SNAP Replaces Food Spoiled After Storms - NBC29 WVIR Charlottesville, VA News, Sports and Weather

While I am VERY glad that this is in place for those receiving SNAP. What about those of us that consistently fall between the cracks of such programs? There are A LOT of people that have lost all their food and freezer items and no where to turn. We do not receive any benefits and we have no extra money...

cvilleperson wrote:

While I am VERY glad that this is in place for those receiving SNAP. What about those of us that consistently fall between the cracks of such programs? There are A LOT of people that have lost all their food and freezer items and no where to turn. We do not receive any benefits and we have no extra money...

Don't know until you apply.

...and though most of us have insurance that covers this our deductibles are so high (to keep it affordable) that we don't reach the deductible. Again, the taxpayers pay. I think the amount seemed steep.

4 HOURS. If you leave your fridge closed when your power goes off, you really shouldn't loose anything.
Those of us out here who have to pay for our food with our hard earned cash, didn't throw our food away after just 4 hours. That's about the time we started thinking about turning on the generator.
OH yes I know Iam gonna hear how lucky I was to have a generator and many people can't afford that. It was not luck that bought that generator it was hard earned money.
We all better take what happened this past weekend as a wake up call, and start learning how to provide for ourselves, and not wait for the all mighty Govt. to do it for us. The Govt. is gonna run out of OUR HARD EARNED money one day, and there will not be extra money to put on your card to replace your 4 hour old mayo. I have seen salads with mayo in them sit out at picnics longer than that. KEEP YOUR FRIDGE CLOSED WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT, THE FOOD INSIDE WILL LAST MUCH LONGER THAN 4 HOURS. IN THE FREEZER EVEN LONGER. Let the hate talk begin.

".......4 hours.....". That statement just added insult to injury. Don't know about you all, but I sure was worried about how all those food stamp people were going to replace all their food my taxes bought them. Maybe it wouldn't hurt them every once in a while to buy their own food. You know, just now and then.

and where do you put your generator in an apartment?

Robin Hensley wrote:

4 HOURS. If you leave your fridge closed when your power goes off, you really shouldn't loose anything.
Those of us out here who have to pay for our food with our hard earned cash, didn't throw our food away after just 4 hours. That's about the time we started thinking about turning on the generator.
OH yes I know Iam gonna hear how lucky I was to have a generator and many people can't afford that. It was not luck that bought that generator it was hard earned money.
We all better take what happened this past weekend as a wake up call, and start learning how to provide for ourselves, and not wait for the all mighty Govt. to do it for us. The Govt. is gonna run out of OUR HARD EARNED money one day, and there will not be extra money to put on your card to replace your 4 hour old mayo. I have seen salads with mayo in them sit out at picnics longer than that. KEEP YOUR FRIDGE CLOSED WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT, THE FOOD INSIDE WILL LAST MUCH LONGER THAN 4 HOURS. IN THE FREEZER EVEN LONGER. Let the hate talk begin.

well said . We bought a used generator and it work just fine it might not do the whole house but it get us buy people are just lazy now and wants everything handed to them

If I threw my food out after 4 hours I would be looking at a far higher loss than when I just left it in the fridge and told the family not to open it.
The only thing I had to toss was half a gallon of milk. That couldn't make it past 24 hours even after we moved it to the freezer.
What a prissy waster.

QUOTE -- "Since most people who rely on the SNAP program lost the food they bought July 1, 2012 because of power outages, they can apply to have up to the entire monthly allotment reimbursed to buy new food."

Trying to follow the dates and numbers.

The storm hit around 9:30 PM on Friday, June 29th. Most stores were without power for at least part of Saturday, June 30th. SNAP cards are re-loaded by the state on the first of each month (or, in this case, on Sunday morning, July 1st).

Any grocer will tell you that SNAP card holders will spend 80 to 90 percent of their allotment in the first few days of the month. I would assume that they gradually consume that food during the month. If they went out on the first of July and depleted their card on groceries knowing they had no power at home, well, I just can't buy that. Any one who would submit a claim for the entire amount of their monthly SNAP allotment should have some serious splainin' to do.

