Does Your State Allow Fast Food Purchases On Food Stamps?
Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC... on food stamps? ...
by Erika Nicole Kendall
Now, I’ve discussed food stamps on this site – and probably will continue to do so – because it is an interesting intersection of necessity and societal judgment. Considering the number of people who legitimately complain that their perception of the cost of “healthy food” is out of their financial reach, the fear of societal judgment prevents them from ever considering food stamps… and “enough food” – as defined by Satter’s hierarchy of food needs – becomes acceptable.
That being said… check out what’s happening in Kentucky:
The Louisville-based fast food giant Yum! Brands Inc. is lobbying the Beshear administration to make Kentucky one of only a handful of states that allow food stamps to be used at restaurants by certain groups of recipients.Under the federal food-stamp program, states may authorize that use by the elderly, disabled or homeless, who often have difficulty preparing meals. Only Michigan, Arizona and parts of California have done so.
Last month, Yum!, which owns the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains, registered for the first time to lobby the executive branch in Frankfort.
One of its top executives has helped raise money for Gov. Steve Beshear’s re-election campaign. And the company has presented the idea to officials of groups ranging from the Kentucky Restaurant Association and the Louisville Urban League, who have written letters of support to Beshear.
“We think it’s a win-win,” said Paul Carothers, the company’s vice president for government affairs. “It’s obviously of interest from a business standpoint, and it provides access to the elderly homeless and disabled who are often underserved.”
He said he didn’t know how much Yum! would likely make if Kentucky adopts the policy.
“We haven’t tried to compute that,” he said.
The Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which administers the food-stamp program in Kentucky, declined to discuss any possible policy changes.
The cabinet released a one-sentence statement: “There have been some inquiries made regarding Kentucky; however, no decisions have been made at this point.”
The Courier-Journal filed a request under the Kentucky Open Records Act seeking copies of correspondence from groups urging the policy change, along with other cabinet records related to the issue.
The cabinet denied the request on grounds that any such records would be “preliminary” and thus exempt from release.
The possible policy change raised questions and concerns among state officials and health advocates.
Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville, said he recognized the advantage of prepared meals for beneficiaries who are elderly, disabled or homeless.
“My concern is that so much of that food is the most unhealthy food in America … and it leads to obesity and all kinds of other health problems,” he said.Susan Zepeda, president of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, noted that any such policy change would come at a time when funding for programs like Meals on Wheels is being reduced.
But she said she is concerned about the nutritional value of many restaurant
meals.
“Participating sites should be required to post at least the caloric value of foods available, with additional nutrient information — similar to what you would find on packed foods in grocery stores — readily available,” Zepeda said.
Rep. Jim DeCesare, R-Bowling Green, had a different concern.
“I’m afraid in the long run the people we’re trying to serve are going to be short-changed on the amount of food they can get because it’s more expensive to buy prepared food,” he said.
[...]
The federal food-stamp program was established on a permanent basis in 1964, providing benefits to households with net incomes under the federal poverty level, which is now $22,056 for a family of four.The Cabinet for Health and Family Services said about 814,000 Kentuckians participate in the program. It was unable to say what percentage of beneficiaries are elderly, disabled or homeless.
[...]
[source]
So, I’m wondering – does your state allow fast food purchases on food stamps? What do you think?
You might like...
33 Responses to “Does Your State Allow Fast Food Purchases On Food Stamps?”
A few rules for posting, friends:
- Want an avatar? Quick and easy solution. Visit Gravatar.com and sign up for one!
- If you are promoting a product, or posting a sales pitch, your comment will be deleted.
- If you are trying to dispute something on the site, you will need more than anecdotal evidence (i.e., "My cousin's friend's uncle's girlfriend's boss did it and it worked!" If you've got books or at least Internet links, then we can talk. Otherwise, you risk your comment not being approved.
- Foul language is discouraged. I'd like people to still be able to read the site at their jobs.
- Disrespecting me or the men and women who post here is also unacceptable. Your comment won't be approved, and you might be banned. (Actually, I've grown to like embarrassing people who behave like they have no home training. Consider yourself warned. :)
- Everyone is welcome here. You don't have to be Black, you don't have to be a Girl. I'd prefer you to be human, and I'd prefer you to be kind. We're helping each other, right? :)
- Last, but certainly not least, commenting here is a privilege. Not a matter of "freedom of speech," but a matter of "approved at the discretion of the the owner." It's how I keep the community civil. Everyone appreciates that civility until it's their comment on the chopping block. We simply don't have time for foolishness, here. (And please, don't e-mail me to complain. I already know you're mad.)
