I think we should be. Let me tell you why. I fed my family of four tonight for a grand whopping total of $2.25 But what did we eat? $1 processed chicken patties. $0.50 ($1/pack-we ate half a pack) white hamburger buns. $0.75 tube of Pringles chips (had a $0.25 coupon-we didn't eat the whole tube) and a free can of baked beans (which my dad got for $0.10 in the dent and bent can section-so even if I add that cost still feed 4 for <$2.50) Now we've never been organic, whole food, vegetarian, health nut types...but I would prefer to feed my kids real meat and fresh veggies, but at this point, I just can't afford to. I spent every dime on our EBT card and out of our checking account (save $5) on groceries for this week. I HAD to buy these things for my kids to have food at every meal for the next week. Now what would it cost to make this meal healthy(ier)? Real skinless, boneless chicken breast - on sale this week for $1.99/lb (I got some for later in the week) I'd say a pound would do for 4 chicken sandwiches so $2. Whole wheat buns $3. Baked Lays, another $3. Full price Bush's Baked Beans $1.99 - grand total $10 Why is it the healthy options cost so much more???? What if we actually had a healthy meal with real meat, whole grains, fresh veggies and all that jazz? How much does that cost? Don't get me wrong, we do have those meals. But it just makes me angry, as a mother, with so many people struggling in this economy that food prices are just skyrocketing! I would love to be able to feed my kids organic foods, whole foods, real food every meal. But it's just not doable for every family-and in a country like ours, shouldn't it be??? And let's not even talk about school lunches (though this is a homeschooling board, right? LOL) But I'll look later tonight for a piece I read comparing prison meals to school meals....sad.... (which is really what got me thinking about this) Sorry-just a rant. We all want the best for our kids and it makes me angry when we can't all get/do what we each think is best for our own kids.... ETA: and how crappy do I feel telling my 3 year old eat your highly processed barely any chicken in it not recognizable as meat sandwich or you don't get any ice cream-really? Could the ice cream really be any less healthy than the chicken sandwich???
As with any business, different stores have different strategies. Some focus on selling low cost items; some focus on organic foods; some focus on local produce; some focus on exceptional service; some focus on specialty (e.g., international) items; and so on. As consumers, we vote with our pocketbooks - and the majority votes for low cost. But how do you force the majority to want this? The only way is to regulate the market, to tell people what they must buy, and control the supply. As we know from the Cold War era in Russia, this leads to long lines of people waiting for a loaf of bread. Such a system does not work. While a bit of a simplification, there are only three successful business strategies: you're the low-cost leader, you specialize, or you serve a niche market. Since the number of people who prefer organic food is small compared to the number who prefer cheaper food, organic food represents a niche market. For a company to survive in a niche market, they must charge a premium (to account for the lower volumes). That's just the way the market works. If they didn't do this, companies would go out of business. PS -We used to belong to a local food co-op. Several families in the area would commit to buying a minimum amount of organic food each week, and someone from the group would buy those items in bulk, getting a discount for doing so. Buying in bulk, and/or committing to a minimum purchase each week, can partly get around the problem. Could you start a local food co-op?
Sonita, is there an America's Second Harvest Food Bank anywhere near you? or an Angel Food center? Neither of these will feed a whole family for a month, but it can sure help. Angel Food has quite a selection of different things you can order, for reasonable prices, boxes of just meats or just vegetables, or prepacked varieties, and they take EBT cards. You place an order by a certain date, then on the specified date you go pick it up. Our church's Food Pantry is associated with a Food Bank, and there's a little paperwork to do, but basically if you qualify for EBT, you qualify. Each qualifying family receives a box with a variety of things in it -- we try to get staples (canned goods, juices, rice, sometimes frozen meats, breakfast cereals, shelf-stable milk, powdered milk, peanut butter, just whatever the Bank has). We also try to get little treats to include for families with kids, or for grandparents to have something for their grandkids when they come to visit. Each box has to have a minimum of 40 pounds of food. Sometimes if the Bank has it, they'll give away fresh produce extra (before it spoils). There's no cost to our clients, because we are supported by donors - $100 covers a box a month for a year. See if there's a church or other organization in your area that does this.
It makes me mad a lot. We always talk about needing to eat more healthy and needing more fruits and veg. but we can't afford it. I agree with you Sonita!
