Could You Eat On $30 A Week?

CNN/theindychannel.com ^ | September 22, 2011 | Sheila Steffen

[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.

[luckystarmom]

Instead of food stamps, I think that welfare recipients should get coupons for certain foods like:

brown rice
beans
peanut butter
whole wheat bread
powder milk
eggs
apples
oranges
frozen veggies
potatoes

These items will keep them from starving. They don’t need meat because they have brown rice and beans. Hopefully, the apples, oranges and potatoes can be bought by the bag because it’s cheaper.

[Netizen]

Baked potatoes, seriously as long as you eat the skins that is everything you need in a diet right there.

LOL

I have actually had to do just that. There have been various times when money was short and I had to live off the oddest things. I have lived off potatoes for a week. Baked, fried, mashed. I lost 5 pounds that week, which surprised me. Then there was the week I lived on popcorn and another week it was crackers. Another time it was pea soup. If you rotate things around you can still have a decent diet. :)

[kevkrom]

Personally, I think we should give poor people boxes of food.

Actually, I prefer the idea of "kibble". A basic mix of ingredients, probably patterned after the "zone" diet of 40/30/30 carb/protein/fat with USDA recommended levels of salt, vitamins, minerals, etc., included so that you hit 100% on a basic 1500-2000 calorie/day amount.

Make the stuff freely available to all, no means testing. And eliminate food stamps.

You're hungry but have no money for food? There's always kibble. Dull, perhaps, but it'll keep you alive and nourished.

[goodnesswins]

My bad....I completely forgot (maybe because they are things I would NEVER consider)

[ZChief]

“...Thirty years ago when we heard more frequently about those citizens in distress about whom Michael Harrington wrote his book, The Other America, Dr. Logue came up with a captivating idea. You can do away with hunger, technically described, she wrote, by giving away four nutritious enemies of hunger. Bulgar wheat, dried skimmed milk, dried beans, and lard could be given away — courtesy of the United States, which is to say, courtesy of United States taxpayers — to every grocery store in America, free of charge. These would be available at no cost to anyone who came in and asked for them. The vision was of a technical end to hunger, inasmuch as the four ingredients make up 99.99 percent of what is needed to sustain life.”

http://old.nationalreview.com/buckley/buckley012301.shtml

[JoenTX]

Thirty bucks a week is about what I live on now as part of my normal budget so, yeah, it can be done.

I usually buy a number of non-perishables at the dollar store and buy only the fresh items at the grocery store. Thank goodness I like Vienna Sausage, beans, rice, and sammiches anyway or I might be in a little bit of trouble.

This is just my normal grocery buying, not because I’m w/o job or anything.

[Mygirlsmom]

Food stamps are meant to be a supplement, are they not? If these families have cel phones, internet, or buy cigarettes, alcohol, or beauty services, that money could very well be directed toward feeding the kiddies.

[BwanaNdege]

Thank YOU!

(I’m serious)

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

In the cartoon “Futurama” (set 1000 years in the future), there is a food called “Bachelor Chow” that comes in dog food size and style bags (it even advertises “Now with flavor!” on the bag). Your kibble post made me think of that and now people are wondering what was funny.

[Scotswife]

it’s nice to know there are others like us out there.

My kids complain about all the cool stuff their kids have.
Someday, I hope, they will understand that you have to live within your means.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Bologna sandwiches and ramen noodles

---

Those are overpriced processed snack foods.

Try pork shoulder and spaghetti noodles (not necessarily on the same meal).

Or... Tacos! Hamburgers! Spaghetti! French bread pizza! Burritos! Chicken and rice!

A family of 4 on $17 a day is easy. Humans have been cooking for millennia. It seems that some have stopped.

The government needs to stop enabling incompetence, and let people learn some life skills.

[cubreporter]

I think I would buy the very basics with the money and each check add to it. You can bake, cook with next to nothing if you have the basics. I don’t know about anyone else but that’s how I would start. Ya gotta start somewhere.

[3D-JOY]

YES! it can be done.

Start with a reasonable food supply of macaroni and rice etc. Laundry and dish detergent when needed, on sale.

$10 on meat and protein...buy the sale items, eat about 4oz
$10 on fresh produce and fruit...2-3 small servings per day
$10 on staple items and sales...flour, oil etc.
$0 on plastic and paper goods. 1 $10 big roll of wrap lasts a year...wash the napkins and dish cloths...you will be doing laundry anyway.

This week I shopped for 2-3 weeks supply and spent just over $80. I paid , after sales and Buy One Get One sales just over $47. I now have over $10 per week for fresh foods, some baked items and sales that will cover more weeks too.

It can be done and it is very nutritious.

NOW HERE IS THE FINAL PROOF! I fix all main meals for 2 people and give the extra to a person I care about who is now healthier for the good nutrition of my meal-a-day help!

THINK ABOUT IT!

[Kirkwood]

Protein is protein. It doesn’t matter what part of the animal the tissue comes from. It is all the same in terms of nutritional content.

[goodnesswins]

I have never forgotten being in my German Great Grandmother’s kitchen in about 1960, and she said she was going to be making some “headcheese.” She must have seen my puzzled look....”Do you know what that is?” Of course I didn’t...I was about 10....Pig Brains.....aagghhh....now...50 years later....I understand that you can use the whole animal...and will, IF YOU ARE REALLY HUNGRY!

[GraceG]

[ Personally, I think we should give poor people boxes of food.

Actually, I prefer the idea of "kibble". A basic mix of ingredients, probably patterned after the "zone" diet of 40/30/30 carb/protein/fat with USDA recommended levels of salt, vitamins, minerals, etc., included so that you hit 100% on a basic 1500-2000 calorie/day amount.

Make the stuff freely available to all, no means testing. And eliminate food stamps.

You're hungry but have no money for food? There's always kibble. Dull, perhaps, but it'll keep you alive and nourished. ]

http://theinfosphere.org/Bachelor_Chow

[Overtaxed]

A stove is a little harder to come by.

2-burner hot plates are cheaper than the cheap microwave.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Beans and rice with something left over for Tobasco.

---

I’m a Tabasco fan, but if you’re poor, there are much cheaper alternatives. (Visit the Mexican aisle).

[9YearLurker]

Peanut butter sandwiches, cabbage and other inexpensive vegetables, beans and rice. Eggs and bargain meat cuts.

It may not be exciting, but it is healthy, requires only once a week or so cooking—and comes in under $30 a week.

[nomorelurker]

Not a bad idea but I can see the competition from the various food group industries to be included on the list.
These “can you survive on food stamps” threads come up about once or twice a year and are always fun. I won't repeat my just over $20.00 list as it is similar to others posted (does include sardines and other canned fish). It can be done easily and still be healthy.