RFK Jr. came to West Virginia 65 years after his Uncle Jack first visited. The newspapers heralded Jack’s win in the state’s primary as an acceptance of a Catholic presidential nominee—32 years after Democrats nominated Al Smith, a Catholic.
Uncle Jack paid Appalachia back for its support by launching the food stamp program, which ended most malnutrition among children. But you and I know how government programs work. Food stamps now are a leading cause of childhood obesity.
Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. was in the state to help Governor Patrick Morrisey get permission to ban using food stamps to buy soda pop in West Virginia. The program is run by the Department of Agriculture, not Health and Human Services. Logic never enters the debate in DC.
Back when I was blogging (left because of Google’s censorship) I argued against using food stamps—a nutrition program—to buy junk food. What part of Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program do liberals not understand?
Ever wonder why childhood obesity is the worst among the poor?
Food stamps. They are easier to get and more generous than ever before—and you can use them to buy candy, potato chips, and soda.
From the Washington Free Beacon:
The number of individuals receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, otherwise known as food stamps, has exceeded 45 million for 56 straight months, according to data released by the Department of Agriculture.
There were 45,188,655 beneficiaries of the food stamp program in December 2015, the latest month for which data is available. The number declined by 265,216 from November to December.
The USDA has been tracking data on participation in the program since 1969, when average participation stood at 2,878,000. Since then, participation in the program has increased by more than 1,470 percent.
The number of food stamp recipients first exceeded 45 million in May 2011. Since then, the number has consistently exceeded 45 million, hitting a record high of nearly 47.8 million in December 2012.
Changes to food stamp policies made it easier for people to apply for benefits, made food stamps available to more people and the benefits became more generous, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Leave it to the federal government to have a nutrition program that enables people to buy junk food.
* * *
I had hit the subject earlier on May 21, 2015.
From the Baltimore Sun: Report: One in four Baltimore residents live in food deserts.
Which leads to today’s discussion of supply and demand. In the food-stamp heavy districts of urban America, stores carry potato chips and tons of other ready-to-eat foods, but no actual potatoes, carrots, or leafy substances that are not smoked.
That is because stores are not museums. They stock the things people buy. Food stamp recipients buy junk food over healthy food.
Instead of shaming people who use taxpayer money to buy junk food, we get this nonsense:
One in four Baltimore residents lives in a food desert, according to a new study released Wednesday by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who pledged to improve access to affordable and healthy food.
In the 2015 Food Environment Map Report, researchers defined food deserts as areas where distance to a supermarket exceeds a quarter-mile; the median household income is at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level; more than 30 percent of households lack a vehicle; and there’s a low score on the so-called healthy food availability index.
“We’ve never analyzed the food environment at this level before,” Rawlings-Blake said, calling the report a monumental step forward in making Baltimore a healthier city. “I know that we can increase access to healthy and affordable foods as we move forward to dismantle this inequality in our city.”
The study, by the Baltimore Food Policy Initiative and the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, found that children are disproportionately affected, with one in every three living in a food desert. The study also found that African-Americans have less access to quality food. “When we look at many of our neighborhoods, there are life-expectancy disparities as much as 20 years,” Rawlings-Blake said.
Rawlings-Blake said she is confident the report will become a national model for food access reform.
The best food access program would be prohibiting food stamps from buying potato chips and other snacks.
* * *
That was the way thing were in 2015. In the past decade, the problem has not healed itself. The connection between food stamps and childhood obesity is self-evident.
Obesity prevalence increased as family income decreased. Obesity prevalence was:
11.5% among U.S. children with family income more than 350% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).
21.2% among children with family income 130% to 350% of FPL.
25.8% among children with family income 130% or less of FPL.
We ought to call them Junk Food Stamps. The big winners are Pepsi and Coca-Cola, as well as the makers of Cheetos, Fritos and potato chips.
Without a hint of shame, lefties support using food stamps to buy junk food.
NYT reported, “Joel Berg, the chief executive officer of the nonpartisan advocacy group Hunger Free America, called Mr. Kennedy’s plan “illegal and horrible public policy.” He said a similar waiver request by the state of Minnesota was denied in 2004 because the law that created federal food assistance barred the purchase only of cigarettes, alcohol and hot foods.
“Mr. Berg, who said his organization’s $5 million annual budget included a grant of $40,000 from the beverage industry, said Mr. Kennedy’s proposal discriminates against low-income people. A far better plan for reducing obesity, he said, would be to expand SNAP funding so that Americans in need of help could afford to purchase healthier food.”
Thar the bribe is only 40 grand a year is a poor excuse, NYT.
We have a childhood obesity problem caused by lack of exercise and bad food choices.
While liberals blame food deserts—an attempt to blame and shame corporate America—conservatives are doing something about it by mandating food stamps be used to purchase food—not candy. It’s nice of Jack Kennedy’s nephew to work to make food stamp purchases nutritious again.
* * *
Thank you for your prayers. The cataract surgery went surprisingly well and I will be able to take care of Lou Ann and continue your newsletter.
This article first appeared on Don Surber’s Substack. Reprinted here with permission.
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None of our money for junk food… 👺
As a retired vocational educator, I believe a return of home economics for males and females is prudent and appropriate for the school experience . Operating a microwave does not make one a chef.