What they’re saying is that the assistance is so little that, even with it, people are still dying from malnutrition.
How? Because nearly everyone who is poor enough to qualify for food stamps doesn’t have extra money to buy other food.
After rent, renter’s insurance, internet, utilities, household toiletries, maybe a new (used) piece of clothing sometimes as things wear out, car insurance (bc good luck affording to live somewhere with any decent public transportation or having your work/home near enough to use it), car payment (because try saving up for even a used beater while being poor enough to qualify for food stamps), health insurance (even if the actual insurance is free from the marketplace, there are still copays, medicine costs, vaccinations, etc.), haircuts sometimes, etc. etc. etc. there’s just no money left.
And this is assuming that people have time and energy to cook for their kids because food stamps doesn’t cover fast food or prepared food. What it does cover is cheap food (and more expensive healthy food, but when money’s tight, you buy the high calorie per dollar foods, not the $4 container of lettuce). This cheap, bad-for-you food is less nutritious. And now we’re back at malnutrition.
Lying about the extent of that help prevents us from actually helping them.
Who’s lying about what?
What they’re saying is that the assistance is so little that, even with it, people are still dying from malnutrition.
How? Because nearly everyone who is poor enough to qualify for food stamps doesn’t have extra money to buy other food.
After rent, renter’s insurance, internet, utilities, household toiletries, maybe a new (used) piece of clothing sometimes as things wear out, car insurance (bc good luck affording to live somewhere with any decent public transportation or having your work/home near enough to use it), car payment (because try saving up for even a used beater while being poor enough to qualify for food stamps), health insurance (even if the actual insurance is free from the marketplace, there are still copays, medicine costs, vaccinations, etc.), haircuts sometimes, etc. etc. etc. there’s just no money left.
And this is assuming that people have time and energy to cook for their kids because food stamps doesn’t cover fast food or prepared food. What it does cover is cheap food (and more expensive healthy food, but when money’s tight, you buy the high calorie per dollar foods, not the $4 container of lettuce). This cheap, bad-for-you food is less nutritious. And now we’re back at malnutrition.
It’s not meant to cover 100% of your food costs. But I’m just repeating myself.