Thread: why do folks care about what the poor buy with food stamps?

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

ahoy DNSmith,
that recipe sounds very tasty, mate.
*muses*
look, i agree that it be entirely possible to feed yerself on $1.33 per meal. legions 'o families that live in poverty in our nation do it every day, aye.

One does not have to live in poverty to enjoy good meals and those who do live in poverty ($1,200 food stamps a month) can eat well and eat the list I put up.

i don't think it be possible to dine on the list 'o protiens ye laid out in that post on this small amount, though. again, i admit that it may be possible in Alabama, but large parts 'o the this mighty nation we live in don't resemble Alabama.

It was possible in NC, TX, OK, KY, VA as well.

when i awoke this mornin', i thought to meself, "as an unmarried male, i'd get me around $200.00 per month from the SNAP program. thats $2.22 per meal....i really ought to try that fer one month so i can attest to how easy it is, or isn't".

Using healthy portion control makes it possible.

i made mental lists 'o things like potatoes and wondered if i would make me own gravy and then thought 'bout what i needed to make me own. bones...fat...flour...salt...pepper...aye. then i went out fer a walk and ambled by the corner tavern and ate a blackened redfish sandwich with remoulade sauce, sweet potato fries and a pepsi, and gave up the venture.

Buy a box of tilapia filets individually wrapped/sealed in plastic. Take a cast iron skillet, heat it and rub some butter to just barely coat. Season the filet with salt, pepper and garlic. Get skillet hot, add fish, cook on one side 3 minutes. Put the entire skillet under the broiler elements. Garnish with a little melted butter and parsley. Bake a potato. Have a vegetable. Viola, a meal fit for a king less than $1.50. The fillets are available from Walmart. A 5 lb box is less than $3.00 a lb and each fillet is only about 1/4 to 1/3 lb, about $1.00 each. I read an article this week that Maine lobster was selling for less than $5.00 a lb because of early molting (soft shell Lobster). Even so, I prefer the smaller Gulf lobster occasionally and the tail meat runs about $7.50 a lb or 3 tails, when served with potatoes, corn and a green a meal like that can still be eaten a couple of times a month mixed in with less expensive meals. I like Lobster bisque which is easy to make and not terribly expensive. Yet my very favorite meal is New Orleans style Red Beans and Rice. My favorite chicken meal is creole; chicken (hen) stewed with onions and green pepper and rice. My wife does not like hamburger so that was seldom on the menu in any form.

aye!

- MeadHallPirate

Its all in how you shop, how you prepare a meal, and learning to eat a variety of vegetables to go with the main course. How about today; I boiled what was left of the chicken carcass left from the roast chicken and pot pie. Added about 2 cups thin sliced onion sauteed in olive oil to the broth. I filled 3 individual baking bowls, used hard toast croutons and a toss of mozzarella and baked it for dinner. Voila, French onion soup! (some people make it with beef broth. I prefer chicken.) A tbs sherry on top does the rest. A fresh garden salad and soup is a dinner I make every month of two, planned around the left over chicken I tend to cook on occasion.

Roast beef today. A rump roast I bought on sale at Walmart for $2.99 a lb. I cut holes all over it and inserted slices of garlic and some salt and pepper. Then browned it in a Dutch oven all over, covered it and put it in the oven a few minutes ago. After we eat I will chop the left over roast in my Cuisinart and make beef salad with boiled egg, chopped celery, small chunks of apple, dill relish and mayonaise for tomorrow or Tuesday. I will keep a couple of slices of roast beef and some gravy for po-boys in a few days. I make one roast good for 3 or even 4 meals.

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

ahoy DNSmith,

respectfully, matey, i'd say that things hath changed a bit since ye were in the army...or perhaps the cost 'o food in Alabama be really, really different than it be in NJ, NYC, Philadelphia and Charlotte (imma more aquainted with the fiscal reality 'o these locales, since i've dropped anchor in these areas).

i don't think 'tis possible to eat (here be yer exact quote) rib eyes once a week, lobster once, shrimp once, roast beef once, roast pork, roast chicken, and fish once a week, on $1.44 per meal. imma not callin' ye a liar, imma just sayin' that i disagree that 'tis possible. were ye doin' this before, or after the advent 'o cable television? i mean, what era did this reality exist in?

...and honestly, what did ye eat on sunday?

aye?

- MeadHallPirate

ps - maybe we're just miscommunicatin' here, mate. 5 dollars in yer earlier era be really different from 5 dollars in 2012.

