study shows how 42M recipients spend their food stamps

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who in government is in charge of this? Food stamps should only pay for healthy food, none of this junk.

Yeah let's see how much healthy food $35 buys you.


Go ahead show us your menu for the week for 35 bucks. 21 meals. Go ahead. Show the prices for each item.

Make that work so shut it.

2lbs dry spaghetti, $2.16 (3,200 calories)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Spaghetti-32-oz/10534105

24oz meat spaghetti sauce, $1.70
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Flavored-with-Meat-Pasta-Sauce-24-oz/19758049
5lb rice, $3.52 (8k calories)
8lb pinto beans, $7.62 (12,500 calories)
42oz rolled oats, $3.98 (4,500 calories)
2x Can green beans, 70cents (1.40)
2x Can beets, 86cents (1.92)
2x Can carrots, $1.06 (2,12)
Can spam(generic) $2.18 (4.36)

$28.78, money left over… and food left over at the end of the week too.

That is 28k calories of food just from the spaghetti, rice, beans and oats, two weeks at 2k a day before adding the cans.

There are lots of ways to make it work…

1lb of frozen tilapia, $5.97.
3lb frozen chicken, $8.76.
1 lb bacon, $5.12

So the protein falls outside the budget. There are no herbs or spices to make the beans palatable. Ditto oil.

No real sources of calcium. No fruit.

A sure way to squelch a kid’s desire for veggies is to serve ones out of a can.

The pasta and meat sauce would probably make 2 of the 35 meals.

What is the breakfast menu?

No, what it shows is that for $17.28 you get 28,000 calories of rice/beans/pasta/oats, enough for two weeks.

That means you only need $9 a week for those items, leaving $26 per week for meat, vegetables, oil, etc.

Bananas are .26 each. Gala apples are .69, an orange is .98. (All prices Walmart as before)

Go ahead and give yourself a dollar a day for fruit, $7.

1 gallon of vegetable oil is $10, enough to last weeks. (256 servings, 31,000 calories)

Spices, salt, etc, are a negligible expense on a per meal basis.

Remember we are talking about feeding a single adult here.

$35 a week is limiting but the idea that you can’t eat a healthy diet on it simply isn’t true. The diet will be light on meat, heavy on rice/beans/pasta and vegetables.

Again, clueless about how the poor are not able to grocery shop regularly, and so they rely on non perishable items. Fruit is perishable. Sure, they can eat a can of vegetables for dinner. But they aren't taking a can of vegetables to school or work, nor are they having them for a snack.

Spices are actually quite expensive. And while you think per meal it's negligible. when you have a fixed food budget, you aren't buying a tiny jar of spices over snack items to feed the kids the entire week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In looking at the data from the report, soft drinks top the list, but they are followed by milk, beef, cheese, bread, cereal, chicken, water, etc. Candy is at no. 11. At least half of the list are "normal" foods. But also, many items on the list can be bought for cheap. Totino's frozen pizza is less than $3; a large bag of low-end corn chips is also less than $3. If you are working two jobs to make ends meet, frozen meals or Hamburger Helper meals are easy and cheap.

It sounds like the organization that published the report is very right-leaning (and a little googling shows it is indeed conservative), so there is a certain slant to it -- the talk about "able-bodied" recipients is a dead-giveaway. Remember, some families with young children cannot work if they do not have care for their children.

+1 people ignoring your post.

FWIW, I lean a bit right in some cases, but I also grew up lower income. And although I am now UMC, I remember well how hard it was for my mom to cook from scratch (dad never helped with cooking), and how time intensive it was. I wfh, so I'm very fortunate that I have the time to cook healthy meals from scratch (not to mention that DH does a lot of cooking, too). But, I can tell you that I spend a good chunk of my weekend prepping and cooking for the week -- lunches and dinners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who in government is in charge of this? Food stamps should only pay for healthy food, none of this junk.

