Gwyneth Paltrow is taking the Food Stamps Challenge. [Dlisted]
Chris Hemsworth arrived in LA yesterday. [LaineyGossip]
The first promo for Diane Sawyer’s interview with Bruce Jenner. [Buzzfeed]
All of the totally ‘90s people who guested on Mad Men. [Pajiba]
Lisa Vanderpump says the truth shall be revealed! [Reality Tea]
Here’s the info about the song on the True Detective trailer. [Starcasm]
I just can’t get into Cristiano Ronaldo. [A Socialite Life]
Karrueche Tran’s pants though. [Moe Jackson]
Vanessa Hudgens in Gigli?!? No, she’s in Gigi. [Go Fug Yourself]
Kate Hudson tries to make red jeans work. Eh. [Popoholic]
Tiger Woods’ kids have gotten so big! [Celebrity Baby Scoop]
Madonna is a terrible stand-up comedian. [The Blemish]
This is what $29 gets you at the grocery store—what families on SNAP (i.e. food stamps) have to live on for a week. pic.twitter.com/OZMPA3nxij
— Gwyneth Paltrow (@GwynethPaltrow) April 9, 2015
Okay, I gotta follow GOOP’s food stamp thing. This is gonna be good. How can you afford bottled unicorn tears on $29 a week?
by the dropplet one would assume
I’M SO DISAPPOINTED IN KENYA.
I think it’ll be easy for Gwyneth. She’ll just fast for a week.
For a single person, like myself, 29$ a week is do able. It’s not fun, and you really got to plan. I’d hate to have to feed a family with that.
I’m not certain, but I think it’s $29 per person per week.
Another option is to Grown your own garden if possible.
unfortunately you don’t get $29 per person per week. I get $16 for the month! Live off of that Gwyneth
Is this with or without $89 cold pressed virgin olive oil and $100 a block Himalayan pink salt? Also, is this for the whole family or just her? She really is the last person (PR wise) who should do a challenge like this. Gwyneth paltrow bringing light to the impoverished just smacks of irony and ,bluntly, insincerity. Everyonr knows $29 will stretch farther on ramen and hotdogs. Plus you will feel fuller, which is usually the point if you are hungry. If she ate ramen for a week, instead of this little weeklong spree of veggies, this act of charity wouldn’t feel so vain and self serving.
She’s trying to show that she’s like the rest of us. She only has to do this for a week and will go back to her comfy life. She doesn’t have to worry about where her next meal is coming from or how she’s going to pay her bills.
I don’t believe she is actually doing thus, just claiming she is.
I don’t know what point she is trying to make (live healthy for $29/week….or….$29 is not sufficient to feed someone or a family for a week), but, whatever her intentions, this will most likely go in the wrong direction for her.
I believe it’s her “see everyone can eat healthy on fs” argument but that is not enough to feed my family of 5 for a week so nope. It’s so gross of her to do this.
That’s actually the opposite of what she is saying. She is trying to raise awareness for families on good stamps and how it’s nearly impossible to live on that.
Yeah I’m no Goop apologist but I read it the same way, MrsB. Although as I mentioned downthread, her choices aren’t the best to illustrate her point.
Have any of you been on food stamps before? Well I have and my family had lived at the poverty level for a long time. But whatever. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. She is not the first to do this. Secret millionaire has done this. It’s not like she invented the concept. I don’t think she will eat that food. It’s just for show.
I can’t believe you’re complaining. You said you have a family five-that’s one lime for dinner per person with TWO limes to spare!
Kitten gave me my laugh for this week and next.
Zoe- For a short while, I was on food stamps. Unlike you, I don’t have a husband or children, but it’s very difficult for families to live on the amounts that are given out.
There are plenty of people who crab about food stamps, yet seem to have no understanding of how the program works and how those stamps are limited to certain things. You need toilet paper and things of that nature? Stamps don’t cover those items.
Also, they can’t be used to purchase alcohol and cigarettes either. That’s another common misconception people have.