Even if the amount of food stamps these people get amounts to $1.44/ meal, that isn't what a great majority of them are eating on. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "I ain't got my stamps so see if I've got enough on the card for this coke." The problem is that the government will give a person a card with $1000. 00 on it which is suppose to supplement their food budget AND teach them about nutrition, ("Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program"). These people think that it's suppose to buy ALL of their food and have no qualms about wasting it on non-nutritious or prepackaged items because they know that at the end of the month, the government will give them more to waste!

Originally Posted by dnsmith

Roast beef today. A rump roast I bought on sale at Walmart for $2.99 a lb. I cut holes all over it and inserted slices of garlic and some salt and pepper. Then browned it in a Dutch oven all over, covered it and put it in the oven a few minutes ago. After we eat I will chop the left over roast in my Cuisinart and make beef salad with boiled egg, chopped celery, small chunks of apple, dill relish and mayonaise for tomorrow or Tuesday. I will keep a couple of slices of roast beef and some gravy for po-boys in a few days. I make one roast good for 3 or even 4 meals.

ahoy DNSmith,

imma enjoyin' these food bits yer postin'.

one 'o me favorite pastimes, years ago, was watchin' Food Network blazed outta me mind on the kind bud. that was before the network embraced all the awful programmin' they currently have.

one thing, though: would a person on food stamps be just "given" things like garlic, salt, pepper, eggs, celery, apples, dill relish and mayonaise, plus the bread fer the po-boys by the grocery store, or are all them delights hidden somewhar inside that piece 'o Walmart roast beef at the point 'o purchase?

- MeadHallPirate

Originally Posted by Mrs. M

Even if the amount of food stamps these people get amounts to $1.44/ meal, that isn't what a great majority of them are eating on. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "I ain't got my stamps so see if I've got enough on the card for this coke." The problem is that the government will give a person a card with $1000. 00 on it which is suppose to supplement their food budget AND teach them about nutrition, ("Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program"). These people think that it's suppose to buy ALL of their food and have no qualms about wasting it on non-nutritious or prepackaged items because they know that at the end of the month, the government will give them more to waste!

ahoy Mrs. M,

respectfully, lets be clear lass. the maximum a person can get in food stamp allowance in yer state be $200.00 per month. thats the maximum.

no person gets $1000.00 or $1200.00 per month, them figures be unmoored from reality.

the allowance ye get per person goes down the more folks thar be, and on average, food stamp folks get $1.44 per meal (i think thats fer a family 'o four).

to qualify fer food stamps in yer state, ye have to be 100% below the federal poverty level. so, them folks are pretty darn poor. if they can scrimp and save and somehow manage to buy a can 'o coke, i don't see what all the fuss is about, aye?

- MeadHallPirate

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

ahoy Mrs. M,

respectfully, lets be clear lass. the maximum a person can get in food stamp allowance in yer state be $200.00 per month. thats the maximum.

no person gets $1000.00 or $1200.00 per month, them figures be unmoored from reality.

the allowance ye get per person goes down the more folks thar be, and on average, food stamp folks get $1.44 per meal (i think thats fer a family 'o four).

to qualify fer food stamps in yer state, ye have to be 100% below the federal poverty level. so, them folks are pretty darn poor. if they can scrimp and save and somehow manage to buy a can 'o coke, i don't see what all the fuss is about, aye?

- MeadHallPirate

A family of 8 can get $1202/months in stamps and there's plenty that do it. How? If one family member makes too much to qualify, then another family member claims that the children live with her, thus increasing her own allowance. The two families then share the stamps or they sell them to others for cash. If these people would put as much effort into education and work ethics as they do figuring out how to scam the system, they'd be much better off.

Originally Posted by Mrs. M

A family of 8 can get $1202/months in stamps and there's plenty that do it. How? If one family member makes too much to qualify, then another family member claims that the children live with her, thus increasing her own allowance. The two families then share the stamps or they sell them to others for cash. If these people would put as much effort into education and work ethics as they do figuring out how to scam the system, they'd be much better off.

ahoy Mrs. M,

if imma family 'o eight, and i've got six children, me food stamp allowance be based on what the poverty level be fer me and me wife. if we be below 100% 'o the poverty level, then we be very poor and we'd be solid candidates fer our EBT card.

i'd have feed me daughters and sons fer $1.67 per meal.

food stamp cards cannot be used by any entity other than the invididual they were issued to, anythin' else be fraud...and i don't condone fraud, me friend. no one does. if yer sayin' that we need greater enforcement 'o government regulations related to fraud, i'd agree - and not just fer food stamp abuse, but fer all sectors 'o our great and bountiful land.

