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 – 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."
"Oh hell no — hipsters on food stamps"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Wait, healthy food is a basic right: The "hipsters" in question are just being smart, says Gerry Mak at Lost at E Minor. Eating healthily is one of the best ways to guard against illness — and that's a serious concern for unemployed, uninsured individuals like me. "Good friends and good food are the last things keeping me healthy, happy, and sane."
Sure — but within reason: The "central problem" here isn't that "hipsters" are using food stamps to buy healthy foods — it's that they're buying exotic ingredients at specialty grocers, says Dan Mitchell at the Big Money. Obviously, "the answer lies" in somewhere in the middle: Buy fairly priced, nutritious food at a normal grocery store. But "wait until you're back on your feet before you shop at Whole Foods."
"Using food stamps at Whole Foods"
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Cuba's mercenaries fighting against Ukraine
The Explainer Young men lured by high salaries and Russian citizenship to enlist for a year are now trapped on front lines of war indefinitely
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Living the 'pura vida' in Costa Rica
The Week Recommends From thick, tangled rainforest and active volcanoes to monkeys, coatis and tapirs, this is a country with plenty to discover
By Dominic Kocur Published
-
Without Cuba, US State Sponsors of Terrorism list shortens
The Explainer How the remaining three countries on the U.S. terrorism blacklist earned their spots
By David Faris Published