“I assume, although I am not sure , that most people with kids who get SNAP get free/reduced lunch and or breakfast for the kids?”
@kandcsmom - Probably but remember the kids don’t get that on the weekends. Our church sends backpacks with enough food for the weekend for the kids on the free lunch program . The free lunch program isn’t available when school isn’t open. Again there are programs that different groups set up to help but still I would assume that it would not be easy to live on SNAP for any length of time with kids.
dodgersmom, are you a researcher in the field? I am not, but I became faniliar with the subject because of the recent political battle in our state over allowing big corporations to release more nasty stuff into the environment. The fact that decades old selenium research was brought up to the front pages reeks… pardon the pun… of a political agenda. (Certain volatile Se compounds stink, as you might know). I am not going to debate the subject here because it would be impossible to turn it into a political fight.
Even if Hg is “covered”, Hg is not the only thing that lurks in fish, sadly. No one is saying that fish is not beneficial - quite the opposite. It is really sad that it is becoming unsafe to eat.
People working retail don’t generally have full time hours. They might be working 12 hrs at one job and 20 hrs at another. Retail businesses have gone to part time workers to save money.
Even community colleges have many part time profs who have to work at more than one college to make ends meet.
I agree that fast food is expensive but when my kids were young, they didn’t have delivery grocery stores but they did have drive ins.
I had to leave my grocery cart at the check out counter many times because D was having a melt down.
A case of the 5 o’clocks, but I was in school/work all day, my H worked at night and we couldn’t afford child care.
Kids and husbands also go through periods where they are very picky.
It’s all well and good to say that if they get hungry enough they will eat, but meanwhile a lot of food gets wasted. THAT is very expensive.
Bunsen, did you see the crash of 14 million bees earlier today? 90% of the bees were lost( killed), bees that were needed for agriculture.
Very bad.
So you say we aren’t taking beverages into the equation? So my coffee and wine doesn’t count? Yay, I could do it.
I wouldn’t want to, though. At my local stores, you can get bread near it’s expiration date for pretty cheap, produce that is past its prime for a discount. If you aren’t picky, you can buy pretty cheap stuff if you’re just looking for sales. Meat and poultry near the expiration date for very cheap. However, no way would I want to do this. I’ve done it before, and it is a lot of work, you have to go to several different stores, and you don’t always end up with the healthiest stuff. I once got an entire bag of groceries for free (double/triple coupons), but it was a great deal of effort.
What does one do with canned salmon? Make salmon salad like tuna salad? Fish from a can does not appeal to me.
I love all the discussion, realization and thinking this topic has developed over the day. Thank you for participating, no matter what your view!
I worked in a parenting program years ago where one of the tasks we had to do with the parents was exactly this. Take them grocery shopping to learn how to shop on a budget (with food stamps) followed up by teaching them about nutrition and cooking both at our program building AND at their home. Someone said above and this is correct - many people just simply had no idea how to prepare simple things (thus buying prepared tv dinners and stuff) AND the resources at home didn’t allow for cooking. No pans to cook with. No measuring tools. Sometimes, an oven that was not safe to use. Poor to no reading ability so they couldn’t read packages or follow recipes. This is a real problem.
So it is important for us to realize that poor grocery purchases is not always a conscious decision but a “I don’t know any other way” decision.
I usually don’t do anything with fish from a can - just eat it with the sides, as is.
Salmon cakes are made with canned salmon.
Or chowder.
Salmon patties! My mom made great ones. Our school does the backpack food program and the schools do have free breakfast and lunch in the summer. So it’s $29/person? I think that would be difficult for total grocery buying, but certainly helpful since it’s meant to be a supplemental program. The most difficult would be the lack of $ for fresh fruits and veggies. I never remember fresh fruits/veggies growing up in the '70s. Would love to see more community gardens/ag education, etc.
Fish from a can? Throw it in a bowl with some salad greens, garbanzos, cheese tomatoes and pickled beets. Dinner for the single person while reading CC.
I would love that job, abasket, as you are really influencing families and nutritional patterns for the years to come. Keeping them out of the hospital where there is a lot of catch up education when they develop CHF and/or diabetes.
