The Real Impact of Food Stamp Cuts

[Freeper]

phantom power  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list       Tue Sep-28-10 06:28 PM
Original message
The Real Impact of Food Stamp Cuts
   
Congress is poised to cut food stamps, taking away an extended benefit created by the 2009 stimulus before its original expiry date and setting up an unprecedented “cliff” in food stamps, now known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits. To demonstrate how hurtful this might prove, hunger advocate Joel Berg recently spent a week eating according to the SNAP budget.

“I had done it in 2007, as well,” he said. “This time, it was much harder, because the price of food has increased more than the benefit has increased. Last time, for instance, I ate an apple a day, along with other food. This time, I couldn’t afford a single piece of fruit.”

Berg is the executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, which represents New York’s 1,200 nonprofit soup kitchens and food pantries and its 1.4 million residents that cannot afford enough food. (A more extended version of our conversation is below.) He and other hunger advocates are incensed over the SNAP cuts, which will pay for a sweeping child-nutrition bill. The First Lady–supported legislation is pending in the House, and has passed the Senate. In essence, Congress is planning to rob a very poor Peter to pay a very poor Paul.

...

With Matt Lauer yesterday, Obama was asked about poverty, and he basically gave an answer that George W. Bush would have given. He said that increasing economic growth will help poverty. It will. I agree that job creation is the most important thing. But when the unemployment rate was a lot lower, there were still millions of Americans who needed these benefits.

I’ve been pulling my punches, and my progressive colleagues have been pulling their punches, because we’re rooting for this administration to succeed. But honestly, if George W. Bush did what they’re trying to do, we’d be camping out in front of the White House. Goodwill only goes so far when tens of thousands of children need food.

http://washingtonindependent.com/98886/the-real-impact-...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9218115

Where do these people shop that fresh fruit is so damn expensive?
maybe some of the more exotic stuff is pricey but apples, oranges, and the like are fairly cheap.
Maybe it is because they all want to shop at organic grocery stores.

phantom power  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list       Tue Sep-28-10 06:39 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. I noticed in the photos that Berg had made careful choices...
   
to maximize *nutritious* calories per dollar. Based on what I've read, an awful lot of poor people don't have the training to do that.

Training? Good lord no wonder they think govt should be in charge of everything they think people can't figure out how to maximize the amount of food they can buy with limited funds.

SheilaT  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list       Tue Sep-28-10 06:36 PM
Response to Original message
3. Everyone who ever has thought that people
   
getting food stamps are eating well should try it for a month. Yeah, longer than a week, although Joel Berg found that even a week was long enough to see how bad it is.

I bet I don't spend much more if, any more than the amount that people on stamps get.
Then again I don't insist on name brand and am a big fan of the buy one get one free specials at Publix.

phantom power  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list       Tue Sep-28-10 06:41 PM
Response to Reply #3
5. I don't doubt the GOP cheerfully circulates urban legends about Food Stamp Queens.
   
Drinking food stamp champagne while the ride around in their cadillacs, n shit.

x(
   

Interesting I have seen that "urban legend" people using EBT cards talking on expensive cell phones driving better cars than I have.

HillbillyBob  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list       Wed Sep-29-10 07:44 AM
Response to Reply #3
22. I get a whole 8$ what am I going to buy with that?
   
I don't even bother.

Hmm ok if you get 8 dollars a day multiply that by 30 which gives you $240.
If I have $240 to spend on groceries I could buy plenty of stuff and last longer than a month. Granted I wont be able to buy a lot of meat and stuff however, if I was in that situation I could survive well on 8 dollars a day.
Currently we spend a bit over $300 a month and that includes Dog food, Cat food, and kitty litter.

SammyWinstonJack  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list       Tue Sep-28-10 06:42 PM
Response to Original message
6. What's on menu for the First Family's dinner tonight?
   

Whatever they want and you pay for it.

Sisaruus  Donating Member  (570 posts) Click to send private message to this author  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list       Tue Sep-28-10 07:14 PM
Response to Original message
9. I just did the SNAP Challenge.
   
I work for a food bank and, as part of Hunger Action Month (September), lived on a food stamp budget last week. I craved fresh peaches and apples from my local farm store - but the week before I started the challenge I paid attention to what I was paying and knew that one peach would have been a half day's food budget. Fresh fruit was a luxury I couldn't afford. And white bread was 77 cents so forget about whole grain products.

I'm glad the week is over. And I recognize my privilege in that I was able to limit the experience to one week.

Again I ask where do they shop where one peach is so pricey?

[JohnnyReb]

Again I ask where do they shop where one peach is so pricey?

