Driving to a food bank?

My way of food shopping is to make a list, with prices in the right hand column, with the total at the bottom, I add a little extra for any price increases, and only take that amount, in cash, to the store, no credit/debit/store cards in my pocket, if there is a two for one sale that I know I will need, something else drops off the list, as I have three months worth of basics most of the year. It works for me.

reply to post by minettejo

I cringe when I see a basket loaded with microwaveables which are so low in nutrition and so high in price.

Next time you cringe, think about the many people who live in single rooms with only a microwave to cook their meals with. I have been reading these posts and I think it's pathetic people will complain about how people in need get by. You don't know their situation...under what circumstances they live....we even have people living in cars or tents and have no means in which to prepare food....I see that we have way more people who really need help than those just abusing it. I also see that people who are not in such dire straights ought to keep their fat mouth shut and be thankful for what they have...because life has a funny way of opening arrogant eyes in the most painful way. "Walk a mile in one's shoes"...you know....

Originally posted by pikestaff
My way of food shopping is to make a list, with prices in the right hand column, with the total at the bottom, I add a little extra for any price increases, and only take that amount, in cash, to the store, no credit/debit/store cards in my pocket

Star to your post.

But...

Why do you avoid modern payment methods?

Originally posted by minettejo
You really can eat cheap if you are a bit creative. Shop sales, use coupons, price match and you are eating for peanuts. It is convenience foods that kill the budget. I cringe when I see a basket loaded with microwaveables which are so low in nutrition and so high in price.

Last night we had meatloaf, broccoli with cheese sauce and home-made bread. The whole meal cost $5.27. Plus we will get another meal and my husband will get a lunch out of it. So cost per serving is 75 cents.

Round of applause.

reply to post by buddhasystem


The foods you mention for eating on a budget where what I ate when times where good.

Originally posted by OldSchoolMom
reply to post by minettejo

 

I cringe when I see a basket loaded with microwaveables which are so low in nutrition and so high in price.

Next time you cringe, think about the many people who live in single rooms with only a microwave to cook their meals with. I have been reading these posts and I think it's pathetic people will complain about how people in need get by. You don't know their situation...under what circumstances they live....we even have people living in cars or tents and have no means in which to prepare food....I see that we have way more people who really need help than those just abusing it. I also see that people who are not in such dire straights ought to keep their fat mouth shut and be thankful for what they have...because life has a funny way of opening arrogant eyes in the most painful way. "Walk a mile in one's shoes"...you know....

I said a BASKET loaded. Geesh... I have been broke before too, and I can tell you fruits, veggies, and nuts are cheaper than microwaveables and incredibly more nutritious. You take a microwave entree, which is typically 3-4 dollars. You can buy 3 apples, a loaf of whole wheat bread and a small jar of peanut butter. Much better choice. Not trying to be mean, but if more people could be educated about how to stretch a food dollar they would be better off. I would love to see all the drunk driving public service ads (we all get it now), replaced with how to eat nutritiously.

Here they have this big Jesus in the Park day and the churches go get food from the federal funded foodbank in Atlanta. Then they invite all the Christians and say "All Demonimation Christians Welcome" and have this big religious bash in the public park.
Everyone that goes can stop and get some groceries and I know well to do people that pick up their groceries.

Meanwhile, the people without money can't get to the park, and poor people of other religions never even know about it, or wouldn't go because they WOULD be preached at. I can only IMAGINE trying to go in a headscarf or burka. Generally church people around here are NOT accepting of other faiths.

It's a good thing in a lot of ways, but there's a lot about it that kinda stinks. Some neighbors went - they did NOT need the food - and they were all of the impression that the churches here totally did it. They hate Obama with a passion, but it was his stimulus that put so much extra in the Atlanta food bank that could then be given to religious based charities.

reply to post by phroziac


And some of the abuses are why smaller groups will limit their charity.

Personally, I think foodbanks and welfare should only be there for families in desperate situations.

If you still have a car, can pay for gas and insurance, and aren't living out of it, your situation isn't desperate - yet.

The number one thing you need to eat well with a little money is the ability to cook a wide variety of different foods. Many cultures have cuisines that taste amazing and are very nutritious and use cheap ingredients.
I have a big garden and a 50.00/week budget for my family and I also feed a lot of the children in the neighborhood. We have somewhat of a homestead with garden,chickens, but we also hunt. 3 deer in the freezer really helped this year.

The next thing you need is to learn to preserve and reuse leftovers. This is big. If I DO cook steak, and there's a piece left -it gets frozen for the later use in a stew or something. Waste not want not.

Then you need someone with time and equipment to cook, which I do.

I know some people have lost their home base and can't do that - these people are in dire danger. Nothing ever changes - people need food, water, clothing, and shelter. I won't even pretend to speak about those that have lost homes. There's no way I could stretch 50.00 to feed a family if I had no way to freeze, store, or cook food.

