(Jackie Speier) Congresswoman to live off food stamps budget

[alp227]

Source: Bay City News

SAN FRANCISCO -- About one in seven Americans use food stamps, and Congresswoman Jackie Speier wants to experience what it is like to live on a food stamps budget.

Starting Monday, Speier, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, will participate in a food stamps challenge in which she will eat on a food budget of $4.50 a day for five days.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the California average monthly benefit in fiscal year 2010 was $136.75, or approximately $4.50 a day.

Formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, SNAP provides more than 3.6 million Californians with benefits to help them purchase food for them and their families.

Read more: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/politics&id=8410979

---

$4.50 a day? What healthy food instead of McDonald's can one find on that budget? But good that she's taking a stand. Barbara Ehrenreich did a similar experiment for her book Nickel and Dimed.

[cutlassmama]

1. the only way to eat healthy on that amount is to dumpster dive behind

a health food grocery store. Saw some big bags of bruised apples there today. Other than that, there is no way one could eat healthy on that amount.

Now if she was eating hot dogs (on sale), ramen noodles, and Kool-aid she might be able to do it.

[valerief]

2. Well, that's one way to diet. She should try it for at least a month, though, to

get the full effect.

[meow2u3]

20. One way to diet my eye!

Living on food stamps forces you to buy cheap, carb-laden food because carbs are more filling. Your belly might be full, but your body is lacking nutrients because grocers jack up the prices of fresh fruits and vegetables. The best someone on food stamps can eat would be canned fruits and veggies, which are often packed with sugar and/or salt.

[Remember Me]

29. +1

And those cheap carbs can cause diabetes.

[KurtNYC]

83. Pasta e fagioli

italian sausage at $3 pound (4 servings)
Turkey chili
chicken thighs (79 cents a pound)
orange juice concentrate
milk

Studies show that cost is not the reason that Americans don't eat much fruit and veg. Habits, preferences and availability are bigger factors.

[legin]

41. Exactly right

although I'd make it a couple of years.

This five days crap is just insulting.

The body can handle five days with ease, you don't get to the 'causing health problems' phase for a considerable time.

[former9thward]

3. It should be closer to $7 a day.

The federal food benefit for a single person is $200 a month if you have no or little income. The average is below that because many people have additional income so their benefit is lower. So they are using part of that income for their food.

[No Elephants]

43. Please. In someone's imagination, it may be $7.00 a day. In reality,

the amounts for rent and clothing are not enough and there is nothing in the budget at all for so many, many things a family has to pay for--and that's assuming they're all healthy.

I once used to calculate those amounts for others to try to live on, so I know.

[plumbob]

4. Five entire whole complete days?

What a trooper!

We now return you to millions of American children who spend their entire childhood doing this.

[TheDebbieDee]

38. Well, I'll give her credit for TRYING it!

Go Congresswoman................

[appleannie1]

5. I don't think five days is long enough to grasp the full scope of how paltry that amount really is.

She should get a month's worth and make it last a month.

[w0nderer]

28. not to mention - clean out fridge, freezer, pantry n/t

[Bennyboy]

6. CA 200 in Food Stamps for thirty days..

Numbers are off there. GA. And it isn't that hard IF YOU HAVE A PLACE TO PREPARE FOOD. And you have all the condiments and sauces, and stuff like that in your house.

[Turbineguy]

7. No doubt Fox News will show her eating

Steaks with truffles.

[jwirr]

8. Back when George McGovern was fighting for the food stamp

program some congresspersons did this. I do not know if George was in that group but they were supporting his studies.

I want to thank her. I hope someone does a story on her efforts for the media. Rachel does great documentation and I would hope she would do it.

[provis99]

9. I'd rather see every republican in congress do this.

For at least ten years each.

Especially that bastard Paul Ryan.

[Marazinia]

10. Another crime to lay at the feet of our corporations

There are families with two full time workers who still need food stamps because minimum wage is nowhere near a living wage. That means that when Wall-Mart pays an employee eight dollars an hour when they should be paying at least twelve, American tax payers get the bill when that worker needs food stamps and other services just to survive.

