Is eating healthy on food stamps possible?

UsedToBeHusky

Well first off, I don't receive benefits but have in the past. And let me tell you, my food budget was WAAAAY higher on benefits. So the answer is yes, it is possible to eat healthy on food stamps. However, I would like to point out that it isn't that hard to eat healthy on a budget either.

Soooo... I don't really get the point of this discussion...

I think the point is that for some people (not all - you and me for example), the problem of healthy eating is a complicated one, as we have access to places that sell healthy choices and we know what foods are better choices. That's not the case for everyone.

But again, the question is not "do poor people have access to healthy food." The question was it possible for a family to afford to eat healthy on state assistance, and it is possible. Other obstacles are irrelevant to the discussion.

And how exactly does one propose to address that issue, anyway? The school systems already give children who are on food stamps free lunch. Granted, the school systems don't always offer the healthiest of foods, but there are reform movements in place to change that.

Believe me, I know what its like to be poor. I can remember having to transport my groceries on a poorly rated public transportation system that forced me to walk up to a half mile or farther to my home from the bus stop. It's not the best situation, but it motivated me. And now I have an education good enough that I will never have to look back and revisit that time in my life.

If the poor do not face some sort of adversities to their situation, then what would be the motivation to raise oneself out of the situation?

And further more... (please correct me if I'm wrong) but the majority of the poor populace actually live in urban areas with public transportation and greater access to chain grocery stores, as opposed to rural areas where the nearest grocery store could be 10 miles or more away.

DamePiglet

Well first off, I don't receive benefits but have in the past. And let me tell you, my food budget was WAAAAY higher on benefits. So the answer is yes, it is possible to eat healthy on food stamps. However, I would like to point out that it isn't that hard to eat healthy on a budget either.

Soooo... I don't really get the point of this discussion...

I think the point is that for some people (not all - you and me for example), the problem of healthy eating is a complicated one, as we have access to places that sell healthy choices and we know what foods are better choices. That's not the case for everyone.

This is true in some cases. But I grew up in a pretty small town and there weren't a lot of grocery stores. However, what grocery stores we had were in the poorer neighborhoods. I guess the companies figured more business that way since lower-income people could walk to the stores and higher-income peopel could drive to them.

I worked as a cashier in one of them for two years (Wegmans -- if you're not familiar with it, do a Google search -- it's KNOWN for its healthy and affordable choices). People still bought a lot of crap that probably cost more than the good stuff.

I think some of it comes down to ignorance (just not knowing any better) and some comes down to laziness -- not wanting to bother with peparing and cooking fresh and healthy foods.

This, of course, is not a problem only people on assistance have. There are plenty of rich people who eat a lot more crap than healthy food.

Agreed.

UsedToBeHusky

I think some of it comes down to ignorance (just not knowing any better) and some comes down to laziness -- not wanting to bother with peparing and cooking fresh and healthy foods.

This, of course, is not a problem only people on assistance have. There are plenty of rich people who eat a lot more crap than healthy food.

^This!

bcattoes

I worked retail in a grocery store and saw all kinds of bad choices of people who were on stamps. How about a mandatory food education class when people are accepted for food stamp benefits? With a refresher course with every re-evaluation? I have known people on stamps that just didn't know how to cook really. Free class a few hours on how to eat health and cook health could do wonders for a lot of people. Healthy can be good food fast, I am learning this myself.

Some states do have required nutrition courses to receive EBT or WIC. Probably far fewer (if any) offer cooking classes, but basic nutrition is sometimes required.

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.

SSI / Disability = Income. So, after your income, you are allotted $xx.00 per month.

Food stamps are not intended to feed you for the month, but merely supplement your income so you can buy food.

The amount I received on SSI was not enough to keep a roof over my head, let alone feed myself.

jennegan1

No kidding! You can get 10 pounds of potatoes for the cost of one bag of chips.

Now to get the convenience stores in poor areas to stock 10 pound bags of potatoes. Or any produce. They would if food stamps weren't a subsidy to packaged food industries.

Convenience stores are not where you are supposed to be buying your groceries. Who does that, honestly? Even my folks in the rural areas will truck the long journey to Walmart for their grocery stores. Convenience stores are for convenience, and that's that.