I could get into coupons and sales strategies, but there's a ton of info out on that already. I do those things, and stockpile. I also garden and I STUDY cooking and home ec. It's something i NEVER, EVER got taught in school.

Crock pots are great - I see them in thrift stores for $5 or less. I guess if I ever did get homeless, I'd take it - just like years past in the great depression the women took their big cast iron cooking pots.

No, in our society, if you waited to help someone until they lost everything, we'd all lose - you'd be leaving people with no possible way to dig out, and people get desperate - it all equals political instability and crime. I don't want to see anyone get THAT desperate in our country - not when there is so much wealth - we've just got to learn to not misuse it.

OP, i really don't follow your train of though here.
are you saying ppl who arrive in vehicles aren't broke enough to need food ??

this really makes no sense to me whatsoever.
i have access and use of a van.
weekly, i transport 2/4 other ppl to the produce give-away sponsored by a local church group. i am not one of the "needy" yet, although i am always presented produce for two reasons 1) thanks for my willingness to help others and 2) so that all of the usable produce will be eaten rather thrown away.

just last week, i got into a bit of a spat over this monsterous bakery cookie (about the size of a lrg pizza) that was offered to me and at first i asked for a knife to half it and share but as it turned out, i ended up accepting the whole, however, it will be shared with neighbors.

it bothers me that any other person would think those who benefit from these giveaways are not deserving simply because they arrive by vehicle. who are you to assume each arrival OWNS the vehicle in which they are traveling ?? i am not the owner of the vehicle i use, but that shouldn't prevent me from helping others.

would you prefer the excess food be tossed in the trash ??
while many food banks are low on supply, it does not bother me that some of them have to place restrictions or qualifiers on those who receive but what on earth does a vehicle have to do with it ??

While true that alot of the people you might see are deserving of the food stuffs there are also some that abuse it. ive volunteered at a food kitchen a few times and saw all types of people. while there were mostly minority families there i also saw quite a few people who were not. what some people forget is that it wasnt only the poor that got screwed over when the economy went bust. there were alot of white collar workers such as real estate brokers, bankers and other such stuff. just because they have a car doesnt mean that they are less deserving of help. they do also pay taxes afterall.


On the other hand, i live in nyc and whenever i go to a deli there is somebody trying to buy beer or cigarettes with their food stamp card and the deli owners let them do it because there is no oversight. i wouldnt be surprised if upwards of 20% of the food stamps in nyc go towards beer and cigarettes

Originally posted by zonetripper2065
reply to post by buddhasystem

 

The foods you mention for eating on a budget where what I ate when times where good.

So a potato and two eggs break the bank for you?

Originally posted by Destinyone
I live in a very rural area. The 8...yes, 8 little churches in my little town, have had to post on their signs...sorry, out of food.

They try to help as many people they can, but, the donations aren't coming in like they used to. Also, our little Sat. morning farmer's market, has now, a system set up, where WIC cards can be used to purchase paper tickets from the office. Each ticket equals $1.00, tickets to be used to purchase produce and food items ONLY. The seller then trades the paper tickets to the office for the money. It works really well, for the most part. The system was set up through the Agriculture dept. up here.

But, there are still those who try to use their WIC/foodstamps, to purchase nonfood items. I make and sell, hand made fancy high end organic soaps, lotions and what not. All Spa products. I still get Mothers, with kids in tow, trying to buy expensive stuff from me, with WIC tickets. I won't sell it to them. They get pi**ed too. I tell them to buy food for their families, that's what it's for.

Part of the problem, I think, is a segment of society that thinks everything...and I mean *everything*, should be handed to them. That if they are unhappy with anything in their lives, it's someone elses' fault. Right down to making a freaking meal for their kids. That government should shoulder all the parental responsibility of feeding their kids. There are some kids up here, that only get a real meal in school or church on Sunday, when the old women make a morning breakfast for kids attending. It's wrong...just plain wrong when parents hold no responsibility for their own children

Des

edit on 9-8-2012 by Destinyone because: (no reason given)

I have seen you post this a couple of times. I think you are making it up. Either that or you are dealing with someone severely mentally handicapped or they are stolen by someone who doesn't know how the program works.. Everyone on these programs know you can't buy those types of items with WIC or foodstamps. If you are those programs they make you attend classes on what you can and can not get with them just for applying before they even decide if you qualify. So to think someone would get angry over something that has already been drilled into their heads a million times before they reach your stand, I have to believe they are stolen or the person is mentally handicapped, if you are indeed telling the truth.

Originally posted by Ameilia
reply to post by buddhasystem

 

I worked with a lady once that made me feel sick, literally. I've never come so close to hitting someone in the face.

She specifically had kids to get more money in welfare payments, and free food. I know this because she bragged about it.

She signed her kids up for WIC, that's the program where you get stuff like milk, eggs, cheese, and tuna for free. She was also on food stamps, which is a debit card now. She would go to the store and get all the stuff she could on WIC. Then, with the debit card which is good for any food, she would buy lobsters, steaks, all kinds of higher end food. She would also go to the food bank. Their meat wasn't good enough for her, but soup cans, pastas, and veggies were.