We can reduce our tax burden by a large amount simply by changing the national minimum wage to a state and regional minimum wage that is actually a living wage for that area.

[bread_and_roses]

11. Excellent point - except possibly the tax reduction ...

...I say that because while I cannot remember the figures off the top of my head, and am too rushed to look it up right now, my memory is that programs like FS actually comprise a rather small % of our budget - at least compared to the military.

[Marazinia]

17. True

But every bit helps, plus medical care and even housing are often part of the assistance that wage earners receive when they don't earn enough or when their jobs don't offer affordable health coverage (or any at all). Every time a corporation profits from not paying someone enough to meet basic needs, the taxpayer gets stuck with the bill.

[alp227]

12. The free market had its chance and FAILED to create a living wage nt

[Marazinia]

19. Yes it has

And yes it has failed. Time to move on to something better.

[kpete]

13. Congresswoman to live off food stamps budget

Source: ABC

Congresswoman to live off food stamps budget

SAN FRANCISCO -- About one in seven Americans use food stamps, and Congresswoman Jackie Speier wants to experience what it is like to live on a food stamps budget.

Starting Monday, Speier, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, will participate in a food stamps challenge in which she will eat on a food budget of $4.50 a day for five days.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the California average monthly benefit in fiscal year 2010 was $136.75, or approximately $4.50 a day.

Formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, SNAP provides more than 3.6 million Californians with benefits to help them purchase food for them and their families.

Read more: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/politics&id=8410979#&cmp=fb-kgo-article-8410979

[KamaAina]

14. Speier is one of the really good ones

check out her righteously indignant response to the repukes' "Let Women Die" bill. :thumbsup:

Also, bear in mind, her district, which extends from the southern tier of SF about two-thirds of the way down the Peninsula, has one of the highest costs of living in the country.

[avaistheone1]

93. I like Jackie.

She did a great job while she was in the California legislature.

I think she will do a great job in Washington too.

K&R

[Systematic Chaos]

15. It will be a basic diet, but it can be done easily enough.

3 lbs. potatoes or 1 lb. rice is about $1.
1 can diced tomatoes is about $1 (and they can be Italian, Cajun or Mexican seasoned for spice).
1 bag of beans, split peas or lentils is about $1.
And that leaves $1.50 for a snack such as some bananas; or maybe an onion or two, or a bag of frozen veggies every day to supplement the main ingredients above.

The above is pretty much nutritionally perfect and is likely more than one person can eat every day.

My wife and I are in the same sort of circumstances and this is how we get by.

[eilen]

32. Prices have gone up.

dried beans used to be about $1, now at least 30% more than that. Frozen veggies cost at least 99 cents on sale. Potatoes cost more than $1/pd. Now you can get cabbage at about 39-69 cents /pd. My husband found chicken at $1.79/lb but you had to buy a big pack for that price.

[plumbob]

42. Here in west Texas, prices are much higher than that.

Potatoes - $2.49/pound
1 #10 can diced tomatoes store brand - $2.10
1 pound dried beans - $1.69
bananas - 79 cents per pound
onions - yellow - $1.89 per pound
1 pound bag frozen green beans store brand - 2.49

So $4.50 here would get you the potatoes and half a pound of dried beans. Then you're done.

[No Elephants]

44. Three pounds of potatoes for $1 is not even near a good sale price in my area.

A VERY good sale price at a Boston supermarket for loose potatoes is $.89 a lb.

And if you don't drive or have a car and are therefore relegated to a more convenient kind of store than a big supermarket, fuhgeddaboudit.

[CAcyclist]

69. Prices in California are triple where you are

And we are talking about the Bay area, not the central valley.

It can be done, though. My food budget would be pretty close to that if I cut out the beer , fancy cheese and organic produce. But it would be pretty hard for the average person.

You'd have to shop at Grocery Outlet for prices even approaching the above list and you'd have to buy in bulk to get those prices.

