Despite some reports, the USDA found that food stamp users' grocery carts weren't much different from those of other consumers. ADVERTISEMENTIf you’re concerned that food stamp users might be buying too much soda and junk food, you share something in common with at least one member of Congress. A front-page story in the New York Times last month characterized SNAP users as people who bought sodas and other sugar-sweetened soft drinks by the cartload. In fact, the difference in soft-drink purchases between SNAP and non-SNAP households was a negligible 1.5 cents per dollar. Still, the damage — potentially providing critics of the SNAP program with evidence that appeared to confirm their beliefs — may have already been done.

Source: Huffington Post February 07, 2017 23:35 UTC