Sonita, we used to get angel food (it was a great program) but the pay times were so messed up that we never had any money when we needed to pay for our goods from them, so we had to stop. (probably need to start again though maybe...) I agree though. I mean if your just a regular joe who doesn't qualify for WIC (we make just a bit too much) and so on, then you kinda have to buy the lesser quality. We usually shop at ALDI, since they are SOOOOOO much cheaper than Walmart. I try to lower our cost and make homemade bread, but our youngest wont eat it (it doesn't look like real bread to him, or maybe it's a sensory issue...), and we rent so we can't plant a garden. We DID try doing a "pottery garden" where we grew fruits and veggies in large outside pots, but the neighbor kids either ate them/stole them/vandalized them so we decided it was a waste to do so. I do feel your pain. I'm never very happy with myself when I have to feed my kids those little hockey pucks you call a chicken nugget b/c they were on sale. However, for right now it's the best we can do, and even though it makes us angry there really is nothing we can do about it.
Mad: my husband's cousin is a single mom with two kids. No job. Qualifies for govt support. EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS for her grocery budget. I can't even imagine spending $800 on groceries with four kids and two adults. Look for a local farmer's market. And I mean, very local. I'm in rural PA, so there are quite a few, but when I was in Atlanta, there was one on the outskirts - in Tucker, if anyone knows the area, which is not downtown but certainly NOT rural. Often times the prices are less expensive than the grocery store. And I've always gotten a small business feel from them - the one in Atlanta gave each of my kids a free mini gord at Halloween, or let them pick a banana or some grapes or something for for free each time I visited. Not that all will, but there's more generosity there. Something else: if you live near an LDS (Mormon) cannery, you do NOT have to be LDS to use it. You can google it to find information on use, etc, but the short version is this: You can buy wheat, if you have a wheat grinder, rice, and oatmeal, in bulk, along with other things. I mean, like, a 25 lb bag. (I store open bags in my chest freezer.) You can can them (yes, you have to read that twice, as it in put it in a can for long term storage), but I will often buy a bag to use and keep it in said freezer (to keep out bugs). LDS/Mormons are like squirrels, so the canneries are not run to make a profit but to keep them running and help members reach said goal, so you're buying pretty close to cost. Assuming you have a wheat grinder, that gets you grains and such pretty cheap. And when we have struggled financially, we found rice to be the best filler; I'd double the rice for a recipe and keep the same amount of meat (chili, sausage skillet, w/e) to stretch the food. Not per se the healthiest, but healthier than processed crap. Price list (it does change so check the site before you go): http://www.providentliving.org/pfw/...WE_HomeStoragePriceSheet_US_71140_000_pdf.pdf Locations: http://www.providentliving.org/location/map/0,12566,2026-1-4,00.html General info on provident living can be found on the site: www.providentliving.org Including info abt gardening and food storage Check around, too, for day-old bread stores. In Cumming, GA, there is a Tyson chicken plant where you can buy the chicken pretty darn cheap; when I moved to PA I looked for one but no luck. I called the local Tyson plant and asked if they had a store on site and they thought I was nuts. But it's worth making a phone call to ask if your local one has a store on site. I don't remember prices - it's been 3 years - but it was chicken, in bulk, way cheaper than the store. Find out what day your local grocery store marks down meats. You know, those $3 off stickers (and the $1 and $2 off)? Go in and buy your meats those days. It's hit-or-miss on selection, but its cheaper. When dh was out of work, we ate only what was on sale, and I would stock up if we could afford it. Eat less meat. Yay veggies and meatless meals I bought powdered milk (also available at the LDS cannery), and slowly added it to our regular milk. Started with 75% storebought, 25% powdered and got it to abt 25/75 the other way before kids started rebelling. Don't let them see you mix it, lol. Check "The Complete Tightwad Gazette" out of your local library. So many ideas, but really, so many thought processes. Also a bunch of "cheap" recipes mixed in. And funny. <hugs> and good luck.
I know exactly how you feel! so many times I had to console myself with the fact that I was doing the best I could and that there were kids who had way less to eat than my kids. any time I could get a fresh fruit or veggie into them, I was thankful! Sometimes the thought of how processed our "meat" was made me literally sick. Some really good advice I got once helped me put it in perspective....If even three or four other meals per week was "higher quality", they are still getting the nutrients they need. It's no fun being poor,but thankfully, our kids don't seem to realize we struggle financially. they still feel sorry for "poor kids" who don't have much!