[Le Taz Hot]

73. Actually, the prices in the Central Valley

are in line with the poster to whom you are replying. I don't know if there's a WinCo in your area but their prices beat everyone's by a mile. The exception is their meats (more expensive and cheaper cuts) BUT they have a GREAT bulk section.

[Gormy Cuss]

88. But Speier lives in the SF Bay area and prices are much, much higher here. n/t

[Donnachaidh]

16. 5 DAYS? Meh.

If she's really serious -- go a month. This is a photo-op stunt. :shrug:

[Systematic Chaos]

21. I didn't notice the 5 day part. Thought it would be longer.

I agree. A month of it would at least begin to impress me.

[Puzzledtraveller]

25. Food stamp worker going on 3 years

There are many factors that decide a households monthly allotment, I have clients who receive over $800 and up, per month in food benefits, there is household size, shelter expenses, income, dependant care expenses, medical expenses, that all are taken into account. It's not as simple as it's made out to be.

[No Elephants]

47. Stil, there is an amount per per person that is deemed necessary for food.

Whether someone is eligible for food stamps and how much they get in food stamps are both based on how much the government thinks an adult and a child need for food.

When you are calculating whether they are eligible to begin with, yes, you take a lot of things into account. Same when you calculate how much of a supplement to they get. But, the basis for that calculation is still that per adult and per child amount deemed necessary for food alone on which the other calculations are based. And that number is not affected by things like rent or medicals expenses (though it MAY be affected by a medical need for a special diet).

[jmowreader]

18. You can do it...

if you buy a lot of bulk staples (beans, brown rice, pasta...) and you are extremely good at cooking.

Now, on the other side of the aisle sit people like Paul Ryan, who spends more than $136.75 on one bottle of wine.

[geomon666]

22. Top Ramen baby

For 4 days, on the 5th day you can splurge by getting fresh fruit or something. Maybe even meat.

[Sabriel]

23. 5 days? Not long enough to develop nutritional deficiencies

She might want to try it longer, but it's good that she's drawing attention to it.

[No Elephants]

48. Or to get dead bored with potatoes, rice, pasta and dried beans and lentils,

Or to gain a lot of weight on a carb high diet.

[Posteritatis]

24. Do it for five months and then I'll be impressed. (nt)

[Cal Carpenter]

26. This patronizing experiment is a joke

Go on a hunger strike until food is treated as a human right, then maybe you'll get some cred.

Forgive my snark but for people who live on food stamps and food bank boxes for years this is a fucking joke. It's an insult.

[kestrel91316]

30. Nobody lives on food stamps or food bank boxes "for years".

Last I heard, years ago and still today, there are major restrictions on how long you can get food stamps (max one year??), and food banks only allow one measly box per month (lasts about a week).

[Cal Carpenter]

35. I have direct knowledge about this

Not just 'last I heard' anecdotes. I worked in hunger relief orgs for more than 7 years from the direct service side to grant writing. I have many, many friends and acquaintances who have fallen through the cracks of the system and piece together their existence through these programs (along with dumpster diving, soup kitchens, etc).

Different states have different rules. In many states you can get food stamps for extended periods of time, particularly if you are physically or mentally disabled, or if you have children in the household. There is a federal 5 year limit to *cash* assistance programs but food stamps are not included in this restriction.

Most communities have more than one food bank - in the county I worked in (largest city pop 120,000) there are dozens of food pantry programs at community centers, churches (with no strings attached, mind you), government distributions (eg county/federal partnerships) ranging from several times weekly to monthly, along with holiday distributions (eg Thanksgiving or Christmas baskets).

There are millions of people in this country in poverty. Lately the numbers have increased significantly, but many of these people have been caught in the trap for a long time.

I stand by every word of my previous post.

[kestrel91316]

37. I guess I'm out of the loop. I thought there was a lifetime limit of one year

of "welfare" (cash assistance) for adults. And I also thought that food assistance was also extremely limited. Except for people with children, of course. They have NO limits that I know of.

[Gormy Cuss]

89. +1

I know many families who depend on SNAP as their ONLY food dollars and others, including low income seniors, who count on it to fund a good deal of their food needs.

