Is eating healthy on food stamps possible?

SmartAlec03211988

When I was on food stamps I was only given $50/mo. (seems disabled people get a lot less than those who aren't... WTF?). Shopping healthily on that kind of budget was impossible.

Seriously, $50 a month? They *did* eventually raise it to $86, but then lowered it down to $83, then again to something like $69.

Ridiculous.

susannamarie

I think it is very difficult if not down right impossible. Food stamp benefits differ by the state you live in and most states do not give people the kind of benefits you are speaking of. I am disabled and I get disability and my food stamps are 50 dollars a month. I dare any one of you to try and eat on 50 dollars a month much less eat healthy. I am offended people speak without proper knowledge of what they are talking about. If someone is telling you they are getting 700-800 dollars a month even with a lot of kids they are lying to you.

My mother's getting a little more than you, but not much, also for disability. But she had a tenant for a while who had custody of one child. For the one child alone (not for him) he was getting 360/month.

wheird

We can "what if" all day. People need to eat. Unless they live in a pretty rural area, most of their groceries will come from a grocery store. They may suppliment their shopping with convenience stores, but as you mentioned, those stores are more costly and restricted in terms of variety. And if you live in a place with a bus route, then it will be going past a grocery store.

There are plenty of small towns and suburbs with either no or very inefficient bus service. If it's a 2 hour ride each way to get to the grocery, that's pretty limiting both on how often you can go and on whether you can do stuff like stock up on frozen vegetables.

At my grad school, there was a bus route, but it was literally an hour at least (assuming the buses were on schedule) to get to the grocery and the same home again. Most of the students who didn't have cars either ate the crappy food in the cafeteria or bought junk at the convenience stores that WERE within walking distance.

In the town my ex lives in, to get from his place to the decent grocery was a 1.5 hour bus ride involving a transfer, or the other option was a cab fare. Meanwhile, there was a tiny local grocery that sold overpriced stuff and not very good.

In the town I am now, there is absolutely no public transportation. From my apartment to the dollar general (which is NOT a good place to shop for healthy food) would be a half an hour's walk. From my apartment to the decent grocery would be an hour's walk, and then carrying food home again. And there are people who live much further than I do from a grocery.

So do you have no transportation? Wouldnt the savings from grocery shopping easily cover the cost of cab fare?


A good question, how many people on food stamps do not have a vehicle?

ldrosophila

We can "what if" all day. People need to eat. Unless they live in a pretty rural area, most of their groceries will come from a grocery store. They may suppliment their shopping with convenience stores, but as you mentioned, those stores are more costly and restricted in terms of variety. And if you live in a place with a bus route, then it will be going past a grocery store.

There are plenty of small towns and suburbs with either no or very inefficient bus service. If it's a 2 hour ride each way to get to the grocery, that's pretty limiting both on how often you can go and on whether you can do stuff like stock up on frozen vegetables.

At my grad school, there was a bus route, but it was literally an hour at least (assuming the buses were on schedule) to get to the grocery and the same home again. Most of the students who didn't have cars either ate the crappy food in the cafeteria or bought junk at the convenience stores that WERE within walking distance.

In the town my ex lives in, to get from his place to the decent grocery was a 1.5 hour bus ride involving a transfer, or the other option was a cab fare. Meanwhile, there was a tiny local grocery that sold overpriced stuff and not very good.

In the town I am now, there is absolutely no public transportation. From my apartment to the dollar general (which is NOT a good place to shop for healthy food) would be a half an hour's walk. From my apartment to the decent grocery would be an hour's walk, and then carrying food home again. And there are people who live much further than I do from a grocery.

So do you have no transportation? Wouldnt the savings from grocery shopping easily cover the cost of cab fare?


A good question, how many people on food stamps do not have a vehicle?

another good question check out the atlas here this also shows access to vehicle
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas/go-to-the-atlas.aspx#.UoF6M_mkry4

SheDino

Can you eat a low-cal diet on SNAP (formerly called Food Stamps)? Yes. You will need to buy it and prepare it, but it can be done. Low-carbing might be a bit more difficult as protein foods tend to be pricier than fats and carbs, but I believe it could still be done. What is impossible is buying heat and eat food on a SNAP budget and eating healthy. To eat heat and eat meals on SNAP, you would have to buy the cheaper meals and those tend to be the ones with empty carbs and tons of fat.

