Should taxpayers subsidize dessert treats for individuals on the government’s Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program?
Andrea Taber doesn’t think so, and now she’s in hot water with the farmer’s market at which she distributes her pies and other bakery goods.
A Walpole baker — appalled that welfare abuse now seems almost as American as apple pie — is putting her whoopie pies where her mouth is in a dispute with the Braintree Farmers Market, refusing to take EBT cards for her baked treats.
“I don’t think American taxpayers should be footing the bill for people’s pie purchases,” said Andrea Taber, proprietor of the Ever So Humble Pie Co. in Walpole, who peddles her wares at the Braintree market on Fridays and now finds herself in the middle of the state’s raging fight over welfare benefits.
“To me it’s no different than nail salons and Lottery tickets,” Taber said. “It’s pastry, it’s dessert. My pies are great, but come on.”
Organizers of the farmers market insist that they just want poor people to have access to the market’s healthy, fresh foods.
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“I know it’s been a struggle for you to accept this program but we really need to work something out,” Ingemanson [Farmer’s Market Representative] emailed back the same day. “Other markets make it mandatory to sign on to these programs and my guess is that it will be for us soon. … In fact, you’re the only one who is resistant to the idea.”
Ingemanson told the Herald that in light of Taber’s resistance, the farmers market management will consider during the winter whether to require all vendors to accept EBT payment next year.
“If that’s the case, I’ll take my leave,” Taber told the Herald. “I’m not going to sacrifice my principles and standards for the sake of a few more sales.”
Source: Boston Herald
Charges that the government’s programs are being mismanaged or taken advantage of have led many to question whether the programs are a legitimate use of taxpayer dollars. In some states those who receive benefits actually have the ability to buy alcohol and visit local gambling halls all on the taxpayer dole.
Nearly 50 million Americans receive SNAP food stamps and some 100 million current receive some form of entitlement, safety net or distribution payment from the government.
With the nation quickly approaching a national debt of $20 trillion and multi trillion dollar deficits each year, the question of how much longer we as a country can continue to give away free pies, alcohol and lotto tickets should become an important consideration for lawmakers and officials who oversee the national safety net.
