{"id":10309,"date":"2017-06-01T10:59:48","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T14:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=10309"},"modified":"2017-06-01T11:51:52","modified_gmt":"2017-06-01T15:51:52","slug":"10309","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/","title":{"rendered":"USA Today: Food Stamps are a Dietary Disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"<section id=\"module-position-P-wBo_1T1iQ\" class=\"storytopbar-bucket story-headline-module story-story-headline-module\">\n<h1 class=\"asset-headline\">USA TODAY, June 1, 2017<\/h1>\n<h1 class=\"asset-headline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/2017\/06\/01\/donald-trump--is-end-obama-food-stamp-folly-james-bovard-column\/102292366\/\">Donald Trump&#8217;s budget slashes government junk food pipeline to the poor<\/a><\/h1>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"module-position-P-wBo_0N3Nc\" class=\"storytopbar-bucket story-byline-module story-story-byline-module\">\n<div class=\"asset-metabar\"><span class=\"asset-metabar-author asset-metabar-item\"> by James Bovard<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"module-position-P-wBo_0FM1Q\" class=\"storytopbar-bucket piano-module story-piano-module\"><\/section>\n<section id=\"module-position-P-wBo_0ZG3Y\" class=\"storytopbar-bucket bounce-exchange-module story-bounce-exchange-module\"><\/section>\n<section id=\"module-position-P-wBo_1Q9fE\" class=\"storytopbar-bucket google-survey-module story-google-survey-module\"><\/section>\n<div class=\"asset-double-wide double-wide p402_premium\">\n<div id=\"module-position-P-wBo-JPZjE\" class=\"story-asset story-leadin-asset\">\n<h4 class=\"lead-in\"><em>Food stamps foolishly fuel diabetes and obesity<\/em><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"module-position-P-wBo-IYVUY\" class=\"story-asset story-metadata-asset\">\n<div class=\"article-metadata-wrap\">\n<section id=\"module-position-P-wBo-A8UnY\" class=\"storymetadata-bucket expandable-photo-module story-expandable-photo-module\">\n<aside class=\"single-photo expandable-collapsed\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\">Perhaps the most controversial element of the Trump administration\u2019s budget is the proposal to reduce food stamp spending by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2017\/05\/24\/experts-dispute-trumps-argument-too-many-people-food-stamps\/102111804\/\">25% or $193 billion over the next decade<\/a>. Forty-four\u00a0million people currently receive food stamps, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/pd\/SNAPsummary.pdf\">more than twice as many<\/a> as at the end of the Clinton administration. Spending for food stamps almost quadrupled in the same period, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/pd\/SNAPsummary.pdf\">reaching $73 billion<\/a> last year.<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Why did the food stamp program spiral out of control? The Obama administration believed that maximizing handouts would maximize prosperity: &#8220;Every $5 in new [food stamp] benefits generates <a href=\"https:\/\/obamawhitehouse.archives.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/docs\/farm_bill_report_211.pdf\">as much as $9 of economic activity<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So the feds bankrolled massive recruiting campaigns to sway people to abandon self-reliance. A North Carolina social services agency won a <a href=\"http:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2012\/07\/03\/usda-combats-mountain-pride-self-reliance-to-boost-food-stamp-rolls\/\">USDA &#8220;Hunger Champions Award<\/a>&#8221; for attacking &#8220;mountain pride&#8221; as a reason not to accept government handouts. In Alabama, people received fliers proclaiming: &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national\/in-florida-a-food-stamp-recruiter-deals-with-wrenching-choices\/2013\/04\/23\/b3d6b41c-a3a4-11e2-9c03-6952ff305f35_story.html?utm_term=.5518e3d14255\">Be a patriot. Bring your food stamp money home<\/a>.&#8221; The state of Florida paid individual recruiters to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national\/in-florida-a-food-stamp-recruiter-deals-with-wrenching-choices\/2013\/04\/23\/b3d6b41c-a3a4-11e2-9c03-6952ff305f35_story.html?utm_term=.b9570f2e0433\">sign up at least 150 new food stamp<\/a>\u00a0recipients per month.<\/p>\n<p>Food stamp enrollment also skyrocketed after Obama effectively <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2015\/01\/06\/news\/economy\/snap-food-stamps-unemployed\/\">suspended the three-month limit<\/a> for able-bodied adults without dependents to collect food stamps. Between 2008 and 2010, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/2012\/09\/20\/study-number-able-bodied-adults-on-food-stamps-doubled-after-stimulus-change.html\">the number of able-bodied recipients doubled<\/a>, according to the Congressional Research Service. Canceling the work requirement made food stamps far more attractive to 20-somethings. In many states, people can apply for benefits online \u2014\u00a0making it much easier than going to a job interview. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gao.gov\/assets\/600\/593070.pdf\">Government Accountability Office<\/a>\u00a0reported in 2012: &#8220;Local caseworkers across several states&#8230; described an increasing trend of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gao.gov\/assets\/600\/593070.pdf\">single people aged 22<\/a> applying as their own [food stamp] households.&#8221; The Food Stamp Poster Boy of 2013 was Jason Greenslate, a 29-year-old Californian surfer who declared that he avoids paying work and uses his monthly food stamp allotment to purchase as much <a href=\"http:\/\/nation.foxnews.com\/2013\/08\/12\/watch-unabashed-surfer-receiving-food-stamps-buy-sushi-and-avoid-work\">sushi and gourmet lobster<\/a> as $200 can buy. Then it\u2019s off to the beach.\u00a0Greenslate touted his gourmet purchases &#8220;all paid for by our wonderful tax dollars&#8230; It&#8217;s free food. It&#8217;s awesome.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"ad-position-64\" class=\"partner-outstream partner-placement-visible\">\u00a0Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney declared last week: &#8220;If you are on food stamps and you are able-bodied, we need you to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/wonk\/wp\/2017\/05\/22\/trump-to-poor-americans-get-to-work-or-lose-your-benefits\/?utm_term=.1c9\">go to work.