Silke Jasso
A new bill in the Illinois State House would allow people to use food stamps to buy fast food. Yes, just when we thought we could only use them at grocery stores and Farmer’s Market, now we can indulge in wonderful free fast food. Because well, everyone deserves to experience Taco Bell once a while, right? What could possibly go wrong?
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House Bill 3343 would establish a Restaurant Meal Program to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also referred to as SNAP. If passed, recipients can use their monthly allotment to buy meals from most restaurants. Unfortunately, only the elderly, homeless people and their spouses and the disabled qualify.
Representative Tom Demmer stated the bill is aimed for those who don’t necessarily have a place to prepare their food, such as a homeless person. Or for someone who is disabled and is not able to cook a meal for themselves and have to resort to outside prepped food. Although he supports the bill, he says there are few concerns in regards to the pricing.
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Usually, food at restaurants are higher than what it might be at a grocery store, so there’s quite a bit of a tap off since they don’t want people to run out of benefits before the end of the month. So of course, it’s a matter of balance and measuring their money.
If the bill becomes law, restaurants will have to be certified to participate in the program. As of now, California and Arizona are two states that already have a similar program set up where people can use Snap benefits at Jack-in-the-Box and Subway. So maybe, this is a good idea for those who don’t have a steady home or income. But still, it’s quite concerning when it comes to their health. We don’t want people arteries to get clogged for eating 2 dollar Jack-in-the-Box tacos for every meal.
What do you think?Should Food Stamps be used at restaurants??
