Food prices got you down? Shit bro, a gallon of milk is 4 bucks and up. If I go to the grocery store for “a few things” I end up dropping 50 bucks. Ugh.
I know I’m not the only one getting the expensive food blues, though. Maybe I should consider myself lucky. I still have a job and I can still afford food, even if I’m skipping some of the more luxurious foods I would have purchased a few years ago. This bring me to today’s post. Have you seen the news lately on the use of food stamps? Egad! Got food stamps?
Check this:
Driven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began in the 1960s.
That’s from a recent New York Times article. But wait - there’s more!
Mainer’s food stamp use on the rise:
One in eight Mainers depends on food stamps to help feed themselves and their families, but the increasing cost of food means the benefit does not go as far as it did just a year ago.
One in eight! Wow.
Live in Iowa? More Iowans struggling to afford food.
South Dakota: Food stamps don’t meet needs.
Ohio: 1 in every 10 Ohioans is getting food stamps.
In the Central Florida region, more than 320,000 people are receiving food stamp assistance — that’s 50,000 more than a year ago.
Oklahoma: food stamp increase.
West Virginia: Participation in food stamp program rises.
Texas: same deal, increase.
Nevada: food stamp caseload jumps 77% in 4 years.
From a North Carolina article:
Things you can buy with food stamps
n Breads and cereals
n Fruits and vegetables
n Meats, fish and poultry
n Dairy products
Things you can’t buy with food stamps
n Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes or tobacco
n Hot foods
n Non-food items, such as pet products or household supplies
n Vitamins and medicine
Characteristics of food stamp households
n To qualify, the annual income of a single parent with one child must be less than $17,800
n 50 percent of all participants are children (18 or younger), and 65 percent live in single-parent households
n 54 percent of food stamp households include children
n 8 percent of participants are elderly (age 60 and over)
n The average gross monthly income per household is $648
n 46 percent of participants are white; 31 percent are black or non-Hispanic; 13 percent are Hispanic
Food stamps - a government handout or a way to help a brother (or sister) out? I suspect as with all things, there are people that really need the help, and those that just abuse the system. No matter which way you cut it, it’s a sign of the times, a sign it’s time to build a backyard garden.
- Ranger Man
OH! Also in the news - friggin’ TENT CITIES - in the UNITED STATES! Something you’d usually associate with 3rd world countries. Viva la booming economy, people. Tent cities news article.
Also, you know the Russian “doomsday cult” I’ve been keeping you up to date on? You know, delivering all the latest TEOTWAWKI news, 21 of the 35 have come out of their cave. They had a “divine vision” that told them to leave. I suspect rising fears that the roof would collapse may have helped.
And I forgot to include rise in food costs change eating habits.
6 responses so far ↓
1 SurvivalTopics.com // Apr 2, 2008 at 4:43 am
Food stamps and welfare are another form of corporate welfare and are heartily endorsed by big business in the USA.
Rather than having to pay livable wages (how could you work for someone if the wages they pay do not even feed and house you) businesses like WalMart can pay sub-livable wages and have your tax dollars pick up the slack.
In fact, these companies provide classes to employees on how to best apply for government aid.
Money businesses save because of your tax dollars subsidizing their payrolls via welfare goes right to the top in the form of big salaries, big bonuses, and great perks for the lucky few.
Did you know something like 5% of americans make 90% of the money? And welfare is doing its part to keep these people living fat.
2 noisynick // Apr 2, 2008 at 5:43 am
Dependent Americans are docile americans. Give them Food give them Money ie: Economic stimulus package. Make
them as dependent and unable to provide for them selves as possible then when the time comes they’ll be easy to mange because they won;t have the will to fight back……………….
Its still in the hands of the people but for how long who knows Store Food, Prepare to Defend ,
Yourselves and your Property and above all teach those around you Whats Right …………….
Ther Is No Such Thing As A FREE LUNCH
Somebodys paying and it may cost lots more than you thought…………..
3 Greg // Apr 2, 2008 at 7:14 am
Here in little Rhode Island, the governor has signed an executive order, directing LEO’s to work with ICE and to try and get a handle on the ‘illegal’ crowd. They are oinking…but if we can get rid of them, and the accompaning handouts that go with them, we just MIGHT get a handle on our budgetary mess. We are nearly bankrupt because of these bastards and the gutter trash politicians that are only interested in feathering their own nests and to hell with the tax payers. Bottom line - legal folks will not work for substand wages. Raise the wages, cut the crap, and improve life for all. Greg
4 Rain // Apr 2, 2008 at 8:51 am
Arizona, land of cheap illegal labor, pays about $6.50 for service jobs that often have no benefits. How far does that go? These are hard working people. Food stamps buy Spaghetti-Os or store brand mac and cheese the last week of the month. When the EFT credit is gone and the food banks run out (again), you see
adults falling asleep or passing out at work from eating one meal a day to keep the kids fed until that next credit drops.
I met a nursing assistant who had a little apartment with her 3 kids. Government somehow decided she was actually a nurse, thus over income. Took months to straighten out despite everyone’s efforts.
A few dollars of the rent money went for food, then she had to pay late rent penalties on top of what was already behind, then the next month the cycle repeated itself.
She ended up living in her car with the children. You’re not supposed to stay more than 3 days at them, but she found a truck stop where the owners pretended not to see this “traveler” pull in after work every night for family showers and a hot meal, and to sleep someplace she might not get jacked. The truckers (not doing so well themselves), kept an eye on her, even bought her meals and gas when they could. Through all this, she continued to work 40 hours a week.
I found out because the kids had a day off school and got caught hanging around the car in our parking lot (not so good at being homeless yet). It took a lot of talking not to get Child Protective Services involved, or she might have lost her children.
She looked at me, baffled, and said “I’ve paid taxes since I was 16. Now I need help, and they screwed me over. I work so damned hard. How come there’s nothing there for me when I need it?” I gently introduced her to the idea that the government is grossly overextended, and the day is coming when politicians will no longer be in the social welfare business.
It’s in everyone’s interest to help their neighbors understand that the safety net is gone. Living in your car, or squatting someplace questionable so you can afford food, transportation, clothing and medicine may become common. Not quite the American Dream we all thought we were promised.
Maybe instead of “Peak Oil” it should be called “Peak Affluence.” Those kids playing Scrabble in in their jams while mom sleeps in the front seat with one hand on a tire iron would understand that.
5 The R Man // Apr 2, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Hmmmmm. One could buy apple juice and baker’s yeast with one’s food stamps, and take care of one’s alcohol needs. Not that one would, of course…
6 Babs // Apr 7, 2008 at 10:12 am
Well, consider a couple more things:
USDA is the source of food stamps. The things’ primary goal is to support farming interests on one side and feed people on the other.
Since they are intended to support agriculture, you can buy plants and vegetable seeds with food stamps, and they did in fact help me get my garden started this year.
And yeah, apple juice, honey, yeast — all covered. So are flour and salt, if you want pretzels with that. If you have cooking facilities, it’s a question of how much work you want to do setting stuff up for what you can get out of it.
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