There are plenty of times when I feel like my lifestyle and I are not quite normal, but whenever I read statistics of how much money it takes to live/raise a family, I feel like I'm some sort of alien.
Yesterday's paper included this article. You really should read it, but if you don't have time, it basically says that the average food stamp recipient in Oregon is allotted $3 per person per day, and the governor of Oregon and various other important people are going to try to eat within this sort of budget for a week.
Listen to the kinds of comments they make:
The goal is to walk the proverbial mile in the steps of those who rely on food stamps to feed a family, to kindle awareness and, hopefully, empathy.
"It really re-energized me to be so much more conscious of what people are going through," said Sister Mary Scullion, the executive director of a Philadelphia nonprofit that works with the homeless, who did the food stamp challenge last year. "It's about understanding the limited choices people have, and how money gives you choices."
Those who have done the challenge say it can leave you both physically weakened and mentally exhilarated.
"On the spiritual side, when I did eat, I was more present," said Connecticut state Sen. Jonathan Harris, D-West Hartford, who just finished three weeks on food stamp funds.
Now this is the point where I feel like I'm missing something, or these other people are, or something.
Newsflash: I feed my family on far less than $3 per person per day. Goodness, $3 for each of us would be $720 a month! I spend probably $2 per person per day, and feel downright wealthy and indulgent, as ten years ago in our Poor Days I budgeted a dollar a day for each of us.
Yes, yes, yes, I know I have lots of advantages that the Food Stamp people don't have--a functional kitchen, a car, an Amish mom who taught me how to cook from scratch, a big family which I suppose makes it more economical per person, and I don't have to be employed so I have time to cook.
But still. You don't need more than a hot plate and a pan to cook rice and beans, both of which I cook plenty of and buy in 25-lb. sacks, along with oatmeal, flour, and sugar. If you're not home all day, you can get a $2 Goodwill crockpot and have supper ready when you get home.
And none of us, incidentally, is physically weakened from our diet, even the adolescent boys who eat thousands of (mostly nutritious) calories a day including three or four eggs for breakfast.
I have chicken and rice in the oven as we speak, to be served with corn and a salad and chocolate cake. I wonder if, on the spiritual side, my family will feel mentally exhilarated and more present as they eat, and maybe the experience will kindle awareness and, hopefully, empathy.
Now before anyone jumps down my throat for not being empathetic to the poor, let me say that I have plenty of sympathy for the poor, having walked that road myself for much of my life. But what I don't get is making such a big fuss about eating for $3 a day when I've been eating for less than that my whole life.
Quote of the Day:
"My wife came up to me and said, 'Either you or the dog is going on a diet.' I lost."
--Ted Kulongoski, governor of Oregon
Back in the days I was a single mom; going to college and holding down three part time jobs I recieved food stamps. At that time you were given $135.00 a month for two people. My daughter and I ate like queens. I lived in lo income housing and it soon got around that I had food stamps left over every month. People were knocking at my door for my food stamps because there's were all gone. I usually asked them what they needed and bought it for them because I never knew if giving them the food stamps would really put food on their table. Somtimes stamps are traded for drugs and I didnt trust any one not to do that! But anyway, my point is that we lived very well on 135 a month!! Nobody was physically weakened; in fact we both gained weight! The whole problem is that people dont know how to cook or make do from scratch! Its quite sad really!
ReplyDeleteI'm with ya. I don't even have the background you do, but I manage to feed my family of seven, plus six pets, and buy paper supplies for just under $3 per person per day. My weekly budget is $175 for all of my grocery and drug store items (prescription meds excluded).
ReplyDeleteHow can I ever critize or give advice to one of my favorite people (even though we do not know each other)? You are absolutely correct about being able to feed a family well (both nutritionally and flavorfully) if one makes the effort... and I agree with Mrs. Darling that said that people don't know how to cook from scratch. The ol' home economics course is long gone... let alone Mothers being teaching their children.
ReplyDeleteHowever, we must also realize that most food stamp recipients also do not have access to gardens where they can really strech thier food budget (yes, I read the entry about the school lunch and the corn you put up).
To make it worse, with ubitquitous access to TV and media advertisements... it is very hard to refuse those wonderfull convenience foods.
Pop Tart, anyone?
Point taken, anonymous, except that I deliberately did not include a garden in my list of advantages because for the last couple of years my poor garden has been a break-even proposition at best. The corn was purchased from a farmer, which is a great advantage in flavor but probably not in cost.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping for a better crop this year.
you can't hardly call pop tarts food. they're more like card board with frosting on top.
