to think its a disgrace that marks n spencers do not accept healthy start vouchers?

[superv1xen]

i think its disgusting.

as if they are saying, we are marks and spencers and are posh, therefore don't want you single parents shopping here with your "poor people's vouchers", piss off to asda, you are lowering the tone.

the look on the cashier's face when i tried to use my vouchers in there, snobby bitch.

aibu?

Does M&S count as a supermarket though?

Or is that a jaffa cake/ biscuit type question?

'I could understand if people with the vouchers could only use them to buy their stuff from a specially set-up store for food vouchers (they do this in America )'

They don't. Your 'food stamps'/WIC is a swipe card. You just can't use it to buy certain products - booze, fags, crisps/junk food, etc.

There is still abuse of the system, of course. There always will be.

But the attitude towards benefits is very different from here and a whole other discussion altogether.

Oh because I have a friend in S.F and I am sure he told me that you could only use your food vouchers in co-op style shops? Maybe I got that wrong.

My sisters local shop (in a very deprived area) lets you spend your healthy start vouchers on cigs and booze but you pnly get £2.10 worth of the £3.10 value!

I'm sure there will be some MNers who will say that they are perfectly entitled to spend their vouchers on booze and fags and who are we to infringe their human rights by stopping them?

I'm sure it varies by state, cupcake. Much government there is devolved to states to account for geographical differences.

But in Texas and Colorado you just had a swipe card you could use in any big supermarket like a debit card.

Again, though, the attitude towards benefits is different there and, in general, cash payouts of any sort are kept to a minimum when possible. The attitude being that if you want cash to enable choice in spending, you should work for it and that if all your necessities are paid for, then you don't need cash (or very little). Men are also not as able to father children and then abandon their support to the state.

It's not good in many ways, but it is a different country.

you can also use these vouchers in the chemist

Well they are designed to give low income families healthy food.

I get them and am very grateful for them when they plop on the doorstep and we go that day and fill the fruit bowl.

Sad as it sounds they also enable the kids to have fruit like grapes and strawberries because I couldn't usually add them to the shopping at £3 a punnet.

Disenchanted, just out of interest, can I ask where you spend your vouchers? And would you be annoyed that you couldn't spend them in M&S?

And I do sometimes feel handing them over when theres a que behind me but doesn't stop me using them as they do help us alot.

'you can also use these vouchers in the chemist'

Yes, I did not know this until the gal in front of me one time in Boots was using them to get formula.

She then asked why she didn't get points for formula and was told it was because 'the government wants you to breastfeed.'

Just to add; I think that the government should be encouraging greengrocers to use them where possible. I understand that not everyone has a local greengrocer but lots of people do. I can buy a huge bag of fruit and vegetables for under a tenner from mine. Supermarket fruit and veg is pricey.

Well you SHOULDN'T feel , Disenchanted. You're getting fresh veg' down your children's necks. A lot of people I know on decent wages can't be arsed doing that.

I spend them at somerfield (thats my small local branch) and if my mum takes me for a big shop then Asda or Tescos.

I don't go to M&S, I've been in there to buy vouchers for my Grandmas birthday ( ) and a few times to get the £10 meal but I wouldn't buy fruit from there.

Its too expensive.

I would rather go to tesco and get apples, bananas and kiwis with one voucher tbh, even if its smartprice fruit.

i spend my vouchers with the local milkman......keeps him in a job apparently as its a dying thing

You can use them at the chemist for baby formula but nothing else.

You can also use it for cows milk.

Another thought is that perhaps all families earning under say £20K with kids under school-age should get £3.10 in vouchers to spend on fruit and veg? I know plenty of people who won't buy more than a bag of apples because fruit is dear to buy. I think this would encourage a lot of us to get more fresh fruit into our kids.

Only to be used in reasonably-priced supermarkets though.

M&S is not expensive.

It is if you buy their shitty ready meals.....

But I buy bread, milk, bananas, ham, cheese, sausages etc there all the time and it is cheaper than the supermarkets and much better quality.

I used to get luncheon vouchers at my old work and although I loved getting them, it was inevitably a pain when actually paying. Guaranteed the assistant had never seen them before, had to ring for help, do tedious admin etc to process them. Cue other shoppers eye rolling etc.

I think this is to do with the fact of holding up the queue, not having stigmatised vouchers. V unlikely the people behind you can see what kind of vouchers they are anyway.

By ThreeBlondeBoys Thu 06-May-10 14:18:11
i spend my vouchers with the local milkman......keeps him in a job apparently as its a dying thing

Did anyone else picture ThreeBlondeBoys answering the door to milkman in a negligee then seeing him off fifteen minutes later?

No. Definitely need to get my mind out of the gutter.

We are working poor and do not qualify for the vouchers.

I think what I personally mean by M&S being too expensive is that with fruit and veg in tescos and such places you can usually find a '2 for £xxx' offer or they have value apples. I've not seen anything like that in M&S, I think all thir food is the higher quality food tht would be the top range in normal supermarkets, but I would never buy 'tesco finest oranges' which would be the same price as M&S oranges. I would get either any on offer or their value ones, or possibly a bag from the reduced section.

Just did a check. One child aged under age 4, Working Tax and Child Tax Credit.

Nope.

I get apples, bananas and whatever's reduced.

The rest all comes from frozen.

We don't have a M&S for miles.

We sometimes get the meal for a tenner for an anniversary or occassion, though, if one of us is in the area.

By MorrisZapp Thu 06-May-10 14:22:10
I used to get luncheon vouchers at my old work and although I loved getting them, it was inevitably a pain when actually paying. Guaranteed the assistant had never seen them before, had to ring for help, do tedious admin etc to process them. Cue other shoppers eye rolling etc

yes thats embaressing

Also, we ALWAYS buy fruit and veg to the value of the vouchers but it can be embaressing if a cashier insists on tallying up all your fruit and veg to make sure we have enough of it to cover the 2 vouchers we have given them. But we always buy lots of it so its not like we are trying to pass off £6.20 worth of vouches on one floret of broccoli or something!