Posted on 06/08/2018 7:25:04 AM PDT by Rebelbase
Food companies have embraced a controversial tactic in their quest to sell more soda, a new study says: timing advertisements for sugary drinks to the days states distribute food stamp benefits.
On any given day, grocery shoppers are likely to see soda displays in stores, researchers found.
But they are two to four times as likely to come across them when food stamps go out.
The study, which relied on 2011 data from the New York State Department of Health and which will appear later this year in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, is the latest to suggest there's more to America's nutrition gap than a lack of healthy choices or health education.
Low-income Americans drink far more soda than their wealthier neighbors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps, has recently come under fire for the amount federal benefits recipients spend on sugary beverages, with some critics calling on the federal government to ban soda purchases.
But this study demonstrates those trends are not entirely the fault of low-income shoppers, who are disproportionately bombarded by junk-food ads, said Alyssa Moran, the lead author of the paper and an assistant professor of health and social policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
"People will argue that individuals are ultimately responsible for their choices, but we know that the environment in which we make choices matters," Moran said. "This study is another example of industry targeting sugary beverage marketing toward lower income families."
(Excerpt) Read more at greensboro.com ...
Easily addressed. Just make it a prohibited item for food stamp purchase.
They’ll never do it, because this program is really about CORPORATE WELFARE, not feeding people.
Easy fix is to cut the food stamp moochers by 50%.
People buy junk with money they didn’t earn. Who would have guessed?
When I delivered Dominos, we hadd extra staffing on welfare check day.
Just like casinos know when the welfare and Social Security checks arrive.
Even if they did, they’d just spend them at the casinos instead.
Cause or effect?
Two problems with this study. One, the data is from 2011. Two, the data is from New York State.
A state (or at least a city) with a history of trying to ban or tax sugary drink sales gives up seven-year old data. I don’t put it past them to massage said data to make things look bad.
Our country has something going on that has never happened before—the poorest people are the most likely to be obese.
It makes me think there could never be any sort of sustained civil unrest while this condition persists.
Freegards
1) Freedom includes the right to make bad decisions. Leave people alone to live their lives the way they want.
2) Freedom includes the right to not be forced to pay for the decisions of others. Stop giving some people other peoples money.
Allow only cheese, bread and milk, on EBT purchases.
This would fix a LOT of the welfare spending problem.
I would also allow any kind of bulk dried beans or legumes ...
Too fast on the draw ... I was going to add rice to that list as well, along with dried beans/legumes ...
Okay. But, that's where it stops :-)
Federal? This is a city rights issue. Let the 'rat nests ban and tax all they want as long as it stays within city limits.
“...the poorest people are the most likely to be obese. It makes me think there could never be any sort of sustained civil unrest while this condition persists.”
Cue up Weird Al Yankovic’ video “Fat”. A flash mob of Fat Alberts will frighten only fast food joint owners.
Yes, banning beer, wine, and liquor worked out so well they should try the same thing with soda. What could possibly go wrong?
Big Soda’s food stamp business model: “ERRRRPPPP!!!!”
A lot of people may not know that the main purpose of food stamps is to subsidize the grocery industry, not the food stamp recipients.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.