Is eating healthy on food stamps possible?
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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.
Apparently millions of people are doing that. The convenience stores are convenient and offer "food" that can be purchased with food stamps. The issue is more complex than "people should behave at their educated rational optimum". There's a severe lack of education and life skills, and a system that intentionally supports waste.
Millions? I doubt that. I have purchased milk from convenience stores on occasion, or bags of ice, but any other grocery item is way too expensive. Someone who is "buying groceries" at a convenience store may as well take a lighter to their paycheck.
And then you thought about where convenience stores are located and why they aren't going out of business. And the point of the cited article and everything else going on in this thread. Edit: Good edit
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I can't imagine someone eating more than $20.00 a week in food by themselves.
I eat $10 to $15 a day in food by myself. Granted, I buy the good stuff (grass-fed beef, wild-caught seafood, etc.), but I imagine I'd be living on peanut butter sandwiches and canned soup if I could only spend $20 in a week.0 -
Our state is cutting food stamps and for a family of 3, that means a max of $498 a month. So YES, you can eat healthy on food stamps, considering a family of three gets more than what my family of three has to budget for by not qualifying for them.
We eat healthy and I spent about $300 a month on groceries, that is what we can afford.. We eat out once every 7-10 days and that is something like Chipolte or a Sub shop..0 -
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.
Apparently millions of people are doing that. The convenience stores are convenient and offer "food" that can be purchased with food stamps. The issue is more complex than "people should behave at their educated rational optimum". There's a severe lack of education and life skills, and a system that intentionally supports waste.
Millions? I doubt that. I have purchased milk from convenience stores on occasion, or bags of ice, but any other grocery item is way too expensive. Someone who is "buying groceries" at a convenience store may as well take a lighter to their paycheck.
ETA: OK, upon considering that there might be millions of idiots in this country, I retract my doubt. :laugh:
Agreed. Or lazy people. It's easier to spend someone else's money at the gas station than walk a couple block or take a bus to get groceries somewhere where you can get more for the money.0 -
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.
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.
You must not be familiar with inner cities???? There are literally NO groceries stores in the inner cities. They are food deserts.0 -
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.
Apparently millions of people are doing that. The convenience stores are convenient and offer "food" that can be purchased with food stamps. The issue is more complex than "people should behave at their educated rational optimum". There's a severe lack of education and life skills, and a system that intentionally supports waste.
Millions? I doubt that. I have purchased milk from convenience stores on occasion, or bags of ice, but any other grocery item is way too expensive. Someone who is "buying groceries" at a convenience store may as well take a lighter to their paycheck.
ETA: OK, upon considering that there might be millions of idiots in this country, I retract my doubt. :laugh:
Agreed. Or lazy people. It's easier to spend someone else's money at the gas station than walk a couple block or take a bus to get groceries somewhere where you can get more for the money.
You are talking about something you obviously know nothing about. I work with my farmers market and CSA to get fresh food to those in the inner cities of St Louis where there are absolutely NO grocery stores at all. Bus rides to a grocery store can be almost an hour away.
What choice does one have???? You should learn some compassion instead of calling people idiots. You are quick to judge without having walked anywhere in their shoes.
Food deserts are VERY REAL.
St Louis is a comparitively small city to other cities and there are at least 15 identified food deserts.Food deserts are areas with little or no access to grocery stores that offer fresh and affordable food. St. Louis has 15 such areas, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.0 -
I work with my farmers market and CSA to get fresh food to those in the inner cities of St Louis where there are absolutely NO grocery stores at all. Bus rides to a grocery store can be almost an hour away.
What choice does one have???? You should learn some compassion instead of calling people idiots. You are quick to judge without having walked anywhere in their shoes.
Food deserts are VERY REAL.
St Louis is a comparitively small city to other cities and there are at least 15 identified food deserts.
I think it's great that you are helping with the problem of healthy food unavailability in your area.
I believe that there is a mixture of problems at play here...
One is the desert problem.
Another is education.
But, yet another is abuse and bad choices on the part of some of the recipients. Not all, mind you. But some.
I've seen it first hand and the abusive people really 'burn my biscuits' because THEY make it difficult for those who just need a hand.0 -
I work with my farmers market and CSA to get fresh food to those in the inner cities of St Louis where there are absolutely NO grocery stores at all. Bus rides to a grocery store can be almost an hour away.
What choice does one have???? You should learn some compassion instead of calling people idiots. You are quick to judge without having walked anywhere in their shoes.
Food deserts are VERY REAL.
St Louis is a comparitively small city to other cities and there are at least 15 identified food deserts.
I think it's great that you are helping with the problem of healthy food unavailability in your area.
I believe that there is a mixture of problems at play here...
One is the desert problem.
Another is education.
But, yet another is abuse and bad choices on the part of some of the recipients. Not all, mind you. But some.
I've seen it first hand and the abusive people really 'burn my biscuits' because THEY make it difficult for those who just need a hand.
The amount of "abuse" that goes on is less than people are lead to believe.
