Non-Diet Soda Pop From Food Stamps — Congressman Collin Peterson, a moderate Democrat who represents the 7th District of Minnesota, wants to prohibit the 39 million monthly users of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)– which the federal Food Stamp Program has been called since Oct. 1, 2008 — from using their electronic benefits transfer card from buying soft drinks with sugar .
The average American who reads that will say “Food Stamp recipients can buy Pepsi with my money?”
And the answer is of course, you silly person. Not only Pepsi and Coke and Gatorade but cocktail mixes, artificial sweetener, warm bread from the bakery, hoagies from the deli and stuffed olives from the salad bar.
Peterson suggestion is motivated more by concern about America’s poor being too fat — what a country as Yakov Smirnoff might say — than a desire to encourage them to find jobs, but I’ll walk this path with him.
And if he really wants to help the poor stay healthy I’ll prod him to quicken his pace. How about we restrict purchases via SNAP to milk, butter, eggs, cooking oils, fresh fruit and veggies, bulk grains and beans, and locally produced honey. Note, I’m saying fresh fruit and veggies not canned or frozen. This will help keep them from getting into a rut.
I’m including honey because deep down inside I’m a bit of a bleeding heart and I feel that this will give the SNAP participants a chance to play-pretend they are on the Food Network’s Chopped show.
And why do I have this strange feeling that most SNAP participants have access to cable television?
I’m leaving off meat because I’m hoping to get PETA to sign on.
SNAP cost taxpayers about $58 billion per year.
How about dog meat?
China’s first man in space, Yang Liwei, 44, said that while in orbit, he and the crew of the 2003 Shenzhou Five mission consumed dog meat from Huajiang county in Guangdong, China. He said it was very healthy and helped keep up their strength.
Yang Liwei said his favorite is marinated Pekingese. it tastes like chicken and is great when washed down with honey-sweetened Pepsi.