Since a number of replies are full of anecdotes (food stamps and a new iPhone!), I'll reply with an anecdote of my own. I taught for three years in the South Bronx. My school's neighborhood had a handful of bodegas and one "grocery" store, which had little produce, little meat (almost entirely processed and/or low nutrient value), and several aisles of the worst types of packaged food you could find. Unemployed parents could spend the hours traveling to a decent grocery store and back while their kids were in school. The parents who were on food stamps and working minimum wage jobs (spoiler alert: you can't live in NYC on minimum wage), had no time to manage the shopping commute. Add in health education or lack thereof, the dangers of shopping at night far from home, childcare while you try to do the shopping, and having a clean place to store the ten pounds of potatoes where rats and roaches can't get them, and you have real obstacles to eating well.

I get that we want to simply write those off as excuses, but when I think of the number of times I ordered a pizza because I just didn't have it in me to load my small kids into the car after school and drag them to the grocery store, with none of the above added challenges, I have to consider that it's more complicated than it would appear on paper for poor families.

I completely understand what you are saying.....I live on Long Island and thankfully I am living with family cuz for a single mother of 2 who works Im lucky if I can keep my "head above water" so yes I have to depend on these govt programs. No not forever but for the time being yes I have to.....When I had my good paying job I didnt need it but with alot of ppl they lost good paying jobs all over the country and places like NYC they dont always got the best shopping areas. My family comes from Brooklyn and I remember more convience stores being on every corner then the better food grocery stores.....so yes taking into consideration all of the inconviences its always easier to walk to the corner store to pick up a few things til you get to a better grocery store. Especially venturing out in the Bronx at night time

jennegan1

A family of 2 is not getting $700 unless maybe California has super high guidelines like that. I was a single, non-working (homeless) mother at one point and time. I had three kids and never received over $500 for my family of 4. I was thankful for every penny I got but I'm sick of people making outrageous claims like this about food stamps.

Everyone I know on food stamps gets a large amount of money ($900 for a family of 4 and $700 for a family of 2 - two of the families I know)

I would say Heck Yes! It most certainly is possible to eat healthy with that kind of food "budget."

wow where do you live??? im in California and I get 475 for a family of five!!!!!!

I live in Missouri. I am a single parent in school full-time with an autistic son and we only get $215 a month.

I live in NY another high cost of living state just like CA and im lucky I can get 500 for a family of 3 but now its down below 450 a month so even to me hearing 900 for a family of 4 sounded like a false claim as well....Ill tell you one thing being on FS has taught me how to budget very well probably even better if I wasnt on it

seltzermint555

I bought 4 large carrots at Safeway and paid 35 cents. Whole food is not expensive.

Yup. I see this a lot, unrelated to the food stamp/benefits issue. I have friends who say they can't afford to eat healthy because of $7 Organic Girl prepackaged greens and $5 honeycrisp apples. You don't have to buy that stuff. Regular old-fashioned veggies are fine.

rml_16

A family of 2 is not getting $700 unless maybe California has super high guidelines like that. I was a single, non-working (homeless) mother at one point and time. I had three kids and never received over $500 for my family of 4. I was thankful for every penny I got but I'm sick of people making outrageous claims like this about food stamps.

Everyone I know on food stamps gets a large amount of money ($900 for a family of 4 and $700 for a family of 2 - two of the families I know)

I would say Heck Yes! It most certainly is possible to eat healthy with that kind of food "budget."

wow where do you live??? im in California and I get 475 for a family of five!!!!!!

I live in Missouri. I am a single parent in school full-time with an autistic son and we only get $215 a month.

I live in NY another high cost of living state just like CA and im lucky I can get 500 for a family of 3 but now its down below 450 a month so even to me hearing 900 for a family of 4 sounded like a false claim as well....Ill tell you one thing being on FS has taught me how to budget very well probably even better if I wasnt on it

The amount you get is based both on family size and income. So a lower income means more in food stamps.

Also, NY is NOT a "high cost of living state." It is a high cost of living city, though.

jennegan1

A family of 2 is not getting $700 unless maybe California has super high guidelines like that. I was a single, non-working (homeless) mother at one point and time. I had three kids and never received over $500 for my family of 4. I was thankful for every penny I got but I'm sick of people making outrageous claims like this about food stamps.

Everyone I know on food stamps gets a large amount of money ($900 for a family of 4 and $700 for a family of 2 - two of the families I know)

I would say Heck Yes! It most certainly is possible to eat healthy with that kind of food "budget."

wow where do you live??? im in California and I get 475 for a family of five!!!!!!

I live in Missouri. I am a single parent in school full-time with an autistic son and we only get $215 a month.

I live in NY another high cost of living state just like CA and im lucky I can get 500 for a family of 3 but now its down below 450 a month so even to me hearing 900 for a family of 4 sounded like a false claim as well....Ill tell you one thing being on FS has taught me how to budget very well probably even better if I wasnt on it

The amount you get is based both on family size and income. So a lower income means more in food stamps.

