Why Pay For Others' Animal Killing. Food Stamps For Fruits and Vegetables Only

Actually freedom of choice should be the watchword. Let each individual choose what they will eat. Your work will cut out for you, convincing Americans not to eat meat, but go ahead. On the other hand it may not be harder than convincing Congress-(that's who makes the large decisions when it comes to Food Stamps) to not allow people to give money to the meat and dairy industries.

Deanosor makes an interesting point. Buying corporate products with food stamps indicates yet another way profits by the elite are state subsidized. These oh so benevolent benefits actually mean the state basically using the public to mediate corporate power. I would add that the meat industry is directly correlated with corporate agriculture in forming the structure of our power based consumer culture. With that being said though, clearly things have to go much further than just some people not buying particular products with food stamps.

Although I, and others may encourage not using benefits to buy corporate products -- and while its obvious that cut backs in social spending should be fought against tooth and nail -- that nevertheless doesn't change the fact that there is something fundamentally wrong with a large amount of the public being dependent on elite discretion to survive through scraping by month to month.

Perhaps most of you are too young to remember the food for the poor porgram before "Food Stamps". Necessary to understand that if you want to complain "supports the normal corporate system".

Before "Food Stamps" the poor got food but not buying it in the stores. There was distribution of "commodities" from the government stockpiles resulting from the aid to farmer's program (when a farmer surrendered the crop instead of paying back the loan -- that's how the price support works. If the price of the crop in the market were higher than the loan price the farmer sells the crop at market and pays off the loan. If the market price is lower, surrenders the crop and doesn't owe on the balance as "no recourse" loans).

But was perceived as a STIGMA. The idea of the Food Stamp program was that the poor could go to the store like everybody else. And yes of course that promotes the "processed" food industry, the highly packaged food industry, the junk food industry JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE.
Please note that I knew SOME poor people who were skilled cooking "from scratch" who preferred the older system but not all that many of them.

As for the meat eating --- Johnny, I understand why you don't want to subsidize animal killing with your taxes just like others of us don't want to be subsidizing war but take a look around you. MOST of your fellow Americans eat meat. MOST of your fellow Americans would consider your proposal cruel to the poor getting food aid. And MOST of the ones who wouldn't I don't think you want as bedfellows (they are the people opposed to ANY aid to the poor and would favor cheaper food aid for the poor because "meat too good for them -- if it's my tax money let them try to live on bread and water".