This Week in the Mercury
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Food Food Stamp Foodies
Posted by Patrick Alan Coleman on Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:23 PM
Here’s a headline you’ll enjoy from Salon.com: Hipsters on Food Stamps
Here’s a choice quote from one Gerry Mak, a 31 years old, part-time blogger receiving $200 a month in federal food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (no longer in stamp form):
"I'm sort of a foodie, and I'm not going to do the 'living off ramen' thing," he said, fondly remembering a recent meal he'd prepared of roasted rabbit with butter, tarragon and sweet potatoes. "I used to think that you could only get processed food and government cheese on food stamps, but it's great that you can get anything."
That anything includes rabbit, wild-caught salmon, and any number of esoteric and organic goodies. The goods can be purchased anywhere from Whole Foods to Safeway.
The story has drawn so much ire from Salon readers, the site has allowed Mak a rebuttal. (I hope they paid him.)
As far as I’m concerned, if you’re buying raw ingredients with your federal assistance and cooking them at home, more power to you. It’s likely more healthy than the dreaded “government cheese.” Is it cost effective? Probably not. But the point is to stay fed, healthy, and eventually employable beyond a part time blogging position. So although I might disdain the fact a person is buying ingredients from Whole Foods with federal assistance… It’s more because they’re supporting Whole Foods, not because of what they’re buying. Buy the same crap at New Seasons and I’ve got no complaints. But that’s just me.
What do you think? Is it more deplorable to buy factory farmed and heavily subsidized crap with federal assistance, or a nice cut of locally raised meat and some locally farmed greens?
1
On one hand, good on 'em, it's better than Twinkies and pork rinds.
On the other hand, pick up a mop and get to work. Expecting to be paid for blogging in 2010 is a bong induced fantasy.
On the other hand, pick up a mop and get to work. Expecting to be paid for blogging in 2010 is a bong induced fantasy.
2
I say let's remove this particular instance from the question. Let's just use the average unemployed person using food stamps to buy some quality whole (yes, lower case) foods. I say who gives a fuck. I don't give a shit what you eat.
We've decided that helping people buy food is something we as a society are willing to do, but empowering the government to decide what you can buy will do nothing but further subsidize big business.
If we were to try to regulate what you can buy with food stamps, who do you think is gonna win in that scenario? The same companies that grow the corn to make the High Fructose Corn Syrup to sweeten whatever processed food is on the APPROVED LIST OF SUPPLEMENTAL ASSISTANCE.
We've decided that helping people buy food is something we as a society are willing to do, but empowering the government to decide what you can buy will do nothing but further subsidize big business.
If we were to try to regulate what you can buy with food stamps, who do you think is gonna win in that scenario? The same companies that grow the corn to make the High Fructose Corn Syrup to sweeten whatever processed food is on the APPROVED LIST OF SUPPLEMENTAL ASSISTANCE.
3
If we're going to fund it, I would rather also not be paying for the health care they're eventually going to need by living largely off of sodium and corn syrup.
Rabbit is roughly $5/lb. Say a half pound, plus a buck for tarragon and maybe another dollar's worth of butter and sweet potatoes (since you're not going to use it all). We're talking $4.50 vs. $3.50 for a couple of Hot Pockets. And I daresay you can make raw ingredients stretch a lot further; no one's throwing their leftover Tony's pizza crusts in a stew.
Rabbit is roughly $5/lb. Say a half pound, plus a buck for tarragon and maybe another dollar's worth of butter and sweet potatoes (since you're not going to use it all). We're talking $4.50 vs. $3.50 for a couple of Hot Pockets. And I daresay you can make raw ingredients stretch a lot further; no one's throwing their leftover Tony's pizza crusts in a stew.
4
What tk. said.
Also, if you're shopping at local markets and stores, you're keeping the money in the community rather than giving it to some douche-bag pro-lifer or Kroger.
But fuck it. I'm all for a socialist welfar state. Eat the rich or something.
Also, if you're shopping at local markets and stores, you're keeping the money in the community rather than giving it to some douche-bag pro-lifer or Kroger.
But fuck it. I'm all for a socialist welfar state. Eat the rich or something.
5
This make way more sense than people using food stamps on chips, soda and other unhealthy items that people buy with Oregon Trail cards all the time. There should really be some consideration to model food stamps after the WIC program, which only pays for certain (re: less unhealthy) items.