And you're right about SNAP rules by state and the diversity of food banks/pantries helping people to fill the gaps.


eta: I do disagree with you on whether these Congressional experiments of trying to live on a food stamp budget have value. The challenge of going to the store and worrying about every damn cent you spend is probably new for most of them, and certainly new at the meager level of the SNAP amount. With the week done, the progressive MOCs can say that they know first hand how restrictive the assistance amount is and as dumb as that sounds, it's a soundbite-worthy moment for arguing in Congress.

[No Elephants]

49. Edited. When I read Cal's post, I realized my post was duplicative--and his or hers was better. nt

[LanternWaste]

46. I don't think bringing greater awareness to a problem is a joke.

I don't think bringing greater public awareness to a problem is a joke or an insult. :shrug:

[No Elephants]

50. Bringing greater awareness is not a joke. Implying 5 days is in the same universe as long enough

to give anyone a picture of what living on that kind of diet for a lifetime is a joke and an insult.

Even a Hollywood film comedy would not imply five days is in that universe.

It's yet another illustration of how incredibly out of touch most people are with grinding poverty.

[Cal Carpenter]

63. Anyone who thinks living off food stamps is an easy or comfortable or even adequate

way to eat is either willfully ignorant or so out of touch they are impossible to reach. Or both.

For the 1 out of 7 Americans who are living in poverty (according to official measures - numbers based on real conditions would be markedly higher) this is too little too late.

We need changes in economic and social policy, not 'awareness' campaigns.

[CreekDog]

55. doesn't seem to be good enough for you

but she's heroic enough for me.

[Cal Carpenter]

65. Are the people who live off food stamps

and extremely low-income wages for years or their whole lives also "heroic" to you?

If not, why not?

Just food for thought. Sorta rhetorical.

[CreekDog]

66. yes they are

people who persist through harrowing times are exactly the type of people i consider heroic.

but i think Jackie Speier is as well. i find her story compelling. she went with Leo Ryan (my congressman when i was a little kid) to look into human rights abuses at Jonestown. Ryan had little support from the home delegation but was determined to look into things.

you may know the rest of the story --he goes down there with his staff (she was one), he tells them anyone who wants to come back with him can do so. not long after, he's ambushed, shot and killed, she's shot 5 times, but plays dead and survives spending overnight laying on the runway.

and on a personal note, i'm embarassed that when i was introduced to her (hey, i was 15), i asked her if she really had 5 bullets in her. she was gracious --but that's her. later i saw her again, she gave me some State Geometry award for a contest i was in and i told her i actually got a "C" in geometry class. so i'm the one who *always* said the wrong thing to her.

i think considering her story, it's fair to view her as heroic.

[No Elephants]

72. Fair to view her as heroic for other reasons, but not for eating for 5 days on a low budget.

[CreekDog]

80. i agree

:hi:

[Le Taz Hot]

27. I understand the point

the Congressperson is making, $136.75 a month per person is pretty lean. What I take exception to is the claim that you can't eat anywhere but McDonald's for $4.50 a day. My grocery budget is exactly $300.00 a month for 2 people and 7 cats. Fwiw, this how I do it:

1) Cook at home and cook from scratch.
2) Buy items only when they are in season or on sale and pay attention to seasonal sales i.e., Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys and hams are the cheapest they're going to be all year.
3) Clip coupons for items you normally use and try to combine them with sales.
4) If you have space, start a garden, no matter how small.
5) Learn how to can/preserve food so you buy in-season produce at it's cheapest and won't have to buy it when it's not in season and it's it's most expensive.

I understand that not all of these options are available to all people but I think at least some of these options are available to most.

[kestrel91316]

31. Great ideas. I've said it all myself. But you've really stepped in it now, lol.

:popcorn:

[wickerwoman]

36. +100

I can't afford to eat at McDonalds. It's actually pretty expensive if you do it twice a day and eat enough to actually fill you up.

Most people in the world eat for less than $4.50 a day. The way to do it is to get a few books on peasant cooking in different cultures from the library or to research it online. Mark Bittman's "Best Recipes in the World" is a good start. You can make a hell of a lot of dhal or fried rice or ribollita or pasta or one of the gazillion variations of beans and greens for less than the cost of a Happy Meal.

