Hipsters on food stamps

A growing number of educated, creative, unemployed 20-somethings are turning to government subsidies to fund gourmet diets. Are they being savvy, or milking the system?

Hipsters
(Image credit: Flickr, ret0dd)

Hipsters – college-educated, creative, often unemployed 20-somethings – are cashing in on the government's recently relaxed eligibility rules for food stamps, says Salon.com. But they're not just buying bread and milk: They're using public aid to purchase trendy high-end foods like Japanese eggplant, mint chutney, and wild-caught salmon. "I'm sort of a foodie, and I'm not going to do the whole 'living off ramen' thing," says one "hipster" interviewee. Should the unemployed be shopping at places like Whole Foods?

This is a racket: These "trust fund babies" might live in million-dollar mansions, says XXL columnist Byron Crawford at BryanCrawford.com, but as long as they're unemployed, they qualify for food stamps. "You can tell they don't really need the money" because they're shopping at "Whole Foods, aka Whole Paycheck." Frankly, I'm outraged and — as someone who works hard for a skimpy salary — "jealous."

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