Like any program government or otherwise there will always be people who abuse the privilege, even Christians. Knowing that, I think this is a good thing, if for no other reason than it sticks in the craw of self righteous right wing hypocrites.

Maybe they should take this time to start drug testing as well....if you fail, you loose all of your benefits! What a valid point C-ville Taxpayer made! I'd like to see what DSS has to say to that!

sville wrote:

<quoted text>
well said . We bought a used generator and it work just fine it might not do the whole house but it get us buy people are just lazy now and wants everything handed to them

We didn't run our whole house, after about 10 hours we used it to keep the stuff in the fridge and freezer. We stayed out of both until then. This storm happened at night, we went to bed, and got up early and plugged them in then. Who is opening and closing their fridge and freezer all thru the night, causing food to spoil. Another person made a great point. The cards are loaded on July 1st. Why would you buy a months worth of groceries if you know you have no power. Just another way to waist tax payers money. Not going to be much longer we are not going to be able to put any money into govt. so they can throw it away.

what used to be perfectly good food <<<

try "spoiled"....." had to pitch out spoiled food"

No power for four hours in a quality fridge - no problem. No power for four hours in an old, rundown, maybe even your old, tossed out fridge - a different story. Don't judge.

The news story showed people on the dole buying meat. SNAP food should be beans, rice, and vegetables. It's better for you, and the beans and rice don't spoil. Folks could get better nutritions than they are getting now, they would lose some of that fat, and it would cost the taxpayers a lot less. Free food should be cheap and nutritious. No other criteria make sense.

CvilleMechEngr wrote:

The news story showed people on the dole buying meat. SNAP food should be beans, rice, and vegetables. It's better for you, and the beans and rice don't spoil. Folks could get better nutritions than they are getting now, they would lose some of that fat, and it would cost the taxpayers a lot less. Free food should be cheap and nutritious. No other criteria make sense.

I've long held the belief that food stamp programs are just another subsidy of Big Ag. Rice, beans, and vegetables may suck, but it is nutritious and at minimal cost to the tax payer. It's also an incentive to work harder.
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"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it."
~Benjamin Franklin
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I'll sum it up in my own words, poverty sucks, and if you don't like it, do something about it.

Augusta County Taxpayer wrote:

Maybe they should take this time to start drug testing as well....if you fail, you loose all of your benefits! What a valid point C-ville Taxpayer made! I'd like to see what DSS has to say to that!

As in all things, we should look to existing programs to see the results. While what you're suggesting sounds like a great idea on the surface, if you scratch and look at the laboratory of Florida, you'll see it's a failure. I for one will not advocate spending $10 to save $1.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/us/no-savin...

you're assuming in the first place people on food stamps eat perishable foods (I've only seen folks with EBT/SNAP by shelf-stable junk food).

CvilleMechEngr wrote:

The news story showed people on the dole buying meat. SNAP food should be beans, rice, and vegetables. It's better for you, and the beans and rice don't spoil. Folks could get better nutritions than they are getting now, they would lose some of that fat, and it would cost the taxpayers a lot less. Free food should be cheap and nutritious. No other criteria make sense.

It's what I eat, and it's good. I'm not a vegetarian (we were born with the teeth of omnivores, right?), but I only eat meat once or twice a week. Eating a reasonable portion of good basic food enables me to afford other things that I enjoy too...like going out from time to time.
I would like to see food programs hand out food - just the basic minimum needed for nutrition. If you're subsisting on the taxpayers' dime, then you shouldn't be too proud to pick up your beans, rice, and vegetables at a distribution center.

Hello wrote:

you're assuming in the first place people on food stamps eat perishable foods (I've only seen folks with EBT/SNAP by shelf-stable junk food).

I don't think that there's much actual food in that package. There is salt (lots of it), there are additives, there is fat (lots of it), but there is not nutrition.