TOFU  ks sold just like food and is covered.  It's not sold as a dietary supplement.  It's in the produce section, usually in a cooler.  It's a food.  Luxuary shouldn't be an issue with SNAP oir FS.,  That's weird.  Tofu and soybeans anyway are a relatively cheap food.

SNAP and FS, for exameple, can be used to buy extra virgin olive oil and pure maple syrup.  That's my idea of luxury foods.  But they are foods, pure and simple, and more filling than a lot of cheaper food.

I just checked USDA regs. Hot food is not covered.  Buying at a salad bar wiith intent to take it home is cold food.

There are a few exceptions, like sometimes homeless people may use food stamps or SNAP to pay "resaturants" that serve the homeless.

that I do know that the homless do that subway the sandwhich place does that here in town but its a relief about that soybean,but Im just about vegitarain but do really love beef but here in myy state I was told its luxury thats how come the goofie question of mine so atleast say thank you mad4 for the reponse

 Hmmm, maybe Subway has contract to take SNAP/fs to feed homeless.  I never heard of that.

 Tofu is allowed. 

 The usual rule on determine whether or not you can use FS/SNAP appears to be on whether or not it's marketed like food. Some of you appear to want.need some kind of nutritional supplements.  You can go to FDA site for more info.  They have a lot of specialty type foods/supplements listed.  Can always write for a clearance.

 I researched food stamps/SNAP and "luxury groceries."  Other than this blog, I never saw a reference to a grocery receipt rejecting "luxury groceries." Other entries I saw on google referencing FS/SNAP and "luxury groceries"  appear to have been just the writer informally using the term, "luxury groceries."

:Like I said, it appears somebody here bought a "rotisserie chicken" and caused some weird electronic miscommunication that shot out "liuxury groceries not covered."  But the retailer should have caught that, and the"beef" is with the retailer, not the state SNAP office.  Repeated retail violations need to be reported to the state.

 Again, this program exists to benefit the farmer, not you.  Soybeans are grown en masse in the United States.  Tofu is a side product, and selling it as FS/SNAP product benefits the farmer.

 My idea of "luxury groceries" is extra virgin olive oil, pure maple syrup, and pure butter, all of which are covered.  I can't find anything specifically on alcohol-based flavoring extracts, but they are marketed as a food, just like cooking wine, and should be covered.

 Yes, you can drunk on FS/SNAP.

 In the old days of paper stamps with change back, people griped about the recipients using the change to buy beer. Ha! Ha!  Homemade beer and wine made even with baking yeast always have a higher alcohol content than the store-bought stuff.  Why don't the poor just make their own hootch?  Lots of them do.

Dear Mad4color,, As moderator, I just want to point out that there are 2 sides to 2 issues that you raise:

It is quite clear that the farmers are not the onlyones who benefit frooom the SNAP/Food Stamps program.  Recipients benefit at least as much!

Butter, maple syrup, & extra virgin olive oil are common food-stuffs, which peoople may or may not find affordable (I don't find butter to be affordable,but many fidn it irreplaceable),, worth buying because they are so health-providing (olive oil), or worth buying because they are so delicious (maple syrup as a special treat, perhaps to mix in a 1-3 ratio to pancake syrup).  They are NOT "Luxury Items." 

Please understnad that I am not tryiign to start an argument.  I am just setting the record straight. 

I jusst want to let you know ahead of time that if this thread WERE to get into the realmm of flaming, as moderator I can edit it.  But I KNOW that you would not let that happen.  I am very grateful for your expertise.  I just want to stop you when you may be hurting the feelings of a regular poster who bakes very often & relies on butter to create her delicious recipes, for example.

Yours in Hiiim, Deb 

 The purpose of my posts is to tell you that you CAN buy real luxury grocers:  the maple syrup, the butter, and the olive oil. There are also a lof of people griiping about FS recipients buying steaks or shrimip, which are also allowed. They are so much more fillling than less stuff, at least to me. I don't consdier elecrolyte drinks, etc., as luxury groceries and don't' know how they apparently contributed to kicking out a whole order as :"luxury groceris,:" but again I blame that on a hot chicken.

I want you to feel free to buy real luxury foods witrh your assistance.  

 As for food stamps/SNAP benefitting the recipents as much as farmers, well, FS/SNAP simply DOES NOT feed many of the hungry.

