Living it up on the tax payers dime a weeks worth of food stamps

I've been Schizoaffective Bi-Polar for well over fifteen years, my onset at age 19 before I had a chance to even get a long term job. I was lucky I was able to work for five years after the onset of my condition and get a whooping $400 a month (before bills) and recieve $25 a month for my household in food stamps. I am not longer able to hold gainful employment due to several manifestations of my condition.

My husband had a mental breakdown several years ago and his SSDI covers rent and a few neccessity items. He is unable to leave the house because he gets triggered by being in public for extended periods of time.

I volunteer my time when I can to cleaning trash off the main throughfares when my condition isn't manifested, and plan on doing charity work when I am strong enough.

Our food stamp allowance is our milk money.

The OP has every right to buy the foods he requires to keep his body functioning in check and reduce onset of his condition due to low nutrional and dietary requirements for his particular metabolism.

I think it's saddening we're still fighting over fractions of pennies in the overall greater scheme of things.

To make matters worse - to expect that someone should live in a bare cell with 3 hots and a cot just because of a mental illness is just as cruel. So what if our OP has a camera and internet access. So do I. Does this make me next on the chopping block?

OP - hang in there and take care of yourself. I will continue to pray for not only you but also those who have no idea of what it's like to deal with the unfortunate reality of what it is to live with a life chaging condition.

God Bless and Godspeed.
Peace.

reply to post by ldyserenity


I don't pay money for internet. If you live in a city there is often wireless close by enough you can use it even at home. Right now I am using a hospital's free wireless internet signal, and I am home... Other times I use what is another free wireless signal in my area.. just depends on which one picks up better at the time... but I can use either one from my home without difficulty.



An ingenuitive person can have internet without paying a dime if you live in a city!

We don't pay for TV either, I have a digital converter box and am able to pick up all the regular channels and any shows that come on cable that we want to watch can be downloaded and watched on the computer. Its pretty cool.

People really shouldn't question whether someone has internet and tv or not.. anymore you really don't have to pay for it!

reply to post by Daughter2


Most people are simply saying to get necessities first and worry about sweet foods second. I am disabled and have lived on next to nothing.. I am not the only one posting in this thread telling the OP he should be making better buying choices who has been in the same situation.

My husband noted that the OP's disability is probably part of what is causing him to shop in this manner, wanting to get in and out of the store really fast and just grabbing a few things quickly and without looking much in order to do all this shopping quickly.

Then is when, as another poster mentioned, he needs someone near him to help... but on the internet many are just trying to give good advice to him.

Its not about 2 hots and a cot. Or thinking people should have only the bare minimum. With better choices the OP can have good meals, and the occasional sweet food... but the sweet food should be last and only if there is money left. He says he has 45 dollars a week to spend, in my state (and I do know that this varies state to state) but in my state there are no taxes on the food you purchase when you use food stamps.

Also, stores such as Aldi's and save-a-lot are wonderful... you get great prices there and I am sure every state has their own version of these stores.

Here is an example of what I can buy here on 45 dollars worth of food stamps:


Hot dogs - .75
hot dog buns - 1.50
chips - 1.00
tomato soup - .75
chicken livers - 1.56
saltine crackers 1.00
10 pounds chicken legs quarters - 7.00
10 pounds of potatoes - 5.00
flour - 2.00
oil - 2.00
frozen vegetables - 3.00
curry powder - 2.00
milk - 3.50
bread - 2.00
cheese - 2.00
rice: 1.00
spice: 1.00
Large container Oatmeal - 2.00
Cold Cereal - 2.00
eggs - 2.00
bananas - 1.00
box of brownie mix - 1.50 (makes a 9 x 13 pan)
_____________

Total: 45.00

meal 1) fried chicken mashed potatoes with homemade gravy and vegetables
meal 2) baked chicken with mashed potatoes, homemade gravy and vegetables
meal 3) chicken noodle soup (homemade) with saltines and grilled cheese (this pot makes at least 4 meals)
meal 4) chicken curry with rice and vegetables
meal 5) tomato soup with chicken liver
meal 6) hot dogs
meal 7) grilled cheese and left over chicken noodle soup

breakfast - mix it up with oatmeal and cold cereal - plenty for 7 days
lunches eat you leftovers, grilled cheese sandwiches, hotdogs, egg fried rice, fried chicken, etc.