Yeah let's see how much healthy food $35 buys you.


Go ahead show us your menu for the week for 35 bucks. 21 meals. Go ahead. Show the prices for each item.

Make that work so shut it.

2lbs dry spaghetti, $2.16 (3,200 calories)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Spaghetti-32-oz/10534105

24oz meat spaghetti sauce, $1.70
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Flavored-with-Meat-Pasta-Sauce-24-oz/19758049
5lb rice, $3.52 (8k calories)
8lb pinto beans, $7.62 (12,500 calories)
42oz rolled oats, $3.98 (4,500 calories)
2x Can green beans, 70cents (1.40)
2x Can beets, 86cents (1.92)
2x Can carrots, $1.06 (2,12)
Can spam(generic) $2.18 (4.36)

$28.78, money left over… and food left over at the end of the week too.

That is 28k calories of food just from the spaghetti, rice, beans and oats, two weeks at 2k a day before adding the cans.

There are lots of ways to make it work…

1lb of frozen tilapia, $5.97.
3lb frozen chicken, $8.76.
1 lb bacon, $5.12

So the protein falls outside the budget. There are no herbs or spices to make the beans palatable. Ditto oil.

No real sources of calcium. No fruit.

A sure way to squelch a kid’s desire for veggies is to serve ones out of a can.

The pasta and meat sauce would probably make 2 of the 35 meals.

What is the breakfast menu?

No, what it shows is that for $17.28 you get 28,000 calories of rice/beans/pasta/oats, enough for two weeks.

That means you only need $9 a week for those items, leaving $26 per week for meat, vegetables, oil, etc.

Bananas are .26 each. Gala apples are .69, an orange is .98. (All prices Walmart as before)

Go ahead and give yourself a dollar a day for fruit, $7.

1 gallon of vegetable oil is $10, enough to last weeks. (256 servings, 31,000 calories)

Spices, salt, etc, are a negligible expense on a per meal basis.

Remember we are talking about feeding a single adult here.

$35 a week is limiting but the idea that you can’t eat a healthy diet on it simply isn’t true. The diet will be light on meat, heavy on rice/beans/pasta and vegetables.

Again, clueless about how the poor are not able to grocery shop regularly, and so they rely on non perishable items. Fruit is perishable. Sure, they can eat a can of vegetables for dinner. But they aren't taking a can of vegetables to school or work, nor are they having them for a snack.

Spices are actually quite expensive. And while you think per meal it's negligible. when you have a fixed food budget, you aren't buying a tiny jar of spices over snack items to feed the kids the entire week.

Anyone suggesting buying in bulk has never had to live on a tight budget. Do they think poor people don't realize that it's cheaper to buy in bulk? Bulk buying requires excess cash to be able to afford the larger purchase rather than smaller purchases every time you get funds, it requires space to store the food, and it requires a way to get it home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who in government is in charge of this? Food stamps should only pay for healthy food, none of this junk.

Yeah let's see how much healthy food $35 buys you.


Go ahead show us your menu for the week for 35 bucks. 21 meals. Go ahead. Show the prices for each item.

Make that work so shut it.

2lbs dry spaghetti, $2.16 (3,200 calories)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Spaghetti-32-oz/10534105

24oz meat spaghetti sauce, $1.70
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Flavored-with-Meat-Pasta-Sauce-24-oz/19758049
5lb rice, $3.52 (8k calories)
8lb pinto beans, $7.62 (12,500 calories)
42oz rolled oats, $3.98 (4,500 calories)
2x Can green beans, 70cents (1.40)
2x Can beets, 86cents (1.92)
2x Can carrots, $1.06 (2,12)
Can spam(generic) $2.18 (4.36)

$28.78, money left over… and food left over at the end of the week too.

That is 28k calories of food just from the spaghetti, rice, beans and oats, two weeks at 2k a day before adding the cans.

