For My Local Peeps on Food Stamps: A Fantastic Way to Get Fresh Food

[liz_marcs]

The City of Boston is encouraging people on food stamps to "buy local" by doubling the purchasing power of their food stamps at 14 farmers' markets in the city. (Boston has a total of 22 farmers' markets that run through the summer.)

When food stamp recipients swipe their benefit cards on portable credit card readers at the participating farmers' markets, they will receive up to $20 in vouchers — called Boston's Bounty Bucks — by spending $10 worth of food stamps.

The list of Boston-based participating farmers' markets can be found here. (WARNING: PDF file)

Boston Globe article here.

If you think this is a good idea like I do, don't read the comments. The idiots will only piss you off.

Comments

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

That's wonderful! Buying locally grown and produced foods is good for everyone. And I'll avoid the comments. I can totally imagine what they say without reading. *eyeroll*

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

The heartening thing is the people turning around on the folks yelling about "them lazy-ass [insert target minority here] gettin' a free ride" and telling them:

"STFU. 'Tis Massachusetts, the economy sux, and we love that this is happening. Plz move out of our state u ignorant ass. Kthxbi."

It's actually kind of heartening that more people are standing up for this.

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

Yeah, where are these minorities using up all the welfare? Mostly I see white people using available resources and they are hardly all out of work by choice at the moment. For Pete's sake Harvard just laid people off, which is crazy.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

It's a brilliant idea--of COURSE the morons are against it.

[rileysaplank.livejournal.com]

How could this not be a good idea? People on food stamps get more purchasing power (and who doesn't need that in the current climate) and local businesses benefit as well. What's the downside?

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Just the knee-jerk usual suspects bitching that someone, somewhere isn't sufficiently working themselves to death in the poorhouse.

For some reason, they think that food stamps actually allow poor people to live a life of luxury where they're not encouraged to work.

Yeah. I don't get it either. Especially since food stamps pretty much buys you shit no-name, preservative laden food that just is not the world's healthiest food ever.

[kristinholt.livejournal.com]

I broke it down in my blog how much a family of four receives per meal in Texas on food stamps. It was a $1.67 at that time - October. Each.

And I couldn't tell you how many weird looks I've gotten when I pull out my stack of coupons *and* my food stamp card. I have to make every dollar stretch.

Screw the haters. I've got to feed my kids.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

I remember that.

And you're right. Fuck the haters.

Any program that helps bring more fresh fruit and vegetable to people who desperately need it while encouraging that state money to go to local farmers is a good program in my eyes.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Or, as the great George Carlin said, unfuck the haters. May they never get laid again!

[kristinholt.livejournal.com]

It's gone up a little, but it's still less than $2 a meal. I just worked it up again and it's $1.78 per person, per meal.

;) Well, that's what I was thinking, but I was being nice.

I would love to trade some of the juice that WIC gives for fresh fruit or veggies. As a breastfeeding mom of a 6 month old, I receive 9 cans of juice a month. That's 414 oz of juice. WAY more than I drink, and the baby doesn't get juice at all.

I would like to see a program that teaches people on food stamps how to shop. Yeah, I may spend $5 out of pocket every week for newspapers, but that's how I make my money stretch.

[jimpage363.livejournal.com]

COOL!
I am almost homesick...almost.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I'm kind of worried about locally grown food this year because of the buckets of rain getting dumped on us.

My strawberry plants are pretty much trashed because the rain. And tomatoes are a little mushy right now. :-(

The blueberries and raspberries seem to be doing well, though. So that's something.

[rileysaplank.livejournal.com]

In the UK (and I'm sure pretty much Europe wide) the price of grain has shot through the roof the last couple of years because the summers have been so wet that the harvest has been all but ruined.

[fadethecat.livejournal.com]

What a very cool idea! Support local farmers, get people healthier food, everyone wins. It reminds me that I haven't been to any local farmers' markets in ages, though I do at least buy all my soap from a local woman with a nice table at the artisan market on the drag.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

The farmers' market where I live was late opening this year due to the unseasonably cold weather.

I'm planning to hit it up this weekend, though. They sell fresh-made mozzarella. *yum*

[rainkatt.livejournal.com]

I think that's a fabulous idea!

[stephanierb.livejournal.com]

I had heard about that and it is a fabulous idea for a variety of reasons - assisting struggling families, helping the local economy and promoting better nutrition.

As for those asshats crowing about this program only discouraging people from getting a job? Perhaps they should do a little research, then they'd learn that the majority of folks on food stamps DO have a job, or two, or three. I remember my father telling me how he knew people in the military who were on food stamps. This was years ago, of course, but it just shows that so many people who are still working are struggling to keep their heads above water.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

I knew people in college who were on food stamps so they could both afford tuition while getting their degrees *and* eat. They were hardly lazy people--just needed a little help.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

Better to buy fresh food at a farmer's market than to have to buy whatever's cheapest--and processed and preserved--at a supermarket. Ultimately, it could end up saving the city money if people on food stamps are eating healthier.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

It saves everybody, money--and misery--when people eat healthier. I've been having a great time experimenting with a $4 yardsale crockpot and whatever dried beans look interesting. Bean + grain = complete protein. Throw in a couple of carrots and an onion, maybe garlic... No cholesterol, all kinds of vitamins... and dirt cheap.

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

What a fantastic idea.

And is it just me or do newspaper articles seem to generate an over abundance of stupid comments? Lie way more than I would expect.

[flaming-muse.livejournal.com]

That's awesome. I don't know how I missed that article.