food stamp strings

Some people are already doing it by teaching people how to shop for and cook healthy meals on a budget: http://www.vermontguardian.com/local/112004/hunger.shtml

I’m working on setting up this same course in my town.

Frozen dinners are EXPENSIVE for what you get inside. Packaged snacks, even if they’re cheap, are for the most part useless as food. It is cheaper to eat healthy food than “junk” food, if you know how. Let’s teach people how.

(Your link isn’t working from here, so I can’t see exactly what restrictions are proposed, but soda pop and potato chips don’t fit anyone’s definition of “healthy”.)

Can they make healthy food taste better too?

Yeah. I’ve noticed that you can eat really cheaply if you get most of your calories from ice cream, and it doesn’t require the amount of cooking that say flour or rice does.

It’s still vastly cheaper to cook a large meal using fresh goods and freeze part of it for the next day. I learned to cook and eat from grandparents who farmed during the Depression. I think what is missing in the discussion is the psychology of attainability and faux prosperity. For most of the poor in America, foodstuffs are the only attainable luxury they have. The ones that I’ve worked with repeatedly tell me that they KNOW it’s far cheaper to buy a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread and 3lbs of apples. But they take the bus, work in a crap job, etc. etc. The perception of luxury when you have a frozen lasagne and garlic bread meets a psychological need.

I don’t say it’s a good thing, but I think that’s a lot more at play here than anyone wants to admit.

Our nation’s anti-poverty programs still have a large anti-starvation element about them. It’s a vestige of the Depression era birth of many of the programs or their predecessors. We have a different problem confonting us today. Not a lack of calories, but a lack of the right balance of calories.

However, Chris is right to be skeptical about legislation based on an incomplete scientific theory.

I work in a grocery store. Every day I see people using their food stamp cards to buy cookies, doughnuts, chips, soda, etc. The majority of these food stamp users are very overweight and tell me that they cannot work due to illnesses like diabetes, or back and knee injuries, so they collect these benefits. As the food that they don’t even have to pay for makes them fatter, they get more health problems that cause them to miss work for longer periods of time (or just collect disability), which in turn sends them to doctors that, again, they usually don’t have to pay for. I would also like to add that a lot of these people drive newer cars and wear name brand clothing. One woman told me about her $120 a month cable bill. Some have many tattoos and piercings, which are not cheap. How can they afford these things if they can’t even afford food? I see young couples on food stamps out at bars all the time. They get to spend their money on alcohol and let the government worry about how they will eat their next meal? I think this program needs to be investigated thoroughly, and people need to realize that buying food is a necessity, not something you cannot afford after all of your money has been spent on entertainment.

Well, we receive food stamps (my husband, myself, and two small children). I can tell you firsthand that I am not “ignorant” nor am I “lazy.” My husband was laid off from a factory job that he worked at for years. We both decided to return to school to get degrees so that we can get better jobs and not need the assistance someday. In the meantime, it comes in handy. I grew up with a mother that was a wonderful cook. She made everything from scratch. Do I know how to cook like this? YES! Do I always have time to do it? NO! Contrary to popular belief, these days, ALL food stamps recipients are required to either be working, enrolled in a work training program, or have a documented disability that prevents them from doing so. If I was to say that my husband and I never purchases soda pop or frozen pizzas or even chips, I’d be lying. Of course we do. But we also purchase more wholesome foods that I use to create great meals. However, I am a full-time student with two children under age five, so I do not always have time to make every single thing we eat from scratch. My point is that, with some people, it’s not that they can’t cook or don’t know how; it’s a matter of not having time. They use these types of foods as a convenience. That’s what we do, but as I said, junk food does not constitute our entire diet, or even most of it. It’s just a quick and easy “go to” for very busy days.

