Hunger for Knowledge (was: Hunger?)

[Joan1969]

I read an article in Sunday’s newspaper about a group of college students who participated in an “awareness” project. They were given 35 dollars to live off of for a week, in order to identify with food stamp recipients, who get that amount as a maximum. The students complained about their poor diet and general feelings of lethargy. One kid lived mostly off peanut butter and jelly.

Huh? I actually spend about twenty per person for my family, though that admittedly does not include one restaurant meal which we eat on Sundays. I feel my family gets a good diet, which certainly includes vegetables, good meats and quality foods in general.

Seems to me this sort of “awareness” only foments discontent and makes young people particularly believe that it is “unreasonable” to make it on 35 per week per person. Sure, if you feel you “need” to eat restaurant and pre-made meals. But with only very basic cooking skills, thirty-five is more than adequate, at least in my area.

Any thoughts?

Joan

Mod note: Link provided by Dale_M:

hometownannapolis.com/cgi…6/11_26-16/LIF

 

[Karin]

I read an article in Sunday’s newspaper about a group of college students who participated in an “awareness” project. They were given 35 dollars to live off of for a week, in order to identify with food stamp recipients, who get that amount as a maximum. The students complained about their poor diet and general feelings of lethargy. One kid lived mostly off peanut butter and jelly.

Huh? I actually spend about twenty per person for my family, though that admittedly does not include one restaurant meal which we eat on Sundays. I feel my family gets a good diet, which certainly includes vegetables, good meats and quality foods in general.

Seems to me this sort of “awareness” only foments discontent and makes young people particularly believe that it is “unreasonable” to make it on 35 per week per person. Sure, if you feel you “need” to eat restaurant and pre-made meals. But with only very basic cooking skills, thirty-five is more than adequate, at least in my area.

Any thoughts?

Joan

in my area $35/week per person would mean that we would be at the soup kitchen most days/nights getting food.
No way that our family could live on $35/week/person.
(we do not eat out and do not purchase ready made meals)

 

[b_justb]

I find the $35 / week thing to be odd. Here is the tool to see if one might be eleigible to recieve food stamps:

65.216.150.143/fns/index.jsp

I filled it out quickly (and bogusly) saying I was a family of 4 in Arkansas making $12,000 a year, paying $250 for rent and $75 for utilities. I was eligable for about $360 / month in food stamps.

Besides all that, back around 1985 I was down on my luck job wise and took to donating plasma for $35 / week and that’s what I fed my family of four on. Of course $35 then went farther than $35 today, but it can be done if you’re thrifty.

 

[Benedictus]

Any thoughts?

$5 a day for food is not much.

 

[Karin]

I find the $35 / week thing to be odd. Here is the tool to see if one might be eleigible to recieve food stamps:

65.216.150.143/fns/index.jsp

I filled it out quickly (and bogusly) saying I was a family of 4 in Arkansas making $12,000 a year, paying $250 for rent and $75 for utilities. I was eligable for about $360 / month in food stamps.

Besides all that, back around 1985 I was down on my luck job wise and took to donating plasma for $35 / week and that’s what I fed my family of four on. Of course $35 then went farther than $35 today, but it can be done if you’re thrifty.

I just went to that site and duplicated your (name removed by moderator)ut info for NYC…I would be eligible for $449/month (28.00/per person per week)

 

[Benedictus]

I filled it out quickly (and bogusly) saying I was a family of 4 in Arkansas making $12,000 a year, paying $250 for rent and $75 for utilities. I was eligable for about $360 / month in food stamps.

$360 / month for four people equates to $90 per month for each person or just under $21 per week.

 

[vern_humphrey]

in my area $35/week per person would mean that we would be at the soup kitchen most days/nights getting food.
No way that our family could live on $35/week/person.
(we do not eat out and do not purchase ready made meals)

That would work out to $280 a month for a couple – about twice what my wife and I spend.

 

[Karin]

That would work out to $280 a month for a couple – about twice what my wife and I spend.

vern…but you live in the ozarks…arent things cheaper down there
for a family of four $35/week/person is not enough up here in the Tri-State area

 

[vern_humphrey]

vern…but you live in the ozarks…arent things cheaper down there
for a family of four $35/week/person is not enough up here in the Tri-State area

My wife and I just returned from spending Thanksgiving week with my younger daughter in Weehawken, NJ. I assure you, the three of us ate for a week on less than $100.

 

[Karin]

My wife and I just returned from spending Thanksgiving week with my younger daughter in Weehawken, NJ. I assure you, the three of us ate for a week on less than $100.

So you each spent only $33. for the week…that is impressive
what did you guys eat…rice and beans the whole week?