Recent Posts
-
Woman Becomes Multiple Amputee After Botched Booty Injections
-
Breaking Up With Fried Green Tomatoes
-
The Empty Calories Of Alcohol
-
Q&A Wednesday: What Do I Need For An At-Home Gym?
-
Can We Really Trust Nutrition Labels?
-
Q&A Wednesday: Cooking For Picky Little Eaters
-
Q&A Wednesday: Why Does Body Mass Index (BMI) Matter?
- view more →
Neither of my states (Louisiana, Tennessee) allows it. I find the whole proposal worrisome and conflicting. I understand that the target beneficiaries are the elderly and disabled, truly underserved sections of the population, and anything that benefits them is something I feel the need to support. However, fast food is not a benefit to them. Many of them are already afflicted with numerous medical conditions. A daily KFC Double Down is just going to magnify those problems. What’s even more disturbing is that it’s most likely easier to get to a KFC or any other fast food joint than it is to an actual grocery store. I also agree with Rep. Jim DeCesare. The food stamps will run out twice as fast on fast food than it will on staples in the market. For some reason I have the phrase “let them eat cake” running through my head.
“I thinking “I can’t believe that my tax money it going to pay for crappy food.” And I can’t believe my tax dollars are going to pay for bombs and missles. I can’t believe my tax dollars are going to educate your kids, I mean I don’t have children why should I pay for education? Anyone and everyone can make is arguement. Of course unless you’re childless and middle to upper class, chances are your tax dollars and some of mine are going to support the person making the arguement. So, why do I feel so strongly about the above statement. Because I appreciate the fact that the poster really hit it on the head. This isn’t really about poor people making poor choices it’s about them making them with “my money” Like it or not with all these value meals today you can eat at fast food cheaper than ever and often cheaper than home. Add to that they are already cutting benefits who am I or anyone to tell someone no you can’t get the double-cheese burger at McDonald’s for 99 cents, but hey you can buy a premade sandwhich at Safeway for 4.99? Or you can’t buy a dollar slice but you can go to Papa Murphy’s and by a 10 dollar pie, oh wait that’s right you don’t have an oven.
Actually in louisiana churches does accept food stamps and so.does the seafood places
I live in Kentucky and after reading this..*sigh* . What continues to baffle me is that this is the same ‘policy’ that says that if you go to the grocery store you cannot purchase hot food, i.e. rotisserie chicken, which you could do a million things with….Isn’t this hot food too? *scratches head*
It makes no sense. I’d feel better about changing the policy to allow hot food from the grocery store than I would fast food. The grocery stores, if people can get to them, provide what appears to be healthier and more diverse options in prepared foods. A rotisserie chicken and containers of salads and veggies would be way better nourishment than anything the YUM! corporation slings out. And the elderly would probably appreciate having that option available to them more than being able to whip out the EBT in Pizza Hut.
Erika, I live in California(LA to be exact) and more and more I’ve seen fast food joints put up the sign that they accept the EBT cards, which are the new “food stamps”. It just sickens me. Especially here in California where sooooooooooo many people are into clean and healthy eating. It drives me crazy to see the divergent paradigms working together.
Well EBT is not the same as food stamps. Food Stamps are on the EBT card but the EBT card also carries CASH benefits. Therefore, a lot of the time when you see a place say they take EBT it’s because they accept EBT Cash not the food stamps.
I also live in California. Even if the restaurant says they take EBT, it’s not for their hot food. It’s for the cold food, like the containers of whatever in the side fridge. I think you can use food stamps at Subway, but only if the sandwixh isn’t toasted. I’m not sure about that. I do know you can get Papa Murphey pizza custom prepared for you and pay with food stamps. The dough is raw, though, so you can’t eat at the restaurant.
I think it’s a good idea in principle, but not if the funds will go toward specific corporate chains. If they’re really concerned about the homeless and those who can’t cook, why not allow prepared items to be purchased from grocery stores? While it’s not the same as a home-cooked meal, there are usually some better and fresher options there. Hot case mashed potatoes and salmon>a large meat lover’s w/ stuffed crust.
