Lawmakers Find $21 a Week Doesn't Buy a Lot of Groceries

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I dunno where you're buying milk, but you're getting royally ripped off if you're paying $3.49 for a half gallon. I never pay more than $1 for a half gallon of milk because Kroger has it on sale every other week with their 10/$10 sales. I buy a couple chocolate and a couple skim and freeze one of each so I have some for the week it's not on sale.

I disagree that healthy food is more expensive than unhealthy food. Frozen pizzas are $4 a piece (unhealthy) but you can get 4 packages of frozen veggies for that when they're on sale. If you watch for the sales, you can get ground turkey for the same price as ground beef. Lite/Wheat bread costs the same thing as White bread. Not counting "staples" like sugar, flour, spices, etc, I think I could easily eat for $21 a week when I really think about it. Bananas are really cheap. A bag of oranges are $2.99. It wouldn't be super fun but it's doable. Concentrate lemonade and orange juice of the store brand also go on sale at 10/$10. I have to say, I love Kroger for their sales. Also, they don't require you to buy 10 to get the savings. So, 10/$10 also means 1/$1. Not all stores do that.

Family packs of pork chops, chicken and ground beef generally go on sale on opposite weeks from eachother. I buy one family pack of meat each pay period. One pay, I get pork chops, the next I get chicken, the next I get beef. I freeze a lot of stuff. In fact, my biggest cost saving feature is a large freezer in the basement.

I buy turkey lunch meat and freeze it in individual servings as soon as I get home. If I put it on a kids sandwich frozen, it thaws by the time they eat lunch. I can also grab a slice and toss it in with an egg for scrambled eggs and ham (add green food coloring to make it fun for the kids.. green eggs and ham). Before I started doing that, the lunch meat would go bad before we ate it all and I was throwing a lot of food away. Now I use every slice. It's little things that take a little effort but save you a ton of money.

Anyway, those are some of my grocery savings tips. I use them along with my time saving tips. For example, when I get that large package of ground beef or turkey, I immediately make a couple dinners worth of meatballs, a meatloaf, some hamburgers and then brown a bunch and make taco meat or sloppy joes. They all get frozen so when we have to eat fast because the kids have activities to get to, it's just a matter of warming things up. Super easy to make some nachos if you've pre-grated the cheese, chopped the tomatoes and just have to nuke the meat. Make it from turkey meat and you have a pretty cheap and easy meal. I spend about 2 hours every Sunday doing "pre-cooking" like this. I also wash/cut up all the fruit and put it in baggies for individual serving sizes. I used to end up throwing fruit out too, but when it's ready to eat, it gets eaten first.

In some respects you are right. In others, if poor folks NEVER read any newspapers or if homeless do not have a mail stop location, then how will they ever see these sales?

And if one's told they are lactose intolerant, then yes, they are not drinking milk in any size. And still, where does one plan to put this perishable item when they don't have a refrigerator? So that means they are drinking the powdered crap. While hella healthy for you in the milk department, it tastes like chit. But some folks can acquire a taste for crap.

And like I said, most poor people do not know how to put food together from "old mother hubbard's cupboard". Like my mother can take a meatball and generate a 5 course meal. I am not as good as her in doing that. And my grandmother, she can make ox tails on a broken stove eye that only has 2settings: off and on high. And when I did eat meat, it was some of the best ox tails I ever ate in my life.

So, maybe a few of us could do $21.00 per week. But folks are not as inventive as they use to be. Should that be an excuse? No. But that is what is going on.

ETA: For everyone: So most of my food as a vegetarian remains frozen for my lifestyle. It is not hard to put things in the oven/microwave when I want to eat it. I season with things like "Italian Salad Dressing" because you have the right amount of salt without over doing it. Then, my husband and I use canned veggies and some kind of non-perishable starch. I have also found a wok can be your best friend to take frozen mixed veggies with some type of faux meat or real prepared meat and stir fry. And folks for gravy, you learn that corn starch, arrowroot and some flour is your best friend. Morover, Lipton tea goes a long way, iced or otherwise... Hayle if you are smart, you can get the tea bags for free at Hotels. And for sugar, think about where you are going. As long as you have functional appliances, you can make just about anything. Hayle, I could make some breads if I have to. It may not taste too good at first, but I can perfect it.

