In preparation for the Food Stamp Challenge next week, the policy wonk in me is coming out. I wrote a paper with some colleagues at CLASP a few years back that framed food stamps as one of several work supports that can help low-income working families.
Now, I am wondering if food stamps are one’s only source of income for food (because presumably any other income support or wages are going to pay for other basic needs), how much nutritious food can one actually afford to purchase that will help keep the mind and body energized on the job? Will my productivity decrease next week when I’m purchasing food limited to a $21 budget?
I guess I’m about to find out. (For more on my motivation for participating in the D.C. version of the Food Stamp Challenge, please see today’s News and View of Note post under "On Poverty.")
With the amount of money I often would spend on one meal out to serve as my weekly budget, I started to think about ways to economize.
First, I was wondering whether I could save any money by purchasing food in D.C. versus Maryland or Virginia because of differential sales taxes on food. Then I recalled that most food stamp purchases are not taxable. I verified this on the Food and Nutrition Service Web site. So, I am planning to purchase my food at the closest grocery store I can walk to from where I live. While on the FNS Web site, I also discovered some interesting factoids:
Based on a study of data gathered in Fiscal Year 2005:
- 50 percent of all participants are children (18 or younger), and 65 percent of them live in single-parent households.
- 54 percent of food stamp households include children.
- 8 percent of all participants are elderly (age 60 or over).
- 77 percent of all benefits go to households with children, 16 percent go to households with disabled persons, and 9 percent go to households with elderly persons.
- 34 percent of households with children were headed by a single parent, the overwhelming majority of whom were women.
- The average household size is 2.3 persons.
- The average gross monthly income per food stamp household is $648.
- 46 percent of participants are white; 31 percent are African-American, non-Hispanic; 13 percent are Hispanic; 2 percent are Asian, 1 percent are Native American, and 7 percent are of unknown race or ethnicity.
Having taken all of this in, I then turned my attention to wondering what exactly I will and won’t be allowed to purchase, since I want to try and play by the rules. Also from the FNS Web site: Households CAN use food stamp benefits to buy foods for the household to eat, such as: breads and cereals; fruits and vegetables; meats, fish and poultry; and, dairy products and seeds and plants which produce food for the household to eat. Households CANNOT use food stamp benefits to buy: beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes or tobacco or any nonfood items, such as: pet foods; soaps, paper products; and, household supplies or vitamins and medicines, food that will be eaten in the store or hot foods.
Thinking back to points in my life when I’ve had a lot less income, I’ve started composing a grocery list in my head. I’m hoping to stay away from Ramen noodles and those blue boxes of macaroni and “cheese.” I hoping to be able to buy: oatmeal, milk (probably won’t be able afford soy milk, so whatever kind is cheapest), an on-sale loaf of whole grain bread, some sort of cheese that isn’t processed, spinach (the generic frozen kind—I know I won’t be able to afford fresh), pasta, sauce, canned beans, and an onion.
I plan to report back with a list of my actual purchases next week. Stay tuned. . .
