Foodstamp Challenge: First Trip to the Grocery Store

[The Straight Story]

Foodstamp Challenge: First Trip to the Grocery Store


I took my first trip to the grocery store with the daunting task of buying enough food for a week for a total of $31. Why only $31? This is the amount that one week of food stamps would allow me. My head is spinning. I feel vulnerable, angry, tense and frightened.

Along with hundreds of faith leaders around the country and at least a dozen members of Congress, I agreed to join in a symbolic weeklong “Foodstamp Challenge.” All of us pledged to try, for one week, to eat only what would be covered by our allowance on SNAP, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as “food stamps”). The timing is meaningful, as the Congressional Supercommittee on Deficit Reduction will soon reveal its proposal for slashing the federal deficit. According to a national coalition, “Fighting Poverty with Faith,” “Anti-hunger advocates are deeply concerned that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program . . . might be targeted for massive funding cuts or structural changes that could result in enrollment being capped and many struggling with hunger being kicked off the program. These changes would hurt the families still feeling the effects of the recession and the nearly 49 million Americans who lived in households struggling with hunger in 2010. (http://fightingpovertywithfaith.com)

For weeks since taking the pledge, I have been engaged in thought, even obsessed, by questions: “How is it even possible to eat on $31/week? Would there be room for salad (which I normally consume in copious amounts) on this poverty-induced budget? How often would I be hungry? How much weight would I gain by eating less healthy foods? How many free meals can I find for myself – at friends’ homes, at the synagogue, at public events? If my children were hungry, would I be tempted to steal food for them?” And more.

But this was my first time actually going up and down the aisles at the least expensive grocery store I know, carefully checking the price of each item, with some “maybes” in the front of the cart. The result: Cottage cheese - $2.99; 2 cans of tuna fish - $3.30; egg noodles (to make a kugel casserole, to eat for dinner most nights) - $2.59; eggs - $1.99; 1 c. sour cream (to make the kugel more filling) - $.99; Kraft cheese slices (for snacking and cooking) - $4.09; a loaf of bread (not any of the healthy, gourmet breads I like – too expensive) – $1.99; bottle of Diet Coke (can’t live without that) - $1.89; frozen brussels spouts (cheaper than fresh – to serve with dinner all week) - $2.39; two apples (for the casserole? or save for snacks?) - $1.89; 9 small Roma tomatoes (Note: I normally eat about $4/day in tomatoes alone!) - $2.52; one head of lettuce - $1.99; 3 cucumbers (for a rudimentary salad) - $2.67. For a total of $31.29. I had to give back the pasta shells and small container of applesauce – not even money for those.

http://www.startribune.com/local/yourvoices/133385978.html

[MarianJack]

1. We get $185 per month for a family of 3.

Unfortunately, the least expensive supermarket in my area is freakin' walmart. We're able to supplement this by a local food bank that we can go to once a month and a pantry in a nearby town that will give you a variety of fairly good things for $8 weekly. We get by but it's tough. I'm hoping (again) for a job soon.

The $185 averages out to about $45 per week. Fortunately, my wife and I are both very talented cooks and can make a food dollar S-T-R-E-T-C-H!

Thank you for sharing.

PEACE!

[Earth_First]

2. Marian...

I know that this does nothing to help your situation, but just thought I'd offer this to you from afar: :hug:

[MarianJack]

7. Thank You,...

...and a :patriot: back at'cha!

We keep a happy family atmosphere in our little apartment (which is so small that if one of us belches the other 2 risk a concussion). What we've learned in this bush/mcconnell/boehner recession is that our bottom line is that we're a family that loves and needs each other.

PEACE!

[chollybocker]

3. $31 ?

Why, she could get legally drug-tested for that amount of money! :eyes:


(And 'fightingpovertywithfaith' sounds a lot like a Gov. Rick Prayey slogan.)

[elocs]

4. One thing I see right away is that my food prices are way, way lower where I live.

I lived on food stamps for most of 2 years and for most of that time I received $200 a month which was more than enough to provide for my food needs and I thought I ate quite well and never felt deprived in any way. But then I did not eat much meat and preferred simple foods, many of which I made myself.

This month I will be getting about $16 because I am making too much money, but the upside is that at the homeless shelter where I work the employees can have any of the food received or served there (my only benefit). The meals there are prepared by a man who is an ex-chef and are very good, but they have been serving record crowds as of late.

