Letters |
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
This is in response to the article I saw in the Sun Journal July 14 about the local farmers market and its promotion for people receiving state assistance — for every $10 spent on fruits and vegetables, they get $10 worth free.
My problem with that is that those people get state assistance, meaning they already receive free food.
Why not give $10 worth of free veggies to taxpayers? That, or have those people use $10 of their own food stamps?
Ryan Kimball, Lewiston
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AMEN
Funny how someone can be on here saying that food stamps don't cost the state anything!
I guess you also believe Obama money is money that falls from the sky....
It DOES cost the taxpayers - of ALL states
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Studies have also shown that
Studies have also shown that the poor tend to eat crappy food because fresh vegetables and fruits are more expensive than processed crap like twinkies.
Now, I like processed crap too, but with the health problems facing our nation, anything that gets someone eating a carrot instead of a slim jim is a good thing.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.duh
So, the local farmers are offering nutritious food to those in need, and you want to be first in line to take it away? Put down the Cheetos and the Mountain Dew and pay attention.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.duh
I don't think he wants to take anything away, but just wanted to be part of the "2 for 1" deal. I don't think that's an unreasonable request.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.duh
thank you mrnpchick
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.teaman-the state does not provide free food...
the dept of agriculture does. the food stamp program is NOT funded by the State of Maine and never has been. Neither is WIC. both are federal programs and cost the state nothing...in fact they bring funds in to the state by giving people 'money' to spend on food they would otherwise not have thus giving the stores the business/income they would otherwise not have. the food assistance programs are not harmful socially and I say this as a fiscal conservative. what needs to stop is the bleeding of the tax payers through cash benefits that are used to buy cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, etc etc etc. if we were had a voucher system whereby individuals in need were issued vouchers specifically targeted to pay for things like clothing, utilities, housing we would be wasting far less and would likely see more people wanting to get off the programs more quickly. allowing people who are not working a disposable income is NOT in their best interest or ours...feeding, housing and clothing the poor is. if a person has no adequate shelter, is not adequately clothed and does not have enough to eat they cannot, mentally and emotionally, actively pursue gainful work. the pressures of meeting basic needs increases the crime rate (fact not moral issue) meet those basic needs on a temporary basis and the person has no excuse other than disability for sitting on their xss and tax payers gain a safer, cleaner, healthier community in the long run. i also advocate drug testing for all welfare recipients.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.If you had bothered to read the article
you would have learned that participants must use at least 10$ of food assistance in order to receive the additional 10$ worth of vegetables. And I know of no one who receives free food from the state.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.If you had bothered to read the letter
you would have seen that I stated they must pay $10 to receive it! Also while I do realize SOME state assistance programs do not include free food, the ones that the farmers market was aiming at do!
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.the $10 they must spend MUST
be from their food supplement allowance, NOT cash. Otherwise greedy people like you would be able to go, spend $10, and reap the benefit of this program, which is meant for low income people. Remember this is NOT a government program but a program started by a chef who noticed that low income people generally bought unhealthy foods, because it was cheap and filling. So he started this program to try and change bad habits.
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