[OneTimeSBX]

aka_monet, that is true. people arent as inventive as before. hell, i can make 10 different dishes with a pack of ramen noodles lol!

i did a paper for an african-american studies class, and took trips to different Wal-marts in my area. the paper was on the differences in lifestyle/health habits between african americans and other cultures.

so in your "nicer" areas of town (the houses in the surrounding neighborhoods run around 300k+), the food selection was better. you know how they smack big displays in the middle of the aisles? there was wine, nice organic cereals, those chips made from sweet potatoes, etc.

travel about 35 minutes away to the "not so nice" part of town, where there are no houses, just section 8 apartment complexes. their center aisle was AWFUL...those little "hug" juices in the 24 packs, store brand chips, snack cakes...

my conclusion was that stores dont waste the time or money even supplying lower income areas with the same options as the higher class. i cant say i dont agree, who lives in the ghetto and buys organic cereal??

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSBX

aka_monet, that is true. people arent as inventive as before. hell, i can make 10 different dishes with a pack of ramen noodles lol!

i did a paper for an african-american studies class, and took trips to different Wal-marts in my area. the paper was on the differences in lifestyle/health habits between african americans and other cultures.

so in your "nicer" areas of town (the houses in the surrounding neighborhoods run around 300k+), the food selection was better. you know how they smack big displays in the middle of the aisles? there was wine, nice organic cereals, those chips made from sweet potatoes, etc.

travel about 35 minutes away to the "not so nice" part of town, where there are no houses, just section 8 apartment complexes. their center aisle was AWFUL...those little "hug" juices in the 24 packs, store brand chips, snack cakes...

my conclusion was that stores dont waste the time or money even supplying lower income areas with the same options as the higher class. i cant say i dont agree, who lives in the ghetto and buys organic cereal??

SBX....not sure if anyone knew this but I found out a few years ago...that most of those stores in low income areas generally get products that are items that couldn't be sold in the 'better' markets...

Like for instance, if you go to a dollar store and u see a 24oz bottle of Hawaiian Punch, it's because it didn't sell in the market in another neighborhood so when it came time for that store to restock they take the 'old' products off teh shelf and ship it to the lwo income areas....

Same goes for most of the produce...whatever doesn't make it 'up to snuff' or doesn't sell in time but still considered 'fresh' gets shipped elsewhere.

I also seem to remember hearing an incident a while back where some of these stores were changing the freshness dates on meats and chicken sold in low income earea in order to get rid of meat to unsuspecting buyers.

It made news when someone bought some already spoiled (yet frozen) meat and got food poisoning from it.

I need to see if I can find that article.

[OneTimeSBX]

the meat article was on dateline a few months ago...i saw that! i only get my meat from more reliable sources now...and yes i did know about shipping the less popular items to lower income areas. that was something i figured out myself actually!

[squirrely girl]

all of these comments regarding poor shopping/food conditions in inner cities is one of the reasons researchers are turning to geocoding as part of their research. it doesn't make sense to draw conclusions from research without it.

- m

[Rudey]

You all should use freshdirect. It's easier.

-Rudey

[DaemonSeid]

I am not sure if you will be able to get the article as u have to register for it but here it is...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...cmodule&sub=AR

Pangs of Hunger -- and Bit of Guilt

By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 22, 2007; Page A13

A pork chop and a bag of peanuts proved too tempting for Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), one of four members of Congress who has struggled for the past week to subsist on $21 worth of food -- the equivalent of benefits received by the average food stamp recipient.

Last Friday night, in New Hampshire to deliver a commencement speech, Ryan succumbed to a pork chop in the hotel restaurant because he feared he would otherwise be too weak to give the address.

See...I am mad that he bought pork chops, one of the foods that for a lot of people leads them to having high blood pressure due to the high sodium content! LOL

Afterward, as he rushed to catch a flight back to Washington, airport security officials confiscated jars of peanut butter and jelly from his carry-on luggage, leaving him with nothing but a small bag of cornmeal to eat in the final days of the "Food Stamp Challenge," which ends today.

"It just showed me that when you're living on food stamps, you're really one event away from disaster," he said. "If you drop a jar of sauce or jam, you can lose an opportunity to eat. Some people are constantly living on that edge."

So yesterday, in the Cleveland airport on his way back to Washington from a funeral, Ryan bought a bag of peanuts. "I feel bad I couldn't do it the whole time, but I certainly got the point," said the lawmaker, who lost four pounds during the week and ended his test early, with dinner at a Washington restaurant last night.

He said he came away with two lessons: He made some poor choices when he shopped for the $21 worth of food, and the country's food stamp program is not sufficient for the 26 million Americans who rely on it.