And for people pushing Ramen noodles, they're actually more expensive over three or four meals than just buying generic spaghetti, canned tomatoes or oil, an onion, some garlic and a few herbs. They're not very filling and the salt and fat will kill you pretty quick. Ramen noodles are for college kids who run out of groceries a few days before their paycheck comes in. If you're looking for a longer-term low cost liveable approach to eating, go for generic brands and learn how to cook. Also, shop in ethnic supermarkets. You can pick up huge bottles of all kinds of sauces and vinegars (soy, fish sauce, kecap manis, rice vinegar, oyster sauce, black bean sauce, Thai curry pastes, etc) for $1-2 a pop, they last forever and introduce a huge amount of variety to otherwise boring and cheap staple ingredients.

I'm not saying that food stamps shouldn't be more than they are or that everyone is in a position to cook for themselves from scratch. But if you do having access to basic kitchen equipment, you can save a *ton* of money on food and still eat healthier than the typical Western meat and potatoes diet.

[Enrique]

68. it drives me nuts when people suggest living on Ramen noodles

thanks for the tip about the ethnic food stores, I didn't realize they had sauces that cheap. :thumbsup:

[No Elephants]

51. I think what most of us are taking exception to is the implication that five days

will give her a picture of what living on that amount for life or at least a significant period is like.

Not to mention that she'll be eating her beans and rice while otherwise living in a nice home, jetting back and forth to Washington, etc. Makes them go down easier, especially for only five days.

As far as the garden, absolutely right, but most people in urban areas or even the second floor apartment of a two-family home, are lucky if they can put a shelf in a window for some herbs.

Also, if you have five kids and maybe work and need supplementary food stamps, cooking from scratch is still very possible, especially if you cook weekends and make wise use of leftovers and your fridge's freezer section.

However, it can be quite a challenge, especially for a person living in tiny fifth floor walk up who is already stretched beyond belief, physically, financially, emotionally and every other way.

And that's assuming everyone is relatively healthy, no disabled or special needs person or persons in the household.

I can be very thrifty, too, but I live in a pleasant place, run my own schedule and don't have all those other stress factors. Plus, I can go out if I really choose. For one or two people, going out is a very different occasional splurge than for three or or more because buying food for a special meal for one or two does not yield economies of scale.

I even find going out for a special meal for two can be less expensive than buying all the fixings at the supermarket, though you may not have leftovers if you go out.

[Le Taz Hot]

52. Oh I know I come off

self-righteous as hell when I post one of these, and I don't mean to but so often I see the "You can eat cheaper at McDonald's" claims and I just think it perpetuates misinformation. The Congresswoman aside and contrary to the OP's last paragraph, the items on the Dollar Menu are high calorie, high cholesterol, high fat and high sodium. McDonald's meals may fill you up but they're also killing you. I don't know if it's because people don't knowwhow to cook or don't want to cook or if they really do think eating at McDonald's is cheaper but I just feel the need to correct misconceptions on such an important topic as how to eat healthy and cheap.

As for the Congresscritter, all of them have proven they're so far out of touch with what it's really like out here in Depression Land they've rendered themselves largely irrelavent.

[No Elephants]

71. I didn't think you came off as self righteous AT ALL.

[KamaAina]

67. Well, you have time to cook

try it with 1 adult, 2 or 3 children, and some cats.

[Le Taz Hot]

70. I have 3 adults,

(myself, my husband and a 90-year old aunt for whom I cook) and 7 cats and no, I don't work away from home (can't find a job) and yes, it is easier to cook from scratch when you're home all day. BUT, when I am working I 1) use the crock pot a lot, 2) cook way more than I need to so I can have leftovers for lunch and/or the dinner the next day, and 3) cooked a lot on the weekends and froze the excess. Once again, I'm not saying all of these options are available to all people, but I think some of the options are available to most and it is your health we're talking about here. I just wanted to counter the argument that you can eat cheaper at McDonald's and am offering up ways in which to do that.

