Food Stamp Challenge -- Day 3

Looks like I got under the skin of the SL Trib editorial board (Food stamp folly: Dougall takes challenge too lightly). Perhaps I misunderstood the purpose of the challenge.  Anyone can not survive on $1.05/meal.  The point of the challenge was to see whether your actually eat, and eat healthy, on $1.05/meal.  It's very easy to clamor for more money at the government trough.  It's much more challenging to successfully identify actual solutions.  The editorial board may think I'm being cavalier, but I'm being very serious.  I also believe it's important to point out the fallacies of certain assumptions when encountered -- and I'm in the process of testing those assumptions.  Also, perhaps it helps to understand my background:

1. For complete disclosure, I sit on the board of Utahns Against Hunger (one of the groups sponsoring the challenge).  Why would they tolerate someone like me on the board?  To add a unique perspective.  Both UAH and I hate the idea of people going hungry.  Since we share a common goal (eliminating hunger), we can collaborate on solving that challenge in our society.
2. I have never witnessed an efficient government operation, particularly a federal program.  I have witnessed many efficient and effective community assistance programs.  Why would the notion of wanting more of the good and eliminating the wasteful be wrong?  Government, by its very design, is inefficient.  You cannot change what is never meant to be.  A federal bureaucracy can never provide the caring, compassionate, and customized assistance that people in need could really use. Federal assistance programs typically do more to demean and demoralize the recipient, instead of building up one's self-confidence.
3. Despite current successes, I have had significant experience on the edge of poverty (as the oldest of 11 children, there was never much to go around, even in the good years).   I started my first job when I was 8 and have been working ever since.  By 16, I was responsible for buying all my own clothes, books, and other personal effects.  In 9th grade, lunch was a luxury that I enjoyed a handful of times.  After high school I can remember eating on about $1/day and keeping diligent track of every expenditure, just to be able to survive the month.  I also have spent 7 years putting myself through school (earning 3 degrees), sometimes working 70 hours per week in addition to full-time school, just to make ends meet (food, housing, tuition, etc.).  There are few motivators more effective than the desire to avoid starvation.  Education and hard work are great remedies for poverty.

One claim is that food stamp recipients cannot eat healthy.  At this point in the challenge that appears to be false.  It's very accurate to say that there is not much opportunity for niceties (like my beloved M&M's), but purchasing essentials is doable.  Also, according the Rep. Seeling, there's not much leeway for a burnt meal.

Another falsehood is that food stamp recipients cannot do strategic food purchasing.  That appears to also be false.  As it has been explained to me. a food stamp recipient receives a monthly allotment.  This provides the opportunity for buying flour in 25 lb bags, rather than 5 lb bags (note: 10 lb bags for more than 2x the price of 5 lb bags), meat in 5 lb, rather than 1 lb or single serving sizes, 15 lbs of potatoes, rather than individual ones, etc.  This is not bulk purchasing and is affordable by all, with some planning and budgeting.  Those with the opportunity for bulk shopping could see more significant cost savings.

Another inaccuracy is that the bigger the family, the harder it is to live on the food stamp allotment.  My testing shows the exact opposite.  Cooking a meal for 5 (my family size) is financially easier than cooking for 1, allowing for certain economies of scale.

Here's Wednesday's menu:

• Breakfast:  Egg & sausage breakfast sandwich, oatmeal, grapefruit, (milk)
• Lunch:  Beef stew with potatoes, carrots, and celery; with cantaloupe and watermelon
• Dinner: PB sandwich, banana, celery, OJ, (milk)
• Snack: 1 chocolate chip cookie

Total cost:  $2.88.  Right now I'm running a cumulative surplus of $0.71.

If the SL Trib editorial board wants to truly understand the issue they could have stepped forward to accept the challenge.  If they want to analyze the data about my purchases, menus, and costs, they are very welcome.  I'm keeping a spreadsheet of the entire challenge.  I'm diligently weighing, measuring, and tracking every purchase.  My wife will be grateful when I stop dividing everything into precise portions and chopping up all the fruits and vegetables to see how many cups each purchase contains.  In the meantime, here's the cost of my daily chocolate chip cookie fix:

• 1 cup margarine -- $0.465
• 3/4 cups sugar -- $0.168
• 3/4 cups brown sugar -- $0.252
• 2 eggs -- $0.166
• 1 teaspoon vanilla -- $0.020
• 1 teaspoon salt -- $0.004
• 1 teaspoon baking soda -- $0.007
• 2 1/4 cups flour -- $0.190
• 12 oz chocolate chips -- $1.50 (not Tollhouse, obviously)

Total cost:  $2.77
Quantity: 42 cookies (3.5 dozen)
Cost per cookie: $0.066

Go ahead and freeze the extras.  Boy, baking in bulk is sure a lot easier than making one cookie at a time.  Happy eating!