Laura, you seem quite ignorant yourself making observations and generalizations about seeing “young couples on food stamps out at bars all of the time”….you must be a bar-hopper yourself to be there frequently enough to see this behavior. Maybe you should visit the funny farm and they can do a thorough investigation of your mental state. BTW tatoos and piercings are quickly on the rise amongst the white collar community right along with the blue collar community. In addition these are services that are often provided by trade in our poverty ridden community, so to say that they’re all spending their money on these items blatently exposes your lack of intelligence. Lastly diabetes is not only developed from being overweight, it is also hereditary; another one of your comments that expresses your gross lack on insight on the topics you chose to comment on. Knee injuries are common among veterans; once you have one, they typically prevent you from working out at a normal level and soon obesity follows.

From a mom earning her BS in mathematics using food stamps and federal aid to be a first generation graduate. I also hold an associates in teacher education. Your comments are absurd! It is a disgrace that if you are that close minded that you would actually take the time to expose it to the world.

As has been stated earlier, the author of this article is very ignorant. Fresh, whole foods are soooo much less expensive than processed food. Have been living on $100-$150 a month for 2 in Los Angeles which includes food (fresh, unprocessed), paper and personal care items. We both work 50-60 hrs a week and can afford to spend much more but choose not to. Eating well is a decision it is not based on money. Cooking from scratch is NOT that time consuming and requires little experience ( do it a while and you will become experienced). Our weekly menu includes HEALTHFUL portions of steak, fresh seafood, slow cooked chicken and pork. This is accompanied with large portions of fresh veggies - very little rice or pasta is ever used. Food stamps provide a larger budget for food than I currently use- there is NO EXCUSE to not eat well- It is the individual’s responsibility to do what is right and stop looking for every excuse under the stars why you can’t do something- ENOUGH is ENOUGH!

thanks for your observations from behind the counter. i’ve observed many times people rolling up to the counter with a cart full of soda, chips, desserts, frozen items. not one vegetable or fruit or anything healthy, then pay w/food stamps. disgusting. i think it is a travesty that people are allowed to use food stamps to purchase junk food that does nothing to provide nutrition. after all, isnt the program named ‘supplemental NUTRITION assistance program’? in the good ol days, cigs were able to be purchased with food stamps also–until disbanded. i’ve also seen a relative with an ivy league education use food stamps, but then using cash to buy liquor and starbucks. lets all recognize that people will use ‘free’ goverenment assistant programs; welfare, housing, food stamps, free breakfast/lunch school programs, etc, and then use their money for entertainment, cigs, alcohol, brand clothing/accessories, nice vehicles, etc. why? because they can. ethics rarely factor into peoples decisions when they get free, free, free. people can come here from other countries and get free or very reduced everything, so what incentive do they have to stay in their home country? entitlement and laziness easily creeps in to the human psyche.

i think the former administration of the food stamp program where people had to go to government run wherehouses and only choose from what was provided, was a good program. it had no room for abusive practices (other than people falsley claiming the need for assistance) as is now. no junk available, just food, and not great food at that, but if a person is truly hungry, they will eat it. the pizza shops that are allowed to take food stamps also, really? please.

some sort of regulation would obviously seperate the need from the abuse. people seem unable or unwanting to make good decisions on their own when choosing ‘food’ if its free to them. if people want soda and junk food on the cheap, go to the dollar store instead of using working peoples hard earned tax dollars to induldge yourselves.

I too have tried to extol the virtues of cooking larger meals. I tried to explain this last to this homeless man who was trying to purchase food items that required no refrigeration or preparation. I tried to tell him that he could soak some lentils overnight in some rain water that filled a hubcap. And then, he could slow cook some tougher cuts of meat in the heat of an abandoned car on the dashboard for a few hours. Tenderizing the meat appeared necessary as his dental plan looked as though it lacked basic care. He could just get the salt off of his skin and season his food to his liking.

But alas, I couldn’t convince him to make more than one meals worth of food at a time because he was plum out of Tupperware, probably from the last gathering he hosted under the bridge. Sometimes guests forget to return storage items timely. And freezing would be problematic for him, too, until he, you know, gets a home, buys those plastic storage items and pays for some electricity, etc. Shame on him for buying things that don’t need preparation, fancy slow cookers, and electricity to turn into a large meal that he can have for the next few nights. Let’s penalize him for sure because my educating him apparently did little good.