There are lots of ways to make it work…

1lb of frozen tilapia, $5.97.
3lb frozen chicken, $8.76.
1 lb bacon, $5.12

So the protein falls outside the budget. There are no herbs or spices to make the beans palatable. Ditto oil.

No real sources of calcium. No fruit.

A sure way to squelch a kid’s desire for veggies is to serve ones out of a can.

The pasta and meat sauce would probably make 2 of the 35 meals.

What is the breakfast menu?

No, what it shows is that for $17.28 you get 28,000 calories of rice/beans/pasta/oats, enough for two weeks.

That means you only need $9 a week for those items, leaving $26 per week for meat, vegetables, oil, etc.

Bananas are .26 each. Gala apples are .69, an orange is .98. (All prices Walmart as before)

Go ahead and give yourself a dollar a day for fruit, $7.

1 gallon of vegetable oil is $10, enough to last weeks. (256 servings, 31,000 calories)

Spices, salt, etc, are a negligible expense on a per meal basis.

Remember we are talking about feeding a single adult here.

$35 a week is limiting but the idea that you can’t eat a healthy diet on it simply isn’t true. The diet will be light on meat, heavy on rice/beans/pasta and vegetables.

Again, clueless about how the poor are not able to grocery shop regularly, and so they rely on non perishable items. Fruit is perishable. Sure, they can eat a can of vegetables for dinner. But they aren't taking a can of vegetables to school or work, nor are they having them for a snack.

Spices are actually quite expensive. And while you think per meal it's negligible. when you have a fixed food budget, you aren't buying a tiny jar of spices over snack items to feed the kids the entire week.

Spices are expensive? Maybe where you shop…

https://www.walmart.com/search?q=Spices

You don’t need to carry a whole can to lunch. You can open the can at home and bring only a portion of the contents. Trust me, I have done this personally.

Fresh fruit spoils, but apples/bananas/oranges are hardly raspberries. They can easily last a week or more on the counter.

[Anonymous]

Well…pit restrictions on snap and that people need to buy core items.

Cerify citizenship - criminal illegals don’t get snap, they get deported.

That should cause a huge decrease in expenditures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who in government is in charge of this? Food stamps should only pay for healthy food, none of this junk.

Yeah let's see how much healthy food $35 buys you.


Go ahead show us your menu for the week for 35 bucks. 21 meals. Go ahead. Show the prices for each item.

Make that work so shut it.

2lbs dry spaghetti, $2.16 (3,200 calories)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Spaghetti-32-oz/10534105

24oz meat spaghetti sauce, $1.70
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Flavored-with-Meat-Pasta-Sauce-24-oz/19758049
5lb rice, $3.52 (8k calories)
8lb pinto beans, $7.62 (12,500 calories)
42oz rolled oats, $3.98 (4,500 calories)
2x Can green beans, 70cents (1.40)
2x Can beets, 86cents (1.92)
2x Can carrots, $1.06 (2,12)
Can spam(generic) $2.18 (4.36)

$28.78, money left over… and food left over at the end of the week too.

That is 28k calories of food just from the spaghetti, rice, beans and oats, two weeks at 2k a day before adding the cans.

There are lots of ways to make it work…

1lb of frozen tilapia, $5.97.
3lb frozen chicken, $8.76.
1 lb bacon, $5.12

So the protein falls outside the budget. There are no herbs or spices to make the beans palatable. Ditto oil.

No real sources of calcium. No fruit.

A sure way to squelch a kid’s desire for veggies is to serve ones out of a can.

The pasta and meat sauce would probably make 2 of the 35 meals.

What is the breakfast menu?

No, what it shows is that for $17.28 you get 28,000 calories of rice/beans/pasta/oats, enough for two weeks.

That means you only need $9 a week for those items, leaving $26 per week for meat, vegetables, oil, etc.

Bananas are .26 each. Gala apples are .69, an orange is .98. (All prices Walmart as before)

Go ahead and give yourself a dollar a day for fruit, $7.

