In an attempt to curb childhood obesity, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and his health commissioner want to ban the use of food stamps to purchase soda.
"City statistics released last month showed that nearly 40 percent of public-school children in kindergarten through eighth grade were overweight or obese, and that obesity rates were substantially higher in poor neighborhoods. City studies show that consumption of sugared beverages is consistently higher in those neighborhoods."
Personally I think it's a great idea. Food stamps are meant to help poor families get the nutrition they need to stay healthy. Soft drinks have no nutritional value in them, so it stands to reason that they should not be eligible for purchase with food stamps. Yeah, everyone needs a treat or whatever once in a while, but the government food stamps are for necessities, not treats.
It IS true that the USA's agriculture has an artificially skewed price structure (cheap meat, cheap starch, expensive veggies... thanks subsidies!), but estimates put soda pop purchases around 100 million dollars of the 2 billion dollars worth of food stamps. Allocating that 100 million dollars to fresh and healthy food would definitely have a positive impact.
I could care less about this situation, because I'm not black obviously. However soft drinks are not that great anyway.
ReplyDeleteinteresting post supportin yuh man
ReplyDeleteIf I want a soda, I'll get a soda. And, going by what you said, why no just have the food stamps valid for rice, beans, meat, etc.? Nutrition should be a necessity, but a treat once in a while is nice. While sodas and junk food shouldn't be outright banned from food stamps, the people using them should be taught proper nutritional decisions and stuff and learn how to limit junk.
ReplyDeleteoh noes not free drinks =P understandable really :P
ReplyDeleteI need a cola!
ReplyDeleteI hate people that abuse the system. When you're on welfare, you should be embarrassed. it's not for you to cruise control through life.
ReplyDeletemmm i'm so in the mood for a sodaaa
ReplyDeletemmawillgrow.blogspot.com
I think it's a good idea to ban the use of food stamps to purchase things like soda. Food stamps should be used for health food that is a neccessity. If you want a treat buy it with your own money.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this is probably a good thing. Soft drinks are a waste of money when you only need to drink water to survive. Buy some damn food.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post, bra!
ReplyDeleteWell yeah, he's kinda right. :P
ReplyDelete