- MeadHallPirate

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

to qualify fer food stamps , ye have to be 100% below the federal poverty level. so, them folks are pretty darn poor. if they can scrimp and save and somehow manage to buy a can 'o coke, i don't see what all the fuss is about, aye?

- MeadHallPirate

The federal poverty level is set artificially high. For the first 30 years of our married life my wife and I earned below the federal poverty level. Though we qualified, there was no reason why we should have ever wanted food stamps. I think the poverty level should reduced significantly. $38,800 for a family of 8 is absurd and anyone making that living in poverty is incapable of living on any income.

Originally Posted by dnsmith

The federal poverty level is set artificially high. For the first 30 years of our married life my wife and I earned below the federal poverty level. Though we qualified, there was no reason why we should have ever wanted food stamps. I think the poverty level should reduced significantly. $38,800 for a family of 8 is absurd and anyone making that living in poverty is incapable of living on any income.

ahoy DNSmith,

two things, me bucko;

1) ye don't get food stamps if yer at the Federal poverty level. in Mrs. M's state, ye have to actually be 100% below the Federal poverty level to get that kind 'o assistance.

2) imma actually goin' to Walmart now (i never shop thar, so it'll be an interestin' experience, imma sure), and i've a shoppin' list made up 'o yer choices that ye listed fer yer roast beef meal, which honestly sounds delightful! imma goin' to pretend that imma on food stamps and see how much 'o me $200.00 alottment gets used up, in pursuit 'o me rump 'o roast beef, eggs, celery, apples, dill relish, mayonaise, salt, pepper, garlic and sandwich rolls.

imma stoppin' by me studio to pick up a Nikon D700 to take pictures.

i'll post me results tomorrow, along with me receipt.

- MeadHallPirate

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

ahoy DNSmith,

two things, me bucko;

1) ye don't get food stamps if yer at the Federal poverty level. in Mrs. M's state, ye have to actually be 100% below the Federal poverty level to get that kind 'o assistance.

I am fully aware of what the poverty line is, and what one gets based on income.

2) imma actually goin' to Walmart now (i never shop thar, so it'll be an interestin' experience, imma sure), and i've a shoppin' list made up 'o yer choices that ye listed fer yer roast beef meal, which honestly sounds delightful! imma goin' to pretend that imma on food stamps and see how much 'o me $200.00 alottment gets used up, in pursuit 'o me rump 'o roast beef, eggs, celery, apples, dill relish, mayonaise, salt, pepper, garlic and sandwich rolls.

imma stoppin' by me studio to pick up a Nikon D700 to take pictures.

i'll post me results tomorrow, along with me receipt.

- MeadHallPirate

Don't forget, look for the food which is on sale, which is what the poor should do every time they go food shopping.

Originally Posted by dnsmith

$38,800 for a family of 8 is absurd and anyone making that living in poverty is incapable of living on any income.

$38,800 seems pretty low to me. Running the numbers on that, it comes to $3233.33 a month. Let's say our hypothetical family of eight rents a three bedroom house with utilities included for $1,233.33 a month. (This is pretty generous considering that the cheapest three bedroom I can find listed in my area is $1,150.) $500 for a meager car payment plus insurance for one vehicle puts us at $1,500 per month. If two of those six chidren are in full time day care, you're a hundred dollars in the hole before you even look at food costs or anything else.

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

ahoy Mrs. M,

if imma family 'o eight, and i've got six children, me food stamp allowance be based on what the poverty level be fer me and me wife. if we be below 100% 'o the poverty level, then we be very poor and we'd be solid candidates fer our EBT card.

i'd have feed me daughters and sons fer $1.67 per meal.

food stamp cards cannot be used by any entity other than the invididual they were issued to, anythin' else be fraud...and i don't condone fraud, me friend. no one does. if yer sayin' that we need greater enforcement 'o government regulations related to fraud, i'd agree - and not just fer food stamp abuse, but fer all sectors 'o our great and bountiful land.

- MeadHallPirate

I definitely think we need greater enforcement because I know that fraud is far more common than most want to believe!

Originally Posted by Porras

$38,800 seems pretty low to me. Running the numbers on that, it comes to $3233.33 a month. Let's say our hypothetical family of eight rents a three bedroom house with utilities included for $1,233.33 a month. (This is pretty generous considering that the cheapest three bedroom I can find listed in my area is $1,150.) $500 for a meager car payment plus insurance for one vehicle puts us at $1,500 per month. If two of those six chidren are in full time day care, you're a hundred dollars in the hole before you even look at food costs or anything else.

Your hypothetical family is also getting government-assisted housing and the kids are in pre-k programs designed for low income children.