This is a editorial by Charles Lane in the Washington Post about the paper's story on Woonsocket, RI.  I guess they felt they had to give their readers some criticism of the SNAP program to interest the readers that lean conservative. 

First off the WIC program is a rationing system with ration coupons that is based on the mother's pregnancy, the age of the child and how many small children.  It has a limited amount of products that are offered and has been cut back several times by the government. There are less items now offered then there was when it started. The grocery stores usually have the items marked on the shelf as WIC to make it easy to find them so you don't pick up the wrong brand.  It is run like the ration system we had during WWII.  This is something my mother pointed out to me when the program first started.  The way the customer had to sign the coupon reminded her of the war rationing.  I have been in grocery store check out lines where other customers get cranky about the hold up because each coupon has to be rung up with separate receipt so the store can turn them in with the coupon for credit.  There are many working poor that receive WIC but don't receive any other assistance.  Every few months the mother has to see a councilor and sometimes they check and weigh the baby to make sure he is thriving. The amount of items are adjusted as the child grows and basic nutrition changes.  Comparing WIC to SNAP is stupid because they are not close to being the same thing.

Second, poor people are not stupid.  Yes they do buy treats for the family.  Mostly they work very hard to stretch their food stamps as far as they can with cheaper food.  There is need for more education and advice on getting the most from their food dollar.  They live under some major challenges and I find many of my neighbors are real heroes at getting through the day.

Most elementary schools request you send a healthy snack to school everyday for your child for snack time. There are rules about what the child can bring.  So things like string cheese, apples and granola bars can really take a bite out the food budget.  This is why I bake so many muffins.  I send two when the kids ask for extra for someone else.  There are kids that have to go without snacks.  Now should we restrict the Little Debbies they can take to school as junk?

The idea that soda and chips should be restricted sounds good but impractical.  What do you do when you have a sick child that needs fluids and the doc says give them Sprite to drink?  It is easier to talk a stubborn 5 year old into eating a sandwich they have decided they don't like with a bribe of a handful of chips or cheese puffs on their plate. When you know what it is like to live on skid row, editorials like this one is misinformed and a little mean.  Besides how would you police the restrictions?