Food Stamp Challenge Day 1
None by Bryan Schott
(KCPW News) Living on food stamps is a daunting proposition for anyone, but the struggle to eat on such a limited amount of money is hard to understand. A number of public officials in Utah are taking part in the "food stamp challenge." Their food budget for one week is the same as if they were on public assistance.State Representative Jen Seelig is one of those participants. She has agreed to check in with KCPW all week long to give her thoughts on the challenge. Representative Seeling tells KCPW's Bryan Schott that her food options are severely limited.
Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW
1. Lisa said:
My husband is just graduating from Medical school and we have been on food stamps for just over 2 years now. Let me say--they give us TONS of money. Probably because we have 3 small children and only a tiny income--but really, a family of 5 should be able to eat on less than $600 which is how much they give us! We have never eaten so well in our lives and are grateful for the assistance, but we often recognize that this is a lot of money for food! We have friends who have over a thousand dollars saved up on their food card.
True, we eat at home most of the time--but shouldn't a government program that is handing out taxpayer dollars encourage sensible spending? For our family, anyway, food stamps have been more than generous. We'll see how we do in July when we're living off of our own money--I can guarantee our food budget won't be $600!
On another, but related note, we are also eligible for WIC which we stopped asking for when we got food stamps. Partly because we felt the food stamp money was plenty, but partly because we felt we could eat much healthier on food stamps. On food stamps we could purchase whole fruit instead of juice, and choose the kind of cheese and eggs we wanted--and the checkout at the grocery store is a lot less embarrassing too!
3. Christina Tyler said:
I have like many others have received food stamps in life. I must admit that the amount they give you monthly does not meet the reality of what you'd spend if you were using you hard earned tax-payer dollars. That made it really easy for me to budget meals for my family and to also ensure that the food we prepare was eaten and not wasted.
2. Heidi LeBlanc said:
As director of the Food Stamp Nutrition Education program, Food $ense, we can help families stretch their dollars even more. This is a free program funded by Food and Nutrition Services. Basically, we teach families and individuals to eat well on their food budget. We provide a series of lessons that teach basic nutrition, food preparation skills, and budgeting basics. Utah has had this program for over 9 years and data shows that families who participate increase fruit and vegetable consumption, increase whole grains, decrease discretionary calories, and have overall health.