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Unfortunately because of lobbying efforts the public doesn’t have access to that data, that’s right tax payers aren’t entitled to know where taxpayer funds are

Unfortunately because of lobbying efforts the public doesn’t have access to that data, that’s right tax payers aren’t entitled to know where taxpayer funds are being spent. There are FOIA requests and subsequent lawsuits to get the information and you can see the industry argument for yourself, but these businesses feel they would be stigmatized if the public knew how much they made from taxpayer funded programs and they feel they would be at a disadvantage with landlords in negotiating rent if they knew how much they received from these programs. They also double dip and both Amazon and Whole Foods accept SNAP benefits/EBT, after a 20% discount, I’m sure it’s a significant amount, after they are the largest employer of SNAP beneficiaries in many states.

sokoloff 5y ago
I don’t think SNAP/WIC recipients should have any less right to privacy around their grocery purchases than you or I do. I trust that the SNAP/WIC administration can/do monitor purchases for fraud, but beyond that internal use, I do not believe that data should be released in any form that could possibly be linked to an individual purchaser (which would include links to their employer). If you and I have that privacy, benefits recipients should as well.
- throwawaycities 5y ago
  > I don’t think SNAP/WIC recipients should have any less right to privacy around their grocery purchases than you or I do. That is great if you want to protect the privacy of the businesses, but businesses disclosing the total they make from these programs has nothing to do with privacy of individuals. If Amazon and Whole Foods had to disclose they made $1B each from SNAP last year, there is clearly no privacy concerns linked to individuals involved. There is absolutely no information of the individuals involved. Not even the industry has attempted to make privacy arguments, which again are publicly available if you wanted to learn about it and are limited to concerns of being “stigmatized” if the public learns how much the businesses make from these programs and fear that disclosures would hurt negotiations with landlords.
  - sokoloff 5y ago
    What possible difference could it make to landlords if they knew Whole Foods made 3%, 8%, or 11% of their revenue from WIC/SNAP? To a grocer, it's just another payment method.

sokoloff 5y ago

I don’t think SNAP/WIC recipients should have any less right to privacy around their grocery purchases than you or I do. I trust that the SNAP/WIC administration can/do monitor purchases for fraud, but beyond that internal use, I do not believe that data should be released in any form that could possibly be linked to an individual purchaser (which would include links to their employer). If you and I have that privacy, benefits recipients should as well.

throwawaycities 5y ago
> I don’t think SNAP/WIC recipients should have any less right to privacy around their grocery purchases than you or I do. That is great if you want to protect the privacy of the businesses, but businesses disclosing the total they make from these programs has nothing to do with privacy of individuals. If Amazon and Whole Foods had to disclose they made $1B each from SNAP last year, there is clearly no privacy concerns linked to individuals involved. There is absolutely no information of the individuals involved. Not even the industry has attempted to make privacy arguments, which again are publicly available if you wanted to learn about it and are limited to concerns of being “stigmatized” if the public learns how much the businesses make from these programs and fear that disclosures would hurt negotiations with landlords.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  What possible difference could it make to landlords if they knew Whole Foods made 3%, 8%, or 11% of their revenue from WIC/SNAP? To a grocer, it's just another payment method.