Local hippy owned organic food store that bought the peaches from Mexico....

He's laughing all the way to his dope dealer.

[LC EFA]

SheilaT  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Tue Sep-28-10 06:36 PM
Response to Original message
3. Everyone who ever has thought that people
   
getting food stamps are eating well should try it for a month. Yeah, longer than a week, although Joel Berg found that even a week was long enough to see how bad it is.

Perhaps people who've been on food stamps longer than a month should try earning some of their own money. Or starving. Either is good with me.

[Celtic Rose]

See that S in SNAP, it stands for Supplemental.  Food stamps are supposed to help people afford food, not be their sole source of food funding for an extended period.  In California, the maximum allotment for 1 person is $200.  A Family of 4 can get up to $668.  Are you seriously telling me that a family couldn't afford any fresh produce with that budget 

link

DUmmies, if there is a food stamps challenge out there that I can join, I would be happy to give it a shot, just to show you how it is done.   

[NHSparky]

No, oranges aren't exactly cheap (I'm looking at 65-75 cents each), but apples are a buck per pound, and bananas at the local Wally World are 34 cents per pound.  Bread can still be had for under $1.25 a loaf, milk is $2.49 a gallon, and family sized packs of hamburger and chicken breats routinely go for under $2.50/lb.

Memo to food stamp DUmmies--just because "da gubmint" won't support YOUR filet mignon eating habits doesn't mean you're starving.

Oh, where the hell is the YouTube of that fat chick at the anti-war protest screaming, "WE NEED TO EAT!!!" at when you need it?

[Ballygrl]

I bet I don't spend much more if, any more than the amount that people on stamps get.
Then again I don't insist on name brand and am a big fan of the buy one get one free specials at Publix.

I don't hesitate to buy the store brand name on a lot of things, I buy the Shop Rite brand cereal, peanut butter, jelly, bread, butter etc. I do the same thing at BJ's especially when I stock up on food, cold meds, allergy meds etc. if the brand names are on sale I'll buy that.

[Carl]

Potatoes are always cheap and with some ham and cheese can make a casserole that will last for days.

The problem these guys have is expecting to have a resteraunt style dinner for every meal.
That gets expensive very quickly.

[Karin]

So, Hillbillybob isn't going to bother with $8/day?  Fine with me.  Don't bleed the system.  But that's $60/week for one person.  That is certainly doable, if you had the slightest scrap of creativity and initiative.

I would bet that at one point every single member of CC at one time or another managed to do it, on $60/week or less, perhaps with even a spouse & kids included in that.  

[jukin]

The DUchebags need to shop at the place Obama does.  He got four apples and gave the vendor a dollar. 

[IassaFTots]

See that S in SNAP, it stands for Supplemental.  Food stamps are supposed to help people afford food, not be their sole source of food funding for an extended period.  In California, the maximum allotment for 1 person is $200.  A Family of 4 can get up to $668.  Are you seriously telling me that a family couldn't afford any fresh produce with that budget 

link

DUmmies, if there is a food stamps challenge out there that I can join, I would be happy to give it a shot, just to show you how it is done.   

Oh, I will be right there with you!  My BF and I typically go shopping together, he buys his stuff, I buy my stuff, all for a month.  We are able to split family packs of meat and fish, between both households.  Same with the buy one get one free stuff.   Combined, we spend between 200-300 monthly.  And that is with dog food.   

[NHSparky]

Personal hygiene supplies, house cleaning supplies, AND food items on $60 a week might be a push, but definitely doable.  I mean, I manage to feed myself AND a 75-lb dog and two cats on that, and eat pretty damned well, I might add.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

And so it begins: the calls to turn the supposed one-time stimulus into a permanent budgetary fixture.

[NHSparky]

And so it begins: the calls to turn the supposed one-time stimulus into a permanent budgetary fixture.

Shit, we can't pay for the one we got, let alone making it a permanent part of the culture.  But then again, when did actually PAYING for the shit they spend money on matter to politicians?

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Shit, we can't pay for the one we got, let alone making it a permanent part of the culture.  But then again, when did actually PAYING for the shit they spend money on matter to politicians?

Now, now Sparky. The liberals assure us that is they tax everyone making more than $250k at a 187% marginal tax they can support a budget 5 times the size of what Obama has been spending.

And they want to spend the money first to convince us how much they need the higher tax rate.

[debk]

I would like to know where the one Dummie is getting bread for 77cents a loaf. I'm paying well over $1... I do by Nature's Own or Merita(the big local bakery), but they are among the cheaper brands at either WalMart or Kroger.