I live in Florida, and from what I briefly researched, you can’t use food stamps for fast food.
I think there is some obfuscation going on with this “food stamps for prepared meals” concept. To Trina’s point, if you can’t purchase hot food, like in a grocery store (and to be fair, may not be any more healthier than fast food – hello, Publix fried chicken), then how would it make sense to make them available at a KFC? Yum! Brands is looking for another way to make a profit, since groups such as the elderly, homeless, or disabled are even less likely to be discerning about the quality of the meal. I wonder if they are counting on people enjoyed the convenience of a prepared meal.
I get it – it IS convenient not to have to cook, especially when a kitchen isn’t ready available or if one may have trouble physically moving around it. I’m not against eating out at all, but if it’s crap, I don’t see the benefit.
It would be kind of cool if restaurateurs in an area would collaborate and put together quality meals from unused, edible food, and perhaps offer those meals to those with food stamps (if it were qualified, that is). I can only imagine how much food is thrown out from restaurants collectively on a daily basis.
Sorry guys, but the “fast food for food stamps” ordeal has already started. Approval might depend on local government vs. state?
For example, Church’s Chicken has many locations that take EBT cards. To my knowledge, this has been going on for at least five years. I first noticed it during my junior year of college (I attended Univ. of TN-Chattanooga). I was driving by Church’s when I saw their store sign: “We now take EBT!” I thinking “I can’t believe that my tax money it going to pay for crappy food”. I mean really–how did that get approved. Who bought who off?!
It’s concerning because most (if not all) Church’s Chicken restaurants are located in low-income neighborhoods. These are the same neighborhoods that have tons of other “fast food” establishments and usually don’t have access to more healthy food options (quality grocery stores, etc.). Talk about making the obesity problem worse! If more fast food purchases are “subsidized” by food stamps, obesity will only be the start of many problems.
Oops! I was typing a little too fast!
I meant to say this: “I’m thinking “I can’t believe that my tax money is going to pay for crappy food”.
i knw ppl that sell their foodstamps in exchange for money.and i also knw sum that go into wlmart and buy nothing bt “junk food”.you will be surprised if what your tax money is payin for.This is America, people knw ways around everything.
I have seen a rise in fast food restaurants that accept EBT cards. Many of them include hot wing/chines food restaurants and independently owned Church’s Chicken. My concern is that most of this food is very unhealthy.
Nope. CT doesn’t allow it. Thankfully.
And I don’t think it would be a good idea either. :[
I would not be surprised if this is happening in Texas..smh..
I work at Wegmans, and I remember this one guy bought wokery food with his food stamps.
Mmh interesting topic.
Wow, everyone here is so thoughtful. Other places where I was looking people were saying all kinds of horrible things about others on foodstamps as how they saw a heavy woman in line buying sugary foods and how bad that is.
I am on foodstamps, and seriously overweight, but that is not only due to eating the ‘wrong foods’. I also deal with a disability, and though I work several part time jobs I can’t make ends meet enough to buy my own food. I still have to add a lot of money to the foodstamps to get through the month, but it helps a lot.
I regularly eat fast food which I currently do with my own cash, because I often don’t have the time and the energy and the physical ability to cook. I also eat microwave meals, and salads. But I’m careful with my fast food, I will eat a hamburger with a side salad but no fries for example. But if I came out from my first job and I have 20 mins before I have to run to the second one, there really isn’t even the time for that microwave meal, I don’t even have time to go by my apartment.
I currently pay for that fast food with my own cash (Oregon doesn’t allow fast food on EBT) and that’s fine with me, the foodstamps don’t make it through the month anyways, so I use those in the store. But I don’t think store bought food is so much healthier than fast food, depending on what store you buy it at. And fast food places have things like salads and other healthy choices too.
People tend to forget that those of us on foodstamps and other types of welfare often have jobs (the majority actually), and busy jobs, but still can’t make ends meet. Unfortunately cooking is something I can maybe do in the weekend, if I’m lucky and my fibro is not acting up. I do my lunch with sandwiches but I really like to have something warm for dinner, and that often needs to be on the run. I hope people will realize that everyone, including those of us on foodstamps, have their unique circumstances, and might not be able to cook because of time or health constraints. The only thing that might help limit the use of fast food for me is change my circumstances so I can actually cook, which option seems to be a far way off. Until that time fast food lets me eat something warm for dinner, even if it’s not very healthy.
