I’m currently surviving on my Social Security check alone. I just moved into subsidized housing. Illinois cut my food stamps from $249/month when I lived in market rate housing first to $83 then to $23 with no explanation. I pay a small sum for Part D coverage and I have Medicare and Medicaid. The idea that I or anyone else could feed themselves on $23 a month is ludicrous, particularly with inflationary food prices as they are currently. I also have a large charge account bill I’m paying on that includes my costs for moving out of my old apartment. This was one of the most expensive moves I ever made in my life! I’m wondering when I will ever experience a “benefit” from my “affordable housing.”
I used your table for estimating how much I should receive and there was no comparison with what I actually receive. I guess I have to challenge their math, and not for the first time either. They will always lowball you and force you to challenge them. I’ve been keeping a tally of what I actually spend on food and it comes in, on average, to around $300 a month. This is food only, not cleaning products and things like toilet paper. I cook most of what I eat from scratch, and I’m a good cook; however, I could not eat the food you eat. I can’t eat dried beans at all because of problems with FODMAPS that lead to IBS. So my diet, of necessity, contains a lot of protein. I’m borderline diabetic so I can’t live on pasta either. Age affects a good deal of what I must contend with daily. I know for a fact that many diabetics on food stamps have a bad time with food choices. The very things that fill you up and are cheap are glucose bombs. So I’m left wandering between Scylla and Charybdis, afraid to turn in any direction.
This is so wrong. Are you able to find a food pantry that can help with your special dietary needs? By all means, challenge them as to why you do not receive more. Perhaps you could call your local representatives and ask them to intercede on your behalf. Sometimes, constituent services can be quite helpful. I know some food pantries do provide a limited amount of toiletries, and I hope you can find one that does. If you have a PayPal or Ko-fi link, could you post it here so more people can see it?
If this person disagrees with the new food stamp amount, the notice should have a number to call to request a hearing (usually within 90 days). I was a hearing judge for public benefits for many years. I am guessing the food stamp amount was decreased because of the subsidized housing. This person is most likely paying a lot less in housing costs which greatly effects good stamps. Also, all decisions made by hearing judges are appealable to the state circuit court (at least in IL and MO). So, the first step is requesting that hearing. Also, most legal aid groups deal with public benefits, so calling them for at least advice is a good route too. BUT, if you fail to request the hearing within those 90 days you're SOL.
Yep, finding cheap food options with insuline resistance (which I have) or diabetes is a problem. I used to do a lot of rice and pasta, and I still do them in smaller quantities, but I had to move more towards protein and fat. In my case, as a vegetarian, it's been chiefly cheap diary products and cheaper seeds like sunflower. But I haven't been able to figure out how to do all that without spending more (which I can't really do, I'm kinda lying to myself while maintaining the same amount in my budget, knowing I won't stick to it and then havinf to figure it out somehow at the end of the month).
For me personally, the answer lies in simply eating less. I generally eat only two meals per day, no snacks, which allows my body a break from having to release insulin to deal with a meal. I'm no expert in this at all -- I'm just saying what has worked for me, as someone who is at risk of diabetes and is determined not to develop it. I avoid eating refined carbs, but I do eat things like beans and sometimes limited amounts of potatoes or brown rice.
I have worn a CGM for two weeks and in my case it's exactly the opposite :) When I eat less than four times a day, I get bigger spikes, even with similar meals. But to yeah their own and I also know those things are complex. Additionally, limiting food to fewer meals triggers my eating disorder, which I'm determined not to redevelop again. (So I'm happy my body confirms it's the right course of action on all fronts.) I totally second eating potatoes and rice, they were just a big base of my diet for being cheap and their placement had to change. It's been quite a delicate balance to manoeuvre around diet culture and popular "tips" that are not scientific but just fatphobic, and managing money at the same time.
Thanks so much for the black bean meat loaf recipe. I've been promising myself that I'd start cooking a little more since transitioning to veganism a couple of months ago. My modus operandi in the past has been to "nuke it" if I can. I'm also a SNAP and Medicaid recipient since my SS barely covers rent and utilities (I live on Oahu, HI). I used to be embarrassed to use my SNAP card at stores like Whole Foods where the rich white folk shop -- at least that has been my perception of the store. But now, I don't care. I see these benefits as a form of reparations that I deserve given all the free labor my ancestors contributed to this country's wealth that was never passed down to me and mine.