ReplyDeleterc
If I had a $3 per person per day food budget, I'm not sure what I'd do with it all...I'd have to have lots of parties! And, no, I don't garden at all, nor do I raise my own meat....it all comes from the good old grocery store! But I do love to cook! Pauline
ReplyDeleteOh, I forgot to mention, I wouldn't mind "trying" to live on such a "budget"! Pauline
ReplyDeleteAnytime someone can experience how the poor (especially the working poor) live and have to make decisions about basic necessities-- I'm for that. I'm glad these people in leadership lived it out with their own bodies. I guess it just wasn't "poor" enough? At least there was some awareness raised. And somehow being generous with food money strikes me as a good value, not something to be denigrated.. Sorry if I sound a little ouchy.. just blowing off a little, nothing personal to you.
ReplyDeleteI think it makes a big difference how many people there is in a family...and how many $ there are all together. What is bought is more economically used. If it was just you-- with $20 a week would you eat the same variety? How about $14?
great post. I totally agree with you on every point. When my husband and i first got married, my weekly grocery budget was $30 a week, household items like toilet paper and dish soap included. That ends up to be just over $2/person/day to keep our bellies full and our apartment clean. Now that there are three of us and we're bringing in more income, I've upped the budget to $45 a week, and we're living large, without a garden and without wasted food.
ReplyDeleteHooray for parents who raised us to be frugal and enjoy it.
I guess it's the indignant tone that I find so off-putting.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'd love to see your budget laid out--all of you who eat on such frugal budgets--for others to model. In that stream of posts/comments, I only heard one honest mention of the power of collective buying--that buying for nine people is significantly cheaper per person than buying for one person (though there was courtesy nod in that direction in the original post, but it sounded dismissive to me). I don't know that I heard anybody mention anything about the lack of decent nutrition education. Thank you, Anonymous, for your mention of ubiquitous access to television and media adds, and their effect on consumer decision-making.
Farm Bill anyone?
Subsidized corn and wheat?
Grovery store layout?
Obesity?
Diabetes?
Generational poverty?
Imagine this:
You live with your family in a poorly insulated rental house that drives your power bill up during the long winter, your landlord is unresponsive except to invoke the fear of eviction, you're working 38 hours/week for minimum wage, and it being "unskilled labor" you're easily replaced should you disagree with management's decisions or actions. Your partner is doing likewise but contingent upon seasonal availability of work, you have three kids, one of which is in daycare becase you don't have family in the area since they were abusive and you needed to get away from that. Either you or your partner, or both, is recovering from some kind of substance abuse, you live close enough to town to feel like you live in town, but far enough away to make it inconvenient given the infrequent running of rural busses. You're 35 (but look 45) and overweight from years of corn syrup-rich foods, and the last time you saw a doctor you were warned about your cholesterol levels and that you were in danger of developing type II diabetes. You grew up on the modern convenience of microwaves and Swanson dinners in compartmentalized plastic trays, and now, when you get home from work, it's your job to feed the five growing bellies in your house.
I'm sorry, but I find it really unconstructive and actually quite obnoxious the way many of you have spoken with such disdain about the choices that other people make. Our food system is huge and complex and VERY problematic. I think it's wonderful that you all have found economical ways to eat healthy, tasty food... maybe you could post some recipes or suggestions for how to do this so that others could learn. Many people don't have the advantage of knowing those old time skills, and are instead trying to make do with information gathered from advertisements. Do you know how many people watch Fox News, and think it's journalism?
One other little bit: the food stamp program works on the notion of the poverty level; the formula for determining poverty in this country was developed in the 1960's on the premise that a household typically spends 1/3 of its budget on food. This formula hasn't been updated EVER, even though the cost of housing and energy have risen, and transportation habits, expectations and costs have changed, and our food system has changed dramatically in all areas from production, to shipping, to marketing, to consumption... furthermore, the food stamp program has not been updated with regard to accommodating the cost of living and purchasing food in at least thirty years, as well.
For example:
If I made $825 a month gross as a single adult, paid $300 a month rent, (+$100 for utilities, phone, power) all very modest figures for my region (Olympic Peninsula) my food stamp benefit amount would be $10 per month. Does that enable anyone to move themselves out of poverty?
But I'll agree to some extent with your implied message that it isn't just about money.
We could all use serious improvements in education: from nutrition, to being a savvy consumer and deflecting advertising messages, to providing for ourselves, and planning for our future.
One last question:
How are you all able to purchase sustainably produced food on such shoestring budgets?