I am a senior (56) , and disabled. I do not work, and have 1 teenager (16) who resides at home. First of all, we all know you don’t get enough food stamps to last the month, and I use lots of coupons, buy sale items, and only what I need. Because of my disability and associated pain, it is often difficult for me to prepare full meals. I do eat healthy, watching both my salt,and sugar intake. No red meat (ok maybe 2-3 times a year) but I still can”t stretch my food stamps til the end of the month. An implant from NY, I now live in Virginia. When was the last time we got a food stamp increase? And why can’t I buy hot/prepared food with my food stamps? It’s food isn’t it!!! I don’t eat fast foods (ok once in a while chick-fil-A) I would like to purchase some prepared food from Whole Foods when I’m in pain and unable to cook. This pisses me off. As long as it’s food, we should be allowed to use our food stamps especially from a store that already takes the ebt/snap card. I hope in the very near future the Dept. of Agriculture, congress, will increase the amount of food stamps considerably, and allow for the purchase of ALL food packaged or prepared!!!
This is ridiculous. Sounds like governments trying to kill off social problems. Extreme, yes. But fast food, y’all. SMDH
Heck yeah this fast food thing with ebt is great . I hate cooking I hate it because I don’t know how .I really never had that mother or grandma time where they teach some good home cooking .that’s. Why the mico. Is my best friend . I wish could cook my kids a meal and have that naturally. So this thanks fast food u’ll help me out a lot I know it.
SNAP can’t be used in Georgia restaurants. I agree allowing for certain grocery store prepared hot food purchases. A whole rotisserie chicken is 4.99 at Walmart. I believe the entire program needs to be restructured to be like the WIC program where foods have to meet certain criteria to be eligible for SNAP and CLEARLY labeled as such in stores. Just think about the original intent of the food stamp program which was.
a) to provide financial assistance to disabled, elderly, and others living in poverty b) The stamps be used for the purchase of both economical and nutritious foods. Grocery store items as soft drinks and chips should NOT be eligible as they don’t meet both criteria. The WIC items for the most part are OK although I disagree approving juices containing high fructose corn syrup; it’s been shown to promote obesity in children. Economical nutritious items in fast food restaurants such as Wendy’s side salad, chili or McD’s grilled chicken sandwich, wraps etc could qualify; (combos not). Unfortunately, it appears that which restaurants make the list will be purely political. I have learned that Golden Corral in Arizona and Pizza Hut in Florida accept SNAP – these are buffet style restaurants which often include as many unhealthy as healthy choices. Most people trying to lose weight know to avoid buffets! For those who do prepare food at home there are a lot of idea resources out there http://family.go.com/food/pkg-budget-recipes/20-organic-food-recipes-on-a-budget-pg/
I was floored when I saw this. I recall the gov’t being all up in arms about people buying soda with food stamps a year or so ago. So since that didn’t fly over well guess they said well let it rip add hot wings, Chinese food, cheese burgers and fries, yep if you are on food stamps eat what you want, get unhealthy and basically write your own death certificate from being able to buy and eat the most unhealthiest food available to you. Crying shame. Someone made a good point earlier in a post by saying that EBT does have a cash options if you have those funds added to your card. Then it works like a debit card, but still that isn’t money you have readily available in your pocket so it should have some stipulations on what could be purchased. If one can buy deli meat, cheese, chips, cookies on food stamps then why can’t a whole hot chicken? Isn’t it all food? The system is horribly flawed and there isn’t one easy fix.
Wow. Progress is being made! Today, at Wal-Mart I learned that rotisserie chickens are now being chilled and are therefore EBT eligible! Hard to imagine that they had been throwing so many out over the years when they expired – now they chill them before expiration and sell them for less. Let’s hope that other super markets such as Krogers and Publix follow suit.
I would have to say, one off that’s wrong. In my view I think they should be able to buy whatever(ingrediants,dairy on forth) they want BUT hot food, hot food from pizzerias and stuff like that are so not needed. I’m okay with the buying soda and chips. Why? Because sometimes when you’re out with your 8 year old and they want some chips and soda, get it for ‘em. (As long as you’re not giving it to the kid everyday Oo then you sir are an interesting parent who can’t give their child a proper diet lol) Of course we can’t let the government tell us what we can can’t eat. We’re not in everyones lives and we don’t know what they need to COOK, or drink, but yeah food stamps being used on fast food….is……..o_O WTF.
