk food is lower than that of organic food, people are more likely to buy it.
People get what they can. When people do not have a lot of money and it is necessary that food is provided, they will purchase what they can if it means that the stomach is not empty. It has been stated that, “the poor are not out to game the system to live a luxury-they’re just trying to survive” (Ochoa and Pavic). A person will buy what it takes to
Mark Bittman’s article “Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?” tells about how people are not really getting their money’s worth when it comes to consuming junk food. He does this by showing the differences between ordering a meal at McDonald’s and cooking a meal at home. The twenty-eight dollars that is spent to feed a family of four at McDonald’s can be put to use making a meal that could last for a couple of days and feed more than four (Bittman 660). Engineered to be addictive, hyper-processed food has a taste that makes people wanting more. Lastly, Bittman addresses the convenience of junk food provides nowadays. Therfore, the cost of junk food is not really cheaper in comparison to a home cooked meal.
I think that government’s only role in the matter is to provide people with the information they need to make their health decisions. Although Balko is against federal funding for food labels, I think that it is necessary for people to know exactly what they are eating, such as how many calories, fat, protein, etc. Once people are aware of what are good and bad, the rest is up to the consumer. There is no need for prohibiting junk food because the individual knows what their actions will result in, and what someone choses to eat is no one else’s
With more and more people becoming unemployed and applying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), it is imperative that we understand the benefits as well as problems this causes. Even while researching this topic and talking to some of my family and friends about it, it surprised me the amount of those who do not understand food stamps. Coming from the SNAP website, “Food stamps offer nutritional assistance to millions of eligible low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities” (United States). This program helps millions of people per year and gives upwards of $75 billion and rising. With the prices of food increasing due to inflation, beneficiaries are receiving around $400 at most per month. Using the Electronic benefit transfer systems (EBT), beneficiaries can buy goods from a grocery store using a credit-card like transaction, which takes the money off of their card. The benefits are received monthly on a specific date and vary in amounts from person to person. One family may receive $300 per month because they have three kids and need the extra money, while another may receive $100 or less depending on financial status. The application process includes completing and filing an application form, being interviewed, and verifying facts crucial to determining eligibility. In the past, these applications did not require a drug screening to get benefits, but more and more states are adopting this. There are many drawbacks to SNAP as well such as taking money from working people’s paychecks every week and people abusing the system. Talking about a very opinionated subject, we must remove bias and answer whether or not the Food Stamp system should be limited.
People should be able to purchase junk food with food stamps. Others might assume that they have no money so why waste it on junk food? Food stamps help numerous people if they struggle with food at home, or don’t earn enough salary. Moreover, why waste it on junk food?
This is because of smaller weekly food budgets, in addition to poorly stocked stores. Those with lower incomes are more likely to spend money on inexpensive fats and sugars versus fresh fruits and vegetables that are more costly on a per-calorie basis. Healthy foods like whole grain products are more expensive than high-calorie junk foods. Economic forces have driven grocery stores out of many cities in the past few years, leaving only a few, and in some cases none. Many of these people living in these rural urban areas do not own cars and because the grocery stores that are still around are so far away, a person’s shopping trip may require them to take several buses or trains....
Many families and people have become too dependent on food stamps. “Critics of food stamps and government spending, however, argue that too many families have become dependent on government aid.”(NoteCard #1) But if they did not have this program people would go hungry. “11.9 million people went hungry in the United States”... “that included nearly 700,000 children, up more than 50% from the year before.”(NoteCard #2, Point 2) The program does good and helps people but it also spends a lot of money to get people food stamps. “..food-stamp recipients has soared to 44 million from 26 million in 2007, and the costa have more than doubled to $77 billion from $33 billion.”(NoteCard #5) But in the end, is it worth it? People need the assistance. It does help people from going hungry and keeps them at least with a little food in their stomach to that keeps them from starving. A lot of people who could not get jobs, were eligible for the program because they did not have a source of income. “Critics of food stamps and government spending, however, argue that too many families have become dependent on government aid.”(NoteCard #1) Since not everyone could get work, the government changed the requirements and it went for the better and for the
Food stamps came about during the era of the Great Depression where the government would issue a voucher for people with low income to trade in the voucher for food. Food stamps do have regulations such as how much food a person can obtain based on how many people are in the household. These regulations help the government decide who needs assistance and how much they can obtain each month. Food stamps are specifically designed for food and nothing else such as paper products, medicines, or alcoholic beverages. Even though food stamps benefit a multitude of people, there are also some people who abuse the system and commit food stamp fraud. Food stamps are beneficial to low-income families who may also have malnourished children and who cannot
Since the passing of this bill obesity has been on the rise (77.3). Many people on this program will over indulge on food simply because they get a limited amount of money to buy their groceries for the month, and they tend to buy groceries with high sugar and fat. Baum, researched and found that since the food stamp program started, people who were recipients of the benefits became obese. This caused obesity to climb thirty percent, making that a hundred percent increase since 1971
As I stated early, I am against food stamps. I am opposing towards because it creates a toll on the American taxpayers. We are contributing to fraud, the obesity rate and letting people have no incentives to work. The government makes food stamps so easy to access with the qualifications being so low. Even with the working poor getting “free” money for food, they still have no motivation to better their lives and find a job. I care about this matter because I, as a young adult, I pay tax myself. I hope that the government too will consider eliminating or reforming the Supplement Nutrition Assistant Program in a more efficient way that possibly could benefit not only the working poor but as well as American taxpayers.