I know. Everyone on SNAPS should be spending a portion of their weekly $29 on a bunch of fresh cilantro and one tiny sweet potato, according to GP – which is ridiculous. She hasn’t thought this through at all. She isn’t in a high-stress financial situation, which kind of limits the amount of time one can spend planning out meals and buying heads of kale. It’s totally different to know that last week you had all the money in the world to spend on food, and the week after this one you will again have all the money in the world to spend on food. All she’s going to prove is that it’s possible for one extremely privileged woman to buy some food to last for a week on $29. She’s not going to educate the impoverished masses on how they should spend their SNAP money. I’m not a GOOP hater at all – I even read her newsletter from time to time! But this was a bonehead move.
The Food Stamp Challenge has been done by a lot of people (Mario Batali is the one challenging folks to do it this go-round) and it’s to show how fricking hard it is to live on $29 a week.
@Zoe this is precisely what some posters are missing. It is $29 dollars a wk not per person. Also eating healthy esp. vegan is expensive
Exactly. Healthy food is significantly more expensive. I think that people on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale would eat healthier if that food were a little cheaper than it is.
Healthy food is not necessary more expensive, an apple, a carrot, some lentils and a few potatoes are cheap and good nutritious food.
Um the family i know who uses it gets over $400 per month for mom and two kids.
Maybe $29 is the average since it’s supposed to supplement your income, not pay for all of your food
For a family of five here in WA it’s $744 per month max (so about $40 per person per week). It depends on the actual family income amount.
A sidebar for a moment: read an article in the Washington Post awhile back about people giving these very informative tours of everyday streets in DC just to show people and educate them about the wild plants and weeds they could use to supplement their diets. One of the people attending the tour in the article was a single mother with children looking for a way to provide more food for her children on her budget. I expect they’re out giving the tours again now.
Eating healthy vegan is not more expensive if you stick to whole foods (the food, not the store) and shop at places like Aldi, or Asian/Latin markets. Multiple studies have compared cost of buying fast / processed food compared to whole foods and whole foods are actually LESS expensive. My own experience echoes the studies.
At Aldi, I get big bags of lemons for $0.99, onions for $1.49 (69cents sale this week), large bag of oranges for $1.89-$3 depending on season, 5-lb bag red potatoes for $1.29, whole cabbage for $0.99, avocado $0.47, etc.). They have every kind of produce most folks could want and cheap dried beans, grains, and olive oil too. Frozen pizza is $2.50ish. Frozen veggies $1.
It can totally be done, but you have to cook and you have to wear blinders around all the cookies, chips/crackers, and processed junk that make up most of the store merchandise. Most people prefer the processed stuff because that’s what they are used to eating. But if they could try whole foods for a couple of week they might find their tastebuds adjust and they actually start to prefer home cooking.
She’s no doubt learned the true lesson of being on food stamps – everyone will judge what you buy, think you are being wasteful in some way, and have no problem calling you names and worse.
Excellent post, Josephine. So true.
I’m just fixated on the juxtaposition between the food (why a crap-ton of limes instead of bulking up on the sweet potatoes?) and the beautiful marble countertop.
That doesn’t seem like the most practical of ingredients – specifically, she could have gotten something with more nutritional value instead of the cilantro, limes and scallions. But good on her for bringing more attention to the issue.
Re: Ronaldo – IMO he’s a bit too primped, but his talent, work ethic, professionalism and general niceness is top notch.
I thought the point was to buy food you would normally buy but you only had $29 to do that with. So, I think that is why she brought what she did. It’s suppose to make people realize how little one can actually buy with only that much a week to spend.
=
She bought SEVEN limes! Like, WTF?
And only one serrano. Her pico de gallo is going to suck.
I know!!! Limes can be so expensive in the off season!
I would have bought tons of cabbage. I love me some cabbage.
*dodges tomatoes*
It’s my Lithuanian blood! It cannot be denied.
