College and Food

In my Junior year in college I had just enough for tuition and rent on a basement apartment with three other roommates. Food was the last thing on my mind. I had also started reading Russian literature, Tolstoy, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, and thus I felt that living on rutabagas, dry milk and tea would help my understanding of life. My budget was $5.00 per week. I can safely say I never went to a school cafeteria to buy anything in my full four years.

The benefits, lack of obesity, clear mind etc. Oh yes, no beer either. I had a room mate at the other end of the spectrum who stocked up on Stouffers frozen meals. Well beyond my budget at the time.

Now comes the latest Government give away plan. HR 3875. We are going to extend the student meal program to College students. But wait...

In my graduate days we had a large building where communal meals were held. Walker Memorial. As I had noted before Walker Memorial was a place to meet and share ideas across a broad spectrum of disciplines. Now it is a performing arts center or something. Different sharing and different ideas. Meals are high carb Starbucks stuff, drives your blood sugar through the roof and starts an early demise. High triglycerides replaced cigarettes.

The Bill states:

This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to expand the eligibility of students to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) to include individuals enrolled in an institution of higher education who: (1) have an expected family contribution of zero, as determined by the procedures established the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA); or (2) are determined to be independent based on specified criteria included in the HEA.

So we now offer SNAP to College students. Not processed cheese and peanut butter (unless of course mother never fed you any) and we all get to pay for it. Why not rutabagas?