A different take on Food Stamps.

[Mr.Bill]

Republicans have it all wrong. Food Stamps are not a gift to poor people. Nor are they a gift to people who are too lazy to work.

I have a good friend who owns a discount grocery store. It is a large supermarket with over 50 employees. Around 80% of his business is Food Stamps. He makes around 500K a year in before-tax profits. He is a staunch Republican, and he says if the Food Stamp program was ended, he would be out of business and 50 people would be out of a job.

The Food Stamp is a gift to the grocery industry, the farmers, and the entire supply chain between them. You know, hard-working people with jobs. And if some people get fed in the process, all the better.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

1. It's true of most, perhaps all, safety net programs

[The Magistrate]

2. Exactly, Sir

Just about all 'welfare' is, in actuality, subsidies from the government to businesses, whether by providing customers, as in the example you provide, or by enabling employers to pay cut-rate wages people could not and would not tolerate if it were not for supplements received from the government.

[Thinkingabout]

5. Like Walmart advising their employees to seek welfare.

[Dubster]

3. Spam deleted by gkhouston (MIR Team)

[Thinkingabout]

4. For all who do not believe in abortion, how do you feel

About abortion after birth? Sometimes there just isn't enough money to purchase proper nutrient for all babies to grow and thrive. Hopefully we will get an adult who is educated and will work, pay taxes and grow old.

[elfin]

6. Have a geezer diehard Rethug friend who lost all assets due to a crooked financial advisor

By the time this guy is in jail, she will be in the arms of her beloved Jesus and listening to Rush as she exits.

Meanwhile, there are food stamps to carry her through and family help to repair toilets etc. Neighbors (mostly Dems) quietly chip in with timely invites to dinners and the like and make sure she is safe in weather emergencies in this rural "up north" locale.

We just know she now has a different take on food stamps because she is bright, but do not challenge her on her rigid spoken stances out of respect for her age and many other community contributions by her over so many years.

When she needs more help than we can give, there will be her scorned Medicare, which she probably may already be using.

[a kennedy]

7. Around 80% of his business is Food Stamps.

This can not be true.....Really... 80%?? Wow. Where is this store again??

[Mr.Bill]

9. Remember, I said it's a discount (cheap) store.

It's a franchise called Grocery Outlet. They sell dicontinued items, etc. at as much as a 50% discount. People who are trying to stretch their food dollars are going to gravitate there. Sadly, in recent years, this included more and more senior citizens, and others on government aid.

It's in a small northern California county where the economy has always been somewhat depressed. I've lived her 20 years and never seen unemployment below 12%, usually above 15%.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

8. This needs more exposure

[John2]

10. Food Stamps

also serve an idealistic view to end malnutrition and hunger. Everyone does not qualify for food stamps. That is the purpose of the program which Democrats have let right wing Republicans demonize because a few people try to abuse the system. This country also give food away to other countries to fight hunger and malnutrition. It is part of the War on Poverty. The Democrats that I see now helping Republicans attack the system seem beholden to Big money and corporate interests. I totally agree with the Labor Unions on this issue. So this is the reason when I hear some so called moderate Democrat telling me to compromise, I'm going to stand up and fight back on this issue. I'd rather slash their adventures in other countries then neglect the poor or middle class in this country. So if they feel I'm a radical about defending the people that need the help most, then so be it.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

11. Tyson, Kraft, General Mills, Kellogg, Cargill

Citing a recent report by public health lawyer Michele Simon at EatDrinkPolitics.com, Nestle recently made the following observations on her blog about "some of the politics behind efforts to maintain the status quo":
Food industry groups such as the American Beverage Association and the Snack Food Association teamed up with anti-hunger groups to oppose health-oriented improvements to SNAP.
Companies such as Cargill, PepsiCo, and Kroger lobbied Congress on SNAP, while also donating money to America's top anti-hunger organizations (who fear any changes to the Food Stamps program will result in benefit cuts).
At least 9 states have proposed bills to make health-oriented improvements to SNAP, but none have passed, in part due to opposition from the food industry.
Coca-Cola, the Corn Refiners of America, and Kraft Foods all lobbied against a Florida bill that aimed to disallow SNAP purchases for soda and junk food.
Banks and other private contractors are reaping significant windfalls from the economic downturn and increasing SNAP participation.

Food Stamps are a billion $$$$ business for the food industry.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/marion-nestle-big-business-food-stamps-where-profits-164228337.html

[Blanks]

12. Food stamps are a department of agriculture program.

I've been supportive of it for years. Farm subsidies; I don't feel the same way.

When we support large agribusiness; small local growers can't compete and it essentially pays for the fuel and fertilizer and pesticides that we should discontinue.

If food stamps could be used at all farmers markets we could expand the program and reduce fuel consumption in agriculture (both production and transportation) which would substantially improve local economies, health and global warming.

Of course that wouldn't help local grocers much.

[Codeine]

13. My grocery store does several hundred dollars a day in food stamp sales.

It's a small but absolutely vital part of our business.

[MessiahRp]

14. Food Stamps are the best stimulus that the Government provides.

What's a Dollar of Stimulus Worth?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/06/research_desk_whats_a_dollar_o.html

[Scuba]

16. Moody's (the bond-rating folks) agree ...

<a href="http://imgur.com/T7qoo"><img src="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" /></a>

[Maplegrass]

15. Exactly. Every Food Stamp dollar goes straight back into the economy.

Food Stamps stimulate the economy far more than almost any other program.