Personal hygiene products are ridiculously priced, so are household cleaning or laundry supplies...unless you buy them at the dollar stores or Big Lots, but I don't know if they take food stamps for anything. I HATE buying laundry stuff - it's so damn expensive!!!!

$668/month for a family of 4 is probably doable particularly if one pays attention to sales, and uses coupons. (can one use coupons on food stamps?)

As far as "training" to know what is nutritious....there are a lot of people that do not understand nutrition. They have never learned it growing up, had it in school, or learned it from any other source. It should be a mandatory requirement (along with drug testing) that people who receive food stamps, should have to attend a couple of classes to learn about nutrition, healthy eating, buying food on a budget, some quick, easy, nutritious menus.  First time home buyers getting some FHA loans are required to attend classes on the responsibilty of home ownership, budgeting, etc...why shouldn't food stamp/etc recipients be required to do something similar?

If the complainers spent just a quarter as much time looking for a job as they do complaining about lousy benefits, they would have more than enough money to supplement the food stamps. There are jobs that they could do for people, IF they wanted to take the effort to find the jobs, and actually work. Most Lowe's and Home Depots allow day laborers to wait at their stores in the mornings, to see if buyers(contractors) are looking for additional help. Lots of small, independent lawn care/landscaping contractors are always looking for help. At least around here...people who are willing to do a day of hard labor work, are hard to find.  

We've had a wonderful man working for us since a week ago Sunday. He worked that Sunday, last week M-F, and has been here since M....6 hrs a day, for $50/day. He has moved huge boxes all over the place, furniture, and out in the yard yesterday and today. He then goes to work at his real "job" - busing in a Mexican restaurant -from 3 until 11pm. But that's the difference between someone who wants to earn money, and someone who wants to sit back and complain that the world isn't giving them enough.

[Chris_]

I would like to know where the one Dummie is getting bread for 77cents a loaf. I'm paying well over $1... I do by Nature's Own or Merita(the big local bakery), but they are among the cheaper brands at either WalMart or Kroger.

Other than clipping coupons and 2-for-1 sales, I don't know of anywhere that sells bread for that little.  Even the cheap stuff is twice that price.

[Linda]

Yesterday at work there were 4 of us having a discussion...and the subject of food stamps came up....
One of the women said she was upset because her food stamps were cut $500.00 when she got this job....
I asked her if they cut $500.00, how much was she getting to begin with? She said $900.00 a month...(She is married with 4 kids)....

I being the uncouth conservative that I am blurted out "That's ****ing ridiculous"...

Everybody looked at me, but no one said a word....not sure which ones agreed with me and which ones didn't...she didn't respond to my statement...

[thundley4]

Other than clipping coupons and 2-for-1 sales, I don't know of anywhere that sells bread for that little.  Even the cheap stuff is twice that price.

20 years ago, the store brand was 4/$1 , now it's even over a $1/loaf.

[Chris_]

I bought a loaf of cheap white bread the other day and it was $1.30 pre-tax (we have a 5 1/2% tax on food).

[debk]

Yesterday at work there were 4 of us having a discussion...and the subject of food stamps came up....
One of the women said she was upset because her food stamps were cut $500.00 when she got this job....
I asked her if they cut $500.00, how much was she getting to begin with? She said $900.00 a month...(She is married with 4 kids)....

I being the uncouth conservative that I am blurted out "That's ****ing ridiculous"...

Everybody looked at me, but no one said a word....not sure which ones agreed with me and which ones didn't...she didn't respond to my statement...

Holy crap!!! $900/month?!?!?!!?

Where do I sign up?

[debk]

I bought a loaf of cheap white bread the other day and it was $1.30 pre-tax (we have a 5 1/2% tax on food).

How come you guys get a tax break on food? We don't. It's the full 9.whatever% It's almost 10% here.

[Chris_]

According to the state, cities have the ability to add an additional 2-1/2% sales tax in their jurisdiction.

http://tennessee.gov/revenue/tntaxes/salesanduse.htm

[Linda]

Holy crap!!! $900/month?!?!?!!?

Where do I sign up?

Apparently in Central Florida they are very generous with the tax payers money.....

[crockspot]

Food stamps are not intended to provide one with every morsel of food they eat. It is meant to be a supplement, a helping hand. Not a completely free ride.

[IassaFTots]

How come you guys get a tax break on food? We don't. It's the full 9.whatever% It's almost 10% here.

We don't have a tax on food here.  Except for prepared food.  I can get store brand bread at Krogers for about a buck.  I know their hot dog and hamburger buns are almost always 88 cents.