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

See...I am mad that he bought pork chops, one of the foods that for a lot of people leads them to having high blood pressure due to the high sodium content! LOL

There is no evidence that meat, especially pork, causes hypertension directly. Either treated or undertreated. Cardiovascular disease is a complex disease with mutant genes, environment and poor habits. Consuming processed porcine products occasionally will not hurt someone. People only choose not to eat these products due to beliefs or lifestyle.

I am a vegetarian, so I choose not to consume any muscle or fat products. I only consume some dairy but that is not by a preference, it is when i do not have options at the dining table.

He said he came away with two lessons: He made some poor choices when he shopped for the $21 worth of food, and the country's food stamp program is not sufficient for the 26 million Americans who rely on it.

First, this man is suppose to educated at some level. How is he making poor choices and what does a poor choice mean?

And 26 million people are relying on foodstamps to feed themselves... Some on GC said let them starve and die. Some of GC are wondering of ways to improve it. So, if we are to have a foodstamp program, how will we make it more sufficient? Better yet, more healthly and efficient?

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by AKA_Monet

There is no evidence that meat, especially pork, causes hypertension directly. Either treated or undertreated. Cardiovascular disease is a complex disease with mutant genes, environment and poor habits. Consuming processed porcine products occasionally will not hurt someone. People only choose not to eat these products due to beliefs or lifestyle.

Ok...to clarify AKA....it's not directly...what many practicioners have found is it's not the PORK that will kill u...it's processing of...LOL...

Now here is the kicker and I am so glad you brought this up:


Consuming processed porcine products occasionally will not hurt someone.

That is very very true and part of why I have cut back on how much pork I eat is that most of the pork that is cooked has such a high salt content, it's crazy.

I worked for a Nephrology Dept for 7 years (Kidney specialists) and one thing that has been found and is always being reinforced among the African American community who have been patients, is that in order to decrease the rate of hypertension and diabetes and kidney failure, cut out the fried foods...pork chops pork rinds, pickled pigs feet and so on...are so cheap to buy and so high in preservatives that because it's eaten in such high quatities, by the time most people are tested and treated, they are already in bad shape.

And to clarify also, it's not just us, it's prevalent among other nationalities also and there are many reasons why the rate is extremely high among the African American community....and a lot of those folks don't have adequate insurance to cover treatment (meds, dialysis, possible transplant) either.

BTW....did anyone know that a lot of insurances either don't cover (at 100% anyways) or have special provisions set up for those who are in need of organ transplant?

[JWithers]

This is a bit OT, but since y'all brought it up, ITA with the poor quality of affordable foods in supermarkets.

My husband and I began studying nutrition a few years ago as part of lowering his cholesterol. It was horrifying when we discovered the garbage that many readily available, inexpensive, prepared foods are loaded with. (And lots of it was in our pantry!)

Even boneless, skinless chicken breasts (a mainstay in most heart-healthy diets) are often 'enhanced' with a sodium solution and don't get me started onthe hormones.

A box dinner of say, red beans and rice, a fave in our family, in some brands contains over 1000 mg of sodium per serving(plus a bu++load of preservatives and flavorings). You know, "healthy" rice and beans! If you didn't read carefully, you would think it was a bargain, and good for you, too.

Fresh veggies can get expensive, so many on budget go for the frozen varieties. But there again, often times salt and flavorings are added, and of course the longer a veggie is away from the soil, the less nutrition it provides.

The reason, IMHO, for obesity in the poorest people is carbohydrate consumption. Processed white flour and bread. White rice. Potatoes. Seasoned with fatty meats, salt, butter. All of which can be bought on so little money. Over-processed foods with little of no nutritive value.

THEN...the extra weight a person carries around from the empty calories can lead to diabetes, heart disease, liver failure, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. And who has money for prescription medications or the healthful diet the doctor prescribes?

I stand by my position on education(not going there, no-no), but for the poorest people, buying healthy food is out of their reach. The health problems caused by their poor diets are a even greater burden, again, out of their reach to fix with no health insurance.

I suppose that technically a person who maintains a high enough calorie consuption isn't starving, but you don't have to starve to die from poor nutrition.

It has cost our family a ton (and that's with careful shopping and coupon clipping) more on our grocery bill to eat foods without additives, or prepared, processed foods. It takes more time to prepare and cook now. I thank God I have both the money and the time to feed my family decent food.

But what if you don't? I am kind of tempted to take the $21 challenge and see what I can buy, even at Aldi.

[UGAalum94]

I didn't even read the whole thread, so I apologize in advance:

What is the income threshold to qualify for food stamps? I guess I'm lucky that I never had to find out.