I still stand by we shouldn’t be letting the government OR OTHER PPL tell us what we can eat or not. It’s really annoying when some people ruin the help for others (saying this because I worked at a homeless shelter) just because they assume they can control that persons life or that person is exactly like them. Or blaming things for us being fat. We’re the ones making ourselves fat, not the government, we should be the one controlling our diets, not other ppl. So, I say the soda and chips stay (For special occasions like birthdays, or a nice midnight snacks) but the hot food has gotta go. You need to cook it a meal not just go buy a meal. *Shakes head* tut tut tut
So where do you propose a homeless person cooks their food? Or do you rather them sell your “tax dollars” for money?
Im sorry honey I know its your 5th birthday and you want that car cake with your name on it but we are poor and people want to pick what we can and can’t buy on our foodstamps
Food is food it should not matter if its cold or hot…as long as theyre not buying drugs.
I find it dishearting when I drive pass Churches Chicken, Taco Bell, McDonalds and see EBT cards accepted.
My family grew up on foodstamps and they had meals at home(maybe not the healthiest but we did the best we could). My thing is if your asking for help you accept the terms of the help. So yes if you ask the government for money because you can’t afford it(for whatever the reason health, bad circumstances, elderly etc) they can put stipulations on it.
This isn’t some unsecured loan we’re talking about, it isn’t anyone’s right to have money given to them, this is money being provided to help provide for your family. Do I agree that they should be able to allow hot foods from the grocery store yes. Do I agree that at times we are too tired yes…but preparation is key. Do I think it’s hard to prepare yes, I struggle with it every moment, I hate it but I do it so I dont make bad decisions through out the day. People say not to let the governments into our home but we do it everytime we apply for a FHA loan(they have stipluations), or for people that need section 8(they have stipualations) housing assistance, so why do people think it is any different for food? Nothing in this world is given for free. A solution instead of giving these fast foods places the opportunity why not open up places that offer the correct choices for low income residents that can buy healthy prepared foods that qualify for EBT or food stamps…instead of taking the easy way out. Fast food use to be a treat, I use to couldn’t wait for that meal for Mcdonalds not I walk up and know the menu and dont long for it.
Just like when I wanted my first car many years ago my mom cosigned it was my car but stipulation was you can’t move out of this house until your credit is good enough(i didn’t have credit)
to put the car in your own name and take full responsiblty. So what did I do, build my credit got the car in my name and then took the world on.
It is a true shame that some states allow this kind of thing to go on. I am old and retired and my wife is totally disabled and due to a bad car wreck I had to quit work and stay home with the wife. For 3 years we lived on $845. a month and needed the EBT food card. Well it was a real tough time getting by but we did and I would have never ate out even if it would have been a nice treat at times. We lived in California and they allowed us to eat out but we didn’t because we prefer to eat healthy. I see very little reason except those that are homeless to eat fatting foods that are really bad for you. Give me a break…PIZZA… so so bad for you and we wonder why there are so many over weight folks in the USA. I think it is totally wrong.
This personally hits home to me. I was once homeless and well…you can’t exactly prepare and store food as you were if you had your own place to stay. Sure, if I had processed food or canned vegetables/fruit, I was able to store them in my storage bin but once it was open, I had to eat it within a certain amount of time or else it would go bad (or be infested with insects). Even though I wasn’t on food stamps, I mostly ate hot foods with the money I got from my job/student loan. Some of the food was healthy…a lot of it wasn’t…but I was able to burn it off because I was walking so much and carrying a lot of things.
There were one time I prepared my own food, I had to buy on those dispensable grills to do it. It was okay once the food was finished but it was easily perishable.
I realize that they’re targeting groups that might not have the means to prepare their own foods. I’m not elderly or disabled but after my homeless experience…it is only treating a symptom of a larger problem. The focus should be on getting those people sheltered at a place with a kitchen where they can cook their own foods. Not ‘here’s food stamps/EBT/SNAP/WIC, go get some hot foods’.
<3 *big hug*