• AmbitiousProcess (they/them)@piefed.social
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    4 months ago

    Also causes a lot of confusion for more niche products. For example, my local store has glass bottles of milk where you can return the bottles to get some money back, but EBT doesn’t cover the cost of the bottle, even though the milk itself is cheaper than the other milk options when you factor in the value from returning the bottle.

    Everyone on EBT either needs extra cash to pay the bottle deposit, or they spend more money on milk.

      • AmbitiousProcess (they/them)@piefed.social
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        4 months ago

        For returnable ones?

        Legally speaking, that store could get in big trouble. That’s why my local store doesn’t do it. That’d be equivalent to them letting you exchange your SNAP benefits for cash, since the bottle could be redeemed for money/credit.

        • A_Drusas@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Yes, for returnable ones. And no, it wouldn’t. Do you know how much those bottles are worth? Almost nothing.

          • AmbitiousProcess (they/them)@piefed.social
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            4 months ago

            It doesn’t really matter how much they’re worth, it’s considered an exchange of SNAP benefits for goods or cash not covered by the program. In my area they’re a few bucks, which isn’t nothing, but even if they were worth less, the store could permanently lose its ability to take SNAP payments if they were found selling the returnable bottles for SNAP credit.