White House to deliver box of food to food stamp recipients

[thebulldog]

Saw this quickly last night and am exploring it more this morning to find more info

But gist is people who get SNAP will get a box of food and then a debit card.


money.cnn.com/2018/02/12/news/economy/food-stamps-box-blue-apron/index.html



www.politico.com/story/2018/02/12/food-stamps-trump-administration-343245

Apologies if this has already been posted.

[onthemove]

I’m glad to hear the last guy thinks this has no chance of going anywhere, but as a recap: no personal choice, less money for corporate America, and increased government role in people’s lives. All new Republican goals, got it.

[thebulldog]

From the Politico story;

Kevin Concannon, who oversaw SNAP during the Obama administration, was aghast when he saw the proposal.

“Holy mackerel," said Concannon, who said it reminded him of when poor people had to line up and wait for local officials to dole out food and other welfare benefits. "I don’t know where this came from, but I suspect that the folks when they were drawing it up were also watching silent movies.

[erbear]

No. That feels so dehumanizing. How about working to make healthy food more affordable and living wage jobs more available?

[dottyblue]

I just... what? This sounds like a brainstorming idea that someone latched on to with out (obviously) vetting all the impacts. The current system is a problem (too many restrictions on produce, pushing tons of grains in a society where a ton of people have gluten issues, etc), but this is not a fix.

[mbcdefg]

households would get a box of food that the government describes as nutritious

So this is going to wind up being like how Puerto Rico got boxes of chips and candy, right?

[isabel]

I realize they just don’t give a fuck, but what about food allergies, religious accommodations, and taking into account the makeup of people in the home? Infants can’t eat canned meat. People are allergic to peanut butter. Some people choose not to eat pork. I can’t imagine they plan to customize boxes to fit the unique needs of each family.

Also, there’s just no way that delivering food in this manner is less expensive. Shipping is ridiculous and I’m pretty sure the USPS isn’t going to do it for free.

These people will stop at nothing to humiliate anyone they deem less worthy.

ETA: Anyone think they’ll really go up against a company like Walmart? My gut says no.

[gt7301b]

These fuckers, this is what they propose putting in the box....

"The so-called USDA America's Harvest Box would contain items such as shelf-stable milk, juice, grains, cereals, pasta, peanut butter, beans, canned meat, poultry or fish, and canned fruits and vegetables. The box would be valued at about half of the SNAP recipient's monthly benefit. The remainder of their benefits would be given to them on electronic benefit cards, as before."

[Deleted]

This was proposed by the USDA for reasons that surely benefit them. I don't really see it going anywhere.

[tres3]

just when you think this administration can't go any lower....

[tres3]

Feb 13, 2018 7:21:35 GMT -5 gt7301b said:

These fuckers, this is what they propose putting in the box....

"The so-called USDA America's Harvest Box would contain items such as shelf-stable milk, juice, grains, cereals, pasta, peanut butter, beans, canned meat, poultry or fish, and canned fruits and vegetables. The box would be valued at about half of the SNAP recipient's monthly benefit. The remainder of their benefits would be given to them on electronic benefit cards, as before."

yummmmy... shelf-stable milk is what I like in my cereal... 

This box is so not healthy.. all the carbs and the protein is "canned meat"... I hope it includes a link to www.spam.com/recipes 

[seeyalater52]

On the one hand, this is absolutely horrifying. It’s also un-operationalizable from a logistics standpoint as posters mentioned above.

On the other hand, I’m trying to remind myself that the president’s budget (where this surfaced) is a bunch of nothing that mostly isn’t going to get adopted so I’m trying not to hyperventilate into a paper bag over it quite yet.

It does provide a very sobering reminder of both how much the Trump administration hates poor people and how policy-dumb they are that this was even on the table in the first place.

[seeyalater52]

Feb 13, 2018 7:41:25 GMT -5 papiercherri said:

This was proposed by the USDA for reasons that surely benefit them. I don't really see it going anywhere.

It’s part of the president’s budget blueprint, so this is exactly right. None of it is going anywhere (at least as a package.)

[jeaniebueller]

Ignoring how fucking demeaning this is, from a fiscal perspective, this seems like it would be terribly inefficient.

[mbcdefg]

I’m also willing to bet that, if this box of crap actually comes to fruition, it’ll have identifying logos/text all over it so that everyone will know that the recipients are getting “handouts.”

[seeyalater52]

AND ALSO this is especially dumb because SNAP has an incredible return on investment in terms of economic stimulus generated on a dollar-per-dollar basis. It’s a benefit derived from people using their SNAP cards to shop in stores and businesses. I guarantee this nonsense wouldn’t generate the same return for the economy but instead be outsourced through a few distributor contracts that would be a very very poor value.

[jeaniebueller]

Feb 13, 2018 7:57:05 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

AND ALSO this is especially dumb because SNAP has an incredible return on investment in terms of economic stimulus generated on a dollar-per-dollar basis. It’s a benefit derived from people using their SNAP cards to shop in stores and businesses. I guarantee this nonsense wouldn’t generate the same return for the economy but instead be outsourced through a few distributor contracts that would be a very very poor value.