I shop at WF all the time for the organic produce. I don’t really care what people think of me for having a Link card. Since I’m a meat/fish eater I buy stuff there because of their purported practices for the raising and slaughter of meat animals. If you are careful you don’t need to spend a fortune. Hamburger and stew beef rather than steak. Whole chickens rather than parts. Learn how to cut up a chicken. It’s cheaper per pound than parts. Freeze things until you’re ready to use them and only buy what you need. Stay away from “bargains” that may not be so economical. I regularly get 18 small shrimp so that I get 9 shrimp per serving for two meals. Older people don’t eat that much. I love their Italian sausages so I regularly buy them for homemade pizza. Making one’s own pizza is not that hard. Pizza crust is just flour, water, a dash of oil, and yeast. You can find recipes for it online. I can eat it, provided I put protein on it. I have never been close enough to a Costco to shop there. I’ve heard you can save money there as well. Same is true about Trader Joe’s. There is an Aldi near me as well. I have to confess it kind of freaks me out because it’s full of unfamiliar labels. I don’t know if these products are any good. I’ve been to food banks and found them to be fairly useless. You get a lot of starch and old, out of date produce—I call it garbage for the poor. What would a little old lady do with a dozen ears of corn that look like hog food? As with anything you need to be careful and make sure you can use what you’re getting for free.
I buy almost all of my family's food at Aldi's and am a huge fan of that supermarket. It allows us to eat much better than we would if I had to shop anywhere else. I don't have a WF near me, but I visited one when shopping for my daughter in another city and they're out of my price range.
I can tell you to stop caring about the brands! My dad worked at a food factory for decades and in many cases, the label was the sole difference between different foods. They'd pause the line, change the label from a name brand or specialty brand or store brand and then resume. The resulting items would be sold at very different prices. Brands are only about marketing and tell you nothing about quality.
I used to buy whole chickens and make several meals -- one stir-fry from breasts, another meal with the legs and thighs and then the rest turned into soup -- but chickens have gone up in price now so I only buy one when they're marked down because they have to be sold that day. My husband is a vegetarian, so I don't buy much meat in any case -- usually just when someone else is coming to eat with us. I make our sourdough bread which saves us a lot. We eat a lot of beans, lentils, vegetables, fruits and some dairy. My Dutch husband grew up eating bread at almost every meal, so homemade bread is a thrifty necessity for us. Sourdough saves me the cost of the yeast, which is an expensive item. Our basic bread is just flour and water but sometimes I incorporate nuts, seeds, dried fruit, etc.
Jane, yes most food stores in the state accept them. We use a debit card called the Kokua card. Kokua is Hawaiian for "help," that is, to extend help in a sacrificial way with no intent of personal gain. I actually consider myself fortunate in that I have this degree of health care and food assistance.
It never seizes to amaze me that some people are so afraid that people on welfare are cheating and living "high on the hog" at their expense. They then turn around and vote for politicians who try to sabotage IRS funding, which allows wealthy people and large corporations to pay zero in taxes!
Thanks for calling this out! People have such a skewed idea of poverty. Income inequality resulting from late-stage capitalism is the cause of many of our problems. Even in my group of highly privileged friends there are significant income disparities based on what professions we chose and who has parents with money for them to inherit. Poverty should not be stigmatized. — from a fellow (former) central Illinoisian.
Thank you for the bean meatloaf recipe! Not food, but since the topic of toiletries not being covered by SNAP has come up here, I'm adding this, maybe to spark folks in other states to pursue this with their legislators: Oregon passed the Menstrual Dignity Act in 2021 which requires schools to provide free menstrual products. It's a resource for K-12 students, community college students, and public university students.
Sometimes I could not afford these products when I was in college, and resorted to makeshift toilet paper solutions. Not ideal. These products are so expensive, and I'd have appreciated free products.
From the research, many students who can’t afford them school. I recall searching for, and picking up bottles in college and turning them in for the return deposit, which helped pay for these supplies.
