Meat is the first thing to go

[hardnox604008]

http://www.businessinsider.com/meat-is-the-first-thing-to-go-when-food-stamps-get-cut-2013-11

The silver lining is that when they're forced off food stamps and have to take one of the adundance of open jobs as investment bankers they'll buy filet mignon.

And their chihuahuas will eat ground sirloin.

[BA Deere]

I try my hardest to support SNAP and welfare and donate to local food pantries, thinking "There but the grace of God, go I".  However, when the SNAP receipients are shown, they are all shall we say "well fed", many times wear shirts with concert dates on them, you know the one`s that are hawked at a table at a concert for 65 bucks.  They seem to not have a shortage of money for the tattoo parlor, which can make them unemployable as a side effect.

But the lady in the article had name brand "Country Crock" butter on the table.  I don`t even use butter and crap like that but, if I was hard up (like I will be next year) I`d shop at Aldis and not pay for the name brand stuff.

I really feel for these people, like she said in the article her bennefits are $20/hr and there aren`t the "living wage jobs" out there anymore, our free trade has shipped them overseas. And the Democrats have put half the country on welfare, just for the votes.

Other than Ross Perot, whom I voted for proudly both times that he ran, him and Pat Buchanan have been the only politicans that understand this.

[hardnox604008]

My point being that meat demand will be affected.

Of course a larger issue being that when food stamps were created as a farm support program the demand base for it was near 100% domestic.

Now in the corporate globalist world it doesn't matter because folks getting rich in China by selling each other vacant apartments are going to buy it all anyway.

BTW, there is now an interesting development in our own privitization of farm programs. We've privatized the deal to two government created "private"  industries- crop insurance and ethanol- and it turns out there is a hole in the safety net big enough for the whole troupe to fall through.

Of course that means that you just need to call your legislator and get it all fine tuned, I guess.

[farm160 · Accepted solution]

A few days ago I saw en excerpt of the TV show "What Would You Do" where they set up a situation where a woman had a bunch of groceries unloaded on the check-out aisle but insufficient funds on her SNAP card to pay for them.  They wanted to see how people would respond.  Many behind her in line pitched in to help because they'd been there done that and wanted to help someone out or be a blessing to another.

Ironically, a week ago I was in nearly the exact same scenario with two women in front of me with a combination of card & cash and insufficient funds to cover everything. .  For a fleeting moment I thought about "passing it on" and pitching in with the bill and expediting the process and the growing line behind me; however (call me judgemental) when they had to pull out the 20oz  sodas and the cigarettes, etc to start bringing their total down my generosity came to a screeching halt.  Had there been some level of nutritional value to their choices I'd have been more supportive, but the one gal looked like a crackhead and the other could have used a few days without food.  Unless there are consequences to actions we all keep doing the same old thing.  At what point do we hold everyone accountable for their choices? 

I agree with BA Deere in giving to food pantries and those facing certain hardships because life's not always fair and who knows what tomorrow may bring.  But then I can give them healthy choices.  Our tax dollars subsidize a lot of people.  I am not God and can't help everyone if they are not willing to help themselves by stepping up to the plate and making wise choices with what's available.  That's a first step.  At least forget the sodas and cigarettes.

[Kay/NC]

Call it hypocritical, coming from a former tobacco farmer, but I wouldn't give anyone a dime to help buy smokes. As a diabetic, ditto for soda. They had some idea their cart was over their limit to start with. Let them weed out what they can live without.

[Kay/NC]

They aren't the only ones who understand this, just the rare birds who will stand up in public and say so....

[hardnox604008]

And anyway, the point wasn't to give everyone an opportunity to give themselves a gold star for their personal virtue.

It was to point out that the original point of food stmps was to boost the farm economy through the multiplier effect of meat consumption.

Sharp cuts will affect meat consumption which will over time affect grain demand.

[Kay/NC]

It is really a shame that people jettison protein, and retain empty carb calories, when times get tight. That s where so much of the obesity that accompanies poverty comes from...it is said thatAmerica is the only place where the poor are fat.

[kraft-t]

What does a CRACK HEAD LOOK LIKE? Just wondering if you had aknack for picking them out in a check out line/ ME? I don't pay any attention to what people are buying or how they are paying for it. Needless to say but you probably shudder at grain farmers that buy beer and whisky with their corn and bean subsidies.

I wonder if BA and RED Steele are buying beer, do you think they ought to return their direct payment? Just wondering if you're fair and balanced.

On the other hand, A former local boy came home for the holidays a number of years back and he need gas to get out of town. The local convenience store would not take his out of town check. I told the clerk that if the check bounced, I would make it right by paying for it myself.  He asked me why in the world would i do that? I said because i have nknown you since you were a tadpole and his parents. I know what kind of people they are. If he had changed so be it, but i am helping amember of a family that i have know for years and I was willing to assume that risk without a guarantee. BTW his check was good!

[Kay/NC]

We have all stood up for people we know that way, and even for some we don't. It is always a calculated risk...some are willing to take it, other not. Until you have walked a mile in their shoes, who are you to judge their motives or ability to be generous?

Frankly, looks do not make my decision for me, but. I will reserve the right not to feel guilty for NOT helping people buy instruments of their own demise. No one needs cigarettes or soda to survive...in fact, both are health hazards. To me, they are either luxuries or addictions, and those are both personal responsibilities to bear.

Our last ( now fired) employee would spend his whole paycheck between Friday and Sunday, then start worrying the crap out of everyone for us to pick up a pack starting Monday. i will not buy tobacco for anyone. Period.

He would take double armfuls of the gatorade i was keeping on hand for farm help to refresh with...to give to someone else. I stopped placing them where he could get to them. Some people just do not know when to stop taking.

Maybe you aren't confronted with that often enough to get fed up with it. Some of us are....