As more Americans, kids especially, are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, it's important to have a national conversation about what people should be eating. We need to talk about how we make, sell, and buy our food. But some suggestions are out of line, like that of The New York Times columnist Mark Bittman, who's calling for a ban on soda purchases with food stamps. Because, really, who am I to tell people what they can and can't spend their money on.
It's an argument with merit: sugary drinks cause obesity, which creates health problems, and therefore we should try to help people make healthier choices. But if you tell someone he or she can't have a soda, what's next?
Will you then tell people they can't have cookies? Will potato chips be banned? How about ketchup? French fries? Deli turkey? Eggs? Whole milk?
It seems like you could make any sort of argument for or against the healthfulness of lots of foods. But who am I to decide how other people decide to live their lives and feed their families? Should I have more rights as someone who can afford to pay for my own food without needing food stamps? What kind of society would we be creating if we decided that the rich got to dictate to the poor what they could and could not eat?
Bittman argues that since food stamps can't be used to buy alcohol or tobacco, we should be able to ban high-calorie, low-nutrition foods like soda. But cigarettes ain't food. And while there is a correlation between food-insecurity and obesity, meaning yes, nutrition is lacking, people need to be educated. And food stamps need to be worth more. Newark Mayor Cory Booker had less than $30 to live on for the week he volunteered to live on food stamps.
We need to make healthy food more affordable. We need to make food stamps more valuable. And we need to educate people to empower them to make their own healthy food choices. Telling others what they can and can't eat is condescending.
Do you think people should be able to buy soda with food stamps or should the government limit what people can purchase?
Image via jpockele/Flickr
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Comments 140
Pinkmani, Crock pots cost 20 bucks. Whole foods cook all day on low while you work. It's actually cheaper to throw some fresh meat and frozen veggies in a crock pot and eat on that for a couple of days than to eat processed, already prepared meals, and its ready for you when you get home from work.
billsfan, glad to hear that your recent food choices are helping you to feel better! If you get the chance and haven't already, look into the paleo/primal style of eating. There are many cases of people who suffer from chronic diseases (MS, diabetes, etc) improving their quality of life and overall health by following the paleo/primal way of eating. And if you have any questions, you can friend me through cafemom. :)
I agree with the article.
You will waste a lot more taxpayer money in trying to ban these things and have not considered all the factors. Yes, i know "stop drinking soda you fat poor people". Will you teach them how to make these foods from scratch? How?
Banning certain foods from food stamps will do nothing to fix the obesity problem. That is faulty logic at best... but really is just asinine to say.
I would never presume to tell another person what they can and cannot eat (unlike Mayor Bloomberg).
I would also never presume to tell another person what they can and cannot spend their own money on. BUT food stamps are MY money and I absolutely should have a say in what it goes for. I do not work hard to support people who are willfully wasteful. Food stamps should only be good for the basics: beans, rice, grains, dairy, veggies/fruits, and some meats (not high end meats).
People seem to forget that government assistance, cash assistance, food stamps, and even social security were NEVER meant to be a sole means of support for a person/family. They were meant to be a supplement so that people don't STARVE, don't end up HOMELESS, and don't DIE from treatable illnesses. This would be why the food stamp program is call "SNAP" SUPPLEMENTAL Nutrition Assistance Program.
TY Butterfly. I have heard about that, and I am actually going to buy the book this weekend and start cooking. My sister has already lost 5lbs from eating like that. I happen to think that the reason I got cancer, was because of processed foods and other things. I hae three crockpots, so I hope to be doing this real soon.