Also, NY is NOT a "high cost of living state." It is a high cost of living city, though.

You are right not all of NY isnt a high cost of living state, but NYC and Long Island are. I live on Long Island where taxes for a house are easily as high as 1000 or more a month I forget how much my step dad does pay but he used to pay as much as 5000 a month just in takes for his house

Goal179

I think it can be done but I say this with the caveat that I don't know what a typical family receives for food stamps. I am basing my opinion based on the fact that I have a tight grocery budget for a family of four and I do pretty well with eating healthy. But I really look for deals and I don't have any restrictions on where I can shop because it's my money. I used to think this couldn't be done, but I have since changed my opinion. If they are allowed to shop at places like Aldi, Trader Joe's, and Dollar Store, then I think it could be done. I also think the following is important:

1) We have to educate about what is "healthy" and what isn't. Sometimes, you may not be able to afford to eat perfectly, but you can make healthier choices.
2) We have to make sure that stores like Trader Joes and Aldi will accept food stamps. I am not sure if they do, but they need to in order to open this market up for lower income folks or folks on government assistance.
3) As the demand for cleaner, less refined food increases, more manufaturers will produce these type of products thus making them more widely available at more competitive prices
4) Eating healthy is a comittment. You have to plan ahead and have a plan in place for the week before you go shopping. That makes shopping on a tight budget even more difficult. It takes time to be able to do that.
5) More cooking has to be done at home. The only way to compete with the cost of McDonald's is to cook a meal at home that can feed 3-4 people for a similiar price. By the way, last time I checked, McDonald's was expensive as heck. WHen did they raise their prices so high?

rml_16

If they are allowed to shop at places like Aldi, Trader Joe's, and Dollar Store, then I think it could be done.

There are no restrictions on the where (other than businesses that simply don't take food stamps, but those are rare). The only restrictions are on WHAT they can buy. They can't buy a rotisserie chicken, for example, or use them in restaurants.

Goal179

No kidding! You can get 10 pounds of potatoes for the cost of one bag of chips.

Now to get the convenience stores in poor areas to stock 10 pound bags of potatoes. Or any produce. They would if food stamps weren't a subsidy to packaged food industries.

Convenience stores are not where you are supposed to be buying your groceries. Who does that, honestly? Even my folks in the rural areas will truck the long journey to Walmart for their grocery stores. Convenience stores are for convenience, and that's that.

Since a number of replies are full of anecdotes (food stamps and a new iPhone!), I'll reply with an anecdote of my own. I taught for three years in the South Bronx. My school's neighborhood had a handful of bodegas and one "grocery" store, which had little produce, little meat (almost entirely processed and/or low nutrient value), and several aisles of the worst types of packaged food you could find. Unemployed parents could spend the hours traveling to a decent grocery store and back while their kids were in school. The parents who were on food stamps and working minimum wage jobs (spoiler alert: you can't live in NYC on minimum wage), had no time to manage the shopping commute. Add in health education or lack thereof, the dangers of shopping at night far from home, childcare while you try to do the shopping, and having a clean place to store the ten pounds of potatoes where rats and roaches can't get them, and you have real obstacles to eating well.

I get that we want to simply write those off as excuses, but when I think of the number of times I ordered a pizza because I just didn't have it in me to load my small kids into the car after school and drag them to the grocery store, with none of the above added challenges, I have to consider that it's more complicated than it would appear on paper for poor families.

I completely understand what you are saying.....I live on Long Island and thankfully I am living with family cuz for a single mother of 2 who works Im lucky if I can keep my "head above water" so yes I have to depend on these govt programs. No not forever but for the time being yes I have to.....When I had my good paying job I didnt need it but with alot of ppl they lost good paying jobs all over the country and places like NYC they dont always got the best shopping areas. My family comes from Brooklyn and I remember more convience stores being on every corner then the better food grocery stores.....so yes taking into consideration all of the inconviences its always easier to walk to the corner store to pick up a few things til you get to a better grocery store. Especially venturing out in the Bronx at night time

WOW! Good points. I never thought about the storage issues (rats, roaches) It really is a complicated issue.

tiggerhammon

A family of 2 is not getting $700 unless maybe California has super high guidelines like that. I was a single, non-working (homeless) mother at one point and time. I had three kids and never received over $500 for my family of 4. I was thankful for every penny I got but I'm sick of people making outrageous claims like this about food stamps.