1 gallon of vegetable oil is $10, enough to last weeks. (256 servings, 31,000 calories)

Spices, salt, etc, are a negligible expense on a per meal basis.

Remember we are talking about feeding a single adult here.

$35 a week is limiting but the idea that you can’t eat a healthy diet on it simply isn’t true. The diet will be light on meat, heavy on rice/beans/pasta and vegetables.

Again, clueless about how the poor are not able to grocery shop regularly, and so they rely on non perishable items. Fruit is perishable. Sure, they can eat a can of vegetables for dinner. But they aren't taking a can of vegetables to school or work, nor are they having them for a snack.

Spices are actually quite expensive. And while you think per meal it's negligible. when you have a fixed food budget, you aren't buying a tiny jar of spices over snack items to feed the kids the entire week.

Anyone suggesting buying in bulk has never had to live on a tight budget. Do they think poor people don't realize that it's cheaper to buy in bulk? Bulk buying requires excess cash to be able to afford the larger purchase rather than smaller purchases every time you get funds, it requires space to store the food, and it requires a way to get it home

Who said anything about buying in bulk?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In looking at the data from the report, soft drinks top the list, but they are followed by milk, beef, cheese, bread, cereal, chicken, water, etc. Candy is at no. 11. At least half of the list are "normal" foods. But also, many items on the list can be bought for cheap. Totino's frozen pizza is less than $3; a large bag of low-end corn chips is also less than $3. If you are working two jobs to make ends meet, frozen meals or Hamburger Helper meals are easy and cheap.

It sounds like the organization that published the report is very right-leaning (and a little googling shows it is indeed conservative), so there is a certain slant to it -- the talk about "able-bodied" recipients is a dead-giveaway. Remember, some families with young children cannot work if they do not have care for their children.

+1 people ignoring your post.

FWIW, I lean a bit right in some cases, but I also grew up lower income. And although I am now UMC, I remember well how hard it was for my mom to cook from scratch (dad never helped with cooking), and how time intensive it was. I wfh, so I'm very fortunate that I have the time to cook healthy meals from scratch (not to mention that DH does a lot of cooking, too). But, I can tell you that I spend a good chunk of my weekend prepping and cooking for the week -- lunches and dinners.

Yes. If cooking were so effortless, then there wouldn’t be a slew of meal prep services, e.g., Blue Apron, for consumers of means. There are a few folks with limited funds who enjoy cooking but most of my exposure has been to how hard and grinding it is to feed six mouths on a budget for four, meal after meal, day after day, week after week, month after month while working 1-3 jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who in government is in charge of this? Food stamps should only pay for healthy food, none of this junk.

Yeah let's see how much healthy food $35 buys you.


Go ahead show us your menu for the week for 35 bucks. 21 meals. Go ahead. Show the prices for each item.

Make that work so shut it.

2lbs dry spaghetti, $2.16 (3,200 calories)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Spaghetti-32-oz/10534105

24oz meat spaghetti sauce, $1.70
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Flavored-with-Meat-Pasta-Sauce-24-oz/19758049
5lb rice, $3.52 (8k calories)
8lb pinto beans, $7.62 (12,500 calories)
42oz rolled oats, $3.98 (4,500 calories)
2x Can green beans, 70cents (1.40)
2x Can beets, 86cents (1.92)
2x Can carrots, $1.06 (2,12)
Can spam(generic) $2.18 (4.36)

$28.78, money left over… and food left over at the end of the week too.

That is 28k calories of food just from the spaghetti, rice, beans and oats, two weeks at 2k a day before adding the cans.

There are lots of ways to make it work…

1lb of frozen tilapia, $5.97.
3lb frozen chicken, $8.76.
1 lb bacon, $5.12

So the protein falls outside the budget. There are no herbs or spices to make the beans palatable. Ditto oil.

No real sources of calcium. No fruit.

