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City Councilman Eric Gioia, took it upon himself to eat only what he could afford for $28, the equivalent of a week's worth of food stamps. He followed in the foosteps of Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, who only allotted himself $21 (the Oregonian food stamp equivalent) for the week. According to the New Yorker, Councilman Gioia conducted the challenge "to draw attention to the issue of how people are living in New York City.”
After his first trip to the store, he came home with $24.44 worth of groceries: "two loaves of white bread, six ears of corn, five oranges, six bananas, three cucumbers, three cans of tuna, four packets of ramen, five boxes of Ronzoni pasta, one jar of tomato sauce, one bag of carrots (organic), one stick of butter, processed-cheese slices, one tub of pre-mixed peanut butter and jelly (Smucker’s Goober)." And how did he feel eating this haul? “It’s been terrible. I feel lousy. I’m tired. I just don’t feel like myself.”
Food stamp allotments are based on the USDA's Thrifty Food Plan. For a family of two adults age 20-50, the plan allows for $74.00 per week or $320.80 per month. Rebecca of Rebecca's Pocket has decided to take this challenge to the next level -- she's trying to stick to the Thrifty Food Plan budget and still eat organically. She's been keeping track of her progress online, and her meals look a hell of a lot more nutritionally sound than Gioia's.
A quick web search brought up a number of sites offering "low-budget" recipes, but it's clear from the differences in the two diets above that it takes a lot of planning and consumer education (not to mention time) to eat a nutritionally balanced diet on such a tight budget. It's likely that most low-income New Yorkers aren't getting any education along with their food stamps.
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most low-income New Yorkers aren't getting any education along with their food stamps
More education for them??? What a waste of my tax dollars! They are in the low income bracket because they chose to drop out, hustle & gangbang! As if they would go back for more ejumacashion!
Food stamp recipients go hungry? I guess that's why we see so few obese women in the ghetto.
"two loaves of white bread, six ears of corn, five oranges, six bananas, three cucumbers, three cans of tuna, four packets of ramen, five boxes of Ronzoni pasta, one jar of tomato sauce, one bag of carrots (organic), one stick of butter, processed-cheese slices, one tub of pre-mixed peanut butter and jelly (Smucker’s Goober)." And how did he feel eating this haul? “It’s been terrible. I feel lousy. I’m tired. I just don’t feel like myself.”
I had to laugh at this. This is roughly what I've been eating for years, and I don't feel unhealthy at all. Gioia is inadvertently advertising his elitism.
www.forgotten-ny.com
Yeah, I don't get it. That sounds like a pretty good meal.
Any normal-sized individual can eat sensibly on those allowances. I don't know what the solution is but larger transfers will only swell the ranks of fat people...and this will further burden MTA, as fat people spill into the seats next to them and make me stand in the middle of the train.
Just a rhetorical question based on the responses to this and the comments section on Gothamist in general: Is the world on some sort of a tilt and all the selfish,mean-spirited assholes in the world just roll on into the tri-state area? I'm not some peace sign flashing, give everyone a hug, love all the time hippie, but the level of animus on this website and in this city is off the charts and not amusing.
At least it is there to see that with some effort one can buy a good amount of real food at a supermarket for a reasonable amount of money. I'm not going to comment on if it is sufficient in volume or nutrition but it is certainly better than five meals a week at McDonalds.
I found in the past that food stamps are sufficient to eat well if you cook from scratch and shop effectively.
But fewer and fewer Americans do so. Immigrants are better off in that sense.
In addition, food price inflation has accelerated recently, and I understand there is an issue with the inflation adjustment.
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Charles, no it's not. New York, in my experience, is full of caring, engaged individuals. Most people don't see the wisdom of funding transfer programs whose recipients are overfed and undereducated.
There are so many better things to throw money at.
And I resent being called mean. I'm generally well-attuned to suffering and I've spend a lot of time volunteering. I know your question was rhetorical but it begged an answer.
Food price inflation is an issue but the ability to substitute is greater than ever. Shoppers need to get smarter.