It is simple enough to read the label and create your own 100 cal portions of snacks instead of buy those portion already packaged at a much higher price. It is not hard to make yourself salad for lunch, but it takes time.

I'm on the Mediterranean Diet for my health and weight loss. I likely spend less than SNAP allots for a 2 person household. Things like brown rice, lentils, barley,chick peas are inexpensive when bought dried or raw and cooked. I buy the spices at an international grocery store where they are far cheaper than from places like Kroger/Albertsons.

wheird

We can "what if" all day. People need to eat. Unless they live in a pretty rural area, most of their groceries will come from a grocery store. They may suppliment their shopping with convenience stores, but as you mentioned, those stores are more costly and restricted in terms of variety. And if you live in a place with a bus route, then it will be going past a grocery store.

There are plenty of small towns and suburbs with either no or very inefficient bus service. If it's a 2 hour ride each way to get to the grocery, that's pretty limiting both on how often you can go and on whether you can do stuff like stock up on frozen vegetables.

At my grad school, there was a bus route, but it was literally an hour at least (assuming the buses were on schedule) to get to the grocery and the same home again. Most of the students who didn't have cars either ate the crappy food in the cafeteria or bought junk at the convenience stores that WERE within walking distance.

In the town my ex lives in, to get from his place to the decent grocery was a 1.5 hour bus ride involving a transfer, or the other option was a cab fare. Meanwhile, there was a tiny local grocery that sold overpriced stuff and not very good.

In the town I am now, there is absolutely no public transportation. From my apartment to the dollar general (which is NOT a good place to shop for healthy food) would be a half an hour's walk. From my apartment to the decent grocery would be an hour's walk, and then carrying food home again. And there are people who live much further than I do from a grocery.

So do you have no transportation? Wouldnt the savings from grocery shopping easily cover the cost of cab fare?


A good question, how many people on food stamps do not have a vehicle?

another good question check out the atlas here this also shows access to vehicle
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas/go-to-the-atlas.aspx#.UoF6M_mkry4

Map statistics arent my strong point. Is it suggesting that in SoCal there is a high amount of people with no car and low access to grocery stores?

ldrosophila

We can "what if" all day. People need to eat. Unless they live in a pretty rural area, most of their groceries will come from a grocery store. They may suppliment their shopping with convenience stores, but as you mentioned, those stores are more costly and restricted in terms of variety. And if you live in a place with a bus route, then it will be going past a grocery store.

There are plenty of small towns and suburbs with either no or very inefficient bus service. If it's a 2 hour ride each way to get to the grocery, that's pretty limiting both on how often you can go and on whether you can do stuff like stock up on frozen vegetables.

At my grad school, there was a bus route, but it was literally an hour at least (assuming the buses were on schedule) to get to the grocery and the same home again. Most of the students who didn't have cars either ate the crappy food in the cafeteria or bought junk at the convenience stores that WERE within walking distance.

In the town my ex lives in, to get from his place to the decent grocery was a 1.5 hour bus ride involving a transfer, or the other option was a cab fare. Meanwhile, there was a tiny local grocery that sold overpriced stuff and not very good.

In the town I am now, there is absolutely no public transportation. From my apartment to the dollar general (which is NOT a good place to shop for healthy food) would be a half an hour's walk. From my apartment to the decent grocery would be an hour's walk, and then carrying food home again. And there are people who live much further than I do from a grocery.

So do you have no transportation? Wouldnt the savings from grocery shopping easily cover the cost of cab fare?


A good question, how many people on food stamps do not have a vehicle?

another good question check out the atlas here this also shows access to vehicle
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas/go-to-the-atlas.aspx#.UoF6M_mkry4

Map statistics arent my strong point. Is it suggesting that in SoCal there is a high amount of people with no car and low access to grocery stores?

just briefly looking at say san diego looks like about 15% of that pop has poor access to grocery store <1% has no access to a car. Safe to assume if one lived in san diego there would not be a problem to access to food

susannamarie

So do you have no transportation? Wouldnt the savings from grocery shopping easily cover the cost of cab fare?


A good question, how many people on food stamps do not have a vehicle?

I don't know. I have transportation now, but if I didn't, it would be rather awkward.