<\/a>&#8221; The administration proposes phasing in work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents. This is a good first step for a program that swayed to many Americans to work less. A 2012 <em>Journal of Public Economics<\/em> study concluded that receiving food stamps <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0047272711001472\">sharply reduces work hours<\/a> by single mothers.<\/div>\n<p>The Trump administration also proposes requiring <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2017\/05\/22\/news\/economy\/safety-net-trump-budget\/\">state governments to begin covering<\/a>\u00a0a share of the costs of food stamps, in addition to the share of administrative costs they already pay.\u00a0Currently, state governments have little or no incentive to police the program since losses from fraud or waste don&#8217;t come\u00a0out of state budgets. Unfortunately, such a smart idea\u00a0will likely be dead on arrival on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n<p>The most important reason to curtail food stamp enrollment is because the program is a dietary disaster. Walter Willett, chair of Harvard University\u2019s Department of Nutrition, observed in 2015, &#8220;We&#8217;ve analyzed what [food stamp] participants are eating and it&#8217;s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/11\/patterns-of-obesity-prove-resilient\/\">horrible food. It&#8217;s a diet designed to produce obesity and diabetes<\/a>.&#8221; A 2017 study published in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5237482\/\">BMC Public Health<\/a>\u00a0found that food stamp recipients were twice as likely to be obese as eligible non-recipients. This confirms a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/ops\/NHANES-SNAP07-10.pdf\">2015 USDA report<\/a>\u00a0which revealed that food stamp recipients are far more likely to be obese than eligible non-recipients (40% vs. 32%).<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/ops\/SNAPFoodsTypicallyPurchased.pdf\">2016 USDA report <\/a>revealed that soft drinks and other sweetened beverages are the most common purchase in food stamp households, accounting for almost 10% of monthly expenditures. &#8220;Desserts, salty snacks, candy and sugar&#8221; account for another 10% of food stamp expenditures. The USDA report confirms earlier research on federally-funded bad diets. (The USDA and the Obama administration helped block a 2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/marino.house.gov\/media-center\/press-releases\/house-fails-pass-snap-transparency-amendment-farrm-act\">congressional proposal<\/a>\u00a0to disclose how recipients <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/113th-congress\/house-bill\/1752\">actually spend food stamps<\/a>.) Food stamp recipients consume twice as many of their daily calories from sugar-sweetened beverages as do higher incomes groups (12% vs. 6%), according to a 2015 study in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/26303370\">Preventive Medicine<\/a><\/em>. A 2015 study in the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/26238602\">American Journal of Preventive Medicine<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>also found that adult food stamp recipients had less healthy diets than eligible non-recipients.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-P-wBo-ICfBk\" class=\"story-asset oembed-asset\">\n<div class=\"story-oembed-wrap \">\n<div class=\"js-oembed story-oembed story-oembed-usa-today story-oembed-type-link\" data-oembed-provider=\"usa-today\" data-oembed-type=\"link\">\n<div class=\"oembed-asset oembed-asset-link oembed-asset-usa-today oembed-simple-link-container\">\n<p class=\"oembed-link-desc\">The Trump reform proposal ignores the easiest way to save more than $100\u00a0billion: prohibit using food stamps for junk food. Food stamps should be remodeled along the lines of the <a href=\"https:\/\/wic.utah.gov\/\">Women Infant and Children<\/a> (WIC) Program, which distributes coupons redeemable only for relatively healthy foods. A 2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2014\/06\/05\/news\/economy\/food-stamps-soda\/\">Stanford University study<\/a>\u00a0concluded that prohibiting the use of food stamps for sugary drinks would prevent 141,000 kids from becoming fat and save a quarter million adults from Type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Republican and Democratic governors and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pleaded with the USDA to allow them to prevent food stamps from being used for soft drinks; the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/08\/20\/nyregion\/ban-on-using-food-stamps-to-buy-soda-rejected-by-usda.html\">USDA denied all such requests<\/a>. Restricting the use of food stamps would also make the program less attractive to people who do not need federal intervention to cover their next meal.<\/p>\n<p>Food stamps are the largest of 15 federal food programs, currently feeding more than 100 million people. The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usda.gov\/oig\/webdocs\/27001-0001-10.pdf\">USDA inspector general <\/a>recommended in 2013 that USDA study the impact of &#8220;providing cumulative [food] benefits&#8221; that can exceed an individual\u2019s recommended daily [food intake].&#8221; The USDA scorned that suggestion. But carpet-bombing people with subsidized calories can cause collateral damage. &#8220;Seven times as many [low-income] children are obese as are underweight,&#8221; the <em><a href=\"http:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/article-abstract\/1487507\">Journal of the American Medical Association<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>noted in 2012.Young children in low-income families are more than 50% more likely to be obese than those in other families, according to a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/obesity-rates-among-young-children-from-low-income-families-declined-in-31-states-300365200.html\">2016 report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There are hungry children and adults in this nation, and the government can assist them without subverting private work ethics or public health. But there is no constitutional right to free junk food. Trump\u2019s proposed food stamp reforms are a clean break from the Obama-era fantasy that handouts will make America rich.