Kitten
Must I explain the importance of a garnish to both drinks and the art of plating?
She’s doing the food stamp challenge. Not living without sophistication!
On a side comment I have done this challenge. A part of it was we could only purchase food at places that would accept Food Stamps(the debit card they assign). Where we normally shopped would not take that as a form of payment. And at times the food would not be covered by the program.
So, there’s going to your store of choice and spending that amount. And there’s using the card as your only form of payment. And i’m not even mentioning transportation costs and what food stores carry within travel distance among lower income communities.
When not tackling the whole issue it’s just a soap box to bring attention to yourself.
Anyone see on the Dailymail, what the “cause” was for Bobby Flay’s divorce? He got upset that Stephanie asked him about the January Jones rumors…..lol. REALLY Bobby?
Paging Kiddo and her SVU doon dooonnnn video. STAT.
@taterho, The internet is broken. You crashed it yesterday.
@Kiddo
That’s why me and mimif are perfect for each other. PLUS she’s 93 years old, and everyone knows how much I like senior citizens.
Virgilia Coriolanus, I think you just have a secret ‘thing’ for Goop apologists.
Be wary VC. mimif is a notorious eyebrow shamer and I have a source (Angelina Jolie) that says she is in fact, a couch climber.
@Kiddo the interwebs is never broken. Only bruised.
*Sarah Mclachlan music*
What the what? You’ve got it all wrong, people. I luff eyebrows, one could even say it’s bordering on obsession. Speaking of which, Goop’s eyebrows confuse me, but not enough to care because LIMES!
*skips off to fix the innanet*
@mimif – Sorry about the eyebrow shamer shaming. I’m ashamed.
Oh yeah…can you fix my Atari console too? My *blroooops* sound like *squirrrrrchhh*. Kai, thx.
@taterho
Ruh-roh, trouble in paradise. I have thick brows like a certain untalented celebrity offspring (although I did not grow up wearing vintage Dior)………mimif, just remember that the prenup goes in MY favor. I get the Liz Taylor knock off jewelry….
@Virgilia Coriolanus, all you might get in a settlement is some clunky plastic Amal jewelery. You have no hope of ever getting your hands on the waffle makers or pressure cookers. That would be addressed in the pre-nup.
Wait. Let me get this straight. Virgilia is getting hitched to mimif?
But, but, BUUUUTTTT, Kiddo and mimif are my adopted parental units!
Just tell me this. Do I get a separate potato slicer and a separate set of Gwyneth Paltrow sheets at BOTH homes after the custody battle?
I’m scared and confused. Am I gonna get shipped off to live with Jeremy Renner?
Excuse me, taterhoe. I am the couch climber. Didn’t you learn anything yesterday?
@MtnRunner – The only thing I learned yesterday is the internet address for youtube.
*hides from Kitten’s lime rampage*
taterho, now that you broke the internets, linking to ALL the THINGS, you broke the time/space continuum and the barriers keeping human forms from being streamed. It’s my understanding that you can now be everywhere at once.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80mmK56_NJo
or maybe this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c7hCWwTlrY
I heard MtnRunner climbs every couch.
Depends on how large it is, mimif.
@Kiddo – Apparently I’ve been sentenced to hot tubbing with Eastwood. This is the only sound I will be making for the near future.
https://youtu.be/8XS7IHSPFYQ
*spinning into lime-hurling vortex*
This news is a crushing blow to my loveseat.
There’s enough room for second-base, maybe even third-base on there.
Every couch as four corners. One for EACH BASE. Don’t waste a good couch, Kitten.
@Kiddo
That’s what you and MIMIF think. I’ve got Daddy Holmes on retainer…..he’s advised me to go on Celebitchy via burner phone, until this whole matter of that “prenup” is revised. Cough.
@taterho
I’m your new StepMommy *evil grin*. I promise to emulate Cate Blanchett.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGgKucNfJM0
The rumors from 5 years ago? Yeah, that makes sense.
It’s not a rumah!