A sure way to squelch a kid’s desire for veggies is to serve ones out of a can.

The pasta and meat sauce would probably make 2 of the 35 meals.

What is the breakfast menu?

No, what it shows is that for $17.28 you get 28,000 calories of rice/beans/pasta/oats, enough for two weeks.

That means you only need $9 a week for those items, leaving $26 per week for meat, vegetables, oil, etc.

Bananas are .26 each. Gala apples are .69, an orange is .98. (All prices Walmart as before)

Go ahead and give yourself a dollar a day for fruit, $7.

1 gallon of vegetable oil is $10, enough to last weeks. (256 servings, 31,000 calories)

Spices, salt, etc, are a negligible expense on a per meal basis.

Remember we are talking about feeding a single adult here.

$35 a week is limiting but the idea that you can’t eat a healthy diet on it simply isn’t true. The diet will be light on meat, heavy on rice/beans/pasta and vegetables.

Again, clueless about how the poor are not able to grocery shop regularly, and so they rely on non perishable items. Fruit is perishable. Sure, they can eat a can of vegetables for dinner. But they aren't taking a can of vegetables to school or work, nor are they having them for a snack.

Spices are actually quite expensive. And while you think per meal it's negligible. when you have a fixed food budget, you aren't buying a tiny jar of spices over snack items to feed the kids the entire week.

Anyone suggesting buying in bulk has never had to live on a tight budget. Do they think poor people don't realize that it's cheaper to buy in bulk? Bulk buying requires excess cash to be able to afford the larger purchase rather than smaller purchases every time you get funds, it requires space to store the food, and it requires a way to get it home

Who said anything about buying in bulk?

That’s the bill you're dying on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In looking at the data from the report, soft drinks top the list, but they are followed by milk, beef, cheese, bread, cereal, chicken, water, etc. Candy is at no. 11. At least half of the list are "normal" foods. But also, many items on the list can be bought for cheap. Totino's frozen pizza is less than $3; a large bag of low-end corn chips is also less than $3. If you are working two jobs to make ends meet, frozen meals or Hamburger Helper meals are easy and cheap.

It sounds like the organization that published the report is very right-leaning (and a little googling shows it is indeed conservative), so there is a certain slant to it -- the talk about "able-bodied" recipients is a dead-giveaway. Remember, some families with young children cannot work if they do not have care for their children.

+1 people ignoring your post.

FWIW, I lean a bit right in some cases, but I also grew up lower income. And although I am now UMC, I remember well how hard it was for my mom to cook from scratch (dad never helped with cooking), and how time intensive it was. I wfh, so I'm very fortunate that I have the time to cook healthy meals from scratch (not to mention that DH does a lot of cooking, too). But, I can tell you that I spend a good chunk of my weekend prepping and cooking for the week -- lunches and dinners.

Yes. If cooking were so effortless, then there wouldn’t be a slew of meal prep services, e.g., Blue Apron, for consumers of means. There are a few folks with limited funds who enjoy cooking but most of my exposure has been to how hard and grinding it is to feed six mouths on a budget for four, meal after meal, day after day, week after week, month after month while working 1-3 jobs.

Maybe we need to rethink distribution of healthy foods. Instead of pushing to open more brick and mortar grocery stores w/healthy options, maybe it’d be better to do a low-cost/no-fee grocery delivery program. Or even premade healthy meals (like mighty meals).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who in government is in charge of this? Food stamps should only pay for healthy food, none of this junk.

Yeah let's see how much healthy food $35 buys you.


Go ahead show us your menu for the week for 35 bucks. 21 meals. Go ahead. Show the prices for each item.

Make that work so shut it.