Comments

[LK]

While I appreciate your thriftiness, I'm not sure that your average food stamp recipient has time to fix the meals you make yourself--beef stew for lunch, cookies from scratch, french toast for breakfast? Those living on the edge of poverty often have very little time because they work so much, in addition to the lack of money...

[John Dougall]

A very valid question. What is one's time worth? For the menu items that I've had they take very little time to prepare. For example, mixing the cookies takes less than 5 minutes (baking takes about 10 minutes per dozen assuming 1 cookie sheet). Preparing the stew required a few minutes to brown the hamburger and chop up the vegetables. The rest of the preparation time was just letting it simmer on the stove for about 1 hr (or a crockpot could have been used) which required almost no additional oversight or active involvement. French toast takes minutes to prepare as well.

Obviously I could have purchased a can of stew and it would have still fit within the budget. In addition to showing frugality I'm also trying to challenge the notion that a food stamp recipient can't afford fresh, healthy food. One other point that I am trying to show is that there can be diversity in the menu. I don't have to eat peanut butter for every meal.

Where I spent the most time was in planning the menus and making sure that it would be considered a well-balanced diet. I would imagine that some could spend significant time cutting coupons and searching for discounts. I didn't think it was necessary to spend that time, but if I had to live on less than $2.50/day I probably would have needed to resort to that effort.

[John Dougall]

I should also mention that my breakfasts are pretty similar to what I usually eat. The key difference is that I rarely have oatmeal and typically eat the whole grapefruit, rather than half. My dinners, for the challenge, include a lesser cut of meat with more vegetables and less fruit than usual. Traditional lunches consisted of left overs half of the time and fast food the other half, so that has changed (I've tries to assume that a fridge/microwave/stove is unavailable for 1 meal per day). Also, snacking is completely eliminated.

[Reach Upward]

When LK says, "those on the edge of poverty," I assume this means the working poor. But studies actually show that there is an inverse correlation between poverty and amount of actual time spent working.

In other words, the poorest (in general but certainly not in all cases) work the least. Thus, they should have ample time for effective shopping and food preparation. The problem is that many people in this situation either do not have or do not employ those skills. Some probably have legitimate reasons for this.

None of this is to case aspersions on people struggling with poverty. These are simnply statements of fact. Correct facts can help us find proper solutions.

[Allie]

Are you actually getting filled up on the amount of food you are allowing yourself?

(or is this doubling as a weight-loss plan?)

[John Dougall]

Yes, I am getting filled up. My breakfast and dinner is larger than I typically have, but there is a difference in less meat and fruit and more grains and vegetables. Also, I've been skipping the junk food since the purpose of the challenge is to see whether I can eat a healthy diet on this budget. I've been targetting an average daily caloric intake of 2000-2500, which is the recommended range for an overwight, middle-age guy who spends all day sitting at a desk. I'm no dietician, but I'm trying to follow the food pyramid guidelines.

[Scott Hughes]

I completely agree with what you say about government! If we want to reduce (and hopefully end) hunger and poverty, we need to do it with non-governmental organization.

However, I think it's wasteful to argue about how much food a person can buy with $1.05. Food alone won't do anything to end hunger and poverty. We need to provide quality education on a universal level to all people (namely children) fairly. The costs for food is petty compared to the total costs to end hunger and poverty. It will cost a lot but it's worth it. Education is worth the investment, because in the long run it returns more than is lost.

[David Fletcher]

Great job on documenting your activity in this "Food Stamp Challenge". With 8 children, we have typically ate on a budget similar to what you have identified. And I'm not sure why someone would suggest that someone on foodstamps wouldn't have time to prepare such meals. Like you, I have been in grad school while working two jobs and that certainly didn't preclude us from preparing our own meals. I also agree with your point that it is less costly per person to feed a family, than it is a single individual. Our experience would validate that. I appreciate the conscientious manner that you approach your position as our legislator.

[John Dougall]

Scott is absolutely correct. The cost of food is becoming meaningless. The biggest part of this challenge has been understanding what constitutes a health diet and planning menus that fit within those guidelines and the budget.

The cost of ending poverty is really the cost of instilling the value of education, fostering a culture of hardwork, and then reaching out to help those that truely can't help themselves in a way that avoids unnecessary dependency.