We work with those that really are trying to do the best they can with the resources they currently have. Those that are looking to abuse the system usually don't show up to cooking classes and fresh produce, eggs and such.0 -
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.
Apparently millions of people are doing that. The convenience stores are convenient and offer "food" that can be purchased with food stamps. The issue is more complex than "people should behave at their educated rational optimum". There's a severe lack of education and life skills, and a system that intentionally supports waste.
Millions? I doubt that. I have purchased milk from convenience stores on occasion, or bags of ice, but any other grocery item is way too expensive. Someone who is "buying groceries" at a convenience store may as well take a lighter to their paycheck.
ETA: OK, upon considering that there might be millions of idiots in this country, I retract my doubt. :laugh:
Agreed. Or lazy people. It's easier to spend someone else's money at the gas station than walk a couple block or take a bus to get groceries somewhere where you can get more for the money.
You are talking about something you obviously know nothing about. I work with my farmers market and CSA to get fresh food to those in the inner cities of St Louis where there are absolutely NO grocery stores at all. Bus rides to a grocery store can be almost an hour away.
What choice does one have???? You should learn some compassion instead of calling people idiots. You are quick to judge without having walked anywhere in their shoes.
Food deserts are VERY REAL.
St Louis is a comparitively small city to other cities and there are at least 15 identified food deserts.
I live south of Chicago, it seems to me that this is more of an issue with leaving your neighborhood to get food, as many people stay within their radius of a few blocks most of their lives.. Their might not be a store on their block but within a couple miles? Yes. The inner cities have thousands upon thousands living per mile. The South side is particularly bad and that's the side closest to me. I understand, our best man's mom lives in a neighborhood that we would get shot in, just for being white. But how can you expect retailers to build businesses in low-income/high crime areas. Build a store just so they can have their employees killed or goods robbed? This is a whole other issue that has little to do with food...
And for the worst food deserts, the FDA map show most of those are in rural areas, mountains and wetlands. l'd assume that most of these people live off of the land as they have done for generations.0 -
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."
what state do you live in? In my state, a family of two (mother and child) gets less than $200 for an entire month.
Even so, yes it's possible to "eat healthy" on low income/foodstamps. When I was my poorest, I ate healthiest because I could load up my fridge with veggies for $30. Skipping the bread and butter and ice cream and soda, and just having veggies and spices and rice and some protein was the cheapest eats.0 -
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."
What state is that in? I only get $200 a month for a family of 3. But I have an income also but heck by the time I pay all my bills and everything my kids need $200 don't last very long for food when that's all you have left to buy your food with for the month.0 -
In my town there's a program at the farmer's market that if you have children, you can get $50 worth of food using $25 worth of EBT funds.
Basically half-priced local produce. Cannot be used on "prepared" foods such as bread or pies.0 -
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.0 -
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.
wow. so much bitterness. Everyone I know who gets EIC uses that money to do something that they need to do that they haven't been able to afford: fixing the car, getting a new car, paying off credit cards they relied on when they didn't have enough money to feed the kids. Paying rent for a few months while they go to school to try to get a degree.0 -
The amount of "abuse" that goes on is less than people are lead to believe.
We work with those that really are trying to do the best they can with the resources they currently have. Those that are looking to abuse the system usually don't show up to cooking classes and fresh produce, eggs and such.
I don't doubt for a minute that the folks you work with are really trying to do the best they can with what they have. And the fact that there IS a system with cooking classes and farm-fresh produce says that there is obviously a demand for such things and I think that is wonderful. I wish that there had been those kinds of things available to me.
That being said, I definitely *do not* think that I underestimate the abuse in my area. It is rampant, I promise you.
As I said before, I have no problem with people who need a hand, but I have seen too many out and out lie and cheat with the attitude of, 'well, I might as well get as much as I can. If I don't, someone else will.'
Keep up the good work though. I honestly think it's great that you are part of the solution.0 -
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."
What state is that in? I only get $200 a month for a family of 3. But I have an income also but heck by the time I pay all my bills and everything my kids need $200 don't last very long for food when that's all you have left to buy your food with for the month.
Utah. Both of the above mentioned families, plus my sister in law (getting $740 in Food Stamps and TANF) have no income at all. Every one of these households are single mother with children households, not working and getting only child support as income.
The state of Utah is waaaay too giving, generous and leinant on single mothers.0 -
You should never eat anything on food stamps. Use the stamps to buy food then eat the food on a plate.0
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You should never eat anything on food stamps. Use the stamps to buy food then eat the food on a plate.
Well, it's a card now, so talk about portion control!!! :-)0 -
I used to be on food stamps, in Florida it's 200/m, for one person. I can eat VERY well on that. Healthy as well.0
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I can't imagine someone eating more than $20.00 a week in food by themselves.
I eat $10 to $15 a day in food by myself. Granted, I buy the good stuff (grass-fed beef, wild-caught seafood, etc.), but I imagine I'd be living on peanut butter sandwiches and canned soup if I could only spend $20 in a week.
Agreed. I spend $15-$20 a day for just myself.0
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