Food stamps are a good way to feed the needy and the impoverished. The buying options include unhealthy junk food, such as cookies, chips, sodas, and healthier items such as chicken, fish, beef, etc.
One downside to food stamps is that users cannot buy hot, prepared foods. But that is only a slight inconvenience as long as you have access to an oven or a microwave. Having food stamps enables
children to eat if their parents are low-income. They also enable senior citizens to qualify for food stuffs and vouchers at outside farmers’ markets where they can get tomatoes, cabbage and other vegetables. These benefits show why food stamps are a good way of feeding those who may be unable to feed themselves.
—Rita Sauls, Artist/Vendor
I just started receiving food stamps again in March of this year. Before that, I had used them for four
years. But when I started work last summer, my income began to exceed the amount to continue to qualify for them. For nine months I paid for food with cash or debit card. Food is not cheap! I was spending over $200 a month on groceries. Within the nine months that I was not receiving food stamps, the system changed. It used to be that if you were approved for expedited food stamps, you would receive them the next day. In this new system, it took three days to receive them on my card after I applied. When I didn’t receive my food stamps for the month of April, I called the hotline and was told that I didn’t receive them because I didn’t do a second interview over the phone. In the old system there was no second interview. I hadn’t realized there was more to do. I completed the second interview and
received them the next day. I really do value the food stamps that I receive every month and I am very thankful for them. I was thinking, “what if we didn’t have a food stamp program?” Then there would be a lot of hungry people in our country. I have been a part of the program for many years and I can truly say that food stamps have helped me eat when I would have been hungry.
—Eric Thompson-Bey, Artist/Vendor
