Depending on which mouth or should I say the color of the mouth its comes out of, the 'N' word is very offensive to many people. The wrong person uttering the 'N' word will lose their job and if they are higher enough up the social ladder the reason they were fired will be broadcast over the television, written in newspapers and distorted on social media. You know what 'N' word I'm talking about.
Uttered by a black man, the 'N' word is not offensive; uttered by a white man and he needs to hunt another job. Go figure that one out when we claim to be working toward a racially accepted society where people should be based on their character and not the color of their skin.
But there is an 'N' word that's very offensive to me. It's the 'N' in SNAP that stands for Supplemental 'Nutrition' Assistance Program.
Congress recently passed the 2019 Farm Bill to the tune of just under a trillion dollars. Depending on which figures you believe the final figures I saw ranged from about $900 billion to $970 billion.
But as some applauded and some lauded the earmarks in the bill, one thing stuck out to me: about 80 percent of the Farm Bill was earmarked for 'Nutrition' and most of that money goes to the SNAP program, or food stamps as most of us call them.
That leaves about 20 percent for crop insurance, commodities and conservation. Maybe the term 'Farm Bill' is an oxymoron, but then again, maybe it's not.
The problem I have with the 'N' word in SNAP is the fact that the tax dollars used to fund that bill include a lot of food that is far from being nutritional.
If you think a couple of candy bars, a bag of potato chips, and a soft drink is a nutritional breakfast, you have lost your mind.
But all those items are eligible to be purchased with a 'Nutritional' SNAP card. If we really want to get rid of the 'N' word, we need to take it out of SNAP and simply call it SAP – Supplemental Assistance Program, because what we've got now certainly saps up most of the tax dollars.
After breakfast, how about a carton of ice cream covered in M&Ms and a few energy drinks for lunch. It appears the U.S. government feels those are nutritional items so why don't we include that on the lunch menu at school? I'm sure students would love that menu vs. green beans with carrots, a few English peas on the side and a slab of over-cooked ham. Don't forget the mashed potatoes that I used to get at school and needed a knife to cut through.
It may have changed now, but back when I was in school, Friday was soup day where you could see all the peas, carrots and beans that weren't eaten through the week.
President Trump and many members of the Republican Congress tried to add work requirements for able-bodied people to receive food stamps. That never happened and I don't think it ever will.
Will I ever see the day junk food is taken out of the SNAP program? I don't think so because the lobbyists (and farmers) who produce the items needed to make such junk food won't let it happen.
I hear a lot of concern about children when they start talking about SNAP. If the federal government is going to spend this much money, it should start by offering free breakfast and lunch to all students who, by law, are required to attend school.
Ask yourself a simple question. What's more 'Nutritional', a Subway sandwich or a candy bar? You can buy a candy bar with a SNAP card, but the Subway sandwich is off limits.
It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but are a lot of things that on in Washington that don't make much sense.
At least get the title correct and take the 'N' word out of SNAP.
