# Living the high life with food stamps.



## AZ Jim (May 2, 2015)

*Try-Day Friday: Taking on the Food Stamp Challenge*



*gma.yahoo.com*/try-day-friday-taking-food-stamp-challenge-150240471--abc-news-Recipes.html
By STEFANIE TUDER 23 hours ago              By STEFANIE TUDER  23 hours ago      Good Morning America 






 
      .    View photo

      What I was able to buy under $29 at the grocery store for the food stamp challenge.



                Five days in to my food stamp challenge, I was seriously hangry.
 To be clear, I wasn’t hungry -- I’d consumed enough calories  and nutrition to fill me. But I had just finished my fifth night in a  row of meatloaf, roast potatoes and frozen green beans and I had to  literally choke it down. I was full but entirely unsatisfied, as if  mentally I had never eaten.

 At that point in my week-long journey, when my yearning for my normal food routine was at an all-time high, I blamed Gwyneth Paltrow.  Poor girl got a lot of flak recently after tweeting a commitment to the  food stamp challenge, along with a photo of what she bought on her $29  food budget for the week.
 The photo included things like cilantro, kale and seven  limes ... not exactly practical items for getting you through the week.  Unsurprisingly, Paltrow lasted four days before giving up on the challenge.

 Though she received mostly criticism on social media for her somewhat  pathetic attempt at the challenge, I, for one, commend her. No one had  been paying close attention to the food stamp challenge before that.  Designed as a way to raise awareness of the difficulties of living on  the budget -- a maximum of $29 a week per person -- provided by the  Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, a.k.a. food stamps),  the food stamp challenge was essentially nonexistent in national  conversation before Paltrow inserted herself into the issue. Regardless  that it was a personal failure for her, she managed to bring the issue  to the forefront of national conversation, and that in and of itself is a  success.

 Because of Paltrow, as ABC News’ food writer, I was tasked with  trying out the challenge and writing about my experiences on a national  news website. As a food writer, I spend the majority of my life --  professionally and personally -- thinking about food, writing about  food, Instagramming about food and, the best part, eating food. I derive  a lot of comfort and pleasure from my favorite meals, and I relish the  moment of the day when I decide what I want for dinner (Thai? American? Italian?  Korean?) and not putting a ton of thought into the budget, as long as  it’s under the $20 mark. This experience would be the complete opposite.

 At the beginning of the week, armed with Paltrow’s mistakes, I headed  to the grocery store with what I thought was a solid, realistic plan. I  would have oatmeal for breakfast, hard-boiled eggs for a snack, peanut  butter & jelly sandwiches with pretzels for lunch and alternating  roast chicken and meatloaf with potatoes and vegetables for dinner. As  someone with a big appetite, it was important to me to have not only  enough nutrition, but also enough food, period. Joke was on me, though,  when I found out I couldn’t afford much of what I wanted, leaving me  reeling in the supermarket as I tried to rejigger my meal plan. I  settled on a monotonous repeat of the same foods every day for the week  (oatmeal for breakfast, a hard-boiled egg for midmorning snack, roast  chicken, potatoes and green beans for lunch and meatloaf, potatoes and  green beans for dinner), trying to figure out how to stretch certain  items, like the eggs for both the meatloaf and snacks. The irony wasn’t  lost on me that as I figured this all out I was sipping a $9 kale  smoothie that was my last normal-life hurrah before the plan started.

 Going grocery shopping (which took three times as long as normal  since I was cost comparing and swapping ingredients on the fly) was only  half the battle of getting the food ready. I then had to go home and  prepare it all, which took a ton of time. I had to roast my chicken and  potatoes and prepare the meatloaf, since chicken was my lunch every day  and meatloaf was dinner. I didn’t have the luxury ahead of me of zipping  down to the work cafeteria one day when I hadn’t had the chance to  bring lunch. And, to avoid the meat from going bad on the later days of  the week, I had to freeze some portions to be reheated later. All of  this work was just to feed me -- I can’t imagine how much time a family  on SNAP has to devote to food preparation for the week.

