The people I knew would buy more expensive items and sell them to get cash to pay for things that EBT wouldn’t, so they could make ends meet.
Just read an article about how soft drinks are the number one “food” bought with food stamps.
This seems like an easy fix: save billions of taxpayer dollars while avoiding helping the “poor” become overweight. But, from what I’ve read, the soda lobbies are very powerful and make a lot of campaign donations.
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Not soda lobbies, corn producers.
Literally everything in this pantry is corn.
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I’ve shifted away from the big name fast food places for the most part, because, I can go get something that is better tasting and better for me for roughly the same amount of money (often less). Chipolte seems to be hit or miss depending on the location, but the one by my work is pretty good. I get a bowl with double chicken, and it’s about $13. I eat that over two days. I could eat it in one, but I feel fine after half, so why eat the rest? Lee Ann Chin has some reasonably healthy options, if you go with unbreaded items. Again, lasts me two days, and is about $13 bucks. I can’t make $13 at McDonald’s last two meals, and prefer the options I listed because they taste better and are reasonably healthy (or at least have a lot of protein, a reasonable amount of calories, and a few vegetables).
My gym used to have a meal prep service, that I wish they still had. They had a fridge where if you signed up, you picked up your meals. IIRC, they were under $10, and were designed for different goals you could select (lose, gain, maintain). All had good protein in them, and they looked to be tasty. I think for someone with disposable money, this is one of the best things you can spend it on. You can buy yourself a six pack, buy paying money and selecting the lose weight button. If they still had it, I’d probably buy 4-5 meals a week at this point in my life (my household income was about half what it is now when they had it).
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I had a beer, kielbasa with onions and peppers and a small cheese fries at a place called Frank N Steins in Stuart Fl…cost me 20 bucks…did not care if it was healthy or not, lol
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No sauerkraut? WTF?
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Needs saurkraut & smoked gouda.
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I know right…not on the menu
I doubt it will make a difference. People pay for convenience and fast food is finding its market value.
Poor people can do the math showing cost per serving at home is lower than cost per serving at the drive through but they still have to pony up for a cart at the register vs. spending what’s in their pocket one small french fry at a time. I would imagine it’s still effectively more affordable to go through a fast food line even if more costly per serving.
I can only speak for where I live. The price is outrageous but what’s worse is the quality. We only have a handful of fast food places here but every single one is awful! Even the local restaurants. There is nothing I can buy in town that I can’t make better myself 
I’m tired of figuring out what’s for dinner? I’m tired of cooking it. And tired of cleaning up afterwards.
But! There is literally else nothing to eat here.
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It’s also addictive.
They can do math?
What I found interesting, again this is my individual experience when I used to work in a supermarket, is that people who were middle class or higher were more likely to use coupons than poor people. You can use coupons with foodstamps but I never saw it.
There is hope!
Growing up, We weren’t well off by any measure, but my brothers and I all knew how to cook the basics- eggs, burgers, baked potato, cheap simple things.
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People seem to think that cooking the basics to a standard at least as good as your low-end sit down restaurants is hard. It’s not. For example, I don’t know why Five Guys gets rated high on the burger list, I can make a 5x better burger for 1/3 price.
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I don’t know what it would take anymore for me to be happy eating at a restaurant.
I’m not chef quality but I do pretty damn good. Most family stryle/oriented places are just a disappointment.
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I wouldn’t go to a restaurant for a hamburger. It would be like ordering a bowl of cereal or peanut butter sandwich.
Agreed. I go to restaurants for things I don’t make: sushi, BBQ, etc. Anyone who goes to a restaurant regularly for breakfast foods is lazy or just has plenty of money to waste. (I should put that on the Hot Takes thread. But come on, people can’t make a big plate scrambled eggs at home for around a dollar?)
Bfast out for me is a social event
Coffee with a friend, get some bfast while we are there
I just discovered this was a thing. Was looking for low-carb, low-fat, and needed a break from cooking.
Not low fat, but Trader Joes frozen teriyaki chicken was a recent surprise too. Throw away the sauce and you have chopped and cooked chicken thigh ready to season however.
Sometimes I get lazy too.
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