You have a desert for 3 evenings at minimum in that pan of brownies. No soda, but that's ok, water is much healthier anyway... and if he supplements his food by going to a local food pantry that frees up more food stamp money for other things like spices.

I have 2 food pantries near me, the first one you can go once a month and they load you up on saltine crackers, peanut butter, sugar, flour, salt, pepper, mashed potatoes, bread and so much more as well as hygiene products - toothpaste, shampoo, toothbrushes if you need, bath soap etc... when you leave there you have 4 huge bags of stuff... the other one gives away fresh bread, fresh fruits(bananas oranges etc) and fresh vegetables (potatoes, onions, celery, carrots etc) and they do that once a week!

If he were to go to his local food pantries as well as use his food stamps wisely... he could feasibly eat like a king!

I don't believe most people are upset about that he got something sweet, it was simply his choices made it so he didn't get good meals for his money, and it is very possible to get good meals for that amount of money... you don't have to skip meat, you just have to be wise about your decisions.

I would like to know who goes around looking in other people's buggies anyway?
When it comes to food, I try to be 'judge not least I be judged"

There are some people that would be like, HERE, have some powdered milk, some rice and beans, that should keep ya alive. If you're homeless, here's a nice cardboard box.

I absolutely do not understand ANYONE complaining about someone on food stamps having Internet access. EVERYONE should have it. Cox communications and Comcast both have programs for low income households with children to get it free, but with so many government services requiring it these days, and jobs wanting applications emailed...it seems like a fundamental service to me.

Anyway, I have a website that I want to target OPs demographic in, so I can try to help. The particular section that can help very low income folks the most is Saving Strategies. I cover a lot of stuff like how to use food stamps to get non-food items LEGALLY (by manipulating coupons and sales, and promos.. There's lots of cooking info..on how to cook GOOD but cheap, learning to cook, ect.

wiresplice.com...

My family doesn't make jack but we do ok. I'd say we live better than most people I know making several times what we do, so I try to get that info out to others.

The Internet can make life so much better for the poor. I don't see begrudging anyone the Internet or saying Oh, you are poor, you shouldn't have that. To me, that's crap. It's like saying Oh,your are poor, you shouldn't be able to use the library. The principle is the same, it's saying poor people don't deserve information.

Heck, they - I should say we, b/c now I'm officially below the poverty level myself, need it the MOST.

There's so many crap ideas going around. I'm mad at the media too. Everytime they show a family on food stamps, they show some minority, or someone not working and buying cheetos.....the people I KNOW on food stamps work hard. Not that I think there's anything wrong with these people- but they KNOW that the racist "I'm so better than these people" attitudes that some people have will make them click on those stories so they can further gloat on their own superior humanity. It makes me SICK.

In Georgia, minimum wage is 7.25 and our unemployment rate is so high that the hard, hard jobs only pay that, and everything is temp now so there's no benefits or paid holidays for many, many people. I'm sorry, but IMO grown men that load and unload trucks 40 hours a week, or that load heavy machinery, or work hot extrusion presses FULL TIME- they need to be able to eat something OTHER than rice and beans and oh, here, have a box of powdered milk. GEE thanks, MASTER. Ain't nothing but a big ol plantation, and people need to get off their highhorse and quit acting so holier than thou because ANYONE can be sold into slavery when the idea it is acceptable in a society takes hold.

And teens eat a lot too, to grow. I had a 13 year old girl come over to my house with her 15 year old brother, they would be STARVING. She said "I never get much or even seconds because all the boys eat so much." Her parents aren't bums. They were making 60k a year before the downturn, and as she said that, they were cleaning office buildings on 2nd shift.

reply to post by Daughter2

GROW UP (and don't send me any more stupid U2Us).