I am with you ALL the way on this subject!!! I use every single penny of my EBT half way though a months time! Then we are left scraping the rest of the month to eat. It is really hard. My husband has heart problems and diabetes which means we need to be eating healthier but it is so hard to do when on a limited income!! Another that makes me so upset is when we go to the doctor and they gripe at us telling us we should be eating healtheir. When we explain to the doctor how hard that is, he has no understanding or empathy because he just don't understand it!! I could really go on and on, but I won't! Love in Christ, Cindy Mae
I have a book for you, "Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pallon. Not that I'm happy with the "evolution" comments BUT the rest, the agribusiness of it all, was quite eye opening to me. Also, the movie "Food, Inc". By the same guy. Sigh. There are days I hate living in America.
I'm going to say some things that I am sure I will be hit with tomatoes for, so go ahead and throw them. People can afford what they want to afford. I know and understand that times are hard. We have been on food stamps more times than I want to admit, but yet while on them we still had internet, car payments, cell phones bills, cable, and other things that are not necesary or life sustaining. Could we have cut out the cell phones, or at least 1 of them? yes. How about cable? yes. Car payments? Yes. We could have sold the car and used public transportation, or we could have sold the car and bought something with a lower payment. Would we have still gotten ebt if we cut out all the unneccesary expenses? Yes but we could have bought healthy food instead of all the crap. I know that for some people cutting out cable and cell phones and car payments is not an option. I would bet though that if you made eating healthy a high priority you would be able to find a way to pay for the healthy food. We don't eat healthy all the time, and I am not trying to preach to anyone and tell them how they should be, but I am just giving my opinion on what I have seen in myself and those around me. I know people who drive super nice cars (think $500-$800 a month payments) and live in a house that is costing them over $4000 a month for their mortgage, yet they eat crap food because they can't afford the healthy stuff. I also know people who drive cars that have been payed off for years and they are 15-20 years old and they have a mortgage of $400 a month and they eat super healthy. It really does boil down to what your priorities are. Alright go ahead. Throw them. I am ready.
I understand your frustration and when we are frustrated we become angry but I hope you will still take the time to read this. White bread can sit on a shelf long term and never mold. Wheat bread and flour has a shorter shelf life. That affects shipping and storage costs. Organic farming is more labor intensive. Pesticides and other methods kept production up to the point costs came down when people might have otherwise starved. Now that we are wealthy enough to have plenty to eat (as a whole, not talking individual circumstances) we can focus on making our food more healthy. More and more healthy options are out there. When I was young whoever heard of organic? As people become wealthier they can afford to worry more about health and their environment and other things that the extremely poor do not have time to think about. As a whole our nation is providing more and more healthy food and since people want these things as they become mass produced they will become cheaper too. I am amazed at how cheap organic fruits and vegetables are compared to the not so distant past. So things are actually improving. The average American spends less then 10% of their income on food. I realize if you have had job losses or other specific circumstances then you may be above average but 10% of one's budget going to food is actually phenomenal. Look at this chart to see how it has improved over the years. http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/CPIFoodAndExpenditures/Data/table7.htm Americans also spend a smaller percentage of their budget on food then any other country in the world. That being said I will add that I only spend $400 a month on groceries for a family of 6. This is unusual because many people buy fancy sauces, prepackaged food and other completely unnecessary items. I track very closely using mvelopes system by crown. That is NOT just food but all toiletries, cleaning supplies and other household items minus maintenance and appliances etc. A 99 cent package of beans can be the protein for my family for days. Eggs are another very cheap source of protein. Oatmeal or whole wheat pancakes (super simple to make from scratch) are also amazingly cheap. No need to put syrup on the pancakes, take some berries (if in season) to make a topping. Berries are expensive but they are just a topping not the main dish. They can also be used in the oatmeal. Whole wheat flour is more expensive but still less expensive then buying prepared buns. I know that you are probably used to buying prepared food but then you are not just buying the food but the labor used in preparing it. That's like complaining keeping your house clean is expensive when you hire a maid instead of just a few simple cleaning supplies. My DH lost his job the week before my daughter was born. We had one financial crisis after another before life resembled anything close to normal again from taking 9 months to sell a home we just bought to my son having seizures when we didn't have insurance to my DH making less then half of what he previously made. Yes, we were poverty level and eligible for many assistance programs that we couldn't use. Don't take that as a judgment it's a personal thing for us. I worked nights waiting on tables while my DH worked his day job so we wouldn't need daycare. So I do understand how you feel and what it's like to have the rug pulled out from under you but don't let it skew your view of the world. Hang in there.
