Trump's Team is pushing for a huge change in the current welfare program that provides food to low income families. In this new plan a portion of the food stamps people receive would be replaced by a "food box" filled with specific food items. At first the program they are proposing sounds like it will be a box of healthy options for families, but when you look closer it sounds like a box of canned, processed, non-nutrient filled items. Although the box would be filled with non-perishable food items that can feed those in need it doesn't mean they are healthy options. According to USDA, some items proposed to fill the box include shelf-stable milk (this sounds like powdered milk), juice, grains, cereals, pasta, peanut butter, beans and canned meat (spam like), fruits and vegetables. The other part of this new proposed plan is that the government would determine what items people get and when you would receive the box.
It sounds like they are proposing one box of items for all- but what about families with allergies or pre-existing conditions like Diabetes or High Blood Pressure. Some of the items in the box would go to waste or cause more health issues. Not to mention if this plan goes into place it would affect more than 16 Million households-what's the plan to get the boxes to each of these households in a timely manner? Continuing to allow users to receive EBT or Food Stamps allows them to choose their items and even gives them access to fresh options- especially considering most Farmer's Markets now accept them!
If the boxes were filled with fresh options and items with healthier content that could be catered to each household-this might be considerable, but it sounds like this idea hasn't been fully fleshed out...what do you think?