Chick-fil-A Offers Free Breakfast, But is Not a Food Stamp Restaurant
Chick-fil-A’s free breakfast entree promotion is enticing and helpful to consumers trying to save money, but the fast food restaurant was not included on a recent list of upcoming food stamp restaurants.
Food stamp restaurants are eating establishments that will accept government issued food stamps as payment for food.
Fast food chains such as Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut are looking to cash in on customers who are ready to purchase food with benefits provided by citizen’s tax dollars, according to a recent report by Central Coast News.
Currently, only disabled, elderly and homeless people can use food stamps at restaurants.
Health officials feel that fast food restaurants accepting food stamps will be dangerous to the health of low income families, according to Central Coast News.
According to federal rules, food stamp benefits distributed through the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) generally cannot be exchanged for prepared foods. Elderly, disabled and homeless are excused from the restrictions due to a 1970’s provision.
In the past six years, the number of businesses certified in the SNAP program nearly doubled, going from 156,000 in 2005 to 209,000 in 2010, according to USDA data.
According to USDA records, food stamp benefits increased in that time period from $28.5 billion to $64.7 billion, which means businesses have a lot of profit to gain from accepting government food stamps.
And even though Chick-fil-A is looking to feed hungry customers by providing them with free breakfast all this week, the fast food chain has not confirmed any plans to become a food stamp restaurant.
However, excessive fast food consumption is a dangerous practice, according to health experts.
So either way, customers looking to find a break on food should avoid free fast food breakfasts and blowing their government benefits in these types of establishments and eat healthy.