 However, I think the 18-50 work requirement may have been partifally designed by former Texas Senator Phil Gramm. He did help  take people with felony drug convictions off after a certain date.  Homeless people not meeting the work requirement may not get assistance.  It's very difficult for a homeless person to participate in a work program, must be clean, neatly dressed, and have transportation.  Futhermore, it mostly does not benefit college students who may be REALLY hungry. However, college students may get student loans and grants, and and if they spend them down, the government will not step in and help feed them, unless they are are working enough or exempt from work registration for reasons like disablity or unless the food stamps program placed them in the school/triaining program.

 In practice, this program mostly benefits peple with children. If you look at it historically, it was designed to benefit farmers, and it still does.  So one of the keys to understand how t it may help you is to understand the forces behind it.

Many of you who post appear to be households of one with some income who post, and you really don't get much food assistance.   One child in the house would make you get a lot more. The program is designed to cover and function as it does, and is not flexible, as in my example of if you spend a bunch of money to move or for a car repair, it won't replace the money spent on those services with extra money for food.

 We really do not have programs designed to benefit the poor or disabled, as Europe does. Most Eurpoean countries have generous health care, unemployment, and housing policies. Example, the federal government pays for certain care for undocumented aliens, like time spent delivering a baby in the hosptial.  Under federal law, hospitals who receive federal funds, Medciare and Medicid, cannot turn emergency cases away.However, the hospitals want payment for these services, so the feds pay them.

 Nevertheless, I am also commenting as Texan, and Texas is always the bottom state in spending on social services.  Other states may have policies that kick in more money that are actually more benevolent than Texas is.

'I have not followed Obama's heatlh care program much, but it seems like he may be trying to move the US closer to what Europe has.

 I am not a follower of economics, but I theorize that America still has a very strong work ethic that impedes social spending.

 There is a lot of economic forces behind the food supply in the US. My local Wal-Marts appear to have better deals on chemicalized, processed foods like mixes and frozen dinners.  But the local regualar groceries appear to have better deals on staples:  meat, fresh produce, grains, dairy products, etc.  The regular groceries may be buying lcoally, whereas Wal-Mart is buying nationally en masse and getting deals on chemicalized, processed food.

 Regardless of what you may read in the media and hear from the politicians, more money is spent on social services in this country all the time.

I've never heard of "luxury" food items, stuff not covered by food stamps. In the state I live in Nebraska, there are few rules. You can't buy hot food, but I can buy the same fried chicken in the cold case made in the deli, just not hot from the deli. Otherwise, it just has to be edible. Believe it or not, bottled water they'll let me buy as it's edible, but rock salt it won't. (Regular salt, yes). Personally, I think it has more to do with the store you were in than the card. The card keeps a monitary balance on it, but doesn't record items you bought. The store keys into their computer which items are covered by food stamps and which aren't. (For example at christmas time you can buy a coffee mug sold wrapped up with packets of cocoa inside. Some stores will classify that as food due to the cocoa, some won't.) I'd call your local state agency that governs your food stamps and ask for a list of what's covered, what isn't, and ask them to explain luxury items. Perhaps since your program was renamed SNAP (it's still called food stamps through Health & Human Services where I live,that you spend on an EBT card), this is a state policy not a federal one.

Yes, dear Kate, you make a very good point about teh nomenclature.  At the State level, the Depts of Health & Human Services, Depts of Human Services, Depts of Social Services, whatever they call teh agency administering "Food Stamps" calls it that.  At teh Federal level, the program is called "SNAP" an acronym for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.  Yours in Him, Deb

Pure olive oil is a subject DEAR TO MY HEART, so I may be volatile when I ramble and wax poetic about it.  

'I have a hard dry chronic skin condition, which is probably the controversial Morgellons Disease, and I consider  olive oil as my primary skin medication. My condition not supposed to be contagious, but nobody really knows.

 After being through inferno on earth, I finally have a decent dermatologist.  He prescribes a cortisone medication, halobetasol, which we use with bandaging techniques to increase absorption, but he doesn't want me to use too much of it due to toxictiy. He thinks I've been a super allergic skin reactor since childhold.

 Because of contact allergies, there are years when I did not use moisturizers because of fragrances and other chemicals.

 I like to put olive oil on my skin.  Last year, I had bought a huge Italian extga virgin olive oil tin on clearance from Kroger for around $10. I asked the doctor about using it, and he said, "Use as much as your want."  I told him I preferred it because it's pure, with no other possible allergens. He said, "You're absolutely right."

I also use other oils like sunflower, grapeseeed, jojoba, and make homemade ointments from oil and beeswax, and sometimes a touch of boric acid. I've even shown him my homemade ointments.