 

[vern_humphrey]

So you each spent only $33. for the week…that is impressive
what did you guys eat…rice and beans the whole week?

We had turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, vegetables and cramberry sauce for Thanksgiving. Like everyone else, we made several meals off that. We had pancakes for breakfast twice, and eggs and bacon a few times.

 

[Karin]

We had turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, vegetables and cramberry sauce for Thanksgiving. Like everyone else, we made several meals off that. We had pancakes for breakfast twice, and eggs and bacon a few times.

I was joking my dear Vern
So outside of the week of thanksgiving do you actually think that $35 /week is a resonable to survive on?

 

[vern_humphrey]

I was joking my dear Vern
So outside of the week of thanksgiving do you actually think that $35 /week is a resonable to survive on?

Sure - why not?

With careful shopping, you can do very well.

 

[Karin]

Sure - why not?

With careful shopping, you can do very well.

Hmm…well we do eat organic and but very little prepackaged food…on average we are spending $200/week for a family of 4…so once again perhaps it is possible but not likely…
I did notice that when we did nto eat organic the food bill was cheaper…oh well!

 

[Corki]

vern…but you live in the ozarks…arent things cheaper down there
for a family of four $35/week/person is not enough up here in the Tri-State area

Karen,

I moved to TX from NJ and $35 would have been quite do-able for me there, but a bit of a pinch here. Food is much cheaper in NJ than in the greater Houston area and cheap produce direct from the farms is something that is quite accessible in NJ but nearly non-existent here. In fact, I pay more for just about all of the non-processed categories of food here than I did there (meat, dairy, produce).

When I lived in Michigan, my food budget was $50/month. I “cheated” though by working in a pizza place and eating one meal a day there for free.

I am confident that I could feed my family of four on $100 per week, even here if I stayed away from processed food, gave up soda and cooked each meal.

 

[Karin]

Karen,

I moved to TX from NJ and $35 would have been quite do-able for me there, but a bit of a pinch here. Food is much cheaper in NJ than in the greater Houston area and cheap produce direct from the farms is something that is quite accessible in NJ but nearly non-existent here. In fact, I pay more for just about all of the non-processed categories of food here than I did there (meat, dairy, produce).

When I lived in Michigan, my food budget was $50/month. I “cheated” though by working in a pizza place and eating one meal a day there for free.

I am confident that I could feed my family of four on $100 per week, even here if I stayed away from processed food, gave up soda and cooked each meal.

Ok I have to ask…where in the world did you shop when you lived out here…the Fairway ?
I dont know what stores you guys are hitting but the local ShoprRite and Whole Foods is not cheap…the produce is expensive and the meats and fish are too…so what did you guys eat and where did you guys shop?

 

[Paganus]

Sure - why not?

With careful shopping, you can do very well.

Precisely. Most people have no idea how to go shopping. Stock up on deals when they present themselves. Don’t just buy for one week - if it’s a great deal, take advantage of it. My family of five averages less than $100 week on groceries, easily.

A good primer for saving money (on groceries and elsewhere) is a book called “The Complete Tightwad Gazette.” It has saved us a fortune.:twocents:

 

[vern_humphrey]

Precisely. Most people have no idea how to go shopping. Stock up on deals when they present themselves. Don’t just buy for one week - if it’s a great deal, take advantage of it. My family of five averages less than $100 week on groceries, easily.

A good primer for saving money (on groceries and elsewhere) is a book called “The Complete Tightwad Gazette.” It has saved us a fortune.:twocents:

I was fortunate to attend Catholic schools in Lake Charles, LA. State law said we got state textbooks – but the ones we got weren’t new. Most of my textbooks were written in the depression or earlier.

So we had math problems like “An 8 oz can of beans costs 3 cents, and a 16 oz can costs 5 cents. Which is the better buy?” We had a subject called “Health” which included nutrition – and had tips like, “Buy day-old bread. It’s just as nutritious as fresh-baked, but cheaper.”

To this day, I shop carefully. I have a garden, and hunt, too. A box of 500 .22 shells costs less than $10 at Wal Mart – and that’s a lot of squirrel stew.

 

[Joan1969]

I just came back from shopping in Maryland, and I spent about 135 on food items for my family (weeekly trip). I did buy a very large amount of vegetables and fruits, which are pricier. Still, it works out to 35 per person, excluding the baby (who does eat a lot).

Whole Foods can be a very expensive store. I shop at a very nice and somewhat pricey (in my opinion) Safeway. Organics would not be appropriate for anyone on public assistance; they are certainly quite expensive.

I believe it would be quite easy to feed my family on less than 35 per week, though I must admit I am feeding children. But then I also indulge in pricey items like real maple syrup and premium bread.

 

[Robert_Bay]

Does someone have a link for the original story?