Phoenix mayor lives on a food stamp budget for a week

[Spider-Dan]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/greg-stanton-phoenix-mayor-food-stamps_n_1915608.html

The mayor of Phoenix, Greg Stanton, spent a week on food stamps (or, more precisely, on a food stamp budget of $29 per week) as part of the SNAP Experience during Hunger Awareness Month.  He reported that he was barely able to meet nutritional needs and lost four pounds.  Here are some of his experiences (from his Facebook page):

Day 1
    In thinking about this exercise, I did some homework.  In July of this year, there were 1.1 million Arizonans on SNAP, about twice as many as there were before the downturn in 2007, according to the Community Action Association. Ginny Hildebrand from the Arizona Association of Food Banks told me that 1 in 4 Arizona kids are food insecure, and 1 in 5 households in Arizona struggled to put food on the table last year. The Phoenix metro area is ranked the 34th worst, in terms of hunger- out of the 100 largest metro areas.  We’ve got a lot of families fighting to get by here.

Day 2
    Part of this challenge is to try and eat healthy, not just survive.  I looked at the USDA’s recipe book and tips and there are some good shopping hints, but not all the meals look healthy to me, especially for kids.  One suggested breakfast was orange juice, hash brown potatoes, and biscuits with margarine. Another day suggests OJ, cooked rice cereal and toast. There’s no protein in that meal and the “fruit” is juice- that’s not going to stick with you.  Kids have to be well nourished to pay attention in school- I’m concerned about struggling families being able to send their kids to school well-fed and “ready to learn.”

Day 3
    I wonder how folks with health problems get by on SNAP.  An individual with diabetes has got to stay away from too many simple carbs, and have protein at every meal to maintain level blood sugar.  By far the cheapest food items are potatoes, noodles, tortillas and white bread.  But these are empty calories that fill you up without really nourishing you.  And they send your blood sugar spiraling if you don’t have something more substantial along with them, like meat, fish, eggs or peanut butter.  A colleague taking this challenge cannot eat grains or dairy.  She’s getting by, but it’s difficult since starches and milk are the bargains and fresh fruits and vegetables are the “splurge” items on this budget."

Day 4
    OK- ran out the door today with no time to scramble eggs or even make a sandwich.  So I’m surviving on an apple and handful of peanuts, and the coffee I took to the office until dinner.  I’m tired, and it’s hard to focus. I can’t go buy a sandwich because that would be cheating- even the dollar menu at Taco Bell is cheating. You can’t use SNAP benefits at any restaurants, fast food or otherwise. I’m facing a long, hungry day and an even longer night getting dinner on the table, which requires making EVERYTHING from scratch on this budget.  It’s only for a week, so I’ve got a decent attitude.  If I were doing this with no end in sight, I probably wouldn’t be so pleasant.

Day 5
    Identifying, in a concrete way, with struggling families is an important exercise for any leader. By walking in the shoes of those who depend on the SNAP program, I certainly feel like I’ve gained critical perspective as a policymaker.  From a broader perspective, I’m starting to think about all the other challenges families on food stamps (SNAP) must face at the same time they are stretching their food benefit. Census data in 2010 showed Arizona had the second highest poverty rate in the nation with 21.2% of its citizens living in poverty. The national figure was 14.3 percent. We’ve improved since then, but we’re still in the 10-poorest states category.  Worse, women raising children alone here aren’t doing well.  More than 45% of mothers raising children by themselves are in poverty.  That’s why turning this economy around is so important.  The best “program” for any struggling family is a job that pays a living wage.  That’s what I’m focusing on for every Phoenix family.

--

The idea that food stamp recipients have this plush life is as silly as it ever was.  I challenge anyone to plan a healthy diet (consisting of 7 x 3 = 21 meals) for $1.38 a meal.

[CF DolFan]

Please listen to this. No one has said anyone is living a "plush" life off of food stamps. I even pointed this out already. People are complaining about those who abuse the system of having the government (us) pay for them. It doesn't have anything to do with helping those who need it nor does it have anything to do with a luxurious lifestyle of your standards.

[Landshark]

If I had a hat, I would take it off to the mayor of Phoenix.  Maybe we all need to live like derilicts for a week so we can truly appreciate what we have.

[Brian Fein]

Maybe we all need to live like derilicts for a week

Are you kidding me?  Not all people on food stamps are derelicts.  That's about the most offensive thing you've ever posted, and that's saying a lot.

[Spider-Dan]

Please listen to this. No one has said anyone is living a "plush" life off of food stamps. I even pointed this out already. People are complaining about those who abuse the system of having the government (us) pay for them. It doesn't have anything to do with helping those who need it nor does it have anything to do with a luxurious lifestyle of your standards.