And to you and the other posters who are just sooooo uptight because people are telling the OP to spend more wisely ... GET REAL.

The OP invited comments by posting a picture of what he purchased and by his own comments. People posted the truth ... that instead of buying expensive prepackaged foods he should instead spend the money more wisely ... LIKE THE REST OF US HAVE TO ... in order to make the money last to eat more healthy food.

If the OP didn't want the comments, then he shouldn't have started the thread, and he shouldn't have posted the picture filled with soda, and SaraLee Pumpkin pie, and pre-cooked flavored rice packages, etc etc.

When I go shopping, I dont' have the money to buy bunches of soda, Sara Lee pumpkin pies, precooked heavily flavored rice packages .... I use my money MORE WISELY. It's called COMMON SENSE.

Sure I'd love to have rib eye steaks once in a while .. but we can't afford it. And i"m not going to go whine about not being able to afford it and because our income makes us eat rice and chicken instead, and I'm not going to try to jack the taxpayers to go buy me rib eye steaks when I can get by without them. The same should go for the OP and his pumpkin pies and soda and the rest of his prepackaged-precooked food.

That's not 'evil' or 'cruel' or 'unchristian' or 'disgusting' or any of the other insults that have been hurled around here (and in a U2U) .... it's just the truth. Deal with it.

OpinionatedB
Its not about 2 hots and a cot. Or thinking people should have only the bare minimum. With better choices the OP can have good meals, and the occasional sweet food...

EXACTLY. Well said. And may I add that the information you have posted about food prices and places to shop and how to cook has been very good information, and I'm sure it has been very helpful. NONE of what you said was 'disgusting' or 'heartless' or any of the other stupid insults that people have posted on this thread.

reply to post by FlyersFan


reply to post by FlyersFan


It shocks me, really it does, that anyone would take offense to people's advice in this thread... the OP made the thread and said things and then showed everyone what he was buying. To me that was someone not only asking for help (subconsciously), but needing it desperately!

Back in the late 80's to mid 90's I had a take home pay of between 3 and 4 thousand a month, from the mid 90's to 2000 it dropped somewhat but not by too much... it is shocking for anyone to go from being able to buy anything they want without giving a second thought to prices, to being poor...

What helped me is that my mother was a penny pincher all my life, and I inherited a lot from watching her growing up. Once I got hurt I immediately put all that to use... And I got very very good at pinching pennies very very fast, you don't have a choice when all your income disappears overnight and you have kids to feed.

I am happy to give the same advice I use, to anyone who would need the knowledge... So it is simply beyond me why anyone would take offense...

It just cannot be that offensive, this thread was a cry for help as much as a rant, and I will be honest if I had a certain amount of money for food, and couldn't figure out how to eat on it, I would welcome ANY advice!

You have a more matter of fact manner to you... so you sometimes come off a bit gruff, but you didn't say anything anyone else in this thread didn't say... and while it may seem harsh, so is reality.. and the reality is, when you don't have a huge income anymore... many things have to go!

You find then that you were just spoiled... and its not hard at all to have less money! At least I did... I used to think I wasn't materialistic, it wasn't until I lost everything that I realized I had only been lying to myself!

Over 17 Billion dollars went to foreign aid last year alone. They cut 10's of millions from ACTUAL FOOD aid and pat themselves on the back. It's disgusting.

This, right here, is why I won't tolerate being called a Republican any longer. They've become cutthroat and ruthless in seeking political gain by any means necessary. The "Ends justifies the Means" they once RIGHTLY attacked the left for, they have come to embrace as if they thought up the idea themselves.

It's gone too far and too deep now to really turn back since they've chosen one of the single worst times in our nation's long history to cut food from the households of the most needy ...all the while, fueling the belief that it's the fault of the Rich if you're poor ...and the fault of the poor, if you're rich.

Yeah, we fall for it by some applauding these barbaric cuts while others fight to keep SOME compassion to this monster we call Government now. We fight on command, like Pavlov's dog...every time they ring the bell.

