Monterey, CA : California Food Assistance Programs Being Taken Advantage Of By Small Stores

by Richard Kuehn on 04/22/12

Monterey, CA : California Food Assistance Programs Being Taken Advantage Of By Small Stores  :  View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

There was a sad story in the New York Times today about some small grocery stores in California that have been ripping off the government assisted food programs.  Many of those on food stamps or other programs like the California WIC program (for Women, Infants and children) don't have transportation, so they shop at stores that are within walking distance.  Seniors, in particular, will often go to the corner market because it's more convenient and although they do expect higher prices than they would see at Costco, they don't expect it to be outrageously priced.  It's a tragedy that merchants would take advantage of these needy people in order to boost profits.  The article listed one store which had a package of 18 tortillas for $7.80, for which the government footed the bill.  A mile away at FoodMaxx, the same package of tortillas was $1.44.  "No one should be using these programs to reap obscene profits off of the backs of mothers and young children," Rev. Douglas Greenway, president and CEO of the National WIC Association, a non-profit group, told the New York Times.  A flurry of mom and pops have signed on board to be able to take government assistance vouchers recently, but as it turns out, many are doing so to gain a quick profit from the poor.  In February of 2012, stores with just one or two cash registers were reimbursed at a rate that was 50% higher than prices paid to other vendors for comparable foods, according to the U.S.D.A.  The prices are twice as high as the difference in prices paid to stores with one or two registers in 2008 and 2009.  This type of price gouging cannot go on and authorities are looking at ways to crack down on it.  A reporter accompanied one voucher recipient to a store which had a separate shopping section just for those using vouchers.  Not a cheaper one as you would expect, a more expensive one!  In this special section, a 64-ounce bottle of Hansen's orange juice was $7.99 while in another part of the store it was sold for $4.69 to those not on government assistance.  Let's hope that California authorities put a stop to these shenanigans quickly.  Our state has problems enough making ends meet without having stores jumping through hoops to make a huge profit off of government assistance programs.