 I get a home health aide to rub my body all over with it  3 times a week. My last aide liked it so well that she treats everyone with it" herself, her mother's shingles, her husband's diabetic ulcered toe, and her 3 year old grandbaby's itching. This is a supplement, not a substitute for prescription care, for her mother's shingles and diabetic ulcers.  Olive oil is a "do no harm," safe, time-tested skin treatment. Maybe the 3-year old granddaughter will never need a dermatologist if she stays away from chemicalized skin lotions.

I had recently bought another huge tin of olive oil on clearance from Kroger for $10 dollars, and she took some of it for a couple of bucks. We were going to split the cost of a more expensive one had I not found ithe biggie.

 That aide wasn't reliable, and a I had to get a new one.

My new aide is an educated Nigerian woman whose husband has a relatively good tech job. When I asked her to pour out some olive oil from the big can into a smaller, easier-to-handle can, she say the $9.39 clearance price on it and SHE JUST HAD TO HAVE ONE for herself.

 I offered her some of my own, and no, she didn't want it. I got to thinking, olive oil has historically been regarded as "liquid gold."  So later, I asked her if olive oil was expensive in Nigeria.  Of course!

 But the issue is, no, she didn't want some of my own huge tin, she wants her own because she will FEEL RICH once she has a huge olive oil.  There are four people in her house, and one, me, in her home. Yeah, she's probably more secure than a lot of you are, but she still will FEEL RICH with a huge olive oil.

The cheapest we have found is Sam's Member's Mark olive oil, 101 oz. for about $13 plus their markup, but she hasn't been able to get there yet to buy it. You can get usually get a Sam's day pass online, or supposedly ask a Wal-Mart cashier for a day pass.  Sam's takes FS/SNAP now.

Big Lots usually has Mediterranean Market olive oil, 17 oz, for $3.50, but I don't think they take FS/SNAP.  My local Fiesta Mart had just advertised Terra Delyssa, a Tunisian brand, 17 oz. for $1.99, but of course, they were out of it when I got there and haven't been able to find out if they give rainchecks due to a language barrier- gotta talk to a manage. If we could buy my aide six bottles for $1.99 Tunisian olive oil, that's like one of those huge times, 102 ounces instead of 101.

 If you need skin oil, even if you have to pay $7 for a 17 ounce olive oil in a grocery store, it's still cheaper than a medical or cosmetic ointment.  

My aide bought a small olive pomace oil in a dollar store (so did I), and it has a higher smoke point anyway, to do her till we find her a big one.  My Kroger tin was in the last suggested month for sale, and that's why it got marked down. It's fine for my skin, and it's fine for cooking for several months. I have it imy fridge. So you might want to check expriatiion dates on olive oils in Kroger and go back to snap up a cheapie in Kroger.

 Consumer Repeorts did a study of 18 brands of extra virgin olive oils and they all taste about the same.  Goya, a hispanic brand, was usually considered the best deal.

 When I researched Tunisia and olive oil, I discovered that Tunisia is the 3rd largest worldwide producer of olive oil. It's highly possible that my aide consumed Tunisian olive oil in Nigeria.

I think Spain is the 1st largest producer of olive oil.  If you have a discerning tongue, there is a slighly different taste from olives grown in different countries.  The Spanish is supposed to tast fruity.  I also have some Spanish oil from Kroger in a smaller bottle, and it does have a fruity taste.

_________

My mother has started making "folded-over olive oil sandwiches" with olive oil instead of mustard or mayonaisse.

Olive oil doesn't "cling" to foods, so I figure it's not "clinging" inside my body.

_________

If you want extra virgin oil and butter, which are my idea of luxury groceries, I want you to be able to buy them with FS/SNAP.  I encourage you to get the best deals.

Sure, you might also prefer a different vegetable oil on your skin.

 Because my skin is so dry, I often use olive oil to help clean my skin. Soap is just altered oil anyway.

You can concoct cleaning supplies on FS/SNAP with baking soda and vinegar.  If you want to scent cleaning solutions, you could buy herbs or alcohol-based extras with your benefits to scent them. Alcohol also has cleaning and disinfecting properties.

I  have not been able to figure out how to make soap on FS/SNAP; lye for soap making is hard to find anyway.  

And household paper products are not covered by food benefits under USDA regulations.  LIke I said before, if you are allowed to be them with FS/SNAP, your state is kicking in extra funds.

Thanks, dear Mad4color, for giving us so much useful info.  I've tagged your post under olive oil & Margellons Disease, so that folks on the web can find it.  Yours in Him, Deb