They just stole our popcorn, is what they've done. Hotdogs too, for that matter.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

I agree with you.
Cut the 'foreign aid' (which never goes to the people anyways) and help our own first.
(I'd start spending that $$$ on free breakfast and lunch for children in schools.)

reply to post by wantsome


I just wanted to say, first of all, I'm sorry that there are really crappy people out there that abuse the EBT system to the point that the people that really need the money don't get it.

Second of all, if you want help to stretch your dollars even further, I would recommend trying to sign up for mTurk through Amazon. I started doing it a few months ago to try to pay for our internet bill (my fiancee and I are in no way struggling *thank the maker* but I wanted to start putting some money away for our wedding), and I'm averaging about 75-100 dollars a month with about an hour a day worth of work. Some people that I know have made it their full time income and are pulling in quite a bit of money. The months that I have made more than 100 bucks, the rest goes toward freezable foods. I've amassed quite the collection of meats in my freezer, many of which will last until sometime mid-next year.

Here's a recipe for a baked Mac & Cheese, which you can add anything to (from tuna to canned chicken, or even shredded chicken thighs, as well as veggies).


The base roux for about 4 servings of baked mac and cheese takes 1/4 cup of butter (must use REAL butter....don't use that fake crap....it doesn't work or blend well), and 2 1/2-3 tablespoons of white flour (depending on how thick you want your cheese sauce). Melt butter in a saucepan (the size of the saucepan depends on what you are making...if you use the recipe below, you should use a large saucepan) on LOW heat. Once the butter is melted, add a little bit of flour at a time, whisking the entire time. Add milk to break down the flour and butter. Once it starts bubbling, start whisking in milk a little at a time. It will thicken up. Once you have that, you can make a number of recipes.


roux: see above
3 cups of milk
1/2lb elbow macaroni, dry
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1/4 cup of French fried onions.
2 tbs. pepper
pinch of salt to taste
pinch of paprika to taste
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/4 cup shredded white sharp cheddar
1/8 cup shredded taco cheese
1 tbs. Velveeta or Cheap American Cheese (for color mostly---you can buy the .99 packs at Wal-Mart, or anywhere, really)
2 shakes of Parmesan cheese (roughly 2 tbs.)
1 1/2 tbs. red pepper flakes
dash of Frank's Red Hot
2 tbs REAL butter

Set your oven to 350-375

Make your roux (see above). Once it is combined, slowly add 3 cups of milk, whisking the ENTIRE TIME. It should be on low to medium heat. You don't want your milk to curdle/burn. Once the milk/roux mixture starts steaming, start whisking in your cheese a handful at a time. This process will take about 20 minutes total. Add the Frank's Red Hot Sauce, red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese. Once the cheese sauce is mixed, set it on the lowest heat possible and let it rest. Stir occasionally.

While you are making your cheese sauce, cook your macaroni per the directions (I normally add a bit of salt to the water to taste). Drain and rinse with cold water as to stop the cooking process. Your pasta should be al dente or harder, as it will continue cooking with the cheese sauce in the oven.

Take the 2 tbs. of butter and melt on low heat in a saute pan. Mix the french fried onions and bread crumbs in a plastic Ziploc bag. Be sure that the onions are crushed to the consistency of the breadcrumbs. Add to the melted butter and turn the heat to medium. Brown this mixture.

Add your drained and rinsed macaroni and cheese sauce to a medium sized baking dish (I use Pyrex baking dishes, as they give a really even bake) and stir together. Pour the breadcrumb mixture on top of the macaroni and cheese and spread to get an even distribution. Add a dash of paprika to the top of the breadcrumbs and put into the top rack of your preheated oven for 30 minutes. Let sit for 12-15 minutes to let the cheese sauce thicken up. Serve.

This recipe yields enough for 4-6 not-so-hungry eaters as a side dish, and 2-3 really hungry people as a main course. You can adjust the cheese amounts depending on how cheesy you want your mac and cheese, and you can also use different types of cheeses if you'd like. This is just for my "with a kick" mac and cheese.