She would cook elaborate meals (paid for by the debit card) for herself and her husband. What did her kids eat? Tuna, or mac and cheese. Only the food she could get them with the WIC program, that's it. While her and her husband ate lobsters, right in front of them. And she BRAGGED about it.

Her poor kids ate better with the free school program she had them on than they did at home.

Oh, and don't go off thinking that "at least they had food for the kids" or "it's a good thing welfare like that exists for poor kids that would starve anyway." Because in her case, it doesn't apply. She lied to get on all those programs. Her husband made like $4k a month in cash but they only reported her income, which was something like $2.5 or so. How do I know...cause she BRAGGED about it.

So you report people like that, if you don't you are part of the problem. However, there are problems with your story.
If the children were born after 1997 she could not get money for having additional children. She was making this up. If she was only reporting her income then they would go after the father for child support. You can not get assistance with out giving the fathers information if he is not in the home, if you do not know who the father is you must name someone. (yes I know many men get screwed this way.) They will garnish the wages of them man named usually in an amount greater than what is received by the mother. If he was making 4k his wages were definitely being garnished for more than she could have received so they would be making less money than had she not gotten assistance.

reply to post by calstorm

Thanks for calling me a liar. You need to go back and read my post again. The farmer's market is set up through the agricultural dept, out in my rural area, to allow people on WIC to use their benefits to purchase produce and food items only, at our farmer's market. There are approx. 70 venders/sellers each weekend who have booths. Most of the venders are farmers who sell their produce they grow, and food they home can. And honey producers.

Home canned/pickled jar foods are allowed by the rules. Some of us are crafter venders. Some make quilts, pot holders, woodcrafts, iron works, pottery...I make, soaps and personal care items. These are NON-FOOD items. The crafters are NOT on the list of approved sellers to the people using their FOOD ONLY tickets, they purchased from the office with their WIC cards. The tickets are approved/used to purchase FOOD items only, at value of $1.00 per ticket. The vender/seller then goes to the office, and cashes in the tickets they've taken in as pay, at the end of the day.

The one woman I mentioned had no mental issues that I could see. Seemed perfectly normal and healthy to me. For you to call her mentally handicapped, is.ridiculous. She just wanted to use her tickets to buy NON-FOOD items, I wouldn't sell them to her. She argued with me, I told her to go buy FOOD for her family with them...that is what they are for.

You can call me a liar for not wanting to be a participant of the welfare assistance program being abused, all you want. It doesn't change the fact, that it happens. It doesn't take a crazy person to cheat.

If that is not clear enough for you. That's not my problem.

Des

reply to post by buddhasystem


Not now but many times I had exactly nothing. When your a kid you don't exactly have control over situations. Now I'm in a position where I can help other people out so hey I'm happy.

The way we've always dealt with it was:

They need help, give them the help, this one time--without questions, without reservations. It is feasible to be up on all your bills and in between jobs without the money needed to feed your kids--at damn near every social level. If this is a chronic issue, we need to have a talk about wants vs. needs.

Originally posted by hadriana
The number one thing you need to eat well with a little money is the ability to cook a wide variety of different foods. Many cultures have cuisines that taste amazing and are very nutritious and use cheap ingredients.
I have a big garden and a 50.00/week budget for my family and I also feed a lot of the children in the neighborhood.

Jesus H Chirst even with all the practical skills I and my wife have, we can't touch this number.

You are an expert with a talent of biblical proportions.

reply to post by minettejo

I said a BASKET loaded. Geesh... I have been broke before too, and I can tell you fruits, veggies, and nuts are cheaper than microwaveables and incredibly more nutritious. You take a microwave entree, which is typically 3-4 dollars. You can buy 3 apples, a loaf of whole wheat bread and a small jar of peanut butter. Much better choice. Not trying to be mean, but if more people could be educated about how to stretch a food dollar they would be better off. I would love to see all the drunk driving public service ads (we all get it now), replaced with how to eat nutritiously.

Here in America fruits, veggies and nuts are not cheaper than crap food. You can buy a crap microwave meal for a buck. You cannot buy healthy foods you mentioned cheaper than junk food. Maybe you need to pay a little more attention. Even wheat bread cost today $2.60 a loaf, whereas white bread costs half that. I know this because I eat healthy and my guy likes junk foods. As far as peanut butter..the same double jar pack I bought last year for just under 8 bucks is now $12.47. I buy three fresh beets and pay about $2.40... I could go on and on.... I am a health food freak so I know what veggies, fruits cost...oh btw..yesterday my fresh fruit plate cost about $7, it was't fancy either....my guy had those microwave loaded cheese thingys...$2.60

I do agree people need to be educated on nutritious foods..but we don't teach that in school these days...if we did, kids would realize what crap is being giving to them in the lunchrooms.