Why we gotta prove our entitlements?
Via The IP
After a public flirtation with requiring food stamps be used only to buy healthier foods, Gov. Nikki Haley’s administration has decided to take a different course and require more food-stamp recipients find a job.
The S.C. Department of Social Services said Friday it will seek a federal waiver for a pilot project that would require many food-stamp recipients in Bamberg, Calhoun and Orangeburg counties to prove they either have jobs or are looking for employment.
In its announcement of the proposed “SNAP Work 2 Health” waiver, Social Services cited an Ohio State University study that found Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients gained more weight the longer they received food stamps.
“Research shows a strong correlation between unemployment and obesity and other significant health conditions,” Social Services said in a news release. “The research also shows that SNAP recipients are more likely to become less healthy the longer they receive SNAP benefits.”
But Jay Zagorsky, the lead author of the Ohio State study, has said the takeaway from that study should be that food-stamp benefits are too meager to pay for healthy foods. Zagorsky’s proposed solution? Create incentives to encourage food-stamp recipients to buy healthier food, which was where the S.C. effort originally seemed headed.