i to think about this exact very thing for myself and family quite often as i’m also right in that lower spectrum of middle class i guess you could say. i mean don’t get me wrong, we live ok and we also take care of my disabled mother for the last 11 years( disabled by my own brother) (but that’s for another story another thread) but we never have any “extra” if you can call it that to prep for shtf situation that i know will happen eventually : /
Mike
When I was a kid - about 10 or 11, my dad walked out on my mom leaving her with five kids - one a baby. She was forced to go on welfare/food stamps. It was humiliating for her, but she had no choice. She made the most of those food stamps, buying canned goods on sale and stocking up, marked down meats, bread at the bread outlets, etc. She never bought goodies, instead baking us cookies, cupcakes, etc. We did not eat grand, but we had basics. She could make a heckuva good meal with cheap ingredients, and we did not starve. She got off welfare as soon as she could, when she got a full-time job at the local university in the maintenance dept. By then I and my twin sisters were old enough to babysit. That was back in the 60’s, so 13 and 14 was old enough to take care of younger siblings. NONE of us five kids are on welfare. We knew mom did what she had to do. Meanwhile, I get my frugal ways having watched her. I think the prepper thing comes from that experience.
Bottom line, if you need the foods stamps, and use them wisely, then go for it. They can tide you over until your circumstances improve.