One of the primary arguments of those in favor of slashing these programs is, "Why would someone even want to find work when they can just sit at home and collect gov't money for nothing?"

This article answers that question: the life that you live off of gov't benefits is a harsh one.  Nobody living on $4 worth of food per day is sitting around thinking, "Man, this is a sweet setup... I'm going to ride this train as long as I can!"

[Landshark]

Are you kidding me?  Not all people on food stamps are derelicts.  That's about the most offensive thing you've ever posted, and that's saying a lot.

Go back and re-read my post.  I never stated that all people who are on food stamps are derilicts. 

[Brian Fein]

I read your post.  The mayor lived on food stamps and you said "we should all have to live like derelicts."

Either your thought is completely out of left field and disjointed from the topic, or you think food stamps = derelict.  I gave you the benefit of the doubt.

[Landshark]

I read your post.  The mayor lived on food stamps and you said "we should all have to live like derelicts."

Either your thought is completely out of left field and disjointed from the topic, or you think food stamps = derelict.  I gave you the benefit of the doubt.

Being a derilict is worse than living on food stamps.  So maybe someone like myself who has a nice house on the water, a good paying job, a nice car, and a boat should live like a derilict for a week so I can appreciate what I have. 

[Fins4ever]

A couple of thoughts.

1. The SNAP program usually gives close to 200.00 a month. Not sure how the Mayor only got 29.00 for a week.

2. The SNAP program, like Social Security is not meant to be a sole source way of eating. Where I live, the local soup kitchens serve hundreds of meals daily and even have food leftover.

3. I salute the Mayor for keeping in touch with reality, if it was not meant for political reasons. I remember years ago in FL., then Gov. Bob Graham would work a normal job 1 day a month to show he was a common man. I always admired that and he had my vote every election.

I would be willing to bet the Obama could not tell you the cost of a loaf of bread, gallon of gas or a pair of jeans.     

[Spider-Dan]

1. The SNAP program usually gives close to 200.00 a month. Not sure how the Mayor only got 29.00 for a week.

From where did you get that information?

[el diablo]

^^^^^ No kidding. The maximum amount for a household of 1 is $200. If you have a full time job at $8/hr, you make too much to qualify. It reminds me of when I struck out on my own, living off of $30/wk for food.  Wasn't easy. Wasn't fun. So, I applaud the mayor for doing what he did. If I had a family then, I don't know how we would've survived that.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/18SNAPavg$PP.htm

Avg benifit per person in AZ is $128.70 per month.  Works out to about $30 per week.   

[Spider-Dan]

Thanks for the link, Hoodie.  Now it makes sense: if the most food-expensive state in the nation (Hawaii) gives $200 in food stamp benefits, then food stamps "usually give $200 in benefits."

edit: Hoodie's link is not properly clickable.  Try this instead.

[CF DolFan]

I can't open Hoodie's link. Well, actually it's coming up 404 so I googled and this came up.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/applicant_recipients/ben.htm

How Much Could I Receive?

Allotments for households in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia.

The amount of benefits the household gets is called an allotment. The net monthly income of the household is multiplied by .3, and the result is subtracted from the maximum allotment for the household size to find the household's allotment. This is because SNAP households are expected to spend about 30 percent of their resources on food.

(October 2011 through September 2012)
People in Household    Maximum Monthly Allotment
1    $    200
2      $    367
3    $    526
4    $    668
5    $    793
6    $    952
7      $ 1,052
8    $ 1,202
Each additional person    $    150

Benefits are provided from the day the household applies.

i wasn't sure what qualified as a household so I looked and this is what I found.

What is a Food Stamp Household?

A Food Stamp household can be a person living alone, or a group of people living together (they do not have to be related) who buy food and prepare meals together.

There can be more than one food stamp household in the same house.

This doesn't include WIC that's also available. 

A family of 4 getting $668 for groceries is pretty good to get by if you want to beat the system. I'll use a relative I know for example. Babysit out of your house, clean houses, or some other under the table job and never marry your baby daddies to get child support. This doesn't include the new live in boyfriend taking care of you.  Life may not be lush but it's also not too bad in the redneck sector.

I have to say when I see someone like this going on vacations while I'm struggling to pay my bills it's hard to feel all rosy about the lack of oversight in the system.

[Spider-Dan]

CF Dolfan, at the start of this thread, you took great pains to point out that, "No one has said anyone is living a 'plush' life off of food stamps."

And then you follow that by stating that food stamps are "pretty good to get by if you want to beat the system."

See what I mean?