Taisha Simon had heard of people stealing money the federal government gives families to buy groceries, but she didn’t realize she would become one of their victims.
It happened last June when the 42-year-old mother headed out for the big shop she does at the beginning of each month after getting $939 in US food aid for her and her four children.
Her vulnerability, as it turns out, was a plastic, government-provided debit card that relies on outdated technology. The government uses Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards to issue food and cash assistance, and cardholders use them at the point of sale to pay for groceries.
When Simon checked out at her local Aldi’s, her cart full of canned food and vegetables, nothing was left on her card. She paid for what she could out of pocket, but that fell far short of what her family needed.
“I cried every day because my 5-year-old has autism and my 17-year-old has ADHD and ODD and they have food sensitivity,” said Simon, who works as an assistant manager at a retail store. “I wasn’t able to feed them the way they were normally used to eating.”
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