Are you kidding me? The only fish he would allow them to have would be canned tuna fish or fish sticks? Really?
The cost to our society of treating people with Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and stroke amounts to $238 billion a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The biggest contributor to the rise in Type 2 diabetes in America is rising obesity rates, according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, published in 2014.
Yes, junk food and hypermanipulated, processed foods are cheaper and more readily available to poor people everywhere. That's why our society is obese. The fact that poor people can't afford to buy foods that provide proper nutrition is why Food Stamp recipients should receive kudos for trying to serve a healthy meal to their family instead of a beat-down in the form of ridiculous legislation from a clueless suit like Brattin.
Let's take his beloved FISH STICK as an example, and compare it to something he would certainly consider to be much too luxurious for the commoner, such as a four-ounce piece of MAHI MAHI.
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| Greasy fish sticks. |
Four-ounce serving of mahi: 1g of fat
Processed fish sticks are high in saturated fat, the bad kind that causes heart disease and raises blood cholesterol levels.
Fish sticks: 472mg of sodium
Mahi: 128mg of sodium
Children ages 1 to 8 should have no more than 1,000 to 1,200 milligrams per day, so that's almost half their daily allotment in four fish sticks alone.
Fish sticks: 23.6g of carbohydrates
Mahi: 0g of carbohydrates
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, children beginning at the age of 1 year, and continuing through their teens, should only consume 130 grams of total carbs daily. The majority of their carbs should come from whole grains, fruits, vegetables and beans. In addition to being sources of carbohydrates, these foods provide the nutrients that support children’s growth and development. They don't need to come from processed fish sticks that contain almost no nutritional value. Because that's what makes kids obese.
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| A much healthier alternative, grilled mahi mahi. |
Fish sticks: 12.4g of protein
Mahi: 26.8g of protein
Mahi gives you more than twice the amount of protein needed to fuel healthy bodies.
Fish sticks: 280 calories
Mahi: 96 calories
An equal portion of fish sticks gives you almost three times the calories of a piece of mahi.
According to Fitday.com and Sparkpeople.com, frozen fish sticks are very low in nutrients and contain no vitamins that growing children need, such as A, B, C or any other vitamin. No vitamins at all. Mahi, on the other hand, serves as an excellent source of essential vitamins. The fish contains several B vitamins, including thiamin, riboflavin and vitamin B-6 and a particularly rich source of niacin, or vitamin B-3, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. Your body needs B vitamins to support your metabolism, and these nutrients also help nourish your skin and liver.
That's just one example of the hypocrisy of Brattin's proposed legislation. Don't even get me started on the health benefits of shrimp, which is like a perfect, natural superfood. It gives you almost no calories, zero carbohydrates, only about 60 milligrams of sodium for 5 shrimp, it's an excellent source of selenium, vitamin B12, protein, and a host of vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids. Studies show selenium deficiency is a risk factor for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, depression and reduced cognitive function. Having it in your diet can play a role in reducing these risk factors.
What about steak? Will he dictate what kind is OK to buy with your dreaded fooders before he and his cronies are offended? Can a struggling mother make a pot roast to feed her family of four on Food Stamps? What about a sirloin steak on the grill? Or God forbid a ribeye? Is it only prime cuts of meats that he finds so abhorrent that a poor person would dare to squander their gov'ment funds on it? The monthly allotment for a family of four is not much more than $500-$600 a month. One person gets about $194 a month. Not much room for the occasional steak or seafood purchase to be a problem if they're going to eat anything else during the month.
Let's see ... Brattin gets $104 a day for food during session, a Food Stamp recipient gets, tops, $194 a month all year long. And the Food Stamp recipient isn't sitting on a cushy job making nearly $36,000 a year in addition to their benefits and their "real job" - owning a drywall company in Brattin's case.
This coming from a man who is on the Children and Families Committee of the Missouri House of Representatives? He owns his own business, attends church and has three children, according to his bio on the Missouri state website.
I guess his children, in his humble opinion, are more deserving of luxurious proteins than the commoners of his state. I wonder what would happen if he invited a Food Stamp recipient to dinner at his house? [Yes, I know, I'm sure it would never happen because his children wouldn't be allowed to associate with "those kids."] Would he allow them to partake of his steak or crab legs if his wife happened to serve them?
Oh, and he won't allow cookies, chips or soft drinks, either.
"No children, no treats for you. We're too poor for the occasional RC and a Moon Pie. Maybe we can put them on layaway at Kmart and have them at Christmas."
Being a Republican or being more wealthy in general makes him no better or deserving than the people struggling to make ends meet that avail themselves of the Food Stamp system. What a pompous way to treat your fellow human beings.
While aimed at his own state, in essence he's telling 46 million Americans on Food Stamps that they aren't good enough to eat steak. I'll bet the Beef Council won't be happy about that. Imagine what that would do to beef consumption if 46 million Americans had to stop buying steak. In Missouri, 15.6% of the population is on Food Stamps. Not nearly as many as in other, poorer states. Maybe that's why he's so clueless. Mississippi, Tennessee and Oregon rank in the Top 3 states for Food Stamps usage. Missouri ranks 17th. I guess he's not worried about that portion of his constituency.
This Americans Against the Tea Party blog from 2013 is worth re-reading when you think about judging a Food Stamp recipient. Here's the link: Scathing Letter from Food Stamp Recipient
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| Rep. Rick Brattin |
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| Former TN Sen. Stacey Campfield |
Under Campfield's 2013 bill, welfare recipients would have faced a loss of benefits if their children showed poor academic performance. Right, beat 'em while their down, boys.
Proverbs 14:31 says, "Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him." I wonder if they'll talk about that in Church Sunday morning?
Don't get me wrong, I feed my kids fish sticks every now and then myself, but that's my choice. I don't think it's right to have someone dictate what a person may or may not buy for dinner just because they are on Food Stamps. They should not be ridiculed or looked at with disgust because they are buying healthier choices for their family meals.