<\/p>\n<p><em>James Bovard,\u00a0author of\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Public-Policy-Hooligan-Rollicking-Washington-ebook\/dp\/B00AKZH97W\">Public Policy Hooligan<\/a>,<em>\u00a0is\u00a0a member of USA TODAY\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/reporters\/boc.html\">Board of Contributors<\/a>. Follow him on Twitter\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JimBovard\">@JimBovard<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>USA TODAY, June 1, 2017 Donald Trump&#8217;s budget slashes government junk food pipeline to the poor by James Bovard Food stamps foolishly fuel diabetes and obesity Perhaps the most controversial element of the Trump administration\u2019s budget is the proposal to reduce food stamp spending by 25% or $193 billion over the next decade. Forty-four\u00a0million people [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[723,857,753,322,423,38,324,864,335],"class_list":["post-10309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-diabetes","tag-disincentive","tag-donald-trump","tag-food-stamps","tag-hunger","tag-obama","tag-obesity","tag-self-reliance","tag-welfare"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>USA Today: Food Stamps are a Dietary Disaster - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There is no constitutional right to free junk food. Food stamps are a dietary disaster that spawn obesity &amp; diabetes across the nation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"USA Today: Food Stamps are a Dietary Disaster - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is no constitutional right to free junk food. Food stamps are a dietary disaster that spawn obesity &amp; diabetes across the nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-01T14:59:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-01T15:51:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/01\\\/10309\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/01\\\/10309\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"USA Today: Food Stamps are a Dietary Disaster\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-01T14:59:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-01T15:51:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/01\\\/10309\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1018,\"commentCount\":2,\"keywords\":[\"diabetes\",\"disincentive\",\"donald trump\",\"Food Stamps\",\"hunger\",\"Obama\",\"obesity\",\"self-reliance\",\"welfare\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/01\\\/10309\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/01\\\/10309\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/01\\\/10309\\\/\",\"name\":\"USA Today: Food Stamps are a Dietary Disaster - James Bovard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-01T14:59:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-01T15:51:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"description\":\"There is no constitutional right to free junk food. Food stamps are a dietary disaster that spawn obesity & diabetes across the nation\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/01\\\/10309\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/01\\\/10309\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/01\\\/10309\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"USA Today: Food Stamps are a Dietary Disaster\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Bovard\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\",\"name\":\"Jim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Jim\"},\"description\":\"Bovard's homepage is at http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism &amp; Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/jim.bovard\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jimbovard\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"USA Today: Food Stamps are a Dietary Disaster - James Bovard","description":"There is no constitutional right to free junk food. Food stamps are a dietary disaster that spawn obesity & diabetes across the nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"USA Today: Food Stamps are a Dietary Disaster - James Bovard","og_description":"There is no constitutional right to free junk food. Food stamps are a dietary disaster that spawn obesity & diabetes across the nation","og_url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/","og_site_name":"James Bovard","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","article_published_time":"2017-06-01T14:59:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-06-01T15:51:52+00:00","author":"Jim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jimbovard","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"headline":"USA Today: Food Stamps are a Dietary Disaster","datePublished":"2017-06-01T14:59:48+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-01T15:51:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/"},"wordCount":1018,"commentCount":2,"keywords":["diabetes","disincentive","donald trump","Food Stamps","hunger","Obama","obesity","self-reliance","welfare"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/","name":"USA Today: Food Stamps are a Dietary Disaster - James Bovard","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-06-01T14:59:48+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-01T15:51:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"description":"There is no constitutional right to free junk food. Food stamps are a dietary disaster that spawn obesity & diabetes across the nation","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/10309\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"USA Today: Food Stamps are a Dietary Disaster"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/","name":"James Bovard","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f","name":"Jim","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Jim"},"description":"Bovard's homepage is at http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism &amp; Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10309"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10311,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10309\/revisions\/10311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}