I will never forget growing up poor and the occasional stretch of poverty in my adult years. Trying to stretch groceries for a week with twenty dollars when you are working at just above minimum wage was not fun times. We were both working so made too much money for SNAP. I remember seeing young soldiers in the military PX paying for groceries with food stamps. And that was after Ronnie Reagan's big pay raise in 1981. Your recipe sounds like something my wife would like as she is a big sweet potato fan. I will write it down and try it sometime soon to see. I will let you know what she thinks.
That's fine as far as it goes, but subsisting on starches is not "adequate nutrition" and we have a type 2 diabetes epidemic in this country. It does not matter where the sugars and starches (a type of sugar, by the way, with the greatest effect on blood sugar) come from or whether you're following an ideologically perfect diet, your body just looks at all that glucose and goes "and what, exactly, do you expect me to do with this?" So the situation is worse than you imagine.
If you are hungry and broke, and you have to choose between spending a few dollars on either an energy drink or something like a jar of peanut butter/bag of dried beans/canister of oatmeal/bag of potatoes, etc., it's pretty hard to say the energy drink is a healthier choice. I doubt that's what you're saying, right? These items all have a good amount of fiber, and high-fiber foods are FAR better for your blood sugar than sugary energy drinks -- besides the fact that all those other foods have other nutrients, including some protein. Peanut butter provides fat, too.
I don’t follow recipes unless I’m baking. I’m able to dream things up based on what’s on hand. But I love having leftovers! I definitely don’t throw away good food and I doubt many poor or poor-adjacent people do. Nobody should waste food.
I’m currently surviving on my Social Security check alone. I just moved into subsidized housing. Illinois cut my food stamps from $249/month when I lived in market rate housing first to $83 then to $23 with no explanation. I pay a small sum for Part D coverage and I have Medicare and Medicaid. The idea that I or anyone else could feed themselves on $23 a month is ludicrous, particularly with inflationary food prices as they are currently. I also have a large charge account bill I’m paying on that includes my costs for moving out of my old apartment. This was one of the most expensive moves I ever made in my life! I’m wondering when I will ever experience a “benefit” from my “affordable housing.”
I used your table for estimating how much I should receive and there was no comparison with what I actually receive. I guess I have to challenge their math, and not for the first time either. They will always lowball you and force you to challenge them. I’ve been keeping a tally of what I actually spend on food and it comes in, on average, to around $300 a month. This is food only, not cleaning products and things like toilet paper. I cook most of what I eat from scratch, and I’m a good cook; however, I could not eat the food you eat. I can’t eat dried beans at all because of problems with FODMAPS that lead to IBS. So my diet, of necessity, contains a lot of protein. I’m borderline diabetic so I can’t live on pasta either. Age affects a good deal of what I must contend with daily. I know for a fact that many diabetics on food stamps have a bad time with food choices. The very things that fill you up and are cheap are glucose bombs. So I’m left wandering between Scylla and Charybdis, afraid to turn in any direction.
This is so wrong. Are you able to find a food pantry that can help with your special dietary needs? By all means, challenge them as to why you do not receive more. Perhaps you could call your local representatives and ask them to intercede on your behalf. Sometimes, constituent services can be quite helpful. I know some food pantries do provide a limited amount of toiletries, and I hope you can find one that does. If you have a PayPal or Ko-fi link, could you post it here so more people can see it?
If this person disagrees with the new food stamp amount, the notice should have a number to call to request a hearing (usually within 90 days). I was a hearing judge for public benefits for many years. I am guessing the food stamp amount was decreased because of the subsidized housing. This person is most likely paying a lot less in housing costs which greatly effects good stamps. Also, all decisions made by hearing judges are appealable to the state circuit court (at least in IL and MO). So, the first step is requesting that hearing. Also, most legal aid groups deal with public benefits, so calling them for at least advice is a good route too. BUT, if you fail to request the hearing within those 90 days you're SOL.
Yep, finding cheap food options with insuline resistance (which I have) or diabetes is a problem. I used to do a lot of rice and pasta, and I still do them in smaller quantities, but I had to move more towards protein and fat. In my case, as a vegetarian, it's been chiefly cheap diary products and cheaper seeds like sunflower. But I haven't been able to figure out how to do all that without spending more (which I can't really do, I'm kinda lying to myself while maintaining the same amount in my budget, knowing I won't stick to it and then havinf to figure it out somehow at the end of the month).