Anyhow, an interesting creative challenge
My menu:
dozen eggs $1.50
head of leafy lettuce $3
frozen chicken tenders $4
corn tortillas $1
tomatoes $2
onion $1
fresh green chili $1
rice $1.50
frozen peas $1.50
quart milk $1.50
cheddar cheese $2
jar salsa $2
celery $1.50
bag carrots $1
bag apples $3
bag of pinto beans $1
lime .50
Meals-chicken tacos, cook up those beans, make a veggie chili, Mexican rice and beans another night, salad with left over chicken from the tacos. Fried rice for another meal with eggs and peas. Eggs for breakfast, sometime with tortillas and salsa. Carrot and celery sticks for snacks. Apples for snacks. Left overs for lunch, or salad. Make some flan with the milk. Or rice pudding
This is gluten free, and will admit to it being in keeping with my Arizona inspired love of Mexican flavors.
The year my S did Americorp he was instructed at orientation to apply for food stamps. I though this a bit of odd cost shifting of the Americorps programs. Regardless, he felt he had a lot of money to spend on food, having lived on Cajun bean and rice mixes and eggs when living independently in college. Though it seems the food stamp allowance was a little more generous than $29 per week.
Seriously, it’s one thing for me to look at the day old bread or dented cans. Another for that to be the only way a person can make do, month after month. No escape, no option to go out to dinner tonight because, hey, you’re poor. (I do realize we’ve all had times when we had to seriously economize.)
So much of this is about caring, education and preparation.
A couple of years ago I was watching Alton Brown on TV (probably nothing your minimum wage mom had time to do) and he had a great recipe for sardines, since we are talking about low-mercury fish.
Toast some bread. Rye is great. Smash up sardines with lemon juice and salt. Smear on bread. If available add slices of avocado. Alternate: smash avocado with lemon juice and salt. Smear on toast. Lay sardines on top.
Believe me both variations are far better than lunch meat.
My camping lunch is sardines stuffed into an avocado half, eaten with a spoon.
I was the weird kid whose mom gave her sardine sandwiches. On whole grain bread. I did not appreciate her creativity or nutritional good sense at the time.
I’m taking fish pills, I think they are made out of sardines and possibly herring. I’m just tired of what fish to eat that don’t contain mercury. Beside I seem to get hungry easily after eating fish so fish pills work for me.
I was trying to figure out how to do this while getting enough calories (2500-3000 a day), protein and vitamins. I could buy dry beans, rice, tortillas and whatever the cheapest vegetables are. Canned vegetables, I guess? It sounds possible but fairly awful.
I looked at the nutrition for HarvestMoon’s list (because it was the shortest list). I assumed 2# of whole wheat pasta, a quart of tomato sauce, 5# of brown rice and 12 eggs, and I added in half a cup of oil to cook the eggs in. It comes out to 2000 calories a day, the large portion of them from that five pounds of rice. That is a very high carb, very low fat diet–2500 grams of carbs and only 400 grams of protein per week, and a mere 250 grams of fat.
My older D did Americorps, she wasn’t on food stamps, but again the " pay" was fairly low, but at least she her uniform, even boots were supplied. I still wear her anorak.
My H brings his lunch everyday. But he takes sandwiches that he can eat while he walks around the building.
Or else he skips lunch and just takes a nap.
He does buy deli meat. But it’s either that or buying pizza at work. The sandwiches are slightly healthier.
I love avocados.
I used to eat sardines on wasa bröd. So good.
I also like tuna sandwiches, with thinly sliced Granny Smith apples & curry powder.
Soon it will be time for fresh tomato sandwiches & fresh basil.
In the winter I like peanut butter on toast, with salsa.
But then I have to go on a break from wheat and give my gut a rest.
My younger daughter has a very limited food budget, no car, and the grocery is 15 miles away.
She eats a lot of ramen, but she made her own yogurt!
She is so industrious!
Celery, carrots, cabbage are cheap. Frozen vegetables are very reasonable, spinach, corn, peas. Winter squash is reasonable. If you prioritize cheap protein, with dry beans, peanut butter, quarts of yogurt, canned fish, there is economic space to add a variety of vegetables. I am reminded of the words about a chicken in every pot, campaign promise from Herbert Hoover. The implication being that most meals did not include meat if trying to economize.
Large varieties of vegetables at low prices can often be found in supermarkets catering to Chinese immigrants.
King Henry IV of France said that.
In 1928, chickens were more expensive than pork or beef because they could lay eggs while they were still edible, so saying " A chicken in every pot" wasn’t saying families rarely had meat, but that they would become so prosperous that they could afford chicken, rather than beef or pork.