Plus...think of the logistical nightmare for recipients who move around frequently, which is not uncommon.

[penguingrrl]

Guess his thought process is as simple as: Poor people don’t have the right to have food allergies, religious choices or food preferences. They should be happy to have food at all.

Such a vile administration.

[ohgillian]

If Democrats had proposed this, R's would be spinning it as "Dems think the government should do people's shopping for them b/c Food Stamp recipients are too lazy to go to the store."

[anlo]

I could see them using the rising cost due to the inefficiency as an excuse to gut the program down the line. Hopefully as others have said this won’t go anywhere.

[seeyalater52]

Feb 13, 2018 8:17:34 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

Feb 13, 2018 7:57:05 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

AND ALSO this is especially dumb because SNAP has an incredible return on investment in terms of economic stimulus generated on a dollar-per-dollar basis. It’s a benefit derived from people using their SNAP cards to shop in stores and businesses. I guarantee this nonsense wouldn’t generate the same return for the economy but instead be outsourced through a few distributor contracts that would be a very very poor value.

Plus...think of the logistical nightmare for recipients who move around frequently, which is not uncommon.

Well that’s a major part of the goal here - to effectively eliminate the benefit for as many people as possible. It’s not even that subtle, just hurdle after hurdle after hurdle to ensure that hungry people stay hungry and uninsured people don’t have access to medical care and and and

[bex]

Feb 13, 2018 8:17:34 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

Feb 13, 2018 7:57:05 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

AND ALSO this is especially dumb because SNAP has an incredible return on investment in terms of economic stimulus generated on a dollar-per-dollar basis. It’s a benefit derived from people using their SNAP cards to shop in stores and businesses. I guarantee this nonsense wouldn’t generate the same return for the economy but instead be outsourced through a few distributor contracts that would be a very very poor value.

Plus...think of the logistical nightmare for recipients who move around frequently, which is not uncommon.

Or who live places where it is difficult to receive packages (when I lived in the city, USPS and UPS never left packages on my porch. If I wasn't home to receive them, I had to go pick them up. the post office wasn't that but going to UPS was a huuuuge pain. You had to drive, wait in a long line, etc.)

[candreco]

Isn't this basically how we fucked up the health of the Native population when they were forced onto reservations and given food totally inappropriate to their traditional diets?

And I really don't see how this is even remotely feasible just from a logistics standpoint. Where is the supply system, warehouses and distribution centers, etc. for something like this?

[Deleted]

Feb 13, 2018 8:32:47 GMT -5 bex said:

Feb 13, 2018 8:17:34 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

Plus...think of the logistical nightmare for recipients who move around frequently, which is not uncommon.

Or who live places where it is difficult to receive packages (when I lived in the city, USPS and UPS never left packages on my porch. If I wasn't home to receive them, I had to go pick them up. the post office wasn't that but going to UPS was a huuuuge pain. You had to drive, wait in a long line, etc.)

Oh god, I didn’t think of this. But yeah, what a nightmare.

[NewOrleans]

Oh.

[penguingrrl]

Feb 13, 2018 8:32:47 GMT -5 bex said:

Feb 13, 2018 8:17:34 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

Plus...think of the logistical nightmare for recipients who move around frequently, which is not uncommon.

Or who live places where it is difficult to receive packages (when I lived in the city, USPS and UPS never left packages on my porch. If I wasn't home to receive them, I had to go pick them up. the post office wasn't that but going to UPS was a huuuuge pain. You had to drive, wait in a long line, etc.)

Yup! When I lived in NYC they wouldn’t leave boxes without me being there. If you missed twice in a row you had to take the subway to midtown to a facility that was open 8-4 and shlepp your package home on a bus or subway or pay for a cab.

[NewOrleans]

Feb 13, 2018 7:08:38 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

households would get a box of food that the government describes as nutritious

So this is going to wind up being like how Puerto Rico got boxes of chips and candy, right?

And paper towels.

[mrsukyankee]

So the Republican ideal:
- give food that will make more people ill or unable to use (because they have no idea how to cook with this stuff)
- promote the idea that poor people are just not trying hard enough so they don't deserve anything
- take away their ability to get health care to take care of that illness
- take away other benefits because they aren't doing enough
- people give up
- people die

Got it.

[Deleted]

I’m old enough to remember when Republicans supported tax cuts with the reasoning that individuals know how to spend their money better than the government. But clearly that logic only applies to rich people.

[gt7301b]

Feb 13, 2018 8:17:34 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

Feb 13, 2018 7:57:05 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

AND ALSO this is especially dumb because SNAP has an incredible return on investment in terms of economic stimulus generated on a dollar-per-dollar basis. It’s a benefit derived from people using their SNAP cards to shop in stores and businesses. I guarantee this nonsense wouldn’t generate the same return for the economy but instead be outsourced through a few distributor contracts that would be a very very poor value.

Plus...think of the logistical nightmare for recipients who move around frequently, which is not uncommon.

Even if these weren't horrible people who wanted to continue to shame the poor it would take forever to setup the program properly and manage all the possible risks with the program. The real reason it would save money is because fewer people end up getting assistance.