Hunger Action Week: Eating on a Food Stamp Budget

In the state of Washington, The United Way of King County is issuing a food challenge: Feed yourself for only $7 a day for five days. United Way calls this “an exercise of empathy—to live in someone else’s shoes for one week and learn how you can help fight hunger in our community.” Learn more about Hunger Action Week and the $7 a day challenge starting April 20th.

Poverty affects families across North America, and their money problems encompass more than just the grocery budget. Imagine trying to juggle paying for food, heat, electricity, telephone, health care expenses, school expenses for the kids, clothing, transportation, and every bloody thing else on a single minimum-wage income. The 2007 US census indicates 5.8% of married families, 26.6% of  single parent households, and 19.1% of all persons living alone subsist below the poverty line (Wiki). In Canada, the income of the richest 50 Canadians combined is over $50 billion. For the average family of four living in poverty ($30,000 annual income or less), the value of those 50 people equals 1,600,000 low-income Canadian households (CCPA).

The homeless crisis and poverty in Vancouver is something I am aware of on a daily basis. People come down our alley regularly, searching for food and recycleables in dumpsters along the way. Most of them are “regulars” but occasionally folk I don’t recognize come by from other parts of town. Panhandlers are often stationed along shopping corners in our neighbourhood, and for the most part, they are respectful. Downtown, people are sometimes more aggressive.

The Downtown Eastside is not a pretty part of the city, but it’s quite real, and the down-and-outs who congregate there have no other place to be. There is plenty of talk among politicians about “cleaning up” but not much action. Personally, I don’t care for the “clean it up” philosophy. How about some compassionate “help your neighbour” instead? Homelessness and hunger isn’t an issue that people can expect to magically erase with extra policing or a bus ticket out of town. And it’s hard to make progress on an individual level, too. A friend told me she once gave food to a man, only to see him immediately try to sell it to passersby. Clearly hunger wasn’t his first priority. She felt very sad for him, and a little bit defeated.

There are food banks, food stamp programs, soup kitchens, and shelters available for those who seek such help (and qualify for it), but the system is imperfect. Many who need help don’t get it, and some who can get help don’t use it. There were lean times in my house growing up (there were 6 kids to feed), but we had the benefit of a vegetable garden and a hard-working father, plus the occasional block of government cheese. Going out for dinner was unheard of (except on vacation, where it meant cooking over a campfire), but there was plenty of generic brand “mystery food” and boloney sammiches.

Once upon a time, I lived on Ramen and a bottomless cup of coffee. When things got really hard and I wasn’t just feeding myself, we looked into welfare and food stamps. There’s no shame in taking them, but I felt like other people probably needed them more and I just needed to work harder. A roof stayed over our head and food was on the table, but living hand to mouth can be a hard hump to get over. Moving to California and changing jobs allowed me to live extravagantly for a while (they don’t call it Whole Paycheck Foods for nothing) and eat at really good restaurants. Even with all that bounty, my personal food issues kept me from enjoying it, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.

These days, I eat better than I ever have, not just because I’m in a port city, but because I have learned to stretch a dollar and cook from scratch. For a family of two, living on $60 for five days seems doable, but I can’t imagine feeding a family of 6 on food stamp funds. According to the chart, an individual gets 7$ per day, but each additional person actually brings the individual amount down. For example, a family of 6 gets  $32 per day, but that’s only $5.33 for each individual, and that’s the maximum qualifying amount!

Food stamps cannot be spent on just anything (no alcohol, pet food, hot deli food, or non-food items like toilet paper). It’s interesting, though, that you can buy seeds with food stamps (if they are sold in a grocery store) but you can’t spend the money on gardening supplies (e.g. fertilizer or soil). In Canada, there are food banks, but nothing like American food stamps, as far as I know, so I’m going to use the following US food stamp rules.

I can purchase:

• Food or food products meant to be eaten by people
• Edible items used in preparing or preserving food such as spices and herbs, pectin, and shortening (thank god for homemade muffins)
• Water and ice labeled for human consumption
• Snack foods (hooray! chocolate and potato chips)

I will not purchase:

• Prepared hot foods in grocery stores (no deli-cooked chickens)
• Any prepared food (hot or cold) sold and meant to be eaten at the store
• Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (no wine or rum, boooooo!)
• Pet foods (don’t worry, I won’t let my kitties go hungry)

In Virginia, you can’t get change when you spend food stamps, and you might have to pay a few cents sales tax if you use manufacturer coupons. You’ll probably also have to separate the items at checkout. They don’t make it easy, if you even qualify. Just looking through a few food stamp sites, it’s clear that the application process is not exactly simple, and there’s a very fine line between poor and “too much money.”

I expect Kraft Dinner and magical Ramen noodles are going to make an appearance for certain, but hopefully I won’t have to resort to cheap overprocessed freezer meals. Will I even be able to afford fresh produce (let alone organic)? At least it’s not a $1 per day experiment (see also the One Dollar Diet).

Want to help fight hunger where you are? Donate to a local food bank, community kitchen, or just feed somebody who needs it. Be thankful for what you have, and be generous to those who have less.

this post inspired by
The Savory Sweet Life

clipart from
CoolClips.com