When your trying to feed a family with just 29 bucks per person, the last thing you buy is an avocado and 7 damn limes. Cilantro? Seriously Goop?
*throws beets at her monitor*
lol!
Yeah, I think (or hope anyway) that her heart is in the right place with the experiment, but she already managed to Goop it up.
THIS! Preciseley this. I’m sure her intentions were (without even a wince of sarcasm from me I swear) very pure and she wants to create that awareness. But as usual she just goes and spills Goop all over it! Nobody in their right damn mind needs 7 limes unless they are either
1. Me and an afternoon affair with Jose Cuervo
or 2. Gordon Ramsay, so he can throw them at unwitting employees.
“Goop it up”! Love this. New catchphrase for being completely outta touch!! I’m stealing it.
Don’t forget about kale. Kale is everything – if hipster cooking blogs have taught me anything, it’s than you can survive on eating just kale and nothing else. Other ingredients are for cleansing smoothies.
*spills kombucha on her keyboard*
Lol I love kombucha tho (probably because there’s trace amounts of booze in it).
DEAD 🙂
I often see kale used in greenery outside of commercial properties like funeral homes and dentists’ office buildings. Maybe you could run over and steal some when no one is looking.
those beats are better used for war paint.
does she actually eat limes? The store had no bananas or plums?
Psst, alcohol.
Does that mean this week she’s going to collect the salt from her sweat, from all that working out she does? SEE. Stripper asses are good for the economy.
@Kiddo-see my response to mimif below regarding limes and alcoholic beverages.
@VC-What episode of The Red Door are you on?
PS-
I had a dirty dream about Momoa the other night, and not just because his name rhymes with mimosa and Samoa ™.
Now, now..Settle down, okitt. Now and then REAL fruit is everything, especially in water.
@Kitten, if you would use your IG properly, you would see that Momoa is doing something very cool (and you get to see his hot bod too). The rest of you are disowned and get nothing, I’m leaving all of my worldly possessions to Bubbles and Sherman. THE END.
@Kiddo-You’re a real fruit.
^^unfunny comeback^^
Man, I miss Mark.
@mimif-Tell meeee!!! What is he doing? Is he posing shirtless holding kittens?
That would give me serious tingles in my no-no zone.
Don’t you have to authenticate IG by cell number? NO, no , nope.
@Kiddo, nope, and I use a burner email so no one can find meeeee. Please, please join so I can tag you in baby piggie pics! @Kitten, not telling getonyourIGandgoto jason.momoa. Now. Also, um, I kind of tagged you in like 17 thousand things yesterday so, yeah.
YES! I just checked and think I saw one of your kittehs, mimifff! I also tried to put up a profile pic of the P-Man. I tried commenting on one of your photos–did it work?
Gah. This is what my mom feels like when she’s using her iphone.
I don’t know what it is about IG, but the interface just feels…unnatural to me.
I also don’t understand hashtags so that’s not helping. If I want to share something with you, do I hashtag your name?
HELP! So many questions.
EDIT: I think I sorta got it. I put up some new pics of the grey dude.
Psst Kiddo, you got props over at Dlisted comments for your Squint Eastwood. That sounds weird.
Well, well, someone got the hang of it. It gets better, I promise!
@Kitten
JUST the first episode….I started watching the second one, but had to stop. I’m up to the part where they’re looking at Jean’s car (after hubby switched the bumpers)……I’ll probably finish it up this weekend. But good Lord, I sometimes have to pause it because Mamoa is just so damn good looking. And muscle-y. And has the scar in his eyebrow. And has a very nice, muscle-y a…..okay, you get it. God, Lisa Bonet has got GAME. And they have what? TWO babies? Gah. I can’t decide if I want to go to Ireland to get me a Liam Neeson or go to freaking Hawaii….
Wait wait how do you all know each other on IG?? I wanna play!!
Abot, where where is Kiddo on dlisted? I must see immediately. I’m mimiffff on IG, come play!
