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May. 11th, 2013 02:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickIf it ever stops raining, I will post about horses again.
Today it's the price of food and what is termed "poverty tourism" -- that thing the NJ governor did, by eating on a 'food stamp' budget for a week.
Pros to doing the "food stamp budget" thing -- It might give people who do not receive the benefit some perspective on how much it really buys for a household. It might temper a bit of the "living like KINGS on SNAP benefits" mindset, walking a week in someone else's shoes. Mindful eating is helpful for people anyway.
Cons. Non-poor people who have a stable middle-class life, a car, a working fridge/freezer/stove, the knowledge and leisure to cook well, a kitchen with pots and utensils to cook well *with*, cupboards full of spices and flavorings and ingredients to add to the "food stamp budget" food purchases -- these people are not going to have the same "food stamp budget" experience as a person who takes the bus twelve blocks one way to a crappy, poorly-stocked, overpriced grocery store and has a "kitchen" in her rented room that consists of an illegal hotplate, one pan, a can opener, plastic utensils from a fast food joint, and a small "dorm size" fridge, no freezer. Can you and your middle-class kitchen cook better than our hypothetical inner-city resident? Sure, with one hand tied behind your back. So, it's not going to be all that realistic even if you try really really hard to suffer for your art.
It's arguably disrespectful of the folks who receive SNAP because yer average middle-class person playing the "food stamp budget" game is not going to get an accurate picture of the life and he or she can quit the game at any time, whereas the SNAP recipient does not have that luxury.
And, well, people are going to claim that you're doing it wrong. They're going to claim that you have to start with NO FOOD AT ALL and NOTHING IN YOUR CUPBOARDS and NO SPICES and NO PANS and yadda yadda yadda. You're not going to please anyone by playing "food stamp budget" because every single observer knows how to do it better than you and is just chomping at the bit to tell you how.y.
Fun as it might be, what with the poverty tourism and the catchy title, we are not going to play "food stamp budget" at my house. First off, I don't qualify for food stamps because I make too much money. Second, no matter how I do it, it will be "wrong". Either I'm doing it to show that it can be done (by well-fed, not-overtired, genius-level IQ me and my middle-class fully-equipped kitchen with working fridge, freezer,and stove, my extensive spice rack, my enthusiasm for and skill at cooking, my reasonably-well-stocked grocery store, my joyfully sharp knives, etc) and therefore the problem with all those obese, diabetic poor people suffering from food insecurity is that they are so incompetent that they are failing at being poor OR I'm doing it to show that it can't be done unless the person playing the game is willing to opt for the filling white carbs strategy. which is something we already know.
Instead we're going to look at the price of food in my household, because I think it's interesting and I want to do that. (I would honestly rather be breaking horses, but rain, yo.) As a side note, the act of observing a thing changes the behavior of the thing, so there will probably be some modifications to my actual food budget because someone, somewhere, is watching me natter on about my food.
I went grocery shopping today. Not sure how interesting it is going to be to look at what I buy, but what the hell. (Also, do note that I get some food items more-or-less for free. The dude presents me with ripe avocados in much the same way that other dudes bring fresh flowers. The horse people basically give me all the eggs I can eat, for free, particularly in the springtime. They have chickens, is why. And also Trys gets free "produce" food from the food bank helper sorta-father-in-law, sometimes large amounts and always unexpected. Some of it needs to be eaten right away, which is why it gets offloaded to me. If it doesn't get eaten right away, it goes bad and the chickens get it. I realize that these items are not typical in most people's food budgets, but there you go. I sometimes get free food. Today I have four eggplants. Some of them are kind of scary, but I suspect I can get enough out of them to make something-eggplant today.)
What I bought:
3.11 5 lbs all purpose flour
2.53 3.2 lbs medium rye meal (this is flour)
2.44 2.24 lbs rye berries (whole grain, for grinding)
11.45 5 lbs. american cheese slices
3.99 lipton tea bags
2.69 4 lbs sugar
6.38 ghirardelli 60% chips
2.29 carrots
3.99 limes (a whole bag, I use these in curries and stuff)
1.50 head cauliflower
1.06 kale (bunch)
1.00 cilantro (bunch)
43.43, it says.
