NY officials: Take soda out of food stamp program

[kkrapf]

Hey, here's something even Nanuk ought to be able to get behind!

NY officials: Take soda out of food stamp program

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2...rogram/?hpt=T2

Take sugary drinks and soda out of items eligible for purchase through food stamps, New York officials said Thursday.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. David Paterson urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to exclude sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas and sports drinks from food stamp eligibility, because of their effects on obesity. Under the New York proposal, city food stamp recipients would not be able to buy soda using food stamps for two years.

Gotta say I approve of this move. I don't approve of painting welfare recipients as mindless, sugar-chugging fatsos, but there's definitely a link between lower income and higher obesity.

Unfortunately, it's a matter of education (and kudos to WIC for doing what they can to address this aspect) and healthy food availability within poorer districts. It's unfortunate, but when there are ten McDonalds on the way to the one, sub-standard grocery store...

[Tony]

Hard to disagree with something like that. Not like they're banning sodas entirely, just the ones with any type of sugar in them. But I imagine this will have the sugar producers up in arms.

[Nanuk]

Food stamps should be limited to covering milk, real fruit juice, and water. Welfare recipients shouldn't be allowed to buy ANY junk food with them.
Of course most will just pull out their CASH and buy the crap food with that.

[Chutney Daftcraft]

On one hand, here we have government dictating what people can and can't put into their grocery carts. I do want to slap the hell out of that woman on the corn syrup commercials. Instead of the government taxing products with corn syrup in them, they simply need to stop providing ANY corn subsidies, and make corn syrup compete against other sweeteners. The problem is that it can't, hence the subsidies, so it will magically disappear from many foods. Problem solved!

On the other hand, Nutrition initiatives from the Government are nothing new.

The government is going to get involved in obesity, and for the same exact reason they got involved in malnutrition many years ago - because too many people in our nation were deemed unfit/underweight to enlist and defend our nation. I am noticing reports about how too many people are too fat/obese to enlist and defend our nation.

[kkrapf]

Food stamps should be limited to covering milk, real fruit juice, and water. Welfare recipients shouldn't be allowed to buy ANY junk food with them.
Of course most will just pull out their CASH and buy the crap food with that.

100% fruit juice is certainly better than sodas, but it's still not an especially healthy option. You lose a lot of the benefits that come from eating the fruit itself while still getting all the sugars they contain. I wouldn't exactly argue to taking fruit juices off the list for food stamps, but pediatricians def. don't recommend it for kids anymore and if you want to give it to them (at least at toddler ages) they say not to give more than 4 oz. a day or something teensy like that.

[kkrapf]

On one hand, here we have government dictating what people can and can't put into their grocery carts.

They can put it into their grocery carts if they are willing to pay for it. The government is just dictating what THEY are willing to pay for. I think that's reasonable.

[Chutney Daftcraft]

I think they're going about it the wrong way.

It's much easier and much more politically advantageous to eliminate corn subsidies than it is to subsidize corn, then raise the tax on products that contain it. That's just effing stupid. Corn syrup is only popular because the government makes it artificially cheaper by handing out our tax dollars to farmers.

[grafxgirl]

On one hand, here we have government dictating what people can and can't put into their grocery carts. I do want to slap the hell out of that woman on the corn syrup commercials. Instead of the government taxing products with corn syrup in them, they simply need to stop providing ANY corn subsidies, and make corn syrup compete against other sweeteners. The problem is that it can't, hence the subsidies, so it will magically disappear from many foods. Problem solved!

On the other hand, Nutrition initiatives from the Government are nothing new.

The government is going to get involved in obesity, and for the same exact reason they got involved in malnutrition many years ago - because too many people in our nation were deemed unfit/underweight to enlist and defend our nation. I am noticing reports about how too many people are too fat/obese to enlist and defend our nation.

Of course government is getting involved with what people eat, because when the new healthcare program goes into affect, there has to be limitations on what is going to be covered. Don't you think the government is going to get tired of covering the cost of people who knowingly do things to their bodies (eating unhealthy, smoking, drinking) then get sick from it (just like the private insurance companies do now)? It's going to come down to tougher regulations to keep people healthier in order to limit the healthcare needed.

With that said, I think limiting items that people on food stamps can buy to healthier choices is a good thing. Food stamps aren't meant to be used forever. It is a program designed, for people who need the temporary help, to still be able to provide decent meals to themselves and their families. I don't believe it was ever intended to purchase items that have no nutritional value.

[twisted thread]

I blame discount clothing outlets in addition to poor food choices for Obesity. When I was a teenager, I was 5'10" and had to watch my weight to avoid going over size 18 or buy my clothing at a specialty store such as Lane Bryant. Boys had to go to Sears and buy "Husky". Then came the discount houses with size 1X, then 2X and now up to 4X and probably on the way to 6X.

The school lunch program was instituted in the late 30's or early 40's as a way to "teach good nutrition", then came the Friday Pizza choice, and on and on down the slippery slope to junk food. Bring back the SOS, and Spinach!

Back in the day, Food Stamp choices were limited, not as strictly as WIC, but better than handing out debit cards which can be used for anything, including cash for whatever cash can be used for. Even so, with the old limitations, when I took certain family members shopping my cart contained "cheap" food, such as ground beef, cheap fish and macaroni. Their cart contained T bone Steak, Whole Salmon and Ice Cream BonBons rather than half gallons of store brand vanilla.

