Eating on $4/day

twoinanddone
Sat, 03 Oct 2015 03:33:07 +0000

I just read an article by a man who took the SNAP challenge, to live on about $140/mo, which is about what a person on SNAP receives. He lives in SF and would actually get about $180/mo, but challenged himself to live on $125. I had to laugh because he’s receipts were from Whole Foods, he said he used no coupons. He did it and posted his meals.

There are two things wrong with the SNAP challenge. First, SNAP is supplemental, and is not intended to be the only source of food. The challenge requires you to account for all food, so if you receive a free meal or eat at someone’s home, you must deduct the cost of that food. SNAP doesn’t require that and I’m sure would encourage ‘creative eating’ just like we tell our college kids to find free meals or coffee or donuts or whatever. If a family is on SNAP and the kids get a free lunch at daycare or school, great. If their church has spaghetti supper on Saturday nights, go for it. Also, on the challenge you aren’t supposed to use any food you have at your house. Well, very few people start from scratch every month. There are staples in the cupboard, salt and pepper, a sale on pasta that can last a few weeks.

I can easily live on the SNAP amounts, but I have resources many on benefits don’t. I have transportation to shop at the cheapest places. I get a newspaper to get coupons. I have refrigeration and a full kitchen to prepare things, a freezer to stock up on sales. I can read recipes and have the internet to look up things to do with the ingredients I have on hand. I used to joke with a friend that I play the Food Network game ‘Chopped’ every night for dinner. “You have these 4 ingredients on hand, now make dinner with milk, corn, bacon, and zucchini.”

I agree with romani that every tool we give those on benefits helps. Cooking lessons, children learning to cook at school, vouchers for Goodwill to buy pots and spoons. I’ve had clients who don’t know how to do anything except go to McD’s, and when we show them how to cook a few things, they are willing to try. They just don’t know how to start.