The savings from grocery shopping might *if* you have the money to spend on cab fare. You can't really spend food stamps on cab fares to the grocery, and if money really is that tight, spending extra money so that you can eat more healthily may not be in the question.

It also sorta depends on how much you get at one time. In my ex's case, he'd go to the grocery once a month on the bus and buy a whole bunch of rice and canned curry and the like, because it wouldn't go off by the time the next month rolled around. He would get vegetables and meat too but they'd only last a week before he was out again, so he mostly lived off carbs because they stored better.

wheird

We can "what if" all day. People need to eat. Unless they live in a pretty rural area, most of their groceries will come from a grocery store. They may suppliment their shopping with convenience stores, but as you mentioned, those stores are more costly and restricted in terms of variety. And if you live in a place with a bus route, then it will be going past a grocery store.

There are plenty of small towns and suburbs with either no or very inefficient bus service. If it's a 2 hour ride each way to get to the grocery, that's pretty limiting both on how often you can go and on whether you can do stuff like stock up on frozen vegetables.

At my grad school, there was a bus route, but it was literally an hour at least (assuming the buses were on schedule) to get to the grocery and the same home again. Most of the students who didn't have cars either ate the crappy food in the cafeteria or bought junk at the convenience stores that WERE within walking distance.

In the town my ex lives in, to get from his place to the decent grocery was a 1.5 hour bus ride involving a transfer, or the other option was a cab fare. Meanwhile, there was a tiny local grocery that sold overpriced stuff and not very good.

In the town I am now, there is absolutely no public transportation. From my apartment to the dollar general (which is NOT a good place to shop for healthy food) would be a half an hour's walk. From my apartment to the decent grocery would be an hour's walk, and then carrying food home again. And there are people who live much further than I do from a grocery.

So do you have no transportation? Wouldnt the savings from grocery shopping easily cover the cost of cab fare?


A good question, how many people on food stamps do not have a vehicle?

another good question check out the atlas here this also shows access to vehicle
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas/go-to-the-atlas.aspx#.UoF6M_mkry4

Map statistics arent my strong point. Is it suggesting that in SoCal there is a high amount of people with no car and low access to grocery stores?

just briefly looking at say san diego looks like about 15% of that pop has poor access to grocery store <1% has no access to a car. Safe to assume if one lived in san diego there would not be a problem to access to food

Yeah...access to food here really isnt a problem. I have 12 grocery stores within a 5 mile radius of my home. I also travel around a lot and I have never had to go more than 5 miles for a grocery store, with the norm being around 3.

quiltlovinlisa

We were on foodstamps for about 3 years. My husband owned his business and we alternated between getting a few thousand a month to live on to nothing other months. Hard times.

Anyway, our family of seven received anything from $350 a month to one block of six months when we didn't have an income, $1,000.

For my family, getting help did not change my purchases except I was able to buy meat for my family, which we were unable to do before.

We're not on foodstamps anymore and haven't been for a few years but in reality, it's suppose to be supplemental. I was able to buy perfectly healthy foods and a few treats for $500 a month but obviously by the money we received with no income, it was expected that we spend a lot more on food for everyone.

But I bake, I cook from scratch, I have mad kitchen skills, we have fruit trees, grape vines and in the summer, a garden to supplement our food budget. I hardly knew what to do with $1,000 a month. It was INSANE.

tiggerhammon

I think it is very difficult if not down right impossible. Food stamp benefits differ by the state you live in and most states do not give people the kind of benefits you are speaking of. I am disabled and I get disability and my food stamps are 50 dollars a month. I dare any one of you to try and eat on 50 dollars a month much less eat healthy. I am offended people speak without proper knowledge of what they are talking about. If someone is telling you they are getting 700-800 dollars a month even with a lot of kids they are lying to you.

I have been on food stamps once in my life, not for long, but it was what I needed at the time until I got back on my feet. I was a single mother with one child and got $410 a month in food stamps. I DO know what I am talking about. This is just with one child. So, yes, I believe my sister in law with her 3 children who tells me she is getting $740. I am sorry they give you so little, I am sorry you felt the need to be offended but this is no reason to resort to calling people liars.

Eta: And, I was on food stamps 6.5 years ago. I know the 'going rate' has gone up.

