KQED's Forum: Should Food Stamp Users be Blocked from Buying Junk Food?

Listen to KQED's Forum: Should Food Stamp Users be Blocked from Buying Junk Food?
Original Broadcast:
Tue, Dec 3, 2013 -- 9:00 AM

The federal food stamp program, known as SNAP, supports one in seven Americans at a cost of around $80 billion each year. With almost 70 percent of adult Americans overweight, some nutrition advocates want to prohibit SNAP recipients from using food stamps to purchase junk food such as soda and chips. Opponents say that such restrictions would unfairly target the poor and limit their food options. KQED's Forum discusses the issue.

Host: Michael Krasny

Guests:

• Carolyn Lochhead, Washington correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle
• Jessica Bartholow, legislative advocate at the Western Center on Law and Poverty
• Michele Simon, public health lawyer, president of the consulting firm Eat, Drink, Politics, and author of "Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back"

More info:
• SNAP, WIC, EBT -- What's the Difference : WAMU.org
• Food Stamps: Follow the Money - Are Corporations Profiting from Hungry Americans? : Report by Michele Simon
• Major Split Over Buying Junk Food With Federal Aid : SFGate.com