Mayor de Blasio Supports Ban On Using Food Stamps For Sugary Drinks

[ProSense]

Mayor de Blasio Supports Ban On Using Food Stamps For Sugary Drinks

BY Erin Durkin

Mayor de Blasio said Monday he supports banning food stamp recipients from using the benefits to buy soda sugar-filled beverages.

“I’m someone who believes that (food stamps) shouldn’t have been used, for example, for sugary drinks. It’s something I agree with the Bloomberg administration on,” de Blasio said on the Brian Lehrer show.

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De Blasio’s position is consistent with his support of Bloomberg’s other public health moves, like the ban on sugary drinks over 16 ounces, which he plans to defend in court...he supports Gov. Cuomo’s move to stop public assistance money from being withdrawn at strip clubs, liquor stores, and casinos.

But he said the city should work to destigmatize food stamp recipients - avoiding policies like requiring them to be finger printed, a since abolished policy that the Bloomberg administration fought unsuccessfully to keep.

- more -

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2014/02/mayor-de-blasio-supports-ban-on-using-food-stamps-for-sugary-drinks

[Heather MC]

1. I Choose not to drink soda and sugary drinks, I think it is Unfortunate

that those dangerous chemicals are allowed to thrive in our food supply and Masquerade as a safe substance to consume on a daily basis.

However, they are not helping people to make better choices by trying to FORCE them to make better choices for themselves.

Perhaps what should really be happening is to demand Manufacturers of this poison produce better products. That can be enjoyable and good for you, or at the very least, less harmful.

[frazzled]

2. Why does this kind of do-gooderism worry me?

I am not a libertarian at all, and don't believe that there shouldn't be regulations in the public interest. So why does this kind of thing worry me so much?

Possibly because I fear it's so difficult to draw the line. So, if you can't use food stamps to buy sugary drinks, what else shouldn't you be able to buy with them? Ground beef that is less than 89% lean? Brownie mix? What if a vegan becomes mayor and decides milk isn't good for you? The problem is: this is pretty damned random and there seems to be a lot of "targeting" of certain things to become the "goat," depending on the popular buzz du jour.

Take CVS's announcement yesterday that they will no longer sell cigarettes. Fine, on one hand. But I don't like their reasoning: that it conflicts with their mission of becoming a drug-store/health provider industry. Fine, have that mission---but then why not stop selling Cheetohs and Twix bars and ... oh, yeah, sugary drinks, too? Your aisles are full of that crap. And full of stuff kids can sniff and die from.

See what I mean? Where do you draw the line on this stuff?

[KansDem]

3. There appears to be a correlation between soft-drink consumption and adult diabetes

Adult diabetes rate--

http://www.ediblegeography.com/united-states-of-food/

Consumption of soft drinks--

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-02-09-usda-obesity-maps_N.htm

[former9thward]

5. I don't see any correlation.

Entire west half of U.S is white for soft drinks yet there are large areas of diabetes. Same thing with the NE.

[NCTraveler]

4. So the owner of a small company can go out for lunch and buy a coke for a little pick-me-up.

But a mother at the same company, who just spent her last dollar on school supplies for her child, and was up all night with her sick child, cannot buy the same pick-me-up during her lunch break. It might not be the best thing for her health, but it is a common practice. So sick of these people doing this to those who need our help. Fuck them. Why does he not want to drug test them. Got to make sure food stamps aren't subsidizing their bad habits, right.

[NCTraveler]

6. Florida Republicans love this. nt.