Posted on 12/04/2012 5:02:27 AM PST by from occupied ga
This morning, I will begin living on a food budget of $30 a week / $4.32 per day. This is the financial equivalent of the budget provided to people participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, in the State of New Jersey. I will live only on a SNAP equivalent food budget for the next seven days.
Undertaking what is referred to as the #SNAPChallenge began with a social media-based conversation on Twitter. A Twitter user tweeted me her opinion that "nutrition is not the responsibility of the government". This comment caused me to reflect on the families and children in my community who benefit from SNAP assistance and deserve deeper consideration. In my own quest to better understand the outcomes of SNAP assistance, I suggested to this specific Twitter user that we both live on a SNAP equivalent food budget for a week and document our experience.
A simple conversation on Twitter drew me into the #SNAPChallenge I am beginning today. My goals for the #SNAPChallenge are to raise awareness and understanding of food insecurity; reduce the stigma of SNAP participation; elevate innovative local and national food justice initiatives and food policy; and, amplify compassion for individuals and communities in need of assistance. Over the next seven days, I plan to highlight the voices of people involved in local food policy, the SNAP program, and other related initiatives.
As I begin this journey, I am doubling down on my commitment to the Food Justice Movement that is gaining awareness and participation in this country. We have much work to do at the local level to address a legacy of structural inequities in the American food system. As more and more working people and families - many holding down more than one job - face greater and greater challenges to juggle housing, medical, and transportation costs, meeting nutritional needs becomes a serious problem and a social justice issue. The struggle of children, seniors, and families to have access to essential nutrition is a struggle we are all invested in and we all benefit when families succeed. Now more than ever we are all in this together.
Throughout this week, I will document my #SNAPChallenge experiences and reflections on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and through video on #waywire. If you are interested in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, I encourage you to click the reference links below.
The problem with all of these “I’m gonna live on $XX for one week” tests is that they aren’t very realistic. When you buy for just one week you can’t buy anything in bulk, so you pay a premium. And for me, at least, a bottle of ketchup lasts at least six months. How do I budget that for a week? Or do I just steal some from the local Burger King? I can pick it up while there stealing salt and pepper...
Oh, and I could live—and have lived—on $4.32 a day quite easily:
I could have eggs with home fries, toast (or oatmeal) and coffee for breakfast, almost any kind of bean or legume (or Mexican anything) main dish for lunch, and a recommended portion of London broil with fresh or frozen vegetables for dinner—and I could make that a different dinner every night of the week: a pork chop, meatloaf, tlapia, etc..
My family ekes by on $3.95 per person per day. Been doing it for years.
We eat fresh meat, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruit every day. We also are able to include a few luxury items every month. Plus we’re able to stock up on lots of non perishables.
In a pinch, we could cut our budget if we needed a little extra cash and still be well fed.
“Liberalism” is the political expression of humanism, which is actually Satanism,
so it’s no surprise that any policy intended for good will be turned upside down and twisted for evil ends.
You can’t buy pre-prepared food on that budget,
and the same reason that the majority of people are generational welfare and foodstamp recipients
precludes them from preparing fresh food for their families.
Beginning today I will supplement my grocery expenditures with $30/week stolen from my neighbors. This is know as the Stolen from Neighbors And Pocketed (SNAP) program formerly known as larceny.
Not sure I agree with that one. Where do you draw the line? If you feed somone else's children, then the parents just spend more money on instant gratification. The more you subsidize their expenses, the more money they have to spend irresponsibly. You can't have a serious country and let children go without health care? You can't have a serious country and let children go without dental care? Can't have a serious country and let children go withotu new clother? shoes?
Just because some liberal redistributionist is hiding behind the children, doesn't mean that we should instantly surrender.
There are only two reasons that people don't have enough money. 1. Misfortune, and 2. Irresponsibility. Misfortune (like catastrophic health costs) is by far the less common reason that people go on welfare.
“How do I budget that for a week? Or do I just steal some from the local Burger King? I can pick it up while there stealing salt and pepper...”
You are shaming me. I grabbed a couple of packs of sweetener for my office coffee while heading out the door of the bagel shop this morning.
Agree 100% - I was just simplifying the math (in case any 0bama voters were reading this)
Kibble.
Shelf-stable, nutritionally-balanced (40/30/30), bags of kibble (or other plain preparation like a just-add-water cereal or mash) that are free to any and all to use. It would cost far less than food stamps, it would probably be far more humane, and if people get tired of kibble, they can figure out a way to get real money to buy different food. (I also would predict the rise of a viable 3rd-party market in kibble flavor additives.)
Right. In the olden days this magical place was called a church.
It was a Christian gathering place where neighbors helped their neighbors. It provided charity, support, and nourishment for both the body and soul to those in need. It was wildly successful and lifted up entire communities and strengthened family values. However it was tax exempt and therefore deemed not useful to the government and thus it was replaced.
My thoughts exactly. No prepkg’d stuff. No fast food.
The moment some hack uses “justice” combined with any other word (”food”, “social” etc) it screams out “communism” to me.
What is real justice?
1. If you do the crime, You do the time.
2. If you don’t work, You don’t eat.
3. If you can’t afford it, You don’t get it.
4. If you can’t support your children, Don’t have them.
This country needs more justice. Far too many criminals disguised as food stamp users. Far too many criminals disguised as democrat politicians (Yes I know there are some crooked pubbies too but the odds are almost certain that a democrat is a criminal. Their platform demands it)
Pray for Obama (and the rest of the democrats). Psalm 109:8-9 Let real justice be done!
I don’t like urban areas.
Even in my little farming town of 600 people, we have food distribution at our church every Saturday morning. It is amazing how much is given out.
Sounds like to me that the trend of “urban farming” might be a very healthy option for city dwellers captive in Camp Obama.
I have had thoughts about donating garden seed packets. Talk about a payoff. Small plot gardens are easy and can be very productive. Anyone can grow Okra and it is amazing how much that plant produces.
I garden because I like to, but I could live with what I produce pretty easily.
The author has a reading comprehension and/or logic problem. The ease or difficulty in subsisting solely on the supplumental food allowance in no way addresses the point that buying your food is not the government's (taxpayers') responsbility.
AMEN! That was going to be my exact point. How many that get SNAP also get other assistance?
Besides that doesn’t Booker realize that the S in SNAP stands for supplemental? While it is debatable whether the government should be providing any food assistance, even the Socialist fools who created SNAP did not intend for it to cover an individual’s entire food budget.
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