It's interesting that whenever this issue comes up, the negative comments inevitably include descriptors like "obese women in the ghetto," which you have to admit has a racist tinge even if it wasn't intended that way.
I should also point out that all the USDA research on food stamps participation suggests there is no causal link between food stamps and obesity (in fact, in one study the women got thinner), and that it is quite easy for someone to be both obese and undernourished when their body is getting lots of one kind of food (the processed, sugary stuff that is cheap and ubiquitous in low-income neighborhoods), but not enough other nutrients.
This is a bunch of hooey. Does anyone actually think that when this food stamp experiment is over, these politicians will say that the program works? No way. Long before they decided to conduct this experiment, they knew they were going to say (no matter what the results) the program fails. They knew going in, that only one conclusion was going to made.
It isnt about caring for people. It is about getting your name in the newspaper.
As an AmeriCorps volunteer (living on a $11k/per year) salary who has foodstamps, I will say that there are other ways to use your allotment in a nutritious way, especially now that the growing season has started. Community supported agriculture (CSA) programs and farmer's markets that take EBT (in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn) are great resources for reasonably priced, fresh, local produce. Regardless of the motives of these politicians, I am glad that this is an issue that is being publicised and talked about.
with all those processed carbohydrates, no wonder he felt like shit. to the uneducated eye, this would probably appear "healthy" because of the lack of junk food. eating well on food stamps is challenging, but doable. education is a GREAT idea, since a lot of people just don't know any better.
mike #2: part of the problem could be what they are eating is unhealthy and contributing to obesity. think: carbs, products w/ high-fructose corn syrup, foods lower in protein and higher in fat and processed foods.
Thank you, Charlotte -- you touched on the point I was trying to make. You're absolutely right that food stamp recipients can use EBT at CSA programs and farmers' markets, but I wonder how many of them actually do. Just Food runs some food education programs to teach people how to cook with fresh produce and make the most of it, as well as how to cook with fresh produce on a budget. Many people might not have the time or inclination to do this, however.
He could've done a better job with a large sack of brown rice, beans, and frozen greens. Sure it's not as easy to prepare as processed cheese slices, but he would get more bang for his buck quantity wise and nutrition wise.
with that budget it would be easliy done. if you get rice and noodles or vegs and some pickle stuff.
but anyway. people shouldn't be given more money cause they'll just get bigger and fatter.
Food stamps are great to barter for drugs with.
FTFA: For his first breakfast, he ate six pieces of toast, and for lunch he had three Goober sandwiches and a banana.
No wonder he felt like crap. Who eats three PB&J sammiches for lunch? How about a banana for breakfast, a tuna sandwich and some carrots for lunch, pasta with butter or sauce for dinner, and an orange for dessert. This doesn't sound bad... it sounds like my typical Monday. One box of pasta lasts me three or four meals.
two loaves of white bread, six ears of corn, five oranges, six bananas, three cucumbers, three cans of tuna, four packets of ramen, five boxes of Ronzoni pasta, one jar of tomato sauce, one bag of carrots (organic), one stick of butter, processed-cheese slices, one tub of pre-mixed peanut butter and jelly (Smucker’s Goober)."
This is a ton of food. The 3 cans of tuna is a week's worth of lunch. The five boxes of pasta you could eat for about 3 weeks.
If you replaced 3 boxes of pasta, one can of tuna, the processed cheese, the PB&J, the gross cheese, and one loaf of bread with four chicken breasts ($6), a gallon of milk ($3.50), cheap-ish yogurt (5/$3), and some mayo for the tuna, you got yourself a week's worth of meals and snacks easily.
Apparently, someone needs to teach Council Gioia how to eat.
I think the Councilman's intentions were noble but, his execution was horrible. I have never gone grocery shopping without a menu for the week on paper. Had the councilman used the menu's at the USDA website or the recommendations at MyPriamid.gov and ran out of cash, I would support his efforts. In addition, average annual per capita food expenditures in 2004 was $1,347 for food at home and $860 spent on food away from home. BTW, what the heck is wrong with PB&J for lunch?