If you want to use something different than breadcrumbs for your topping, you can crush up spicy hot doritos chips to the same consistency as your breadcrumbs and put that on top instead. That turns out really well, and I've never had any complaints with either one of these recipes.

Block cheeses are normally cheaper than the pre-shredded varieties, and as long as you have your own cheese grater, you shouldn't have a problem shredding enough cheese for this recipe. You can add meats or whatever protein of your choice to this recipe, and it won't affect it in the least. This will feed you for dinner for the entire week if you eat modest servings....I've had to do it before when I was in between jobs. The base ingredients (butter, milk, flour, salt and pepper) you should have in your pantry list already. Everything else, if you shop at the cheapest place (Aldi comes to mind), you should get by for under 10 bucks for this recipe, and it will last you several meals. It actually freezes quite well, and you can go right from the freezer to the oven with the left overs.

I'll add some more recipes that are cheap to make, when I get more time later. You don't have to eat processed foods, or skip meat. In college, I lived on a 30 dollar a week food budget (I was only working part time), and I made it stretch to every last penny (and ate quite well).

Take care.



-TS

Where I live in AK milk is $6 a gallon, ramen is 50 cents and a block of velveta cheese $10 to price a few items.

Cooking skills and meal planning are essential!

A garden is a great help as is fishing and hunting, though since FUKU-shima I wonder about the dangers of radiation from local food sources.

I'm right there with you. After my wife left I ended up getting food stamps. I wasn't going to at first but I'm a single father with no assistance from the mother so I figured I owed it to my son to get every single bit of help I could. To be honest I don't feel guilty about it either. The way I see it is I've been working since I was sixteen so combine the state/federal income taxes they take out, in addition to the taxes I pay every time I purchase something, I feel I've earned my meager stipend.

I get approx. $350 per month and we eat pretty well. The first thing I do is ignore name brands. Unless there's a really good sale, those don't exist to me anymore. Second I try to stay away from the expensive processed/ready to eat crap and stick with making as many meals by scratch as I can. The only downside is that sometimes I go a little heavy on the carbs but they're just so cheap and at the end of the month those bags of noodles I squirreled away can make all the difference. I also dropped the sodas and have started drinking this stuff they have called tap water...it's pretty cheap and not too bad with ice!

Before the food stamps I was eating VERY unhealthily if I ate at all. Now with the assistance I'm more free to explore my options. I'm able to eat more fruits, veggies, and I really enjoy the nights when I get to cook dinner for my son. Our standard of living and morale in general has risen quite a bit.

Good luck to you.

wantsome
reply to post by Bilk22

 

I was making $600-800 a week working. This illness has wrecked any chance I had at a normal life and you have to audacity to say I'm being lazy because I'm typing ? Go F- yourself.

edit on 17-11-2013 by wantsome because: (no reason given)

Indeed.

The following are 21 facts about "wealthy America" and "poor America" that are hard to believe...

#1 The lowest earning 23,303,064 Americans combined make 36 percent less than the highest earning 2,915 Americans do.

#2 40 percent of all American workers (39.6 percent to be precise) make less than $20,000 a year.

#3 According to the Pew Research Center, the top 7 percent of all U.S. households own 63 percent of all the wealth in the country.

#4 On average, households in the top 7 percent have 24 times as much wealth as households in the bottom 93 percent.

#5 According to numbers that were just released this week, 49.7 million Americans are living in poverty. That is a brand new all-time record high.

#6 In the United States today, the wealthiest one percent of all Americans have a greater net worth than the bottom 90 percent combined.

#7 Household incomes have actually been declining for five years in a row and total consumer credit has risen by a whopping 22 percent over the past three years.

#8 According to Forbes, the 400 wealthiest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans combined.

#9 The homeownership rate in the United States is at an 18 year low.

#10 The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have as much wealth as the bottom one-third of all Americans combined.

#11 18 percent of all food stamp dollars are spent at Wal-Mart.

#12 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the middle class is taking home a smaller share of the overall income pie than has ever been recorded before.

#13 It is hard to believe, but right now 1.2 million students that attend public schools in America are homeless. That number has risen by 72 percent since the start of the last recession.