MelissaPhippsFeagins

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2013/11/09/too-much-of-too-little/?hpid=z1

This article expands on what many of us know - the cheapest foods are usually the unhealthiest ones, but what can we do to solve it?

Anyways, I found it an interesting read without a simple solution, so figured I'd post it up for discussion!

Food stamps are supposed to be SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE, but I feed my family of six on the food stamp budget for my state of a family of the same size and manage to buy hygiene and cleaning supplies too. .I have been on the food stamp program before, and I'm grateful not to need it, but part of the reason I don't is making good choices with my money. It's possible to eat healthy on food stamps or the equivalent cash out of your own pocket, but you have to want to, you have to be willing to do some food prep, and you have to stick to your budget no matter whose money you are spending.

seltzermint555

My mother qualifies for food stamps due to disability. They give her something like $40 every 2 weeks. For her at least it's not really enough to be more than supplemental. People with kids get quite a bit more.

Yep. TOTALLY do not understand this. My former client who was a man with autism in his 40's working at a special facility earning way under min. wage, got $34 per month in food stamps. I know a family of four, dad works making decent money at a factory, mom stays at home, and last I heard, they received $500+change monthly for food stamps in addition to the children getting free breakfast & lunch at school. What in the world...!?

Ah, I guess it's the same thing as tax time when people with kids get thousands back. Pisses me off to be quite honest.

Yep it's not very fair someone with a true disability is punished for not procreating. I'm taking advantage of it though. I'd be stupid not to if the government thinks popping out a kid is worth a few thousand then I'm taking it.

Yeah I can't say I blame ya.

I just think it should be less of a drastic difference. Like single person gets $100, 4 person household $400, that would work in my mind...or at tax time, I wouldn't even care if I got $0 refund (which has happened, mine's never large in a DINKS household) but I feel like two low wage workers w/ matching annual salaries, one with kids and one with no kids, the difference in their tax refund should not be *THOUSANDS*. Hundreds, sure. But like $5,000 difference...no....

A typical daycare bill is far more than the $5,000 that you're using as an example. I don't think that people choosing to not have children should be penalized, or should be made to share the burden of those households with children, but the cost of raising children in this day is extremely high. If both partners work, there is a huge daycare bill typically. If one stays home, the other had better be earning professional dollars to maintain a typical family of 2.5 children. Back to the working poor analogy ....

I bet out of every 100 people getting huge tax refunds (especially low income families receiving the EITC) maybe 2-3 of them actually use the refund for anything related to daycare, child rearing, etc. From my observation the money is more often spent on tattoos and flat screens.

Herbalife_KC

I was on food stamps for a year and was only given a little over $100 a month. I strictly bought healthy foods like fresh fruits, veggies, lean meats, etc. NO JUNK! I ate my healthiest when I was on food stamps. There are definitely people who abuse it though and buy chips, desserts, soda. It's disgusting!

ellew70

If you are in a super poor area, then you may not have reliable electricity and refrigeration. Therefore, even if you have access to food, you may not be able to store it or prepare it. For these folks, the problem is far more systemic than food.

For people who at least have utilities, then it is possible, although time is an issue. Again, for the working poor, add in time on the bus to get to food and time for prep, in families that may be holding down multiple jobs.

The woman in the article seems to have some of these problems, but she has a fundamental educational problem with nutrition. Giving her more money for utilities or food won't improve her children's heath so long as her idea of healty is a diet coke and fruit gummy snacks.

lynn_glenmont

We can "what if" all day. People need to eat. Unless they live in a pretty rural area, most of their groceries will come from a grocery store. They may suppliment their shopping with convenience stores, but as you mentioned, those stores are more costly and restricted in terms of variety. And if you live in a place with a bus route, then it will be going past a grocery store.

There are plenty of small towns and suburbs with either no or very inefficient bus service. If it's a 2 hour ride each way to get to the grocery, that's pretty limiting both on how often you can go and on whether you can do stuff like stock up on frozen vegetables.

At my grad school, there was a bus route, but it was literally an hour at least (assuming the buses were on schedule) to get to the grocery and the same home again. Most of the students who didn't have cars either ate the crappy food in the cafeteria or bought junk at the convenience stores that WERE within walking distance.

In the town my ex lives in, to get from his place to the decent grocery was a 1.5 hour bus ride involving a transfer, or the other option was a cab fare. Meanwhile, there was a tiny local grocery that sold overpriced stuff and not very good.

