i'm proud of ted for giving it a go and at least shining some light on the problem. a couple or three years ago oregon was listed as the hungriest state. we've moved up (or down ) a bit but i think we're still in the top 5.
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original-worldchangingEating Organic on a Food Stamp BudgetSarah RichMay 17, 2007 2:05 PM
here's a paradoxical tension between rising public interest in healthy, organic, local food and rising rates of obesity-related illness in the US. To put it simply (and perhaps to oversimplify), there's not a lot of overlap between populations that eat healthy, organic, local food, and those most afflicted by obesity and its consequences, because it's hard to be in the former category when you live on dollars a day.
Nutritional value and cost usually have an inverse relationship, the outcome of which is quite obvious. And although there's a growing number of farmer's markets that accept EBT cards, most food stamp recipients purchase cheap food in big grocery stores. Rebecca Blood has been thinking about this, and she decided to undertake a one-month challenge with her husband, during which they would buy food strictly within the USDA's food stamp budget. But it doesn't stop there -- that challenge was recently completed by the governor of Oregon -- they planned to eat according to the same food standards they normally keep. Their eating habits fairly well match those of the first population mentioned above, so this is where the real challenge lies. They would keep their CSA box coming, continue shopping at the same groceries, and prepare their meals from scratch at home as always.
They're blogging their experience (with beautiful food photos), and so far so good. We asked Rebecca about the experience yesterday, and about how her challenge differs from the governor's. Here's what she had to say:
The $21/week figure is pretty arbitrary. Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski ate on that amount for a week because it's the average amount Oregon food stamp recipients receive. Since then, all the other politicians have adopted that figure, but it's pretty meaningless - in reality, benefits range from $38.75/week per person (the maximum benefit), on down.
As I understand it, the amount anyone receives is based on their income. Everyone is expected to pay 1/3 of their income toward food costs. Of course, that's not always possible, so people do end up trying to live off their food stamp allotment - and to supplement it with Food Pantries and the like.
The number I'm using - $74/week for the two of us - is the amount alloted for 2 people under the USDA's "Thrifty Food Plan" for February (the most recent one available when I started).
It's the government's assumption of the cost for a "Thrifty" healthy diet. It's the number that food stamp allotments are based on - as I understand the system, the Food Stamps are supposed to bring you up to the "Thrifty" amount.
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