Everyone I know on food stamps gets a large amount of money ($900 for a family of 4 and $700 for a family of 2 - two of the families I know)

I would say Heck Yes! It most certainly is possible to eat healthy with that kind of food "budget."

wow where do you live??? im in California and I get 475 for a family of five!!!!!!

I live in Missouri. I am a single parent in school full-time with an autistic son and we only get $215 a month.

I live in NY another high cost of living state just like CA and im lucky I can get 500 for a family of 3 but now its down below 450 a month so even to me hearing 900 for a family of 4 sounded like a false claim as well....Ill tell you one thing being on FS has taught me how to budget very well probably even better if I wasnt on it

So, I realized I did simply state what I had been told by others without any proof at all of it being fact. I absolutely hate being called a liar and I did state something I did not know for 100% to be true.
These numbers were what I was told.
So, after asking all 3 of these families what they were receiving in food stamps I learned that the numbers they were all telling me was not in food stamps alone. But, each of them, it is a total of food stamps+TANF benefits.
I also asked my husband's friends wife - who works at Deparment of Workforce Services here and is daily dealing with determining ones benefits. She said my friends getting these high amounts is rare but not unheard of. If they truly have 0 income and qualify for the maximum benefits then they would be getting this amount. But, only if they are actively proving they are seeking employment and even then this high of benefits would be temporary.
So, I learned that one of my friends for sure is cheating the system because she works under the table and receives child support under the table, claiming to have 0 income. This is the only way she would qualify for the amount she has.
So - it isn't just in food stamps - it is a combination of benefits. And, it isn't an every case scenario. Benefits like this are only given to families with extreme 0 income scenarios. And, in my state, numbers like this are not common - but COMPLETELY possible and do happen!
The usual amount of food stamps given to a family of 4 in this state is $450.

jennegan1

A family of 2 is not getting $700 unless maybe California has super high guidelines like that. I was a single, non-working (homeless) mother at one point and time. I had three kids and never received over $500 for my family of 4. I was thankful for every penny I got but I'm sick of people making outrageous claims like this about food stamps.

Everyone I know on food stamps gets a large amount of money ($900 for a family of 4 and $700 for a family of 2 - two of the families I know)

I would say Heck Yes! It most certainly is possible to eat healthy with that kind of food "budget."

wow where do you live??? im in California and I get 475 for a family of five!!!!!!

I live in Missouri. I am a single parent in school full-time with an autistic son and we only get $215 a month.

I live in NY another high cost of living state just like CA and im lucky I can get 500 for a family of 3 but now its down below 450 a month so even to me hearing 900 for a family of 4 sounded like a false claim as well....Ill tell you one thing being on FS has taught me how to budget very well probably even better if I wasnt on it

So, I realized I did simply state what I had been told by others without any proof at all of it being fact. I absolutely hate being called a liar and I did state something I did not know for 100% to be true.
These numbers were what I was told.
So, after asking all 3 of these families what they were receiving in food stamps I learned that the numbers they were all telling me was not in food stamps alone. But, each of them, it is a total of food stamps+TANF benefits.
I also asked my husband's friends wife - who works at Deparment of Workforce Services here and is daily dealing with determining ones benefits. She said my friends getting these high amounts is rare but not unheard of. If they truly have 0 income and qualify for the maximum benefits then they would be getting this amount. But, only if they are actively proving they are seeking employment and even then this high of benefits would be temporary.
So, I learned that one of my friends for sure is cheating the system because she works under the table and receives child support under the table, claiming to have 0 income. This is the only way she would qualify for the amount she has.
So - it isn't just in food stamps - it is a combination of benefits. And, it isn't an every case scenario. Benefits like this are only given to families with extreme 0 income scenarios. And, in my state, numbers like this are not common - but COMPLETELY possible and do happen!
The usual amount of food stamps given to a family of 4 in this state is $450.

Im sorry if I offended you....its just I know how it goes in my state but yes a combination of food stamps and state assistance that amount sounds more reasonable of the 900 dollars....I was like just for FS alone thats sounds too high with out any other type of income being accounted in for that.....I didnt exactly call you a liar it just sounded false for 900 alone in just FS for a family of 4......Again sorry if i offended you in any way that wasnt my intetion

illuvatree

Buy in bulk. Keep a stash of stuff you can just boil and flavor, like quinoa, lentils, cous cous (the small kind and the pearl kind), and also frozen veggies. It's actually cheaper if you just have that stash in the long term, even if in the short term it doesn't seem like it.