The federal government has rejected a proposal from New York’s Mayor to exclude sugar-sweetened drinks from the food stamp program. But the government earlier banned white potatoes from the federal WIC Program, under the theory that they aren’t healthy enough. Is a baked potato, which has a lot of vitamin C, really less healthy than sugary sodas? (Potatoes also have more Vitamin C than a banana or an apple, and contain all 8 amino acids, unlike most other staple foods like corn.) The government does not seem to know how to distinguish between “good” and “bad” foods.
Meanwhile, the government also spent $766,000 of your tax dollars to open an International House of Pancakes in Washington, D.C. It’s also subsidizing the development of high-calorie foods that benefit politically connected agribusinesses.
If food stamp use were restricted to certain foods, it might provoke a big outcry, since a record 45.8 million people are now on food stamps, leading some to call America a “food stamp nation.”
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The point is quite simple, don’t let the government pick winners and losers, for instance a company should not get special tax breaks while others pay higher rates, soda should not be taxed while a milkshake or sugary citrus orange juice gets a pass, same goes for agriculture subsidies and tarrifs.
Agree, many conservatives overlook the fact that wic is meal plan for infants and young children, not someone who could either be a lazy clerk at dmv office or a construction worker for a private company, we don’t restrict what public employees can buy with taxpayer money although we could if they weigh 400 pounds similar to
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