#14 One recent study discovered that nearly half of all public students in the United States come from low income homes.

#15 In 1980, CEOs at S&P 500 companies made 42 times as much as their employees did on average. Today, CEOs at S&P 500 companies make 354 times as much as their employees do on average. In fact, there are many CEOs that make more than 1000 times what the average employees in their companies make.

#16 U.S. families that have a head of household that is under the age of 30 have a poverty rate of 37 percent.

#17 At this point, one out of every four American workers has a job that pays $10 an hour or less.

#18 Today, the United States actually has a higher percentage of workers doing low wage work than any other major industrialized nation does.

#19 Approximately one out of every five households in the United States is now on food stamps.

#20 The number of Americans on food stamps has grown from 17 million in the year 2000 to more than 47 million today.

#21 At this point, the poorest 50 percent of all Americans collectively own just 2.5 percent of all the wealth in the United States.

BTW: this is not from some socialist manifest. Actually, the man that assembled this list - is a hardline free market enthousiast. Go figure.

[url=http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-07/which-america-do-you-live-%E2%80%93-21-hard-believe-facts-about-wealthy-america-and-poor-ame]source[/url ]

StallionDuck

But, why, if you're on a strict budget (I don't see government funds set up to be used as personal indulgences), why would you buy cokes and pies? You're supposed to buy nutrition. That's what the funds are for. It's money to keep you alive and well, not to buy moonpies and soda water. Same thing with the EBT cards. I would think they're for paying bills like electricity and rent, not casino funds or club night.

THE GUYS ON FREAKING DISABILITY!

Why the hell should he eat crap and live in poverty? Why should he not be able to "treat" himself?

If not whats the point of living? You may as well herd all disabled and ill people into camps and kill them, be a hell of a alot more mercyfull than forceing them to live in dissmal conditions until one by one they kill themselfs or there illness gets them.

Im speaking as someone who was on disability for 2 years once before getting better. It bad enough being so ill you cant work let alone suffering from poverty to boot.

FlyersFan


If you would cook for yourself instead of getting the instant stuff, your money would go farther.

edit on 11/17/2013 by FlyersFan because: (no reason given)

Realise that he is on DISABILITY, he may not be able or capable of standing and cooking for long peroids of time or able to follow instructions, ever thought about that ? No your to busy condeming people.

Bilk22

You can obviously type on a computer keyboard, so there are jobs for you. You need to look harder.

Another dumb ass statement.

Yeah he can type. So could I when I was ill and on disability.

Doesnt mean you can work!

What if 75% of the time he is rolling around in pain? What if he is confined to a bed? What if (like me when I was on disbility) one or more of his major organs is damaged and he needs to be very carefully about who he comes on contact with and how much stress he he can take? What if he is mentaly ill? If so how much of the time is he lucid enough to work?

THINK PEOPLE!!

FlyersFan

If he can afford it on his own, he can go get the 'extra'. But if he can't afford the 'extra' - like ready made pumpkin pies and soda and instant flavored rice packages - then I sure as all hell shouldn't be buying it for him. And that's what I'm doing when he spends tax money to buy that crap.

Heck, I can't afford rib eye steak, but why can't I have that 'something extra'??
Should I demand that those who can afford it go out and buy it for me? Hell no.
It's not their responsibility to have to do that sort of thing.

He was complaining about his entitlement handout not buying much.
But taking a look at the pictures tells us why it didn't go very far.
HE BOUGHT CRAP.
Pre-made ... make life easy ... sugar filled ... CRAP.

I am RESPONSIBLE when I grocery shop. No soda. No pre-made pumpkin pies.
No pre-cooked instant fully flavored rice packages.
We get fresh chicken to cook at home instead of the expensive cans of chicken.
We get bags of rice or boxes of minute rice. PLAIN.
We go without all the extra spices and gravy.
We eat responsibly for our budget. He could do the same.

edit on 11/17/2013 by FlyersFan because: (no reason given)

Rather than ranting like a fool. Did you not read what he said? Most of what he brough was on sale and hense less expensive than other alternatives.

