Feds Hope Veggie Discount Will Stimulate Healthy Eating for Low-Income Families (More handouts)

Fox News ^ | 8/19/2010 | Judson Berger

[tobyhill]

Your parents always told you to eat your vegetables. But if French fries are cheaper than potatoes, cream of mushroom soup is cheaper than portobellos, and a medium pizza is a better buy than a caprese salad, the veggies you can afford might not be so fresh and crunchy.

So what if the produce were cheap?

That's the question the U.S. Agriculture Department is trying to answer as it launches a test project in western Massachusetts to offer low-income families a 30 percent discount on fresh fruits and vegetables.

"There is a lot of very low-cost, processed food products that are out there," said Scott Soares, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. "It can be much more expensive on the vegetable, fruit side."

[Jaidyn]

Cost has nothing to do with what poor people eat. They eat what they like. Period! Food stamps enable them to eat better than most middle class folks, who follow strict budgets. Maybe they should get off their arses and cook, or even learn to cook.

[dforest]

Ridiculous. They aren’t going to eat this stuff because it is 30% off.

Most have food stamps now. They could buy this stuff right now and never worry about the price because they don’t pay for the food anyway.

If the government is so worried about what they eat, they would put limitations on the kind of food that could be purchased with food stamps.

But then, the sheeple wouldn’t like that, would they?

[paulycy]

All the marxists ever do is wonder: “What if cost didn’t matter and everybody could have everything they wanted for free? Wouldn’t life be so much better?”

Sure would. Kinda.

Now try to make things not cost anything.

Good luck with that you marxist idiots.

[Uncle Ike]

Another program that benefits foreign interests - in this case, food producers and exporters - far more than its stated beneficiaries....

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Behavior control, folks.

Wake up.

The pursuit of happiness takes a back seat to the State’s definition of what is acceptable. And that definition changes depending on which group they are trying to corral.

[AppyPappy]

Fried okra. Collards cooked with ham. Yum

[Just A Nobody]

a test project in western Massachusetts to offer low-income families a 30 percent discount on fresh fruits and vegetables.

So my daughter, in eastern Massachusetts, who has always worked hard, advancing her way up the ladder by implementing a strong work ethic, integrity, honesty and living responsibly within her means, will now be paying the 30% for the low lifes at the other side of the state. Niiiiice.....

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

More forced “redistribution of wealth” from those who work hard for it to those who faithfully vote democrat.

[sport]

They use the food stamps they don’t sell for food and their cash for drugs and alcohol.

[Just A Nobody]

Behavior control, folks.

Exactly! Why is it no one seems to understand this concept?

[sueuprising]

Eating fresh vegetables and fruits has to be linked to the culture within which you live. Perhaps the problem with eating habits of certain individuals is that they simply choose not to eat an apple when there are fried pork rinds around. Whether or not it is good or healthy for them, the point is it is their choice, not the government’s! Also, in many of the minority sub cultures in America, being fat is not considered unattractive, so there is not that pressure to drop pounds. However, the children are another story. Children everywhere tend to be overweight today because they do not get enough exercise playing outdoors. They also do no chores which keeps them at a good weight and able to eat heartily. Bottom line is Americans need to be able to determine how and what they want to eat or if they want to exercise. We do not need Michelle Obama to dictate to us.

[sueuprising]

Fried okra. Collards cooked with ham. Yum Perfectly good foods eaten by people who worked in the fields for a living. All this traditional fare can still be eaten if the diners just moved their bodies around regularly.

[Carley]

The first family eats cheeseburgers and ice cream.

They set a fine example for the rest of us.

MYOB, if you don’t mind!!!!!

[econjack]

Cost has nothing to do with what poor people eat. They eat what they like. Period!

Exactly! If you look at ads on TV for the fast food chains you can't miss the fact that they are aimed at specific ethnic groups, and I doubt that's an accident.

[VisualizeSmallerGovernment]

At any pizza parlour in America, you can get a pizza completely covered in vegetables for the same price or less than the same pizza completely covered in meat. Guess which one most people order.

At Panda Express, you can replace carbohydrate-loaded rice / chow mein with healthy steamed vegetables. Guess what people order.

At the local convenience store, you can buy a banana or an orange for less than the price of a hot dog covered in cheese and chili. Guess what most people eat.

At any submarine sandwich shop in America, the cheapest sandwich is usually one with veggies and cheese, and no meat. Guess what people order.

[timeflies]

I grew up eating blackeyed peas, corn bread, greens, okra etc. and didn’t even know it had a special name ,”Soul Food” until the liberal media started naming it.

[timeflies]

I grew up eating blackeyed peas, corn bread, greens, okra etc. and didn’t even know it had a special name ,”Soul Food” until the liberal media started naming it.

[Pessimist]

“So what if the produce were cheap?”

It is.

The problem is these wards of the state don’t want to buy it and prepare it themselves.

No doubt they want frozen prepared portabello mushroom pizza, etc.

It kills me in the grocery checkout line to see the amount of prepared food these welfare cases buy. That stuff is ineveitably 5 times the cost of buying the real stuff and making your own.

I guess they’re too busy being unemployeed to have time to cook!

[Doogle]

...distribution of wealth