 As the week kicked off, the eating of it all started off not so bad.  The food I had prepared was tasty (thank you, culinary school!) and  healthy. Days one to three breezed by. I missed some of my afternoon  snacking or after-dinner dessert, but I was on a pretty solid path to  success, at first.
    View photo
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A peek at my roast chicken repeat meals for the week.


 Then, day four hit. “Meatloaf again?” I thought miserably. “Well,  only four more days of it. You can do this for just four more days.”
 Except, that wasn’t fair. I may have only had four more days of  living off of a $29 for my week’s food budget, but for the 46.5 million  Americans (one in _seven_!) who actually have to live off of SNAP, their Groundhog Week of eating starts over again when the seven days are up.

 Fatima Arellano, a 17-year-old in New York City whose family relies  on SNAP benefits, described to me the harsh realities of her diet.
 “Sometimes, we have good days and we get good meals,” she told me.
 I asked for clarification, expecting maybe a treat like dessert or steak.
 “Something enough so everyone gets full,” Arellano said.
 Oh. Enough so they could get _full_? It was unfathomable to  me. Anytime I was hungry, I reached for the myriad of snacks in my  pantry or pulled up Seamless on my browser. And here this teenage girl  was sometimes eating an egg and beans for dinner, which is what our  governmental benefits afforded her.

 Arellano’s family situation is not what SNAP is supposed to  provide. Generally, in order to qualify for SNAP, a household’s net  income must be less than or equal to the poverty line ($1,650 a month or  $19,800 a year for a three-person household), according  to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Eligibility is assessed  on a case-by-case basis and benefits are awarded based on the USDA’s  Thrifty Food Plan, which is the minimum amount of money required to  consume a healthy diet that follows the dietary guidelines for  Americans.

 According to the Thrifty Food Plan (which, by the way, seems woefully outdated to me), people should be able  to healthily feed themselves on $38 a week for adult females and $43  for adult males. Yet the maximum benefits provided are $29 a week, so  the SNAP formula assumes that the program is, as the name suggests,  supplementary. Except, for people like Arellano, it’s not supplementary  once the costs of living (housing, health care, transportation, etc.)  are taken into account. To make up the difference, that’s where food  pantries step in.

 “For New York City, in 2012 -- which is the most recent year  for which we have data -- 42 percent of SNAP recipients in the city  were also using food pantries and soup kitchens because they had run out  of their benefits. For most recipients in those lines, their benefits  were running out sometime between the second and third week in the  month,” Triada Stampas, the Food Bank of New York City’s vice president  of research and public affairs, told me. “And if you are on a food  pantry or soup kitchen line, that’s because you’ve exhausted all other  options. The behavior of waiting on line, sometimes for hours out in the  elements, is the behavior of the last resort.”

 So while SNAP is intended as supplementary, that’s  unfortunately just not the reality for a lot of recipients. Food banks  step in to pick up the slack, often providing families with their only  source of meat and vegetables for the week, which are the most expensive  foods. They even have birthday packs that include cake mix, frosting  and candles, since treats like those are unfathomable on a SNAP budget.

 Even more unfathomable? Eating out. I eat out two-thirds of  my meals, often only preparing my own quick breakfast of oatmeal or  cereal. Arellano can’t remember the last time she ate out.
 “The last time I did I was probably 12, maybe 11?” she  guessed. “That was only once. It’s when my stepfather had a good day at  work.”
 Going to restaurants is so far from possible on a SNAP  budget, and my social life that week suffered for it. I sat through one  meal while my friends devoured $18 Neapolitan pizza pies and I ordered a  water before realizing if I was going to make it through the week, I  simply had to stay in, which is the constant reality of Arellano’s life.
 “Sometimes, I get really frustrated because you see all  those other people and they get what they want and we have to just deal  with it,” she said. “It is hard because they’re my friends and I want to  go out, but there’s not money for that.”