And as I already said with the ready meal. He is ILL! What if thats all he can do to cook for himself?

The guy IS ill not lazy, what do expect him to do live a dissmal difficult life ?

StallionDuck
reply to post by wantsome

 

For one person, in a month's time, that's around 225$, which I'm pretty sure is plenty to sustain you. Now, I can't really determine prices in your area, because I don't know where you live, but here, that's honestly enough to feed a person well. 300$ is what I pay on food every month and I end up throwing almost half of that away because it doesn't stay fresh the whole time.

I'm seriously not picking on you. I just don't see how it adds up to a lack of food. I know it's not a lot of food, but from someone who used to eat ramen daily during the college years, I could do a lot with 200$ a month.

If you have to live on a tight budget, get rid of those things you don't need. Treat yourself once in a while but making sugar part of the weekly diet isn't good for you and I'm not sure the government wanted you to have sugar as part of your diet. It's trying to sustain you and millions of others at the same time. I'm sure they're on just as much a budget, though so many people abuse it.

edit on 17-11-2013 by StallionDuck because: (no reason given)

Ramen has 0 nutritional value. Just saying.

We are receiving food stamps and read every label. We eat spinach and kale with almost every meal as a salad and we try to buy organic when ever possible. Eggs from cage free chickens, Tuna packed in water. We avoid artificial colors as well as high fructose corn syrup. No sodium nitrites and no red meats. We avoid processed foods like the plague they are.

The funny thing about eating organic is that its ever so trendy. Drives the cost for the best foods through the roof. Eating truly healthy is a luxury for the rich or for those who can grow and raise their own foods. We are currently trying to achieve the later.

For the OP I say I know how easy it is to go for those sale items but educate yourself and spend a little more on the better food options out there and not so much on the poorer choices. SODA BAD! You can also use food stamps at most farmers markets as well as actually being able to buy seeds to grow your own veggies.

For the more judgmental out there keep this in mind. People wanting to villainize one segment of society are not going to show those in that segment doing right. No they want you to see the very worst. I suggest checking into statistics concerning abuse of the system. Its my guess you will find it much like drug testing aid recipients. Turned out that this was a very small percentage and cost way more than it saved. Education is another factor to look at. Are people being taught how to shop? Do they know the dangers in the foods they eat? I would wager they don't. How could they when the corporate food vendors don't even want to label GMO foods? Washington and California go down in flames so GMO slingers can make a buck off everyone.

FlyersFan


That's not 'evil' or 'cruel' or 'unchristian' or 'disgusting' or any of the other insults that have been hurled around here (and in a U2U) .... it's just the truth. Deal with it.

edit on 11/18/2013 by FlyersFan because: (no reason given)

Well thats comes down to what quality of life do you want the ill and vunrable to have?

By your standards and very low dissmal quality of life with nothing to live for....

By my standards that "cruel".


Your of able body and mind you can work harder to get better things (in theroy anyway). Therefore you cant complain about your dissmal life .

If your on disablity you cant work harder. Therefore where does that leave your?

I made pepperoni and beef soup last night. It could easily feed 4-5 people.

1 bag pepperoni
1 lb ground beef
1 green bell pepper
1 bunch green onions
2 cloves garlic
1 box low sodium chicken broth
1 can crushed tomato (28 oz)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
oregano
basil

I think for all of the above I paid less than $17 -- which as I said could feed a entire family. Throw some Parmesan cheese from the green can on some bread and toast that for a side.

I truly think that people on food stamps/EBT/SNAP should only be allowed to buy certain items, and of those types of items only ONE brand.

That one brand should be generic. For example, a plain white carton with black lettering saying, "MILK". That is the only milk you can buy.

I also believe that there should be EBT/SNAP/food stamp-only stores. If you want food stamps, you have to shop at the food stamp supermarket. The government would save a ton of money by buying items in bulk, and making deals with food companies to produce a generic "government brand".

Ditch the sodas and pie. Watch Food Network and learn some cooking skills...if you need some cooking advice, just PM me anytime!