[Kensey]

They can put it into their grocery carts if they are willing to pay for it. The government is just dictating what THEY are willing to pay for. I think that's reasonable.

On the other hand, if they have cash to pay for junk food, that's that much that should be removed from their food-stamp benefits.

[lar]

I taking sodas off the list is a good thing. My kids drink more soda than they should and I often feel guilty about it. It is fattening and bad for their teeth. My older daughter is addicted to Mt. Dew and I've seen periods of time when she has had like one a day and times when we weaned her off them and I can see a change in her waistline. She is a thin one. And, have you ever noticed a soda drinking person usually one that doesn't drink alcohol? They drink soda, after soda, after soda. Often when you see someone with a cart it has many cases of soda. I don't particulary like water, but water is the way to go.

[kkrapf]

I taking sodas off the list is a good thing. My kids drink more soda than they should and I often feel guilty about it. It is fattening and bad for their teeth. My older daughter is addicted to Mt. Dew and I've seen periods of time when she has had like one a day and times when we weaned her off them and I can see a change in her waistline. She is a thin one. And, have you ever noticed a soda drinking person usually one that doesn't drink alcohol? They drink soda, after soda, after soda. Often when you see someone with a cart it has many cases of soda. I don't particulary like water, but water is the way to go.

I am going to try my darndest to make sure that the kids don't become serious soda drinkers. My parents were both soda drinkers when I was a kid and they totally didn't regulate our intake. If you think one a day is bad? I remember when I was under 10 sometimes drinking FIVE a day. It is really no wonder that both my sister and I are overweight.

[lar]

Im sure there have been days of more than one soda.

[nhgirl]

What about sugar laden cereals,Pop Tarts, muffins, snack cakes, and pies? Where do you draw the line?

[lar]

True, I don't know.......................We don't do much snaking at our house. Pop Tarts occasionally. Mostly cereal but they've made a lot of them whole grain. We do the simple ones like lucky charms, fruit loops, apple jacks, cheerios, but I guess its all sugar.

[ministerswife]

Food stamps should be limited to covering milk, real fruit juice, and water. Welfare recipients shouldn't be allowed to buy ANY junk food with them.
Of course most will just pull out their CASH and buy the crap food with that.

The “cash” thing seems a little query; but I agree with limiting food stamps to "nutritional” foods rather than “entertainment” foods as within boundaries of justification. We all know sodas are entertainment foods without nutritional benefits, kind of like beer. Do food stamps buy beer? What about coffee? OMG! Not Coffee!

[Chutney Daftcraft]

I taking sodas off the list is a good thing. My kids drink more soda than they should and I often feel guilty about it.

There's a simple solution to this: Sweet Tea. I make a delicious sweet tea with half the sugar of regular sweet tea.

First, get you some of those large Lipton Iced Tea bags.

Next, make sure you are using CANE sugar. (Great Value brand from Wal-Mart is cane sugar)

Boil a large sauce pan half full of water. When it boils, take it off, and drop 5, yes, FIVE large tea bags into it. Brew for about 7-10 minutes. Then, add one cup of sugar to the hot tea in the pan and blend. Grab a one gallon pitcher, and fill it 1/3 to 1/2 full of ice. Pour the hot tea over the ice, and then top off the pitcher with water.

It's a delicious blend, and for comparison, one gallon of Kool-Aid calls for 2 cups of sugar, twice what my sweet tea uses. Try it! They also have 'hint of peach' tea, and I am strongly considering picking up some of that, and doing 3 peach tea bags with 2 regular.

[derricksonb]

Or one could always eliminate the sugary drinks and make their kids drink (GASP!!!) water. We have a 2.5 gallon container if water in each fridge and that's what our family drinks most of the time.

[lar]

I know with so many things there really are to drink it is hard to pick something and I hate buying a 20 oz soda for 1.59 when I can buy a 2 liter for 99-1.29.

[grafxgirl]

There's a simple solution to this: Sweet Tea. I make a delicious sweet tea with half the sugar of regular sweet tea.

First, get you some of those large Lipton Iced Tea bags.

Next, make sure you are using CANE sugar. (Great Value brand from Wal-Mart is cane sugar)

Boil a large sauce pan half full of water. When it boils, take it off, and drop 5, yes, FIVE large tea bags into it. Brew for about 7-10 minutes. Then, add one cup of sugar to the hot tea in the pan and blend. Grab a one gallon pitcher, and fill it 1/3 to 1/2 full of ice. Pour the hot tea over the ice, and then top off the pitcher with water.

It's a delicious blend, and for comparison, one gallon of Kool-Aid calls for 2 cups of sugar, twice what my sweet tea uses. Try it! They also have 'hint of peach' tea, and I am strongly considering picking up some of that, and doing 3 peach tea bags with 2 regular.

2 cups of sugar in 1 gallon of kool-aid!!! When I make it here at the house, it gets 1/2 cup of sugar for 1 gallon. We are big iced tea drinkers too. We do decaf, unsweetened. Like Bryan said, most of the time it's water. The kids like a lemon slice in their water, like I do.