6
OMG! OMG! Someone cooked a simple, healthy and delicious meal on food stamps! Cue mindless rage. We gotta get these people back on Cheetos, beer and Marlboros stat! It's the only way we can kill them legally.
8
Before this article, I had no idea the government even put restrictions on what types of food you could buy with food stamps. I had always figured if it was foodstuffs, it was fair game.
I highly recommend anyone on food stamps (or not!) to buy whole foods and stay away from any packaged/processed foods.
In my opinion, if the government put any kind of restrictions on what you could/couldn't buy with food stamps, I would say that they should force people to buy whole foods and not processed bullshit.
I highly recommend anyone on food stamps (or not!) to buy whole foods and stay away from any packaged/processed foods.
In my opinion, if the government put any kind of restrictions on what you could/couldn't buy with food stamps, I would say that they should force people to buy whole foods and not processed bullshit.
10
@Jackattack: What are you talking about? Nowhere does anything talk about the government putting restrictions on what food can be bought with food stamps. There's some esoteric rules about buying hot food, but that's about it. For themost part if it's food, it's fair game.
11
Sorry I wasn't very clear, Graham. What I meant was that I had always figured people on food stamps pretty much bought whatever food they wanted as long as it was food, and don't understand why this is even an article/issue at Salon.com (or why there's "uproar" over this poor kid buying real food with his food stamps).
I just figured that's what people bought with food stamps. Food.
I just figured that's what people bought with food stamps. Food.
12
@PAC
Why would you think it less cost effective to buy unprocessed foods than processed foods? It's entirely counter-intuitive. Do you think a bag of frozen fries is less per pound than potatoes? Or that applesauce is less per pound than apples? Or that a bag of corn chips is less per pound than corn tortillas -- or corn flour?
I understand there's a lot of propaganda out there that makes it sound like it's the case, but it's really not. It's much cheaper to buy fresh fruits and vegetables than it is to buy junk food. What's a banana, like 50 cents a pound at most? So one banana costs you maybe 15-20 cents? A donut is going to be 50 cents or more and provide less bulk in your tummy to fill you up. You can get good apples (none of those crappy red delicious) for about $1.50/lb. A one-lb bag of Doritos is going to be a minimum of $2.
I've done the food stamp challenge as have lots of other foodies on PortlandFood.org:
http://www.portlandfood.org/index.php?show…
It's not that hard to stay on budget while eating healthy, tasty food. The harder question is how to provide the cultural intelligence and habits so that poor people can and do make healthy, tasty food cheaply as they once did in America and as they do in developing countries now.
Why would you think it less cost effective to buy unprocessed foods than processed foods? It's entirely counter-intuitive. Do you think a bag of frozen fries is less per pound than potatoes? Or that applesauce is less per pound than apples? Or that a bag of corn chips is less per pound than corn tortillas -- or corn flour?
I understand there's a lot of propaganda out there that makes it sound like it's the case, but it's really not. It's much cheaper to buy fresh fruits and vegetables than it is to buy junk food. What's a banana, like 50 cents a pound at most? So one banana costs you maybe 15-20 cents? A donut is going to be 50 cents or more and provide less bulk in your tummy to fill you up. You can get good apples (none of those crappy red delicious) for about $1.50/lb. A one-lb bag of Doritos is going to be a minimum of $2.
I've done the food stamp challenge as have lots of other foodies on PortlandFood.org:
http://www.portlandfood.org/index.php?show…
It's not that hard to stay on budget while eating healthy, tasty food. The harder question is how to provide the cultural intelligence and habits so that poor people can and do make healthy, tasty food cheaply as they once did in America and as they do in developing countries now.
13
Regardless of what you think about Mak's purchases the Food Stamp program represents one of the largest direct injections of federal cash into the Oregon economy, about a billion dollars a year. I believe that the number of folks receiving food assistance in Oregon is 1 in 6. These dollars support local business, growers and employment. They can only be spent on food [except in Alaska where you can buy bows and arrows], not toilet paper, soap, canning jars, aspirin, alcohol, tobacco or anything else. Seniors get an extra bonus when using food stamps at Farmers Markets. There is also a very modest discount available on your phone bill. If Mak is getting $200 a month, the maximum allowed for an individual, he is living one step off the street. By the time we get around to telling folks how to spend their grocery money we've missed the point.
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