Can we Stop Food Stamp users purchase soda?

In uphill battle to fight obesity, Mayor Michael Bloomberg brought proceedings before the United States Department of agriculture to ban food stamp users 1.7 million by using them to buy soda, or other sugary beverages.

This move is part of the series of actions to combat obesity, which included advertising, stricter rules on food sold in schools and a successful attempt yet to be tax sugared drinks.

Here is a good idea in a pan creamy political, ethical and health soup.

I am going to right out and say: I like the idea. I like it a lot. in fact, I think food stamps should be used to buy vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, dairy products, nuts, seeds and canned goods-healthy foods. I realize also nature stepping-on-eggs of this type of idea.

Look, this thing should be signed, sealed and delivered starting today, but in the Department "humor us all", let's take a look at some of the sticky problems that can occur with this sort of conclusion.

Ethically, it is right to discriminate against those with food stamps?Who are we to tell them what can and cannot buy?

Instead, we all have a collective responsibility to ensure that our health expenditure already-off-the-Rails does not go further into the abyss.

I don't see this as too "big brother" to everyone. The stooge trivial topic here is "How dare they tell people what can and cannot eat or drink", but remember that regulate what people can spend their Government assistance is not the same people say what they can and cannot eat/drink.

As with many other ideas conceived in the same way, the problems are deeply rooted, and the solution is multiform. While this is a great idea, there are bigger fish to fry-specifically corn subsidies that keep prices artificially low.

In the end I do not see this step because of the intimate relationship between industry-great food and the Government's food regulators. I'm sure they have lobbyists soda overtime to ensure that this idea never sees the light of day. Furthermore, in 2004, the Department of Agriculture refused a request from Minnesota to prevent food-stamp recipients to buy junk food.

What are your thoughts on this?

Image credit: poolie

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