In providing help to people who find themselves in food insecure households, people can be found who are skeptic of their true need. One of biggest myths of the disadvantaged is that they have poor shopping habits or shop in convenience stores where prices are extremely higher than compared to those in grocery stores. Another ...
Food insecurity can be “broadly defined as having limited access to adequate food” (Nguyen, Shuval, Bertmann, & Yaroch, 2015). While one might think that low income individuals who do not know where their next meal is coming from would be thin or underweight, many of those facing food insecurity instead struggle with obesity. This paradox may be a result of the very programs implemented to combat food insecurity in low income families. SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federal assistance program that gives money to households for food based on income and need. According to a study done by the USDA, “SNAP participants were more likely than income-eligible and higher income nonparticipants to be obese,” with SNAP participants being 40 percent more likely to be obese (2015). The problem is that even though SNAP provides resources to food insecure individuals, the food being provided is not nutritious and is thus contributing to the high rates of obesity in SNAP participants. Healthcare costs and mortality increase as more individuals become obese. Preventing these problems from happening by implementing nutrition education will increase SNAP participants’ health overall and bring down their healthcare costs.
Tobacco, alcohol, lottery, and prepared food are exceptional when it comes to food purchase. The purpose of the food stamps, is to encourage low income families who are struggling financially to purchase nutritious food. the program is encouraging Americans to make food from scratch for themselves and their families. It sure did give financial relief when it comes to paying for food, but some critics arise that food stamps have not been working efficiently. There have been cases where recipient turns their food stamps money in to cash in the black market purchasing drugs and other items.
Organic food is food that is grown without any pesticide or fertilizers. In recent years, sales for organic foods are increasing every year. A lot of people go to supermarkets in order to buy some organic foods, because they think that organic foods are healthier than conventional foods. People purchase organic foods for different reasons such as personal health, the quality of organic foods, and taste, but the most important reason is personal health. The topic that whether organic foods have more benefits or not is very controversial for a long time. Maybe some people believe that organic foods are beneficial to human health, but some other people disagree with the viewpoint, so buying organic foods depend on people’s choices. People believe organic foods are healthier because they generally think organic foods have less pesticide and fertilizer residue, more nutritional values, and are beneficial to environment.
Conclusion: Now a day’s organic food is getting popular and people are getting aware about the health promoting benefits of having organic food and it is easily available in the grocery store labeled as organic. The main reason most of the people don’t opt for organic food is it is higher in price, we have a false sense that conventional food comes at lower price, the price does not include the government spending on cleaning of pollution caused by producing such conventional produces, and government subsidies on agriculture, these are all tax payers money and ultimately goes from our pocket, thus why thing on short term benefits of conventional food, when organic food has long term benefit on our health , environment and future.
In America over 300,000 people are obese and that number continues to grow because the about of junk food that is being consumed. This cost the economy one hundred billion dollars. That more damage done than smoking or drinking. (Crowley, Michael 5) There are other health problems, such as heart diseases, chronic diseases, and type-two diabetes that occur because of junk food. Increasing the price of junk food, by adding tax, researchers hope that this will prod people to reject unhealthy foods. Taxes will also encourage a healthier lifestyle, even in low-income families (Franck, Caroline 2).