A woman revealed that she used her food stamps at Erewhon, an upscale grocery store. Viewers are divided.
TikTok user @mpdginthekitchen posted the “exposure effect networking” video on Friday. The TikTok, which shows @mpdginthekitchen sipping on an Erewhon smoothie, has since amassed 945,000 views and more than 1,400 comments. The video’s text overlay reads, “At erewhon (on EBT) … billionaires walking behind me (they pay real cash money to grocery shop here).”
She drinks her exorbitantly priced smoothie as Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” plays in the background. In the caption, she writes, “someone here hire me.. or marry.. idc atp.”
In the comments, users expressed disbelief that Erewhon even accepts food stamps. Others were outraged that someone would use their SNAP benefits there. Other users defended @mpdginthekitchen.
“Erewhon on EBT is crazy,” wrote one user.
One user wrote, “Something so wonderful about going to fancy grocery stores with EBT.”
Another user didn’t know until watching the video that Erewhon even accepted EBT. “OMG u can get erewhon with ebt?!?! i’m getting on a bus rn,” they wrote.
However, not everybody was so chill. One user tagged California Gov. Gavin Newsom, writing, “This should be illegal.” Another user joked, “I’m crying bruh he rlly tagged Gavin newsom.”
Someone else said, “Ppl in the comments complaining about using EBT Erewhon. You’re only contributing cents on the dollar to EBT. Your taxes are funding wars.”
One user simply said, “honestly this is a slay.” @mpdginthekitchen replied, “E in ebt stands for erewhon.”
@mpdginthekitchen Exposure effect networking.. someone here hire me.. or marry.. idc atp #erewhon ♬ MILLION DOLLAR BABY (VHS) – Tommy Richman
Where you can use EBT benefits
According to the National Council on Aging, you can not only use your EBT benefits at grocery stores, but you can also shop for food at superstores like Target and Walmart. Additionally, SNAP benefits can be used at farmers markets, Amazon, and Instacart. It’s important to note that you can’t use SNAP benefits to buy prepared hot foods, alcohol or tobacco products, vitamins, cleaning products, or paper goods.
But even if you can, is it still weird to use EBT on the food at Erewhon? Three years ago, a Reddit user posed this very question to the r/LosAngeles sub. In response, one user wrote, “It’s not weird at all. Use the funds in wherever works best for you. Who cares what others think. I use it at erewhon and wholefoods. Ebt does not need to be synonymous with low quality food.”
The Daily Dot reached out to @mpdginthekitchen via TikTok direct message and Erewhon via website contact form for comment.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
