首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
A major study of the grocery-buying habits of millions of Americans released late last year found that people using food stamps
A major study of the grocery-buying habits of millions of Americans released late last year found that people using food stamps
admin
2018-01-01
67
问题
A major study of the grocery-buying habits of millions of Americans released late last year found that people using food stamps generally make the same unhealthy food choices as everyone else in America. Too many sweets, salty snacks and prepared desserts, junk food, in other words. But when it came to soda and its sugary ilk, the results were more surprising, and not in a good way. According to the USDA-funded study, shoppers using food stamps spent a larger share of their budget—9.25% to be exact—on sugar-sweetened beverages than other shoppers. Even more startling: Food-stamp shoppers bought more soda than any other single grocery item.
The new data revived an old debate about banning soda from the $71-billion food-stamp program. In February, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing to gather testimony about the pros and cons of such a restriction. It does seem counterproductive to spend billions of taxpayer dollars in an effort to improve the nutrition of low-income Americans on a product with little or no nutritional value. It is called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, after all. And soda had been identified as one of the prime culprits in soaring U.S. obesity and Type 2 diabetes rates.
The study and committee debate raised some of the same uncomfortable issues that have caused the proposal to languish in the past. On the conservative side, folks have worried that this type of nannystate regulation will lead to other heavy-handed health-related restrictions. Liberals, meanwhile, have been concerned that it is patronizing and punitive to tell people how to spend their government benefits. Add in the opposition from beverage industry lobby and it’s no surprise this idea hasn’t gotten very far when it’s been proposed. In recent years, a handful of states and cities have tried to impose such a requirement, but were blocked by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The difference now is that the attitude toward soda has rapidly soured as more evidence has poured in that beverages with added sugars are making people fat and sick. The USDA has issued dietary guidelines warning people to limit their consumption of food with added sugars, the largest sources of which are sweetened beverages. This belief helped San Francisco, Philadelphia and handful of other cities push through new taxes on soda. A handful more are considering their own soda levies.
We know that there are detrimental health effects of drinking lots of soda, but we don’t know if barring SNAP recipients from spending their benefits on soda will really improve their health. It’ s worth finding out by undertaking a limited pilot program, regardless of the qualms we may have about imposing restraints on the poor that better-off Americans don’t face. The assumption is that those billions of dollars not going to buy Coke will be spent on healthier food. But that may not be the case. What if consumption of other sugary items increases? Or if SNAP recipients simply transferred their sweet drink habit ounce-for-ounce to more expensive and still sugar-laden fruit juice? Or if they spent their non-SNAP money on soda? Before making a permanent change, we need to know if it would improve nutrition or be pointlessly punitive.
But it is a good step to take to gather data. And the argument that it would be too hard on grocers to carve out sugary drinks doesn’t hold water. As the study shows, modern grocery check stand technology is sophisticated enough to easily separate out purchases by UPC code. Indeed, SNAP already comes with restrictions on alcohol, tobacco and hot foods. Grocers don’t have a problem sorting them out. The Women, Infant and Children food-assistance program is even more prescriptive, permitting only specific items to be purchased: milk, cheese, cereal and formula, for example, but absolutely nothing with added sugar or artificial sweetener. Ideally, a pilot program would also find ways to improve access to safe drinking water. Denying poor people the ability to use food aid to buy a Coke on a hot day may raise some unsettling questions. Yet the findings in the USDA’s study about excessive soda consumption shouldn’t be ignored.
The expression "nannystate regulation" (para.3)______.
选项
A、reveals the confrontation between the conservatives and liberals
B、displays the affirmative attitude of the conservatives
C、shows the conservatives’ contemptuous opinion towards the regulation
D、tells us the concerning and caring nature of such regulation
答案
C
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/glSO777K
本试题收录于:
NAETI高级口译笔试题库外语翻译证书(NAETI)分类
0
NAETI高级口译笔试
外语翻译证书(NAETI)
相关试题推荐
下面你将听到的是一段介绍美国著名导演斯皮尔伯格的讲话。StevenSpielberg’sfirstfilmsweremadeatatimewhendirectorswerethemostimportantpeople
Manyyoungpeopledoubtthattheirdreamsforthegoodlifecouldevercometrue.
Thetwomenhavebeenveryintimateandreliablefriendsthroughouttheirlives.
A、Inthe21stcentury,Asiawillbecomethecenterfortheworldeconomy.ZB、Internetisamajordrivingforceforthespreadof
A、isespeciallyharmfultochildrenB、iscausedbystarvationC、affectsadultsonlyD、isconfinedtoLatinAmericaA能够根据题干关键词找到原
TheGermancourtisfacingalegaldilemmabecausethelawhasn’tstipulatedthepunishmentof________.
Economicsendowsprospectivebusinessmenwithquiteafewdesirablequalities,suchasintelligenceandintuition.
A、ManyAmericanscannotaffordhighereducationbecauseofthesoaringcollegetuitionfeesandexpenses.B、Sendingtheirchildr
A、Designingfashionitemsforseveralcompanies.B、Modelingforaworld-famousItaliancompany.C、WorkingasanemployeeforFer
Today,ifyoumadealistofthemassmediayouuse,youwouldhavetoaddnewertechnologiessuchascable,satelliteTV,PDAs
随机试题
某外贸进出口公司2011年8月从国外进口20辆小汽车,海关审定报关资料后确定每辆车的关税完税价格是50万元。海关对每辆车征收了10万元的关税,并分别代征了每辆车的进口消费税20万元和进口增值税13.6万元。由于开展业务的需要,该公司将其中一辆小汽车留在本单
对心肌损害诊断最具有特异性的血清酶是
在中脑上、下丘之间切断脑干的动物,将出现
A.胰腺出血坏死B.脂肪坏死C.两者均有D.两者均无急性出血坏死性胰腺炎引起
10.我国《刑法》第二十一条规定,为了使国家、公共利益、本人或者他人的人身、财产和其他权利免受正在发生的危险,不得已采取的紧急避险行为,造成损害的,不负刑事责任。紧急避险超过必要限度造成不应有的损害的,应当负刑事责任,但是应当减轻或者免除处罚。该条文中的价
(2005)某大城市的三级医院拟建下列四栋楼房,其中属于乙类建筑的是哪一栋?
下图为某山岳冰川的等高线地形图。甲、乙、丙、丁代表冰川地貌。E、F、G、H代表观景候选位置。回答问题。下列地点中,能见到图中地貌景观、海拔最高的是()。
背景:“信、达、雅”三字翻译标准是由()提出来的。
DuringJapan’sbubble-economyyearsoffiscal1983-1990,consumerspendinggrewatanannualized5.5percentinrealterms.But
WhatdoIwant?It’sreallyavery【C1】______question:yetmanyofusarenotsure.【C2】______itdoesn’thavetobeallthatdi
最新回复
(
0
)