 As much as I learned from my week living on a miniscule food  budget, which is the point of the food stamp challenge (“It is not an  exercise in pretending to be poor. It’s an experience that reflects one  aspect of the reality of what living on SNAP is like that a lot of  people in this country don’t have any insight into until they do it  themselves,” Stampas said.), at the same time I had the comfort of  knowing that it was for just one week, and if I really, really  struggled, I had my bank account safely waiting for me. Arellano, and  many millions of others, do not have that luxury.
 I was hangry for a week. Arellano always is.


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## AZ Jim (May 2, 2015)

We spend $175-$210 per week for groceries.


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## applecruncher (May 2, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> We spend $175-$210 per week for groceries.



For 2 people? I think that's a lot. Does it include non-edibles (soap, shampoo, bath tissue, cleansers, etc.)?

I spend $50 - $60/week and I eat pretty darned good....the best meats, fruit, produce. My figure includes soap, etc. which I don't buy every week, but as needed. I save $15-$20 month in coupons. Always make a list. Impulse buying is rare.

However, when families tell me how much they spend on groceries I'm amazed.


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## AZ Jim (May 2, 2015)

applecruncher said:


> For 2 people?  I think that's a lot.  Does it include non-edibles (soap, shampoo, bath tissue, cleansers, etc.)?
> 
> I spend $50 - $60/week and I eat pretty darned good....the best meats, fruit, produce.  My figure includes soap, etc. which I don't buy every week, but as needed.  I save $15-$20 month in coupons.  Always make a list.  Impulse buying is rare.



You are right, that includes many non-grocery items, soaps, detergents, paper products, and alcohol.  I guess I should have specified that.


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## applecruncher (May 2, 2015)

aaahhhh, I see. I don't buy beer/alcohol for myself. (I bought some for a small party I gave few months ago...yikes!)  I do buy cat food/litter but that's not very expensive.

I also get free coupons from Kroger for Haagen Dazs ($4 - $5), eggs (never pay for them), and I buy milk in pints.  I buy a lot of non-consumables at dollar store.


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## AZ Jim (May 2, 2015)

I also buy about $20 worth of food for the wild birds we feed.  They eat wheat bread and Oatmeal.  Quail, doves (three kinds), sparrows, finch, brushtail Grackles  and a few I am not sure about.


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## QuickSilver (May 2, 2015)

We spend about $125 a week for two people... PLUS what we have to run out to the store for during the week


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## applecruncher (May 2, 2015)

I make a couple runs during the week for a few small items or something I didn't plan on needing.


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## QuickSilver (May 2, 2015)

TO be fair, that includes pet food and cat litter..  We have 4 dogs and 5 cats.


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## marinaio (May 2, 2015)

applecruncher said:


> For 2 people? I think that's a lot. Does it include non-edibles (soap, shampoo, bath tissue, cleansers, etc.)?
> 
> I spend $50 - $60/week and I eat pretty darned good....the best meats, fruit, produce. My figure includes soap, etc. which I don't buy every week, but as needed. I save $15-$20 month in coupons. Always make a list. Impulse buying is rare.
> 
> However, when families tell me how much they spend on groceries I'm amazed.



On the weeks we only need food items we're around $75, weeks like this one with non-food items that needed replacing we were at $110.  Neither of us smoke or drink and we buy store brand when we can, not all of it is worth buying.


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## applecruncher (May 2, 2015)

A friend's grandaughter (mid 20s) has a husband and 2 kids. On a regular basis she buys cereal, lots of milk, packaged cookies and poptarts, large containers of juice/flavored drinks, sugar, lunchmeats, lunchables, lots of peanut butter & jelly, pampers, pullups. These are not things that I buy, and they are costly...relatively speaking.

OTOH she never buys ground chuck, boneless/skinless chicken, center cut bacon, whole fresh pineapple....things I buy.  Not cheap, but consider what I _don't_ buy.


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## Butterfly (May 3, 2015)

I don't buy snack foods, like potato chips or cookies.  If they are in the house, I'll eat them, and they go directly to my butt.


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## Ameriscot (May 3, 2015)

Butterfly said:


> I don't buy snack foods, like potato chips or cookies.  If they are in the house, I'll eat them, and they go directly to my butt.