For me personally, the answer lies in simply eating less. I generally eat only two meals per day, no snacks, which allows my body a break from having to release insulin to deal with a meal. I'm no expert in this at all -- I'm just saying what has worked for me, as someone who is at risk of diabetes and is determined not to develop it. I avoid eating refined carbs, but I do eat things like beans and sometimes limited amounts of potatoes or brown rice.
I have worn a CGM for two weeks and in my case it's exactly the opposite :) When I eat less than four times a day, I get bigger spikes, even with similar meals. But to yeah their own and I also know those things are complex. Additionally, limiting food to fewer meals triggers my eating disorder, which I'm determined not to redevelop again. (So I'm happy my body confirms it's the right course of action on all fronts.) I totally second eating potatoes and rice, they were just a big base of my diet for being cheap and their placement had to change. It's been quite a delicate balance to manoeuvre around diet culture and popular "tips" that are not scientific but just fatphobic, and managing money at the same time.
Now THAT sounds like something you should turn into a full piece.
Haha, thanks, lots of topics and lots of ideas, hopefully I'll scrape some time together soon :)
Thanks so much for the black bean meat loaf recipe. I've been promising myself that I'd start cooking a little more since transitioning to veganism a couple of months ago. My modus operandi in the past has been to "nuke it" if I can. I'm also a SNAP and Medicaid recipient since my SS barely covers rent and utilities (I live on Oahu, HI). I used to be embarrassed to use my SNAP card at stores like Whole Foods where the rich white folk shop -- at least that has been my perception of the store. But now, I don't care. I see these benefits as a form of reparations that I deserve given all the free labor my ancestors contributed to this country's wealth that was never passed down to me and mine.
It's not easy to qualify for SNAP. If you need this benefit to eat well, you should feel no shame. Everyone deserves to have good food.
You're absolutely right, Michelle. Took me a while to get this, but now I do. Thanks for your support.
I shop at WF all the time for the organic produce. I don’t really care what people think of me for having a Link card. Since I’m a meat/fish eater I buy stuff there because of their purported practices for the raising and slaughter of meat animals. If you are careful you don’t need to spend a fortune. Hamburger and stew beef rather than steak. Whole chickens rather than parts. Learn how to cut up a chicken. It’s cheaper per pound than parts. Freeze things until you’re ready to use them and only buy what you need. Stay away from “bargains” that may not be so economical. I regularly get 18 small shrimp so that I get 9 shrimp per serving for two meals. Older people don’t eat that much. I love their Italian sausages so I regularly buy them for homemade pizza. Making one’s own pizza is not that hard. Pizza crust is just flour, water, a dash of oil, and yeast. You can find recipes for it online. I can eat it, provided I put protein on it. I have never been close enough to a Costco to shop there. I’ve heard you can save money there as well. Same is true about Trader Joe’s. There is an Aldi near me as well. I have to confess it kind of freaks me out because it’s full of unfamiliar labels. I don’t know if these products are any good. I’ve been to food banks and found them to be fairly useless. You get a lot of starch and old, out of date produce—I call it garbage for the poor. What would a little old lady do with a dozen ears of corn that look like hog food? As with anything you need to be careful and make sure you can use what you’re getting for free.
I buy almost all of my family's food at Aldi's and am a huge fan of that supermarket. It allows us to eat much better than we would if I had to shop anywhere else. I don't have a WF near me, but I visited one when shopping for my daughter in another city and they're out of my price range.
I can tell you to stop caring about the brands! My dad worked at a food factory for decades and in many cases, the label was the sole difference between different foods. They'd pause the line, change the label from a name brand or specialty brand or store brand and then resume. The resulting items would be sold at very different prices. Brands are only about marketing and tell you nothing about quality.