2lbs dry spaghetti, $2.16 (3,200 calories)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Spaghetti-32-oz/10534105

24oz meat spaghetti sauce, $1.70
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Flavored-with-Meat-Pasta-Sauce-24-oz/19758049
5lb rice, $3.52 (8k calories)
8lb pinto beans, $7.62 (12,500 calories)
42oz rolled oats, $3.98 (4,500 calories)
2x Can green beans, 70cents (1.40)
2x Can beets, 86cents (1.92)
2x Can carrots, $1.06 (2,12)
Can spam(generic) $2.18 (4.36)

$28.78, money left over… and food left over at the end of the week too.

That is 28k calories of food just from the spaghetti, rice, beans and oats, two weeks at 2k a day before adding the cans.

There are lots of ways to make it work…

1lb of frozen tilapia, $5.97.
3lb frozen chicken, $8.76.
1 lb bacon, $5.12

So the protein falls outside the budget. There are no herbs or spices to make the beans palatable. Ditto oil.

No real sources of calcium. No fruit.

A sure way to squelch a kid’s desire for veggies is to serve ones out of a can.

The pasta and meat sauce would probably make 2 of the 35 meals.

What is the breakfast menu?

No, what it shows is that for $17.28 you get 28,000 calories of rice/beans/pasta/oats, enough for two weeks.

That means you only need $9 a week for those items, leaving $26 per week for meat, vegetables, oil, etc.

Bananas are .26 each. Gala apples are .69, an orange is .98. (All prices Walmart as before)

Go ahead and give yourself a dollar a day for fruit, $7.

1 gallon of vegetable oil is $10, enough to last weeks. (256 servings, 31,000 calories)

Spices, salt, etc, are a negligible expense on a per meal basis.

Remember we are talking about feeding a single adult here.

$35 a week is limiting but the idea that you can’t eat a healthy diet on it simply isn’t true. The diet will be light on meat, heavy on rice/beans/pasta and vegetables.

Again, clueless about how the poor are not able to grocery shop regularly, and so they rely on non perishable items. Fruit is perishable. Sure, they can eat a can of vegetables for dinner. But they aren't taking a can of vegetables to school or work, nor are they having them for a snack.

Spices are actually quite expensive. And while you think per meal it's negligible. when you have a fixed food budget, you aren't buying a tiny jar of spices over snack items to feed the kids the entire week.

Spices are expensive? Maybe where you shop…

https://www.walmart.com/search?q=Spices

You don’t need to carry a whole can to lunch. You can open the can at home and bring only a portion of the contents. Trust me, I have done this personally.

Fresh fruit spoils, but apples/bananas/oranges are hardly raspberries. They can easily last a week or more on the counter.

Another person in a privileged bubble.

You assume that all poor people have access to a walmart or a car. The urban poor have access to a corner liquor store. They usually need to take a bus ride to get to a decent grocery store. You should try walking in their shoes for a week. Take only the bus to the grocery store. Then come back and tell us how you did. I would love to hear about it.

You also assume that they aren't buying canned goods and rice and beans. They are. It's just the ultra right wingers are picking and choosing what to show you for clickbait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who in government is in charge of this? Food stamps should only pay for healthy food, none of this junk.

Yeah let's see how much healthy food $35 buys you.


Go ahead show us your menu for the week for 35 bucks. 21 meals. Go ahead. Show the prices for each item.

Make that work so shut it.

2lbs dry spaghetti, $2.16 (3,200 calories)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Spaghetti-32-oz/10534105

24oz meat spaghetti sauce, $1.70
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Flavored-with-Meat-Pasta-Sauce-24-oz/19758049
5lb rice, $3.52 (8k calories)
8lb pinto beans, $7.62 (12,500 calories)
42oz rolled oats, $3.98 (4,500 calories)
2x Can green beans, 70cents (1.40)
2x Can beets, 86cents (1.92)
2x Can carrots, $1.06 (2,12)
Can spam(generic) $2.18 (4.36)

$28.78, money left over… and food left over at the end of the week too.

That is 28k calories of food just from the spaghetti, rice, beans and oats, two weeks at 2k a day before adding the cans.