Same here and my dh is not a junk food eater.  We only buy that kind of stuff when we have guests.  

We don't have any pets, husband brews his own beer, but I do make sure we have wine in the house for when friends visit or to take when we go to friends for dinner.  

We only buy meat when we have guests although I sometimes buy chicken breast slices for my lunch.  We spend, including toiletries & household stuff, at least £100/week.  During berry season I sometimes spend £9/week just on strawberries and raspberries.


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## Shalimar (May 3, 2015)

Butterfly, I think we have the same butt! Lol.


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## hollydolly (May 3, 2015)

We spend about £100pw on groceries ( approx $150 US )....we eat good quality food.. we could spend less by buying in Aldi's or Lidl ...but apart from their German and Italian  hams and sometimes their smoked salmon and herrings, I don't like the quality of their food  overall...so I prefer to go to supermarkets where the quality is higher but of course so are the prices unfortunately.


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## Davey Jones (May 3, 2015)

You people don't have a 9 and 17 year old to feed,I have no idea what my food cost is but I go Walmart Market 2-3 times a week and its over $75 each visit.  Why is 2,1 gallon milk gone every 2 days, maybe its the cats here.


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## NancyNGA (May 3, 2015)

Davey, I think it's a Walmart thing.  I often find shelves empty on many items here.  They probably have a computer model to figure out just how much 
stuff they need to stock in order to maximize profits and avoid, not just minimize, waste.


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## applecruncher (May 3, 2015)

I’m not a fan of Walmart groceries.  (I love their prices and selection on household items, bed sheets, towels and some other things.)  But I’m not a big fan of their produce and meats, I don’t know my way around the aisles like I do Kroger, and Walmart is just so big….like a football field.

However, I've gotten some tasty things from their deli area.


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## ndynt (May 3, 2015)

I spend less than $100 a month on food.  It is usually only me, only buy meat when I have company.  Shamefully, I do throw a lot away.  Occassionally, my children do bring me the luxury treats, that they know I love.


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## applecruncher (May 3, 2015)

> Shamefully, I do throw a lot away



I hate to throw food away, but sometimes I have to.  I don’t use milk often (that’s why I buy little pints) but I’m really particular about it and will dump it when it loses freshness.  I have to be careful with and some fruits and vegetables.


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## ndynt (May 3, 2015)

applecruncher said:


> I hate to throw food away, but sometimes I have to.  I don’t use milk often (that’s why I buy little pints) but I’m really particular about it and will dump it when it loses freshness.  I have to be careful with and some fruits and vegetables.


I do too. Difficult to cook some things in one portion amounts.  After eating things for a couple days, am afraid to eat it again.  So have to throw it away.


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## AZ Jim (May 3, 2015)

The point of this post may have been made by what we spend on groceries.  I'm very glad I don't need food stamps but I wish it was more and I'm glad those who do need it have it.  I do wish it was more.


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## Ameriscot (May 3, 2015)

Back in the late 70's and early 80's I had to use food stamps.  I was a divorced mother of two and it was a struggle.  Back then I knew zip about nutrition and fed my kids things like hamburger helper.  Gag.  I bought what was cheap.


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## Glinda (May 3, 2015)

My brother and I spend about $85 a week on groceries.  We live in San Diego which has a cost of living among the highest in the U.S.  We buy lots of fruit and veggies and make salads, soups, stews, and casseroles from scratch. We don't buy junk and we don't buy meat because neither of us has any desire to eat it.  We don't go hungry and we don't waste food.


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## AZ Jim (May 3, 2015)

Glinda said:


> My brother and I spend about $85 a week on groceries.  We live in San Diego which has a cost of living among the highest in the U.S.  We buy lots of fruit and veggies and make salads, soups, stews, and casseroles from scratch. We don't buy junk and we don't buy meat because neither of us has any desire to eat it.  We don't go hungry and we don't waste food.



Good for you and your brother.  Unfortunately my canine teeth must have meat to fill they are doing their job.  I do not want a teeth strike in my mouth.


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