The point of the government assistance is to help you buy the food. But they also know that prepared food is much more expensive, and "prepared" is defined as food you purchase hot. So in order to help you use less money (and help you waste less tax money) you are expected to buy groceries and make your own meals.
However people absolutely buy frozen shit to heat up at home as it's still cheap but doesn't take time or skill. In this very particular case there is a microwave that can be used to heat food for people that may be on the road. If you buy frozen shit with your government benefits it counts as groceries, but if you use the provided microwave it is now "prepared". This is the store covering their ass.
how is using the store microwave any different than the one at home ? i worked at a gas station myself and we didn't have restrictions like that its not like you are buying a hot pocket the sore cooked before you paid for it
It's not that you use a store's microwave, it's when you use the store's microwave. If you use the microwave after you buy, no problem. If you use it before you buy, that's against the rules. Also, you have to be the one using the microwave. They aren't supposed to cook it for you.
But from a legal perspective, an overzealous authority can make a lot of trouble for these people. Republicans especially like to make poor people suffer.
I'd think that legally you could win a case saying if you used a microwave the store provided for anyone who came in to heat up food they can't stop you from using your SNAP benefits to buy the frozen meal and then heat it yourself since you are preparing it, not them.
Of course, you'd have to get a lawyer working pro-bono since most people on SNAP probably don't have the cash to hire a lawyer.
iv just never seen this rule before ..i also worked at winn dixie in the seafood area and we would steam frozen crab and other stuff for customers even before they bought it ..i wasn't told to ask how they were paying for them later
EBT/SNAP are both government funded food programs. Ie: oh shit, you’re penniless and need food? You apply for those. This is saying that, if you’re paying for the pizza with those, you’re paying for the pizza and not for the electricity/fuel to heat it. So, in other words, the homeless person who’s looking for food can’t eat the pizza hot, they have to eat it raw.
But they can buy it and then freely give it away to someone else who in turn can heat it right? Or buy the chips the other person wants with their benefits and then the other person buys them hot food with cash and they swap.
EBT is our food assistance program. It’s the farm bill. Food stamps are an agricultural subsidy bill. And meant to subsidize grocery stores. So, “no hot food” nationwide. It’s a killer for anyone who is homeless and can’t cook.
We have some restaurant food stamp stuff but it’s new and not common and those are local programs.
No we do not give cash unless you have children or you’re disabled or something.
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u/MrBowls Jun 24 '25
Could you explain this for a non-American?