Food Stamp Misconceptions
By marcialoyd
@marcialoyd (1173)
United States
June 2, 2009 1:10am CST
I was reading some discussions about foodstamps here on mylot and a few things people have said really bugs me.
1.Why are they buying chips, soda, candy with their food stamps?
2.They were driving ___________ car. They can't need assistance.
3.They were dressed really nice. They can't need food stamps.
My mom is disabled. She has a very bad back and can't walk very far at a time. She is drawing food stamps. She can't treat herself to a candy bar ever once in a while? can she not have a bag of chips and bottle of soda with her sandwich? Keep in mind she buys plenty of nutritional food with her FS. She doesn't just stock up with junk food.
Recently my Aunt passed away and we were staying out of town with another Aunt of mine. My mom gave me her EBT card to go buy some food to prepare dinner. My Aunt offered to give me a ride. Now keep in mind my aunt is driving a 2006 Mustang. So I went in the store bought the food with my moms food stamps and went back and got into my aunts mustang. Yep i'm sure the tongue were wagging about how I didn't need assistance because I was in a mustang. They were my moms food stamps and it was my aunts car. Yeah things aren't always as they appear so don't always judge someone who buys food on food stamps and hops into a nice car.
and finally how exactly is someone drawing food stamps supposed to dress? Like a bum on the street corner? I didn't realize that there was a dress code! You know you can get lots of "nice" clothes at your local thrift store.
My final thought is do you really go out of your way in the grocery store line to see if someone is purchasing food with food stamps? Are you standing in line with binoculars? I never pay attention to how the person in front of me is paying for their groceries.
Thoughts anyone??
5 people like this
9 responses
@Sweetchariot (1718)
• United States
3 Jun 09
To be honest, Marcia, you said it all...and I couldn't have said it any better than you did. Do not judge another person's actions or words, unless you have been in their shoes! Right on girl!
@Jenniferp (210)
• United States
2 Jun 09
I know that you havet to prove your income to qualify for food stamps, so I do think that these people need the food. I think that a lot of people on it really do need it and buy whatever foods they normally would. I think that it allows those to get ahead a bit and that is a good thing. Besides, we can't let them starve. I am sure that living on food stamps is not the best life so I don't understand all the haters ;)
@britt_200 (1226)
• United States
2 Jun 09
im glad someone finally brought these misconceptions to light
@coolcoder (2018)
• United States
2 Jun 09
Where I live, the cashiers are usually pretty good about taking EBT purchases. I haven't heard a negative comment one time while I was checking out. Believe me, if I had, the manager would have been told right away, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You don't do that simply because people are having a rough time and can't pay the way you think they should pay.
@abigailsavan1976 (79)
• United States
2 Jun 09
I am a single mother with two children and I am on foodstamps. Personally I could care a less what other people think about that. The state knows my situation and if they did not think that I needed foodstamps they would not give it to me. Believe me they keep an eye on what I am making and they would not give me what I did not need. I'm just worried about taking care of my children so I don't care if people are judgeing me because I'm on stamps.
@jen_barre (104)
• United States
2 Jun 09
I understand your frustration, but all too often these public assistance programs make it too easy for a person to take advantage. Yes, there are people that have a legitimate NEED for assistance, but at what cost? Our tax dollars are supporting these programs, so why is it that I should buy my son the cheaper sneakers because my check is getting docked for additional taxes, when someone else can afford to go out and buy the expensive brands because after all - they don't have to pay for groceries. I think if we made it more difficult for people to receive assistance, the criteria more stringent and the benefits much smaller then people would have to work harder for what they REALLY need.
@thyst07 (2079)
• United States
2 Jun 09
In a lot of places, you actually can't buy candy or soda on food stamps. In my home state, you can only buy real groceries like produce, meat, and cereal. You can't even buy paper products like toilet paper, much less candy bars or soda pop. And most of the people I knew who were on food stamps got rides to the grocery store from someone else, so you can't judge their income by what car they're in. And the clothing, too. I totally agree with you that you can't assume someone makes money just because they dress nice. I think I dress pretty well, and I spend less than $100 per year on clothing- less than what average people spend on a single shopping trip. I just know how to look for nice things at thrift stores. Thanks for posting this discussion, and helping clear up some misconceptions.
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
2 Jun 09
you can't even buy that stuff with it where i live..i'm not even sure if convenience stores can accept it anymore,you may have to go to the regular grocery.
the people who make faces are usually the ones who have never had to be on it.
i hate to tell them,there's a lot of people only one bill away from it.all it takes is something you don't expect.my mom was on it briefly when dad had cancer(both were were disabled,he ended up dying),and not everything was covered-i almost decked somebody who made a smart remark to her.
@Mikaela_taz25 (1842)
• Philippines
2 Jun 09
I didn't think foods were available unless you're into a private party or a Buffet or something. yeah, you shouldn't 
bother yourself with the way people dress in purchasing their food, their simply just mining their own business, so why would you? unfortunately there are others who do that often and they usually get a bad comment after buying a stuff in the store.
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