There are lots of ways to make it work…

1lb of frozen tilapia, $5.97.
3lb frozen chicken, $8.76.
1 lb bacon, $5.12

So the protein falls outside the budget. There are no herbs or spices to make the beans palatable. Ditto oil.

No real sources of calcium. No fruit.

A sure way to squelch a kid’s desire for veggies is to serve ones out of a can.

The pasta and meat sauce would probably make 2 of the 35 meals.

What is the breakfast menu?

No, what it shows is that for $17.28 you get 28,000 calories of rice/beans/pasta/oats, enough for two weeks.

That means you only need $9 a week for those items, leaving $26 per week for meat, vegetables, oil, etc.

Bananas are .26 each. Gala apples are .69, an orange is .98. (All prices Walmart as before)

Go ahead and give yourself a dollar a day for fruit, $7.

1 gallon of vegetable oil is $10, enough to last weeks. (256 servings, 31,000 calories)

Spices, salt, etc, are a negligible expense on a per meal basis.

Remember we are talking about feeding a single adult here.

$35 a week is limiting but the idea that you can’t eat a healthy diet on it simply isn’t true. The diet will be light on meat, heavy on rice/beans/pasta and vegetables.

Again, clueless about how the poor are not able to grocery shop regularly, and so they rely on non perishable items. Fruit is perishable. Sure, they can eat a can of vegetables for dinner. But they aren't taking a can of vegetables to school or work, nor are they having them for a snack.

Spices are actually quite expensive. And while you think per meal it's negligible. when you have a fixed food budget, you aren't buying a tiny jar of spices over snack items to feed the kids the entire week.

Spices are expensive? Maybe where you shop…

https://www.walmart.com/search?q=Spices

You don’t need to carry a whole can to lunch. You can open the can at home and bring only a portion of the contents. Trust me, I have done this personally.

Fresh fruit spoils, but apples/bananas/oranges are hardly raspberries. They can easily last a week or more on the counter.

Another person in a privileged bubble.

You assume that all poor people have access to a walmart or a car. The urban poor have access to a corner liquor store. They usually need to take a bus ride to get to a decent grocery store. You should try walking in their shoes for a week. Take only the bus to the grocery store. Then come back and tell us how you did. I would love to hear about it.

You also assume that they aren't buying canned goods and rice and beans. They are. It's just the ultra right wingers are picking and choosing what to show you for clickbait.

If Trump gets reelected and establishes his unified reich and project 2025, we’ll all get a chance to walk in their shoes and survive on snap.

[Anonymous]

Junk food is easy. It's tasty! I'm UMC and I love junk food too It's awful for you and I know it. I'm highly educated and I still love it! I don't eat it every day and it's certainly not my go-to meal. But I'm just saying - if you are poor and uneducated - you go for what is easiest, tastiest and that's junk food.

Do you know how much damn time it takes to cook a nutritious farm fresh meal? Sorry but fresh ingredients may be healthy but without a way to make it delicious, it's bland as hell.

I find a lot of healthy stuff like coconut water gross. I find a lot of healthy snacks gross. On the other hand, 3/4 of what you eat that isn't considered junk food - like Kraft Mac and Cheese is not as healthy as you people think. REAL healthy meal take time and effort to prepare. A salad is less yummy without yummy salad dressing. Who sits there and just eats raw veggies all day - are you a rabbit or something?

It's more than providing SNAP benefits to the poor. IT's a cultural thing in the US in terms of eating well prepared foods. Let me just say for the record that 1/2 the stuff sold in Safeway/Giant are pretty bad for you even if it's not Doritos. Between the food coloring, preservatives and salt/sugar content, seriously, you all are eating junk food as well. I'd define most of what's served in our K-12 public schools as junk food - we should probably start defining what healthy food is first!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is this regressive, cruel, right wing nonsense?

"SNAP is good for local economies – each dollar in federally funded SNAP benefits generates $1.79 in economic activity."

