Should we move welfare and food stamp recipients to MRE’s?

A question was raised…

Should welfare and food stamps recipients only receive healthy MRE style food, instead of money from the government? Would that save money and reduce the amount of people who abuse that system? Would that encourage people to focus on more work?

My response…

Actually , MRE (Meal, Ready to Eat) style food packages could be more cost effective than the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food stamp cards that are currently being used. I look at it like this, and meaning no disrespect, but with the amount of individuals who are selling portions of their food assistance allotments, handing out MRE’s could be a good way to make sure families are eating and not profiting monetarily from state food assistance programs. What did we use to hear, “when you get hungry enough, you’ll eat it!” I do believe that the bulk of assistance programs will start to undergo major restructuring in the future.

Since more jobs are becoming available these days, we should start to see less of a reliance on assistance programs all the way around. In my experience, there have always been ways to get around crackdowns, but getting people back to work should reduce the amount of people receiving the assistance to abuse.

Working in this field has allowed me to come into contact with individuals who would prefer to work and not receive assistance, however because of the loss of higher paying jobs in our area (plant closures), sometimes there’s no other choice. The other side of the coin seems to sometimes suggest however, that too much will be lost once employment has been secured. Individuals most times are not willing to give up the amount of assistance they receive, thus they choose the path of least resistance and opt out of working.

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Theresa Diiti, I’m in the trenches! I have worked in Social Services for the past 16 years.