[Tsiyu]

82. I agree with a lot of what you're saying

The McDonald's comment got me, too.

Yes, you can live on the budget, but only if you cook most everything yourself and supplement with a garden. Here in TN, SNAP pays for any seed or plant that produces food - although you have to buy the seed and plants somewhere like WalMart set up to take SNAP benefits - so you can use some of the SNAP food benefits to get your garden going.

The problems for many people on this budget are: having inadequate cooking area, lack of transportation. If you have no fridge, it's hard to keep produce, meat, eggs and dairy at a safe temp. You have to have a stove, or something safe on which to cook the food. You have to have access to water with which to cook and clean. It's hard for a lot of people to understand that not everyone has a kitchen. Not everyone has a car or a way to get to a lower cost grocery store or co-op.

Unless you've lived without these things it's easy to say you can live well on $4.50 a day. I can and do live on less. But I have a limited space to cook, and a car.

[Le Taz Hot]

84. I think I've acknowledged that not all people

can adopt all of the suggestions and yes, I have lived without refrigeration and a way to cook (couldn't pay utility bill and they shut off our lights/gas -- this was years ago). But the scenario you set up: no stove, no refrigerator, no transportation, no water, no cleaning facilities, tragic as it is, does not exactly encompass a large percentage of the U.S. population as most people have access to at least some of these things.

Once again, I'm countering the claim that you can only eat for $4.50 a day if you eat unhealthy, unsustainable fast food. And, btw, I never said I "lived well," I merely described how I'm able to supply healthy food cheaply.

Is this enough qualifying now? :eyes:

[Tsiyu]

90. Sorry if you took that personally

Not intended that way; I was merely adding to the discussion.

Leaving now....



:yoiks:

[Le Taz Hot]

91. LOL!

Sorry, that was just me and my big mouth. Come back and sit a spell. My bark is much worse than my bite. Really. ;-)

[PavePusher]

33. 5 days? 5 FUCKING DAYS?!?!

How about 5 weeks, or months, you cowardly piece of government filth!?!?! Better yet, how about your entire term?

Jesus fucking wept.

[lsewpershad]

34. Who is she trying to fool?

Why do these reps think they have to SAY this kind of crap in order to convince THEMSELVES of what they already know. My god they must believe that we are all stooooopid.

[CreekDog]

57. wow from your tone, you make it sound like she's commited some crime against humanity

rather than a small effort to get the media to tell people how little support food stamps provide people.

you know, she wins this district, my district easily no matter what she runs for --so she doesn't *need* to do this to get reelected.

and before you get on her too much, in our town hall meeting on health care reform, she called Medicare "single payer healthcare" time and time again --to educate people about what Medicare was and what single payer was.

[totodeinhere]

58. Why is she only doing it for five days? If she is really serious about making a point,

why not at least one month? In five days you probably won't feel the effect of it much yet. But try it for one month and you will really know what hunger feels like. So lets see her do it for one month. That will get a lot more media attention and help the cause of the poor much more.

[CreekDog]

59. that's her decision --why don't you ask her

:shrug:

[totodeinhere]

61. Since you are defending her I wanted to know your opinion on why she is only

doing it for five days. It seems like a reasonable enough question to me.

[CreekDog]

62. Okay, here's a guess: my church encouraged us to try this too --for 1 week

i received some handouts and instructions on how to do it (though I, ultimately, didn't do it).

and i recall the idea, totally voluntary, without coercion, suggested a few days to a week or so.

so if that's where she got the idea, then the period of time she chose would fit the general suggestion I saw earlier in the year.

[totodeinhere]

64. Fair enough. Thanks. n/t

[NuttyFluffers]

39. just for 5 days is a crash diet. go at least 2 months and then talk.

a gesture with it's heart in the right place, but in the end only really a gesture.

[Marrah_G]

40. 5 days is nothing, honestly

I would like to see some congress people live off food stamps AND AFDC for 6 months. Maybe in low income housing. THEN perhaps they would learn compassion and true empathy for those who are at the bottom of the economic ladder.

