Posted on 09/22/2011 7:36:30 AM PDT by Abathar
(CNN) -- That is the reality for the more than 40 million Americans who rely on food stamps. According to the Food Research and Action Center the average food stamp allotment is just $30 per week.
I began thinking about taking a food stamp challenge earlier this month when I met several women who we profiled on hunger for two CNN stories airing this week. These women had to make tough choices between paying bills and buying food. Often they skipped meals so their children could eat. Often the amount of food stamps they received was not enough.
Living on a food stamp budget for just one week won't begin to put me in these women's shoes or come close to the struggles that millions of low-income families face every day; week in and week out, month after month. But I do expect to gain a new perspective and a better understanding.
(Excerpt) Read more at theindychannel.com ...
Did you know you can get 50 pounds of raw rolled oats from any feed store for about $15? Cracked corn in 50 pound bags for about $10 (make corn meal and grits).
Looks like it’s per person per week. Which really ain’t tough at all. Of course like all libs he has to make it sound hard and immediately runs for the bland food.
When you’re feeding more people you can buy bulkier food. In general the larger the package the cheaper per ounce, so yeah it does get cheaper per person.
That undoubtedly contributed to how they got to be well off. The discounted meat bin is Hubby’s favorite part of our grocery store. I’ll be picking out produce, and he’ll say, “I’m going to go check out the Manager’s Specials. I’ll meet you over there.” Our store has put Manager Special bins in several different departments of the store now and heavily discounts dairy, meat, flowers, baked goods, packaged food, etc. So now, Hubby makes the rounds to all of them. We don’t buy what we don’t need, but it’s great getting what we need at the discounted price.
That is an outright lie. I REGULARLY stand behind fat assed women (with childrens in tow, of course), young married teeners (again with childrens in tow along with 2nd generation Welfare momma in tow who carries the cash for the beer and Newports) who have 1-2 carts full of crap totalling much more than a $30/week tote. BULLSHIT!
Most food preferences are cultural conditioning.
I make killer tortilla soup. I don't tell most folks that I used chicken feet and comb in the stock, because they love the flavor, but their cultural conditioning would keep them from eating it.
/johnny
Wow, seems I found a nerve - 150+
Some very interesting replies too.
I agree, and I understand these people need help to get over a rough patch. On the other hand, I think we go too far. CNBC had a banker on who said people were being interviewed for a job, but asked if they were hired, could they start seven months down the road, because that's when their unemployment benefits ran out. Extending unemployment comp to 99 weeks is just plain stupid.
There are people on public aid who are in the fifth generation of public dependency. The Times Picayune did an interview (it may still be on YouTube?) after Katrina with a 57 year old lady who had always been on public assistance, except for one year when she worked. She commented: "It was the worst year of my life!" She had five kids, all of whom are on welfare and all by different fathers, and has never been married. She was in an nice-looking apartment with a 50"+ HDTV in the background. When the reporter looked at the TV, the lady got really mad and started shaking her finger in the reporter's face, yelling: "Don't you be lookin' at that TV! If things were right, that should be a plasma TV!" This is the kind of attitude that really pisses me off.
Isn't that the truth? That's almost $500 a month for groceries for a family of four. Even if you had two teenaged boys, you could swing that.
Just scramble the eggs and water the soup, that's what my grandpa always said when another kid was born into our family.
I’ve read your posts about food before and I think I’d enjoy your cooking, BUT, not without a full list of ingredients. LOL
My “cultural conditioning” does not include such parts. Now, hide it in a good sausage and be darn sure I never find out. ;>)
Meat, potatoes and gravy is the cornerstone of my cultural conditioning.
Me too and I echo your thanks to the Lord. We are the people Zero wants to tax to smithereens (not the Buffet tax—I wish!!) but even so, I was appalled that I was spending over $1000.00/month in groceries so I went to a couponing seminar and have challenged myself to pay no more than $100/wk at the grocery store. That still doesn’t include eating out but I’m able to do it most of the time.
I’m building a nice stockpile of pasta, tuna and canned goods which will come in handy in case of a hurricane or other disruptions, and more importantly, I’ve been able to help out several times with people who needed a couple of bags of groceries to get them through.
The real frugalistas among us will laugh, but it’s a great accomplishment for me!
There are certain things I buy a lot of and freeze, I still have several honey glazed smoked spiral cut whole hams in the cryovac that I bought a couple of weeks after Easter, they wre selling them reduced for $.89/lb! I mean a huge whole ham for less than the cost of a pizza?? Throw in a couple of $1/box au gratin or scalloped potatoes, a little butter and milk, plus some good green beans and I eat like a king for days and days. Put the ham in with the eggs, sandwiches, soup, etc. We freeze the leftovers in smaller packages and use it for everything.
Darn, I missed lunch and now I’m hungry as h***...
I think another thing would be to have community gardens and if you work at it, then you get a portion of the produce. It may not work in NYC, but would probably work in other cities.
It's filling. Yummy. Hydrating.
I used to spend about $10 a day at the company cantina for an overpriced special of suspect quality.
I love America.
Please look for the book and share some of the recipes with us. FR has a weekly cooking thread that is posted every Saturday. Here is a link to last Saturday’s thread:http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2779806/posts
that’s nice you miss your father in law. Lord rest his soul. Sounds like a GOOD MAN!
So I left my lunch at home here, came home and am replying to this post eating a raw carrot to top off a baloney sandwich and pretzels rather than buying lunch at work. I’m having trouble sympathizing with someone forced to feed themselves on $30 a week.
Beans and rice and rice and beans. That’s how one gets out of debt and stays out of debt. There is something about a dinner of beans and rice that makes spending money harder for the rest of the day.
“Nutraloaf” (sometimes called Prison Loaf) is already being served in some of our finest correctional institutions. Nutritionally complete, it is cheap to produce, doesn’t require further cooking or refrigerated storage, and can be eaten without utensils or a plate. It is today’s version of Bachelor Chow. Aside from asthetics, I really don’t know of a reason why this shouldn’t be what is handed out in free food programs - maybe not as a steady, loaf-only diet, but as a supplemental meal that can be mass produced and distributed. Motivational too - “Quit Loafing!”.
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