My Food Stamp Experience
Last month I read a post at Living Almost Large titled “Still Hungry with Food Stamps“. It was in response to this CNN article about a woman who found it difficult to feed her and her baby on $280 a month in food stamps. LivingAlmostLarge thought that it shouldn’t be a problem to eat on that amount a month but some of the commenters disagreed with her. Since I’ve been on food stamps myself I wanted to do my own post on the subject and I’ve finally gotten around to it.
I was on food stamps in Texas for three months in 2003. I was employed at the time but not getting many hours and therefore not making much money. I was making just enough money to pay my bills but certainly wasn’t going hungry. Since I worked at a pizza restaurant I had access to free food several times a week. I debated whether to apply for food stamps but decided I should go ahead and take advantage of the program.
It was pretty easy to apply for the food stamps. I just filled out an application and dropped it off at the office. I was called about a week later and after a short interview I was declared eligible for $160 a month in food stamps. I don’t remember the exact details of documentation but I remember being surprised at how easy the process was. I was also surprised at the amount, $160 seemed like a lot to me for one person.
The food stamps were actually in the form of an EBT card which worked like a debit card. The first month I used my entire allotted amount. Some of this was due to buying food for a friend that visited and building up a supply of basic staples. The second month I didn’t come close to using all of my allotted amount. This amount rolled over to the next month resulting in me having much more than $160 to spend on groceries for the month. The third month I got a new job and canceled my food stamps. However, I was still able to use the amount remaining on my EBT card and used it to buy my groceries for the next couple months.
Overall, I would say my experience with food stamps was a positive one. I found a $160 a month to be plenty of money for groceries and I actually bought more expensive foods than I normally would have. I did occasionally get dirty looks when using the card but for the most part no one seemed to care that I was using them.
If I were in the same position again though I wouldn’t apply for food stamps. I was eligible for them so it was legal for me to do so but since I could have easily got by without them I don’t think it was ethical to do so. So far this year I’ve been averaging $100-$150 on food including restaurant food so I’d have to be pretty poor to not be able to afford food without food stamps.
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8 Responses to “My Food Stamp Experience”
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I looked at the food stamp program in Florida. It’s really strict. You can’t use food stamps to buy alcohol, tobacco, medicine, vitamins, hot food, food eaten in the store or any other nonfood items.
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Guess it’s not hard to live on $280 then if you lived on $160/month.
Hi, I read this article and felt I should throw in my two cents (EBT, FS). I’m currently an unemployed homeless man without kids, and, most importantly, on food stamps in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area (Maryland).
The day I applied for food stamps, I came in almost as soon as the office opened up at about 8:30am, and sat waiting until about 2pm. I could do that because of my situation, but I imagine there are people who wouldn’t be able to; not all homeless are unemployed.
My case manager was rude, jabbing me with insults the entire interview, morbidly obese to the point of physical ailment, and smelled of awful hygiene practices.
I enrolled in a job training program, and was told I would be lucky if I heard anything in less than three months. Something happened to my case manager where my case got shifted over and expedited. After a month, I was given short of the full allotted amount ($150) for two months ($300).
Food stamps, as shoyu pointed out, is a USDA subsidized program only for food; those restrictions apply to all states. It makes it tough when you lack access to a refrigerator or a stove/microwave/oven. As an added bonus, food stamps are tax exempt.
Now for a little math: You have $150 to spread equally among 30 days, what is your daily budget? That’s right; you have $5 a day.
What factors might impact that budget? Recent flooding in the heartland and surges in gas prices (transportation costs). Nothing here costs less than $5.00, except for bottled water, and that s#!t ain’t cheap. You could argue that “why not just drink tap?” Have you seen the area’s water statistics? You can find gasoline, lead, and, of course, there was that WSSC water main break that had restaurants shut down and homes boiling water for three days.
Now, you have $280 to spend on two people (one of them an infant) for 30 days; that’s less than $10 per day. Add in that extra $65 she gets (I just read the CNN piece), and we’re talking $345 — $11.50 per day, assuming she don’t use that $65 a month on other expenses. A single mother, who’s still menstruating (as I’m sure you all know, you lose a lot of nutrients when you bleed), and a growing four month old.
Of course, there’s always the “alternative;” buy food at the dollar store. I’m limited to the (ready to open) canned food, and have you read the ingredients? It’s as if a chemical plant was under pressure to get rid of its waste products and said “Hey! We can just toss in some food and call it a day!” I can deal with it, I can eat it if I have to, but you better believe that’s not going near my kid. Besides, I haven’t seen baby food or formula at the dollar store.
Food banks supply you with three days of food, at most, and comprise primarily of desserts and expired foods (not all expired food is spoiled).
Anyways, at the end of the month (I admit I haven’t been frugal, nor particularly aiming for it) my two-months-worth of food stamps have nearly evaporated. Maybe I could do more with less if I had a kitchen with a refrigerator and an oven/stove/microwave, and I can stretch out my benefits as is, thank God, but there are some people who simply aren’t as fortunate, for whatever reason.
While I agree that it’s possible to live on less (Hell, I can live on a dollar a day), I don’t think it’s right that Living Almost Large knocks on the woman in the article because she either doesn’t or simply can’t, and while I’m happy that Tight Fisted Miser had a pleasant experience, I don’t think it’s indicative of others’, by-and-large. At least not here. I hope this was helpful.
I totally understand why someone who has no access to cooking and refrigeration facilities would find it much more expensive to feed themselves. Your words offered a perspective I had not yet thoroughly considered. Thank you.
I do want to put my two cents in regarding the new mother, however. When my son was born (and until he was 2yo), I feed my family of three on less than $250/mth. I breast fed the baby and cut grocery corners wherever I could w/o sacrificing nutrition. As the baby grew, I easily made homemade baby food by steaming and pureeing fruits and veggies. His rice cereal cost us about $8/mth. Many communities have produce markets where fresh fruits and veggies are sold for much less than they are in the grocery. To this day, we get much of our produce from these markets. Dried beans are sold in just about every grocery and are not only VERY inexpensive, but very nutritious. Pasta is affordable and flexible. Even though this year’s crop has been hurt, rice is still cheap and nutritious. Sales on chicken are something I still look for. Fish can reasonably make it to the frugal table once a week via can or freezer.
My son’s first two years were spent in a neighborhood where food stamps were the norm. I heard the same complaints from the people around me–there was no way to feed their family on the amount of food stamps they got. It would upset me greatly because I KNEW these neighbors were eating more expensive (and often, less nutritious) foods than we were and that was why they were struggling with it. I wouldn’t offer my opinion here if I hadn’t lived it.
[...] I posted about “My Experience with Food Stamps” and commented on a CNN article that featured a woman who found it difficult to feed her and [...]
[...] that experience, he said, “I found $160 a month to be plenty of money for groceries, and I actually bought more expensive [...]