Oh and ice cream is a very expensive desert we save for special occasions. Try popcorn instead,not microwavable. I can tell we live differently when my children buy more expensive fruit with some free spending money they get or cheese they love cheese and cashews all of which are not in the budget. The checkout clerk has given me funny looks before. "Kids don't usually buy these" is what he said. LOL
I am not going to throw tomatoes, apples or anything else by any means, but please realize that many people are just plain down poor and cutting back is not an option because there are no cut backs to be made. It is not just because "times are tuff" for many of us, it is just the way life is. Love in Christ, Cindy Mae
Sonita, to reply to your original subject, I would say no. Being angry won't help, and it will only make you frustrated. This may sound bizarre, but I agree with *all* the previous posters. They're all right. And, I've BTDT. We never made it onto assistance, but had started the process (I was looking into the wrong one - WIC - at the time, in the state we lived in, you had to have some income to be eligible - I should have applied for food stamps, but by the time I figured it out, things were turning around). What got me through? Well, I guess squirreling, to paraphrase a previous poster. We used to get packages from SHARE (which is like Angel Food, but tied to volunteering). We lived near a SHARE warehouse, and when they had their annual "clear the old inventory" sale, I literally PACKED our freezer. If we had surplus anything, I preserved it. I parboiled broccoli, I dehydrated onions - I threw nothing away. We could eat it now, we could eat it later...and what we couldn't eat, I composted. I grew veggies in containers. I bought half a share from a local CSA. Sometimes we couldn't finish our share, and I couldn't preserve it, so I made a deal with a friend to swap the extras for milk (she bought the milk). There is a great article in a back issue of Countryside magazine by a woman who was living in subsidized housing and really, really having trouble making ends meet. She spent $2 on seeds (obviously, this was a few years ago), and planted ANYwhere she could find (like flower beds, or under a mail box, anywhere there was dirt people didn't walk on). She got the local kids involved (which I'm sure got them on her side LOL). She grew some really impressive amount of veggies from a few seeds and "no" garden space. Another thought - those baked beans - well, you can't get cheaper than free, BUT you can make much better beans from scratch - and cheaper - than any canned brand. But cooking from scratch isn't common any more. Things are better for us now - this past year we moved into an old house and opened a BnB. I confess, it's an ego boost for me when I get complimented on a meal. But when someone asks me how/where I learned to cook, the only answer I have is: The school of "Don't spend ANY money - there's only $30 left in the bank account until payday - I'm sorry you don't like that, but there's nothing else to eat." I'm not saying these ideas will work for you - none of them may. BUT the answer is to decide what direction you want to go, and then get creative about doing it. Yes, my family suffered through many of my frugal cooking flops, but I learned. I read like mad. Thank God for libraries. I read the ENTIRE Tightwad Gazette and then put it on my Christmas list. The library is also how I learned gardening basics and composting. One more thought - all those things are little. But many little changes have a couple enormous advantages over big changes: little changes are easier to do than big changes you can do one tiny change when you wouldn't be able to "part" of a big change And little things add up.
I don't want to make a lot of work for you, but if you could easily share a full, sample menu for a week, I'd love to see it. I was impressed when you said you bought groceries for six for $400 a month, but when you said that includes toiletries, cleaning supplies and other household items, I was astonished. I want to know more about how you do it. Thanks.
Not throwing tomatoes becasue I can't afford to, nor want to, but...I don't agree with, "People can afford what they want to afford." I REALLY WANT to buy my 13 yr old (today is his Birthday) a present, but I can't. I want to go buy him donuts for his b-day, but I can't. (This will be his first bday without that specail treat.) I want to feed my children a lot more fruits and veg., but I can't. We don't have a huge mortagage payment, we don't use credit cards, don't have cable, one small car payment, but don't have public transportation where we live, about the only extra we have is Internet, and that is because phone alone was costing 85.00 a month and Internet w/phone is only 30.00 a month! Anyway, "People can afford what they want to afford," is a nice thought, but not true, at least in my case!
A couple of the posts reminded me of when we were first married. At one time in particular, we survived on an amazingly small income (mainly because train fare to London took most of our after-tax income). We had no car, no cable, and in fact no TV (in Britain you must pay the government a fee to use a TV). We sometimes comment that we ate healthier then than we ever have since. We ate the cheapest meats (usually liver), the cheapest fruits in season, and virtually no packaged food. Since we had no TV, we read more - which was also good. While I wouldn't want to struggle in such a way, it is to some extent what you make it. The most important thing was having hope to get through such a time. In our case, I made the decision to transfer to a company office in the US - and we've been here ever since.
If you buy a MagicJack (and I now have one), Internet phone service is $30.00 a YEAR - although, of course, you still need sufficiently fast Internet service.
