Wisconsin To Start âPavement to Plateâ Food Stamp Supplement Program
Food stamp recipients in Wisconsin may soon have the option of adding an unusual protein source to their diets. Governor Scott Walker announced plans today to implement a meat supplement program that will repurpose the stateâs road kill into meals for those on food stamps. The program is being called the âPavement to Plate Dietary Assistance Programâ. The program is slated to be implemented for voluntary enrollment this summer, with plans for it to become the primary source of meat for food stamp recipients by 2015. As part of the program, overall food stamp benefits will be cut by 10%. Five percent of that reduction will be reinvested to pay for the collection and processing of the automotively harvested animals. The proposed plan is being touted for its economic and environmental efficiency, as well as its ability to create jobs. With the savings obtained from cutting food stamp benefits, the state will hire collection crews that will scour the stateâs highways for fresh roadkill. The animals will be collected in specially equipped refrigeration trucks, and transported to a meat processing facility that is being built at the Okhall Correctional Institute in Oregan WI. Inmates at the correctional facility will process the carcasses, primarily for ground chuck, hot dogs, and (of course) brats. The meat products will then be shipped to distribution points where food stamp recipients can purchase them. Food stamp recipient Tonya Frindle is not convinced that the change will be good, but is trying to keep an open mind: âI am awfully partial to my roast turkey slices, but if I can get a lot more meat for the same price, I guess Iâll try it. Itâs hard to feed my family on what we get now, so if the amount of meat we get increases, Iâd be real happy. It donât [sic] matter much to me where it comes from, a bratâs a brat at the end of the day.â Governor Walker had nothing but praise for his proposed plan. In prepared comments regarding it, he offered the following: âI am really proud of what we can achieve with this kind of thinking. We are able to utilize the bounty and natural resources of our great state to reduce the burden of poverty without increasing the burden on our job creators. Since announcing this plan, I have had several food stamp recipients come up to me and thank me for what we are doing. They are so glad that their burden on the state is being reduced.â Collection crews are on schedule to begin operating next month, and the program should be fully operational by summer.