WIC

it Florida there are specific brands that has to be approved by wic, and the cash register doesn’t accept it unless a manager overrides it (but they only do it in extreme circumstances like CY milk and the check doesn’t say cheapest milk)

I think you already answered your question.

It is not only WRONG morally and ethically, but it is FRAUD committed by both the consumer and the store owner. Both should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

And we wonder why the United States is in the financial shape it’s in.

Would it be proper for me to walk into TOI’s store and when he/she wasn’t looking, take $50 from the cash register? Would it make a difference if TOI would never find out about it? Would it make a difference if I claimed Daas Torah allowed me to take it?

Why do people bring up this kind of stuff here, in a public forum, instead of privately asking a rav?

Can threads be deleted?

wic is not a card like food stamps. its a check that says what you can buy with it and how much it can cost. I cant really figure out how anyone would think its ok but who knows….

ef: They restrict it to certain brands because those manafacturers pay the State to do that. i.e. Kellog’s only but no General Mills.

while there are ‘wic approved’ brands, like ‘hacham’ said, those manufacturers pay wic for this privilege. HOWEVER, stores routinely allow you to take different brands, based solely on price point. what nobody has mentioned yet is that wic checks are designated to specific foods, but ALSO to a specific price. for example, a milk & juice check might say 3 milks and 1 juice, TO NOT EXCEED $22 in cost. therefore, some stores don’t care what milk or juice brand you take as long as it doesn’t exceed $22, which would then cost them $$. as far as im concerned, if the amounts are the same (# of pkgs or ounces etc.) and the store allows you to take better brands, this is not stealing on your part. whether the store has a liability, or is doing something illegal because they are allowing other brands to be purchased, is their issue, not the customer’s. as long as you stay under the price, you are not stealing from the government.

that being said, to specifically take a brand that is the wrong measurement, or to take food in the incorrect amounts would surely be stealing. for example, i have 48 oz juice on my check and i went to a certain store to get wic food. i asked the storeowner what i could take and she said i could take the 59 oz tropicana juice, since it didn’t come in 48 oz and ‘its all the same anyway’. i did not feel comfortable doing that, since my check was only for 48 oz.

‘ef613’ i think the bottom line is that one needs to use their seichel. just because a storeowner may be letting you steal from the government (as in the above tropicana example), doesnt mean you can or should. but the distinction needs to be made between what is stealing and what is acceptable.

p.s. the next time i went to that store, the owner told me that tropicana was not a choice anymore. so it seems he did teshuva 🙂

and ‘yacr85’ you can’t by cheesecake on wic. i think ur confusing with food stamps

I don’t use WIC. I don’t know the rules. I would suggest reading the fine print to find out what the government is really makpid. I don’t know the Rav, but how can he say so unequivically that as long as you buy these staples, that’s all the government cares about. Did he ask? If every 5 years these companies bid a price, then you can be sure the govt. is makpid (as are the winning bidders) that you only take the approved brands. I sold things to the government for almost 10 years, am familiar with the RFP process and under what terms and expectations companies bid and awards made. In the case of OJ, let’s say for example that Tropicana came in with a price of $2 for a container, it is based on assumptions (which is based on govt data) of how many containers will move off the shelves. The more people that take another brand instead doesn’t allow them to charge more. The RFP surely contains language and assurances that the govt will take steps to ensure Tropicana (or whoever is the winning bidder) that those who use WIC will take their brand.

Everything else aside, what ever happened to “hin tzedek”?

“she said i could take the 59 oz tropicana juice, since it didn’t come in 48 oz and ‘its all the same anyway’. i did not feel comfortable doing that, since my check was only for 48 oz.”

Here, he store was giving you 11 ounces free. They will only get reimbursed for 48 oz. from the gov’t.

I had a different problem, I wanted to return WIC items because either it was pesach or we were moving and I told them it was WIC and the cashier said it doesn’t matter and gave me back money, now is that stealing?

Here, he store was giving you 11 ounces free. They will only get reimbursed for 48 oz. from the gov’t.

The government pays more for 48 ounces than I pay for 64 ounces.

I was once in a store and saw that the most expensive eggs were the medium size. When I asked the manager about the pricing he told me that almost all medium eggs are sold under thw WIC program so he charges the maximum allowed price, for the other sizes he had competitive prices.

who said this thread was closed?!?!?!?!