Today it's the price of food and what is termed "poverty tourism" -- that thing the NJ governor did, by eating on a 'food stamp' budget for a week.
Pros to doing the "food stamp budget" thing -- It might give people who do not receive the benefit some perspective on how much it really buys for a household. It might temper a bit of the "living like KINGS on SNAP benefits" mindset, walking a week in someone else's shoes. Mindful eating is helpful for people anyway.
Cons. Non-poor people who have a stable middle-class life, a car, a working fridge/freezer/stove, the knowledge and leisure to cook well, a kitchen with pots and utensils to cook well *with*, cupboards full of spices and flavorings and ingredients to add to the "food stamp budget" food purchases -- these people are not going to have the same "food stamp budget" experience as a person who takes the bus twelve blocks one way to a crappy, poorly-stocked, overpriced grocery store and has a "kitchen" in her rented room that consists of an illegal hotplate, one pan, a can opener, plastic utensils from a fast food joint, and a small "dorm size" fridge, no freezer. Can you and your middle-class kitchen cook better than our hypothetical inner-city resident? Sure, with one hand tied behind your back. So, it's not going to be all that realistic even if you try really really hard to suffer for your art.
It's arguably disrespectful of the folks who receive SNAP because yer average middle-class person playing the "food stamp budget" game is not going to get an accurate picture of the life and he or she can quit the game at any time, whereas the SNAP recipient does not have that luxury.
And, well, people are going to claim that you're doing it wrong. They're going to claim that you have to start with NO FOOD AT ALL and NOTHING IN YOUR CUPBOARDS and NO SPICES and NO PANS and yadda yadda yadda. You're not going to please anyone by playing "food stamp budget" because every single observer knows how to do it better than you and is just chomping at the bit to tell you how.y.
Fun as it might be, what with the poverty tourism and the catchy title, we are not going to play "food stamp budget" at my house. First off, I don't qualify for food stamps because I make too much money. Second, no matter how I do it, it will be "wrong". Either I'm doing it to show that it can be done (by well-fed, not-overtired, genius-level IQ me and my middle-class fully-equipped kitchen with working fridge, freezer,and stove, my extensive spice rack, my enthusiasm for and skill at cooking, my reasonably-well-stocked grocery store, my joyfully sharp knives, etc) and therefore the problem with all those obese, diabetic poor people suffering from food insecurity is that they are so incompetent that they are failing at being poor OR I'm doing it to show that it can't be done unless the person playing the game is willing to opt for the filling white carbs strategy. which is something we already know.
Instead we're going to look at the price of food in my household, because I think it's interesting and I want to do that. (I would honestly rather be breaking horses, but rain, yo.) As a side note, the act of observing a thing changes the behavior of the thing, so there will probably be some modifications to my actual food budget because someone, somewhere, is watching me natter on about my food.
I went grocery shopping today. Not sure how interesting it is going to be to look at what I buy, but what the hell. (Also, do note that I get some food items more-or-less for free. The dude presents me with ripe avocados in much the same way that other dudes bring fresh flowers. The horse people basically give me all the eggs I can eat, for free, particularly in the springtime. They have chickens, is why. And also Trys gets free "produce" food from the food bank helper sorta-father-in-law, sometimes large amounts and always unexpected. Some of it needs to be eaten right away, which is why it gets offloaded to me. If it doesn't get eaten right away, it goes bad and the chickens get it. I realize that these items are not typical in most people's food budgets, but there you go. I sometimes get free food. Today I have four eggplants. Some of them are kind of scary, but I suspect I can get enough out of them to make something-eggplant today.)
What I bought:
3.11 5 lbs all purpose flour
2.53 3.2 lbs medium rye meal (this is flour)
2.44 2.24 lbs rye berries (whole grain, for grinding)
11.45 5 lbs. american cheese slices
3.99 lipton tea bags
2.69 4 lbs sugar
6.38 ghirardelli 60% chips
2.29 carrots
3.99 limes (a whole bag, I use these in curries and stuff)
1.50 head cauliflower
1.06 kale (bunch)
1.00 cilantro (bunch)
43.43, it says.
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Date: 2013-05-12 12:34 am (UTC)