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How much of the average food stamp budget goes to soda and candy?
If you can't answer this, then it would be foolish of you to think it's a problem.
Is it foolish of you?
According to the USDA, soda represents the most purchased item on food stamps. Candy represents the 11th most purchased item. Very few of the items on the top 20 list are very healthy. Vegetables and fruits are missing from the most altogether, even though these require no prep work before eating.
Thanks for sharing this. I decided to do a bit of my own research and came across some interesting information.
Your source: https://epicforamerica.org/social-programs/here-is-what-food-stamp-recipients-buy/
I'm not sure what 'epicforamerica' is, but it sounds like a propaganda outlet. They claim their source is the USDA, and the PDF they provided has a weird link to it: https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/ops/SNAPFoodsTypicallyPurchased.pdf
It says it's from 2016, which could be true but I can't find it with a quick search.
What I did find though was this official USDA website with a similar study from 2011: https://www.fns.usda.gov/research/snap/foods-typically-purchased-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap-households
Here are charts from the primary sources, the official USDA 2011 then the 2016 study 'epicforamerica' linked to:
Sweetened beverages actually comes out at #2 in 'total expenditures' when meat is grouped into a single category. 'Epicforamerica' decided to split them up for their own reasons.
Both charts show that soda expenditures are ~9.3% of what EBT users spend their food stamps on. That's pretty reasonable if you ask me, and I think it owes more to the fact that a 2-liter of Coke is $2.74 at Walmart than anything else. That means if one person buys a 2-liter of Coke as part of a $27 grocery bill, then that's immediately over the average amount.
Prepared desserts is at 7%, salty snacks at 3.4%, and candy at 2%.
So all in all, we're looking at a little under 25% of expenditures being spent on junk food. That's also reasonable to me. Soda is so high is because it's actually just a scam. I'd be in favor of restricting food stamp recipients to only buying generic brands of soda, but that's about it.
Heck, I'd be in favor of forcing most brands to sell their food at a lower price to food stamp recipients. The main reason they don't have enough is because others have too much.
Also, it looks like 'epicforamerica' successfully manipulated you into thinking a certain way by withholding, distorting, or just straight up lying about information.
Vegetables are actually #3 in expenditures, and fruits are #8.