Add high-calorie baked goods and drinks from Starbucks to USDA's list of low-nutrition foods, including cake, cookies, chips and soda, that can be purchased with federal nutrition assistance benefits...Those who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, also known as Food Stamps, can buy Starbucks drinks and foods with their electronic benefit cards in Oregon. During a visit to a Starbucks located inside a Safeway grocery store in Salem, Food Stamps beneficiary Jackie Fowler was filmed by Fox 12 purchasing a tall Frappuccino and a slice of pumpkin bread.
"It's crazy," said Fowler, who showed Fox 12 the receipt for her $5.25 purchase. "They're [Starbucks] overpriced as it is. That's money that somebody could be eating with -- a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk."
Fowler made the purchase for the purpose of the Fox 12 story. Safeway spokesman Dan Floyd said the store recently made the change to accept Food Stamps at the in-store Starbucks stand as "an added convenience to customers."
"We think that compliance with state laws is something we can easily do," said Floyd.
Cookies, ice cream, cake...and Frappucinos approved by USDA...
Under the US Department of Agriculture's SNAP guidelines, America's 45.8 million Food Stamp users can purchase cookies, cake, ice cream, potato chips and soda, among many other food items. Hot prepared foods and foods that will be eaten inside a grocery store cannot be purchased. So Fowler's Frappuccino and pumpkin bread were well within federal guidelines, because both were "cold" and to go.
The register at the Starbucks in the Safeway location considers the purchase a "grocery item" and as long as it's cold, it's allowed, store employees told Fox 12. Fowler was using her SNAP electronic benefits card to make the purchase, called an "Oregon Trail" card in the state.
The two Starbucks items are a high-calorie, low-nutrition use of the federal benefit. According to Starbuck's nutrition information, the Frappuccino (280 calories) and pumpkin bread (390 calories) add up to a whopping 670 calories, or more than a quarter of the government's recommended daily calorie intake based on a 2,000 calorie diet. It also adds up to 230 calories from fat, with 47% of the recommended daily intake of saturated fat, and 33% of daily sodium.
In August, USDA declined to approve a two-year pilot study in New York that would make purchasing soda and sugary beverages off-limits to Food Stamp users. The state wanted to launch the program to track the impact on obesity levels, arguing that empty calories lead to an increase in diet-related disease. USDA said no.
Stand-alone Starbucks stores in Oregon are not accepting Food Stamps benefits, according to Fox 12. But other local grocers with in-store Starbucks, including Albertsons and Fred Meyer, will. Employees at those locations said as long as the beverage is cold or an approved food, which includes sweets, it would be allowed. Certain additions, such as syrup, are not allowed.
A spokesman with the Oregon State Department of Human Services told Fox 12 he wasn't aware that grocery-based Starbucks were accepting Food Stamps.
"We'll contact these grocery stores to get more information and make sure they're operating within the SNAP guidelines," said DHS communications director Gene Evans.
"They need to do something to stop it," said Fowler. She receives around $118 a month in Food Stamps, and described the ability to purchase Starbucks products as "abusing the system."
In a poll by Fox 12, 89% of respondents said Food Stamps benefits should not be used for Starbucks purchases. The poll did not include the total number of respondents, however.
In August, the last month for which USDA data is available, Food Stamp use reached a record level, with 45.8 million Americans receiving benefits, costing the government $6.1 billion for the month.
Fast Food and Food Stamps...
This Fall, fast-food giant Yum! brands, parent of Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut, engaged in an aggressive lobbying campaign to get USDA to allow use of Food Stamps at their restaurants in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Kentucky, which allow certain low-income groups, such as the elederly and disabled, to use the federal benefits in restaurants. But USDA pushed back. Kevin Concannon, the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, told Bloomberg Businessweek that USDA was not interested in allowing Yum! to be part of the program.
"For us to be indifferent to the quality of the food is just a serious mistake," Concannon said. "We should promote access to healthy foods."
USDA should, but doesn't do this in a uniform manner.
*The Fox 12 story was picked up today by Business Insider.
*Image at top of post created during President Obama's 2008 election campaign by PoliticalGraffiti.