Food Stamp Challenge: The Basics

How much is the budget, and how did you arrive at this number?

The budget for this month is $227, or the average Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Benefit for a household in 2008.   Yes, some single folks earn $200 in benefits.   Some households earn less than $227; some households earn more – but $227 was the average benefit and thus seemed a fair and reasonable number to use.

Are you including personal care and household items in your budget?

No, supplemental nutrition assistance cannot be applied to non-food items such as supplements, cleaning products, personal care items or other household purchases.   It’s food, seeds that can grow into food and plants that can grow into food only.

Why don’t you do a gluten-free/nut-free/legume-free/paleo/vegan/pick-your-favorite-diet food stamp challenge?

Diet is versatile, and everyone’s diet varies from one family to another.   This challenge is one month long, and in the course of one month I cannot possibly touch on every variation of diet.   It’s just not possible, instead, the diet will focus on all food groups provided the foods chosen are unrefined and in their whole state. However, due to considerable interest from readers, we will be doing an allergen-free week during week #3.   That is, week #3 will be free from the 8 major food allergens: milk, eggs, peanuts, gluten, tree nuts, fish, shellfish and soy.   I think you’ll find that most meals throughout the challenge will be allergen-free.

Food Stamp Challenge: On Food Choices

Traditional peasant food wasn’t meat heavy. Why aren’t you eating less meat and more beans?

We’re striving for balance here.   Meat is an important food – it provides wholesome fats and micronutrients that aren’t found in high quantities elsewhere.   Historically, even the poorest had access to some animal food whether it was a strip of saltpork for the porridge, pasture-raised eggs, butter or cheese.   We’ve incorporated a limited amount of animal foods into our diet based on the restrictions of our budget.

A carb-rich diet isn’t healthy. Why aren’t you eating more meat and fewer legumes and grains?

“Healthy” is largely subjective and while hunter-gatherers didn’t consume much if any legumes and grain, both these foods have played a strong role in the human diet for thousands of years and will continue to do so.   Personal diet restrictions aside, most people can tolerate them to some degree and they tend to be inexpensive and nourishing when properly prepared.

You’d save a lot more if you visited the canned / frozen food section.   Why aren’t you eating canned and frozen veggies?

Fresh foods are better for you.   Their nutrient content is higher and they contain active food enzymes.   In my experience, frozen vegetables are not noticeably less expensive; indeed, they usually are priced at about $1.50 – $2.00 a pound on sale though food prices vary by region.   By contrast, fresh fruits and vegetables can often be purchased at less than $1.00 per pound – particularly cabbage $0.69 / lb and bananas $0.49 – $0.67 / lb.   Canned vegetables lack nutrients and often include various preservatives.   Moreover, they can be contaminated by endocrine-disrupting chemicals like BPA.   For the price and nutrients, fresh is better.

Why aren’t you relying only on seasonal produce?

There are no seasons in a grocery store thanks to imports and a public that has continued to support imported fruits and vegetables without care to or knowledge of the crops suitable to their current season and locality.   In the end, the focus of this challenge is on getting the best foods possible for the cost and that often includes out-of-season, ethylene-gassed produce simply because it’s cheap, fills bellies and provides nutrients (though not at levels provided through optimal growing methods).

Where’s the organ meat? That’s cheap and healthy!

I have not yet found organ meat at my grocers.   Due to lack of interest and knowledge on preparation, it is not widely available.

Food Stamp Challenge: Random Questions

The urban poor don’t even have grocery stores with vegetables!   What say you to them?

In order to shop at an EBT-accepting grocery store, I have to drive or ride the bus 66 miles round trip.   While fruits and vegetables must be made available in underserved areas, consumers also need to take responsibility for themselves as well even if that means riding a city bus to a more affluent area where fruits and vegetables are accessible.

Why aren’t you gardening or growing your own?

EBT may and should be used to purchase seeds and plants to grow food; however, space is often limited.   Seeds aren’t available for purchase at this time of year and what can we expect   to feed our family’s while waiting for our plants to come to harvest?   We should definitely encourage food-growing especially at community gardens and in urban areas; however, that is a challenge for another day.

Why not shop at co-ops, farmers markets or buy farmer direct?

Thanks to grants from the USDA, many farmers markets and other direct marketing avenues for farmers are now able to accept EBT.   Unfortunately, programs like these are not yet widely available.   In my area, there are only two food outlets accepting EBT.   Farmers markets and co-ops have not yet made that option available though there’s plans to make it available within two years.

Traditional diets are wide and varied, so why focus so heavily on pasture-raised animal food and organics?

Traditional diets are, indeed, wide and varied.   Some cultured thrived almost exclusively on meat and animal fat while others relied heavily on porridge, bread and cheese.   Others yet ate fish and sea vegetables in abundance and others still ate little more than blood and raw milk.   One thing, however, remained constant: animals were naturally raised and produce grown without synthetic inputs (see traditional foods in a nutshell).

While, we must choose the best we have available with the money in our pockets, this does not mean accepting conventional products of industrial agriculture as optimal substitutes, and we should still acknowledge the environmental and nutritional superiority of foods grown and raised in the way nature intended.   To turn a blind eye to the differences between optimal growing practices and conventional growing practices is foolish.   Do the best with what you have, but don’t be complacent.