Let Them Eat Nutraloaf

It all started with an offhand post on X. Perhaps you’re familiar. I argued that if the point of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or the latest euphemism for food stamps) is to prevent starvation, Nutraloaf could serve the same goal yet still motivate recipients to become self-supporting again. This resulted in a firestorm, many people telling me to kill myself, coverage in the New York Post and Newsweek. And now, here we are.

I’ve noticed that the worst people in the world have an obsession with thinking of themselves as good people. They spend untold hours each day malding at those they feel morally superior to, declaring “You’re a horrible person! Kill yourself!” A deluge of these types found my post and so I thought, dear reader, I’d explain myself to you.

A little about me: I was born and raised in San Francisco. I’m surrounded by people who have an 80/20 view about food. That is, they’re happy to subsist on meal replacement substance like Huel or Soylent 80% of the time and eat at Michelin starred restaurants the other 20%. In fact, several of them responded to my post telling me they’d eat Nutraloaf and asking where to buy it. Call them autists, call them software engineers — whatever you call them, they’re my context.

While it’s true that some states have outlawed feeding Nutraloaf to prisoners as “cruel and unusual punishment”, recall that prisoners have no choice. Outside of prison, there is an abundance of choice such as food banks, hot meals from nonprofits and the old fashioned way: earning enough money to buy whatever you want from the grocery store. Nutraloaf would be absolute last ditch “I would starve to death otherwise” sustenance. And no, I’ll never concede that it undermines human dignity because again, software engineers pay good money to eat nutritionally complete slop. If it’s good enough for some of the most productive members of society, it’s good enough for the food insecure.

I think that we’re too concerned, as a society, about the feelings of those on assistance programs and not concerned enough about the feelings of productive citizens who don’t have much. It should never be the case that someone who’s struggling with multiple jobs to feed their family basics like rice, beans and canned tuna sees someone on food stamps buying crab legs, Red Bull, prime rib, frozen party wings and endless packages of cookies and chips. It’s demoralizing. It creates a perverse incentive: “If I make less money, the government will be my mommy and buy me all the tasty treats I want!”

Besides, the main beneficiaries of SNAP aren’t the program participants themselves, who would be better off with paternalistic controls on their diets. No, the main beneficiaries are junk food and soda manufacturers who lobby hard against any restriction on what food stamps can buy. Soda, which has zero nutritional value, is one of the most popular items purchased with SNAP dollars. These nutritionally-lacking foodstuffs are also some of the highest ROI items available at grocery stores, costing little to produce and having a self life of months to years.

Of the vanishingly few responses that weren’t purely emotional, the most interesting was a question of efficiency. “Wouldn’t it cost more for the government to produce, store and distribute Nutraloaf to everyone who needs it? Isn’t it cheaper to give people EBT cash that they can spend at grocery stores that take care of all of that overhead?”

Sure, but I’m proposing that the only “supplemental nutrition” provided by taxpayer funds is Nutraloaf. That the government list a set of requirements (e.g. minimum macronutrient content, required vitamins, etc per serving) and any private company could follow these and manufacture Nutraloaf for the captive market. Grocery stores would stock Nutraloaf just as they stock Oreos today because there would be guaranteed demand.

Nutraloaf-only food assistance would be more efficient in many ways.

Whenever it’s suggested that the poor could bulk prepare nutritious meals from staples like rice and beans, the common leftist refrain is “they don’t have time to cook.” This is demonstrably false (they’re more likely to be unemployed and underemployed than those with higher incomes), but even if we accept it as true, Nutraloaf would superior to the burden of meal planning. It takes zero time to prepare. No ingredients to think about, no recipe, no cooking, no cleanup. No utensils or plates needed.

No one would remain on food assistance longer than necessary. What’s the motivation to get off food assistance when you can buy just about anything you want at the grocery store? Sure, some are internally motivated to get back on their feet. But those who aren’t would soon get bored of a Nutraloaf-only meal plan. There would be far fewer takers of Nutraloaf-only food assistance than the current SNAP program. Nutraloaf can be made palatable, but never as tasty as lobster and hot Cheetos.

Those eating a Nutraloaf-only diet would be unlikely to remain overweight or obese as some 70% of SNAP beneficiaries currently are. In fact, one study found that SNAP recipients were about twice as likely to be obese as eligible nonparticipants. It’s one thing to offer those in need healthy and nutritious food on the taxpayer dime. It’s quite another to let them buy whatever they want knowing that their preferred foods cause expensive obesity-related health problems which will also fall on the taxpayer. Before you argue about “food deserts,” know that they have been debunked as a concept. “Food deserts” exist due to lack of demand for fresh produce, not vice versa.

To the extent that SNAP recipients factor in added benefits when deciding whether to have more children, we’d see movement in the right direction on dysgenic fertility. That is, fewer people who can’t afford to feed their own children would be opting to have additional children. That extra share of Nutraloaf is not quite as enticing as the current bump in benefits.

One of the only legitimate roles of government is to provide the correct incentives for societal advancement and flourishing. SNAP as it currently exists provides all the wrong incentives and supplements the nutrition of a cohort that is not lacking at all in caloric consumption. It’s time for a better system. Let them eat Nutraloaf.