[MedicalAdmin]

5. I'm glad I don't have to do this anymore

Mostly because I couldn't qualify ify life depended on it. On paper my wide make too much gross ( self employed) to qualify for anything but at the same time don't take home enough ( net) to do more than pay bills.

And that means that we are doing better than lots of folks. And that is sad. And it needs to change.

[Fumesucker]

6. $31 is tight but doable.. I average about $40 a week and I don't go hungry..

I'm wondering where she was shopping, prices seem high compared to what I'm used to.

$3.30 for 2 cans of tuna fish?

I pay .62 per can.

Kraft cheese $4.09? The store brand is cheaper and might even be better.

Store brand cola runs about .80 for a 2 liter.

12 grain bread is $2.49

[MarianJack]

8. Even in good economic times,...

...I'm a great believer in store/generic brands.

PEACE!

[grasswire]

9. yeah, that person obviously has never had to pinch pennies...

because some of the choices make little sense.

[JVS]

10. Food stamps are meant to supplement your spending on food, not completly subsidize...

your spending on food. That's why it scales down and tapers off as your income goes up. It is not wise to try to live a whole week on $31.

Let's see. I did some shopping the other day.
5lbs of oranges $2.50
2 3 lb bags of apples for $7
10 lbs of Fettucinne for $7.90
12 26oz jars of spaghetti sauce (meat flavored) $12
Butter was on sale for $2.39 so I got 4 lbs and put it in my freezer.
Quaker oats 42 oz can for $2.50
Milk 2.99
Subtotal: 44.45
Tax 1%: .45
Total: $44.90

Of course, everything but milk and apples was on sale, which is why I stocked up. I always have to read the weekly ads online and then decide where to go an what for.

[madville]

11. In Florida, the maximum benefit for one person is around $250, family can be much more

I went to college with a girl that was receiving right at about $1,000 a month on her EBT card for food. She had five kids and was going through a divorce, $250 a month for her and $150 a month for each kid, so about $1,000 a month. She used to brag about filling up her relatives' freezers with meat near the end of the month before it reset to $1,000 again.

I used to eat off a few bucks a day when I was single and broke. 50 pound bag ($16) of rice and a couple of 20 pound bags ($7 each) of dried beans used to last me a long time lol. When McDonals used to have $0.29 hamburger days every week I would go buy twenty and freeze them to take to work for lunch during the week.

[Bozita]

12. Can you use coupons with food stamps?

If so, the purchase of the local Sunday newspaper might be wise.

Please don't blast me.

Yes, I've never had to go on food stamps. But then, I'm smart enough to know that I don't want to try.

[K8-EEE]

13. I've been on a similar budget before and my tip for November: TURKEY!

The frozen ones are on sale this month for next to nothing, because the stores are vying for you to come in do all your holiday spending there.

In our local (L.A.) stores you can get frozen turkeys this month for $7 for a 12 lb turkey.

Cook it for dinner, then sandwiches, some "tetrazini" type treatment and finally turkey soup, which can be made with canned veggies from the dollar store if fresh are expensive.

Yes, we run the risk of being sick of turkey by thanksgiving but 1 cheap frozen turkey goes a long way towards feeding a family of 5 for a week!

[eilen]

14. With turkey, you just have to be careful if you are at risk for gout. nt

[hunter]

15. I've been "food insecure"

It sticks with you. I get very uncomfortable if I don't have a few pounds of rice and beans on hand, even when our cupboards and freezer are a cornucopia of other foods.

I never again want to be in a place where I can't cook up rice & beans flavored with random herbs and sauce packets swiped from fast food places.

But just because I can do it, doesn't mean I think people living through hard times should do it. Our welfare system needs to be generous. The quickest way to get money circulating in an economy (increasing the number of jobs and raising the standard of living for most everyone) is to tax the stagnant wealth from the top of the system and transfer the money collected to people who have little choice but to spend it on life's necessities and small comforts. "Austerity" measures needed to control inflation ought to be suffered by the wealthy, and the benefits of money creation ought to accrue to the people living in poverty.

People receiving food stamps ought to be able to afford things like fresh fruits and vegetables, a dash of olive oil, and a glass of good inexpensive wine or ale for dinner.