In the town I am now, there is absolutely no public transportation. From my apartment to the dollar general (which is NOT a good place to shop for healthy food) would be a half an hour's walk. From my apartment to the decent grocery would be an hour's walk, and then carrying food home again. And there are people who live much further than I do from a grocery.

And there are plenty of people in larger cities who would have to transfer once or twice before getting to a real grocery store by bus, and they might be waiting for buses 20 or 30 minutes at each transfer. Especially in warmer months, you're not going to want to transport frozen foods, dairy, eggs, etc. under those conditions.

Some people may not have real, functioning kitchens in their apartments (i.e., no stove or no refrigerator), or they may have had their electricity cut off because they can't afford the bills, or they unplug the refrigerator because they can't afford to run it, and in summer they can't afford AC, so once again they can't buy fresh foods that need to be kept cool, and if you don't have a functioning stove, you can't even cook beans and rice from scratch.

And the average SNAP (food stamp) monthly benefit per person in FY 2013 was $133, per household was $275. http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/34snapmonthly.htm

The maximum monthly benefit in the current fiscal year for a household of four people is $668, but you only get that if you have no household income. The program deducts 30% of your net household income from the maximum benefit, so if your household net income was just barely below the poverty level, you'd lose about half of the maximum benefit. Apparently all these people that have told posters that they get $800 or $900 a month have 6 or more people in the household and just about zero net income. http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/applicant_recipients/eligibility.htm

lynn_glenmont

I think it is very difficult if not down right impossible. Food stamp benefits differ by the state you live in and most states do not give people the kind of benefits you are speaking of. I am disabled and I get disability and my food stamps are 50 dollars a month. I dare any one of you to try and eat on 50 dollars a month much less eat healthy. I am offended people speak without proper knowledge of what they are talking about. If someone is telling you they are getting 700-800 dollars a month even with a lot of kids they are lying to you.

I have been on food stamps once in my life, not for long, but it was what I needed at the time until I got back on my feet. I was a single mother with one child and got $410 a month in food stamps. I DO know what I am talking about. This is just with one child. So, yes, I believe my sister in law with her 3 children who tells me she is getting $740. I am sorry they give you so little, I am sorry you felt the need to be offended but this is no reason to resort to calling people liars.

Eta: And, I was on food stamps 6.5 years ago. I know the 'going rate' has gone up.

Actually, the rate went down this year.

MyJourney1960

I think it has less to do with having food stamps than it does to do with the availability of fresh and healthy food in their area. In some of the poorer neighborhoods there are no grocery stores; you are limited to buying foods at convenience stores that rarely carry produce or if they do it is outrageously priced.

There are very very few areas in the country without access to grocery stores. That is either a disingenuous statement or ignorance.

I guess this depends on what you consider to be "access". What if you don't own a car, because you can't afford one and the closest grocery store is 5 miles or 10 miles away? Then you will go to the closest store on foot or whatever is close to your work or near your bus route and that may not necessarily be a grocery store.

well according to the article quoted in the OP they are talking about specific areas that are very poor, that are very isolated, and the nearest stores are convenience stores that sell what conveiniece stores sell. one woman said there are 17 Fast food places (all with "one $" menus) close to her house and no place to buy fresh fruit and veggies. That is not to say that buying FF is the only solution, and I do think that teaching these parents about nutrition and how to make your own healthier snacks and meals is a start.

16hats

Eating healthy on food stamps is very possible. You are given money on your card, YOU choose what to buy with it. People can make their excuses all day, but if the good/cheap store is too far, if you don't have a car - what, no one you know has a car? Please. As someone who has been the unemployed single mother on food stamps without a car, it's not that difficult, it just takes slightly more effort than saying "I can't." It's a lot like fitness and overall health in general that way. You can get the junk or you can buy the components to make your healthy dinner. One takes a little more time.

Also, being unemployed with one child, I received less than $120 a month, and the person I shopped with when I did not have a car was also on food stamps, a stay at home mom of three kids, and she received less than $300 a month. I suppose the specific amount tends to be very situational, but I'm a little curious where these $700+ each month people live!!

colortheworld

Totally possible. If it weren't for my food stamps, I wouldn't be able to eat as healthy as I do, and I don't get very much a month (around 100 bucks a month).