[No Elephants]

45. Five days? ZZZZzzzzzzzzz.

[Hotler]

92. +1 n/t

[BlueIris]

53. Our (former) governor tried that once, I believe.

It is not easy.

[No Elephants]

75. For five days? Sure it is. People survive on bugs and sucking moisture out of plants for longer.

[LeftishBrit]

54. I think all politicians should have to do something like that.

The British Tory politician Michael Portillo accepted a challenge from a northern working-class single mother to swop lives with her for a week, and live on the income from her two low-paid part-time jobs while looking after 4 children. He just about got through the week, and, though he didn't exactly become a raving leftie, it contributed to his moving from the far-right wing of the Tory party to the very liberal end of the party.

[No Elephants]

76. Doing that for only five days makes it seem a lot easier than living that way is,

and gives those who devote 5 days to it the false impression that they got an understanding.

[Roland99]

56. 4 eggs at each meal and a couple of cans of green beans

[No Elephants]

77. For five days, maybe. No one can do that for a lifetime, though. If they didn't die of

high cholesterol, they'd commit suicide.

[Ship of Fools]

60. I think this is good. She had no problem

standing up and publicizing her experience with abortion. I bet she'll pound the pulpit with this, too.

[snooper2]

74. Nanners at 39 cents a pound, rice, soups, lettuce, ground beef, hamburger helper

[No Elephants]

78. Bananas at 39 cents a lb? Not in Boston, not since Hoover was POTUS, anyway.

Here they may range from 79 to 99 in a supermarket, maybe more in a convenience store, if you don't drive or have a car.

[snooper2]

86. You should find yourself an Aldi

http://aldi.us/us/html/offers/weekly_ads_ENU_HTML.php?WT.z_src=main

the nanners go from 39-49-39 cents a pound differing by week...

I got huge pumpkins there a week ago for $1.99 each

Best place for food hands down...

[No Elephants]

79. As long as this thread is turning into more of a how to than a comment on

the Congresswoman, international recipes are a way to cut costs (and educate the kids and grandkids about a variety of things while you're at it). Especially those designed for meatless fasts.

If you're reading this, you have internet access, so the internet is a better source of recipes than any cook book. Here is one good site for international recipes. http://www.recipesource.com/

For instance, lentils, cararmelized onions and bulghur wheat is a tasty and inexpensive entree (caramelizing the onions being key), especially if you buy the fixings in a middle eastern grocery store. (Pick up the Middle Eastern five spice mixture while you are there.) But even if you buy them at a supermarket. Reheats in the microwave very well, too, so make extra.

Add a sweet potato or frozen green beans or a salad for a more balanced meal.

Or balance the protein at a another meal. Every single meal does not have to be balanced as long as, over a few days, you get enough veg, fruit and protein.

Besides, the onions in the dish are veg. You may have to make it a time or two before you master it, but, it's good.

Hoppin John (pigeon peas and rice) was the way slaves supposedly welcomed the New Year, for luck, but, with or without tomatoes, I enjoy it for what it is. Googling will yield many recipes. Find one you like.

I make it with onions, carrots, celery and broth, as though it were soup, but with a lot less liquid. Sometimes I make it plain, then add tomato to the leftovers to vary. And who knows? it might even bring you luck in the bargain! Saving money can be lucky!

For more nutrition, use brown rice in place of white rice in Hoppin John and other ethnic rice dishes, but, remember, brown rice takes takes longer to cook than white rice.

Even if you are not vegan, you don't need to buy meat for soups. Bones will give good flavor and they are less expensive. Use them alone or as part of the meat requirement.

[closeupready]

81. That's doable, IMHO.

Granted, for one person. But still, buy some fruit, 1/2 dozen eggs and a loaf of bread and maybe a can of chickpeas.

[mopinko]

85. several other members of the progressive caucus are doing this.

jan schakowsky for one.

[Islandlife]

87. Most of my friends who use food stamps use them to supplement their

Food budget. Those who rely entirely on food stamps have to be extremely creative to prosper.