I used to buy whole chickens and make several meals -- one stir-fry from breasts, another meal with the legs and thighs and then the rest turned into soup -- but chickens have gone up in price now so I only buy one when they're marked down because they have to be sold that day. My husband is a vegetarian, so I don't buy much meat in any case -- usually just when someone else is coming to eat with us. I make our sourdough bread which saves us a lot. We eat a lot of beans, lentils, vegetables, fruits and some dairy. My Dutch husband grew up eating bread at almost every meal, so homemade bread is a thrifty necessity for us. Sourdough saves me the cost of the yeast, which is an expensive item. Our basic bread is just flour and water but sometimes I incorporate nuts, seeds, dried fruit, etc.
Jane, yes most food stores in the state accept them. We use a debit card called the Kokua card. Kokua is Hawaiian for "help," that is, to extend help in a sacrificial way with no intent of personal gain. I actually consider myself fortunate in that I have this degree of health care and food assistance.
It never seizes to amaze me that some people are so afraid that people on welfare are cheating and living "high on the hog" at their expense. They then turn around and vote for politicians who try to sabotage IRS funding, which allows wealthy people and large corporations to pay zero in taxes!
Always a treat. I'm going to try the bean loaf.
Me, too!
Thanks for calling this out! People have such a skewed idea of poverty. Income inequality resulting from late-stage capitalism is the cause of many of our problems. Even in my group of highly privileged friends there are significant income disparities based on what professions we chose and who has parents with money for them to inherit. Poverty should not be stigmatized. — from a fellow (former) central Illinoisian.
This is really good, and more people need to understand. Not everyone gets a choice of foods to pick from. I’m so glad you wrote this.
Thank you so much!
Thank you for the bean meatloaf recipe! Not food, but since the topic of toiletries not being covered by SNAP has come up here, I'm adding this, maybe to spark folks in other states to pursue this with their legislators: Oregon passed the Menstrual Dignity Act in 2021 which requires schools to provide free menstrual products. It's a resource for K-12 students, community college students, and public university students.
Sometimes I could not afford these products when I was in college, and resorted to makeshift toilet paper solutions. Not ideal. These products are so expensive, and I'd have appreciated free products.
From the research, many students who can’t afford them school. I recall searching for, and picking up bottles in college and turning them in for the return deposit, which helped pay for these supplies.
meant to write “miss school”
Is SNAP just for food or is it expected to cover toiletries and cleaning products? It would be hard enough if it's just for food only.
It’s only groceries — you’re on your own for toiletries and cleaning supplies!
I will never forget growing up poor and the occasional stretch of poverty in my adult years. Trying to stretch groceries for a week with twenty dollars when you are working at just above minimum wage was not fun times. We were both working so made too much money for SNAP. I remember seeing young soldiers in the military PX paying for groceries with food stamps. And that was after Ronnie Reagan's big pay raise in 1981. Your recipe sounds like something my wife would like as she is a big sweet potato fan. I will write it down and try it sometime soon to see. I will let you know what she thinks.
There’s a British version of your Substack. She’s also changed our lives and she as well as us grew a lot from our shared experience. 🙏
I'd like to check her out. Post a link?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tin-Can-Cook-Store-cupboard-Recipes/dp/1529015286#:~:text=Jack%20Monroe%20is%20an%20award,and%20A%20Girl%20Called%20Jack.
That's fine as far as it goes, but subsisting on starches is not "adequate nutrition" and we have a type 2 diabetes epidemic in this country. It does not matter where the sugars and starches (a type of sugar, by the way, with the greatest effect on blood sugar) come from or whether you're following an ideologically perfect diet, your body just looks at all that glucose and goes "and what, exactly, do you expect me to do with this?" So the situation is worse than you imagine.
If you are hungry and broke, and you have to choose between spending a few dollars on either an energy drink or something like a jar of peanut butter/bag of dried beans/canister of oatmeal/bag of potatoes, etc., it's pretty hard to say the energy drink is a healthier choice. I doubt that's what you're saying, right? These items all have a good amount of fiber, and high-fiber foods are FAR better for your blood sugar than sugary energy drinks -- besides the fact that all those other foods have other nutrients, including some protein. Peanut butter provides fat, too.
I don’t follow recipes unless I’m baking. I’m able to dream things up based on what’s on hand. But I love having leftovers! I definitely don’t throw away good food and I doubt many poor or poor-adjacent people do. Nobody should waste food.