Superior and Heartless

“Poor people don’t deserve snacks.” Recently this came across my social media feeds in a post shared by friend. I read through the entire post three times before sitting back taking some deep breaths and trying to find grace for the author through the mist of my absolute frustration. I believe the original intent was to draw awareness and spark conversation. One hundred percent food insecurity is something we should all be aware of and talk about.

The author of this post left no room for respectful conversation. There was no option to have a different perspective. This person stated their opinion as fact without even considering the life experiences of someone who supports regulating and restricting snap benefits. I am not so disconnected that I will sit here and say that no one at any point has ever said “poor people don’t deserve snacks.” There are superior people everywhere.

Superiority reigns supreme in the world of the overly political. You know, the ones who wear their political viewpoints as their identifying cape. People either agree with them or they are wrong. The people who are so wrapped up in how you vote that they cannot even consider what brought you to where you stand. As far as the overly political are concerned, the middle of the aisle is nothing more than pit of lava for weak-minded opposition.

As a former child who grew up relying on food stamps and food banks, I support regulating and restricting snap benefits. Before you get your tar and feathers out, please allow me to explain. When I was younger, I watched my mother work the system to her advantage. I listened to her lie, watched her steal, and witnessed her bribe multiple people get what she wanted. More than once, I remember sitting next to my mother as she was filling out forms for government assistance, and feeling the pit in my stomach grow increasingly unsettled as she would whisper to her friend about what she should put down to get the most benefits.

Sadly, even with food stamps and donations from food banks there were still more nights than I can count that my sisters and I went to bed hungry. Our aching bellies were not because the food stamps didn’t stretch far enough. In our situation, my mother was selling or trading the food stamps and food from the food banks to pay for her habits.

My mom was young, intelligent, and capable of working. She went through short burst of time where she held down a steady job. But for the majority of my life, she chose not to work and instead relied heavily on the government and charity to pay for her way and feed her habits. As I got older and came in to contact with more people in my mother’s circle I realized there is a whole population of people who believe and behave like my mother. They lived their lives the way they wanted to and felt strongly that they were ‘owed’.

With that background in mind, I want to jump to present day. My mother is now on social security disability. She is still living off food stamps, Medicaid, and charity. I have placed her grocery order many times and I know what she orders. I want you to think about this, from January 2026 to present day my mother has been admitted to the hospital more than six times for completely preventable issues. She is non complaint with her dietary restrictions and medications which causes a lot of her health issues to flair up. Then she ends up in the ER or admitted, and we the tax payors are paying for her to be treated for the same thing over and over again.

Now, I am not saying that every person on government assistance is like my mother or even close. I am saying, (this part is very important) BASED ON MY PERSONAL LIFE EXPERIENCES, the population of people on government assistance who regularly manipulate, and lie is large enough that we need to have restrictions and regulations on snap benefits.

Further, I think it is very important that we talk about the causational relationship between diet and type 2 diabetes in children. Specifically, type 2 diabetes in children whose families are supported by government assistance. A study released February 2026 examined the increase in pediatric diabetes among youths 18 and younger within the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program. Per this study, type 2 diabetes increased by 24.3% from 2016-2021. Pediatric Diabetes Prevalence Among Medicaid Beneficiaries – PMC

Type 2 diabetes is very preventable, especially in our 18 and underage group. If sick children are not enough to make us stop and think about what regulations and restrictions are needed in our government assistance then maybe the more than $9 billion spent in 2023 on diabetes medication for Medicaid population is. Medicaid Gross Spending on 10 Selected Diabetes and 2 Selected Weight Loss Drugs Totaled More Than $9 Billion in 2023, an Increase of 540 Percent From 2019 | Office of Inspector General | Government Oversight | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

I wholeheartedly feel the largest barrier resolving food insecurity and getting families healthy is the cost of food. It is difficult to push healthy eating when you can’t stretch produce as far as you can chips or a box of sugary cereal. There is also an extreme lack of nutritional education in our lower socio-economic communities. I can go on and on about how people working two jobs just to pay rent are tired and don’t really have the energy or time to do an online nutrition class, learn how to prepare balanced meals, or even to cook at the end of a workday.

I have several ideas on how we could stop the generational repeat by targeting our afterschool programs and educating our kids on nutrition as well as equipping them with skills to prepare their own foods. But that is not the focus of this blog.

Writing this blog, my purpose is to provide a broader perspective. I believe in regulating restricting what can be purchased with food stamps not because I am heartless or superior, but because of my experiences. The thing is, if someone had more closely regulated my mother then the benefits she was receiving through deception could have been allocated to someone who really needed them. Perhaps providing restrictions tax payors would not literally be paying for my mother’s poor dietary choices in the form of medical bills.

We should all care about food insecurity. We should all put our actions where our mouths are. In the spirit of that I will be at Valley Vegas Church at 8 am on Saturday helping with the monthly food distribution. Below I am attaching a link where you can find a local food bank and maybe take some time to get plugged into your community. Maybe make a difference in person rather than just being a keyboard warrior. If you or someone you know is struggling with food insecurity, please see the links below. There are resources available to help get you or your loved ones back on their feet.

Resources