Isn't it a bit unrealistic to think that a person on food stamps would have no other income to be spent on food? I mean, I know you're not going to be rich and be on food stamps, but are all 26 million people trying to live on the food stamps alone?

$21 a week plus 25 to 50 dollars more you earned would still required a lot of planning, but it wouldn't be quite what living on only the stamps would do you.

Are the bottom ten or twelve percent of income earners in the US (which is what I'm figuring the 26 million is out of the 300 million of us total) people who have no income at all?

I think poor people may need more money for food, particularly for healthy food; I'm not really prepared to dispute that. But is what these congressional yahoos are doing really representative of what people on food stamps face? Wouldn't the real situation of surviving on X income total with $21 dollars in food stamps be bad enough without these self aggrandizing jerks pretending to face the same conditions?

[JWithers]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

I didn't even read the whole thread, so I apologize in advance:

What is the income threshold to qualify for food stamps? I guess I'm lucky that I never had to find out.

Isn't it a bit unrealistic to think that a person on food stamps would have no other income to be spent on food? I mean, I know you're not going to be rich and be on food stamps, but are all 26 million people trying to live on the food stamps alone?

$21 a week plus 25 to 50 dollars more you earned would still required a lot of planning, but it wouldn't be quite what living on only the stamps would do you.

Are the bottom ten or twelve percent of income earners in the US (which is what I'm figuring the 26 million is out of the 300 million of us total) people who have no income at all?

I think poor people may need more money for food, particularly for healthy food; I'm not really prepared to dispute that. But is what these congressional yahoos are doing really representative of what people on food stamps face? Wouldn't the real situation of surviving on X income total with $21 dollars in food stamps be bad enough without these self aggrandizing jerks pretending to face the same conditions?

Good point. It was kind of a dog-and-pony show.

It seems to me that with the epidemic of diet-related health issues, it would be a priority to make healthy foods less expensive, or increase the supplement for WIC and food stamps. That's just good business sense for old Govco. Damage control. Paying for sick people with no insurance is a lot more expensive.

When my grandparents went through the depression, there were a lot of truly poor and hungry people. But this country was still a very rural one and many people had access to foods grown and raised on their own farms in in their backyards. They may not have had much but at least it wasn't nutritionally bankrupt. Those aren't real options in today's world. At least not for most of us.

So that $21 is a big part of a family's total grocery budget (hopefully not the entire budget). I am sure most families have some other means, but I will bet it's not much.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by JWithers

Good point. It was kind of a dog-and-pony show.

It seems to me that with the epidemic of diet-related health issues, it would be a priority to make healthy foods less expensive, or increase the supplement for WIC and food stamps. That's just good business sense for old Govco. Damage control. Paying for sick people with no insurance is a lot more expensive.

When my grandparents went through the depression, there were a lot of truly poor and hungry people. But this country was still a very rural one and many people had access to foods grown and raised on their own farms in in their backyards. They may not have had much but at least it wasn't nutritionally bankrupt. Those are real options in today's world. At least not for most of us.

So that $21 is a big part of a family's total grocery budget (hopefully not the enitre budget). I am sure most families have some other means, but I will bet it's not much.

with all thats being said in this thread...if we keep things up...in order for us to get totally healthy food we may hasve to start hunting and growing our own food again...heh

[JWithers]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

with all thats being said in this thread...if we keep things up...in order for us to get totally healthy food we may hasve to start hunting and growing our own food again...heh

Right? I am sure my neighbors wouldn't mind if I tore up my back yard and put in some beans and tomatoes! BTW, I meant to post "AREN'T real options".....

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by JWithers

Fresh veggies can get expensive, so many on budget go for the frozen varieties. But there again, often times salt and flavorings are added, and of course the longer a veggie is away from the soil, the less nutrition it provides.

Aaaaactually, flash frozen veggies retain more nutrients than fresh veggies.

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

What is the income threshold to qualify for food stamps? I guess I'm lucky that I never had to find out.

Here's some info from a few pages back:

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

Throwing statistics out there...

I did a brief search to see what we're dealing with here. There is always a lag in statistical data related to the overall population of the U.S. and many predictions are based on the last census in 2000. With that said:

1) In 2005, there were 37 million people in poverty (12.6 percent of the population). Though I couldn't readily find more current data, I'd venture to say that the percentage hasn't moved much...if anything, it has increased.

2) The current unemployment rate is 5.4 percent.

3) The 2007 poverty guidelines allow for $10,210 for a single person (in the contiguous 48 states).

So, the statistics back what a number of people have said in this thread. Most of the people in poverty are working.