Food for Thought
May 15th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Today marks the start of the Food Stamp Challenge, a national effort that asks people to live on the equivalent of what food stamps buy, roughly a dollar a meal. Promoted by Congressman Lloyd Doggett, the Capital Area Food Bank, and the Center for Public Policy Priorities, the week-long challenge simply asks folks to budget out all 21 meals this week on $21 per person, a dilemma faced week in, week out by many families.
“We … hope, through this effort, to shine a light on the meager amount of federal support families receive to supplement their monthly food budgets,” Michael Guerra, the head of the Capital Area Food Bank, said in a release.
One of the more interesting pieces of information on the Challenge’s website is a document (PDF) full of tips on how to save money on meals, which should be priority reading for anyone interested in taking the challenge (also: college students). The tip sheet also suggests menus for two days’ worth of meals, all for less than the cost of a grande coffee per day. For instance
LUNCH
Grain — 2 slices whole wheat bread — $0.14
Vegetable — 1 medium carrot/1 celery stalk — $0.25
Fruit — 1 medium banana — $0.09
Protein — 2 tablespoons peanut butter — $0.09
Dairy — 8 ounces of 1% milk — $0.23
Fat/Oil — 2 tsp light ranch dressing (for vegetables) — $0.08
Water — 20 ounces of tap water
Total Price: $0.88
And of course, those prices are for generic products, split up per serving, not at the price of buying, say, the full gallon of milk. Bon appetit? Not so much.
To sign up, head over to the Capital Area Food Bank’s website. To learn more about the federal legislation that could be a vehicle for food stamp reform, check out the CPPP’s latest report.
May 21st, 2007 at 11:18 am
I work for HHSC and it’s a misconception on how much people get. A household with 1 adult and 2 children with very little income gets $408 per month maximum.
$408 is more than what most working folks spend on 1 adult and 2 small children.
A single adult with little to no income gets a maximum of $155 per month in fs.
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Are they going to have this event held this year. Seems like an interesting challange.