“children in families receiving SNAP were significantly more likely to be classified as ‘well’ than young children whose families were eligible but did not receive SNAP.”

"There is strong evidence of SNAP’s effectiveness in alleviating food insecurity. Two studies included in the recent “Long-Term Benefits of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” White House Report demonstrate this point. Mabli and Ohls (2015) compared households’ state of food security before and after receiving SNAP benefits and found that “SNAP participation reduced the overall fraction of households that were food insecure and the fraction that were very low food secure by around 17 percent and 19 percent, respectively. "

https://frac.org/programs/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/positive-effect-snap-benefits-participants-communities#:~:text=Economic%20Impacts&text=For%20example%2C%20SNAP%20is%20good,supports%20for%20low%2Dincome%20families.

SNAP is a fantastic program that has significantly improved access to food and childhood nutrition. Poor people should be allowed small edible luxuries like chips and soda just like you and I are. To suggest otherwise is heartless and inhuman. Shame on everyone spouting this horrible anti-poor filth in this thread.

Except those small edible luxuries like chips and soda make up the bulk of snap purchases. They cause heart disease and other stuff and overburden our health care system, which we also pay taxes for. So I’m sorry you’re offended, but we should really limit vouchers to healthy food and not subsidize big soda. Thanks for listening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is this regressive, cruel, right wing nonsense?

"SNAP is good for local economies – each dollar in federally funded SNAP benefits generates $1.79 in economic activity."

“children in families receiving SNAP were significantly more likely to be classified as ‘well’ than young children whose families were eligible but did not receive SNAP.”

"There is strong evidence of SNAP’s effectiveness in alleviating food insecurity. Two studies included in the recent “Long-Term Benefits of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” White House Report demonstrate this point. Mabli and Ohls (2015) compared households’ state of food security before and after receiving SNAP benefits and found that “SNAP participation reduced the overall fraction of households that were food insecure and the fraction that were very low food secure by around 17 percent and 19 percent, respectively. "

https://frac.org/programs/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/positive-effect-snap-benefits-participants-communities#:~:text=Economic%20Impacts&text=For%20example%2C%20SNAP%20is%20good,supports%20for%20low%2Dincome%20families.

SNAP is a fantastic program that has significantly improved access to food and childhood nutrition. Poor people should be allowed small edible luxuries like chips and soda just like you and I are. To suggest otherwise is heartless and inhuman. Shame on everyone spouting this horrible anti-poor filth in this thread.

Except those small edible luxuries like chips and soda make up the bulk of snap purchases. They cause heart disease and other stuff and overburden our health care system, which we also pay taxes for. So I’m sorry you’re offended, but we should really limit vouchers to healthy food and not subsidize big soda. Thanks for listening.

A number of folks upthread posted that's not the case, but keep doing you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Junk food is cheap. Healthy food is expensive. Work from there.

The reality is that preparing healthy food is time-consuming, especially if someone is juggling two jobs or one job and childcare (e.g., getting kids to and from daycare, school, etc). It is exhausting to stand on your feet all day, then stand to cook as well as be present for your kids.

It effing sucks to not have money. My parents stressed over every meal as there were more mouths than portions. I grew up hating cooking because it = stress. Now I generally love to cook, but it took some years to get to that place.

So many excuses from well meaning, but misguided altruists.

It takes 10 mins to boil an egg. You can eat the white for protein and discard the yolk if you want.

You can eat a banana or fruit immediately.

Pasta takes 7 minutes.

I’m sorry but microwaving a hungry man dinner that’s 55% sodium and other crap hurts our country.

On a similar note, I’m tired of the “healthy at any size” movement.

Snap benefits primarily being used for fking soda and chips is why we are here. It affects everything from early death to military retention rates. Stop making excuses for unhealthy behavior because you feel bad about poor people. You are not helping with encouraging shtty food at every meal.