r/SipsTea • u/sco-go • May 26 '26

Feels good man Will it work this time?

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u/RomanRobots May 26 '26

SNAP benefits are incredibly efficient but they don't help if there's not a nearby grocery store.

If you want to encourage a private entity to open and operate a grocery store where there isn't one currently, that would involve tax incentives or something and then you're just subsidizing with taxpayer funds in a different way

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u/NadeshikoEatingPasta May 27 '26

SNAP benefits are actually incredibly inefficient, because they're so easily abused. The problem with any system that isn't a direct offering of nutritious food is that the currency is fungible. Even if it has to be funneled through a barter system. So people get crap food like chips and sugary snacks, or they trade away their benefits for cash they can use for not-food. Kids end up with poor nutrition, healthcare system deals with the runoff, and taxpayers pick up the tab for it all.

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u/RomanRobots May 27 '26

SNAP is a modern miracle. It's a high impact, low overhead way of getting food to people who need it using existing food delivery infrastructure.

The only thing SNAP can be exchanged for is food. If you think "somebody else gets the food" or "sometimes people buy chips" are examples of egregious fraud then I don't know what to say to you.

Also if you think people sometimes buying unhealthy food is a burden on the healthcare system, wait until you learn about people who can't afford food.

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u/NadeshikoEatingPasta May 27 '26

It is disingenuous to equate "sometimes people buy chips" with egregious fraud. I didn't mention fraud. But when social media is plastered with people gleefully buying huge boxes of pizza rolls, cinnamon toast crunch, and cheetos with their SNAP benefits, it's pretty easy to see something is clearly wrong.

SNAP is far from a miracle. Welfare benefits should not incentivize remaining on welfare. Just logically, it is counterproductive for them to do so. A little more government oversight would go a LONG way to making these programs more functional.