I don’t want to nitpick too much because I do think there’s an important (sad) message here, but I agree with you on Goopy’s choices. Limes are tremendously expensive right now, at least where I live, like a dollar each if they’re even in stock. Plus, I’m not seeing any Pacifico here so once again, poor choices.
*this was meant in response to OhDear
The cost of lemons and limes enrage me, especially when themz sh*ts are all over the sidewalk in Cali–or at least where my aunt lives.
Also, who the hell bothers with limes in vodker sodees? I use flavored seltzer and flavored vodka for optimum flavored vodkerness.
It’s clear to me that this woman knows nothing about alcoholic beverages.
NOTHING.
*throws vodka at mimif and slams door*
*opens door, squeegees excess vodka from mimif’s face and then retreats*
*comes back and slams door*
Obviously, you are all incredibly toxic. Commence with the high colonic vadge steams and align your chakras before you address me again. And I want to see yellow auras!
*slurps up spilled vodker*
You two made me waste my vodka.
For that, you are both sentenced to three hours of hot tubbing with Squint Eastwood.
*throws kale douche at taterho and mimif*
Lime is for tequila! I love a fresh margarita, so good!
You all sound like a bunch of jerky nouveau rich tables. If you don’t behave yourselves, I’m calling the crane operator for a time out.
Sorry Kiddo
Lalalala…I can’t HEAR you! I’m on vacation with the Princess Bea.
*furiously looks for crane operator video on youtube…gets distracted by old episodes of Frasier*
*reports Kiddo for spam and/or abusive comments*
Oops, that actually worked yesterday and you was DB’D all over the place!
I’m exhausted running back and forth between threads. I need a couch to climb so I can nap after.
MtnRunner, don’t worry, mimif will make you and this thread disappear. She ‘knows’ people who can make that happen.
kiddo, mimif reported you and you’re still here???
I’m not scared of her. I’m the REAL Sourdough on this thread. She’s just a wanna-be.
*reports Sourdough Starter for spam and/or abusive comments*
*reports mimiffffffffff for Mark’s sudden and unexplained disappearance yesterday*
I know, it’s like he does these epic drivebys and then just vanishes. But I was touched that he specifically addressed me yesterday, it was sweet. *side eyes couch*
I really was routing for the two of you to take it ’round the bases. He probably saw your couch and had some performance anxiety.
Lolz it is a ginormous couch. 😉
Okay I live in the suburbs of Houston and there is no way that would cost $29 down here. I guess organic, maybe, but we’ve got HEB which has great prices and organic vegetables. How about everyone else?
ETA: I’m not saying the $29 is enough, I’m genuinely curious what it’s like elsewhere because I know price of living is really low down here!
I’m tempted to go find out, but I think that would be about right (here in Cali). Also, thank god she got some kale. I was worried there for a sec.
I guess I take for granted that I live in Amish co.with tons of farmers markets and side road stands where you can get tons of fresh produce and meats very cheap. I would be able to fill several large grocery bags for under 30.00. I know I could get the same veggies she has there for under 10.00 and thats including the limes and maybe even the eggs since we have local farmers for that too. Now they do not accept snap cards (or credit cards) for payment b/c they’re mostly run by amish and mennonites but you can get a lot of good stuff for very cheap prices. We also have a WIC program here that will give out produce vouchers for certain farmers markets as well as other food vouchers for other items but the other stuff is for use in reg. stores. I know one of my gf’s had to sign up for when her kids were little and she couldnt believe how much food she was able to get there and these vouchers did not interfere with any snap benfits or anything so they were able to get all that plus whatever they got from snap. I dont know if WIC is a national program or not but if it isnt it should be.
WIC is a national program but out is administered by the states and the eligibility rules differ by state. Some have rather complicated calculations involving age and size of children.
SNAP amount calculations are also complicated. People in northern states get less in summer because the cost of heat gets factored into the calculation.
I have a similar experience, too. I live in Michigan & when my children were quite small, we had food assistance. Even with 4 of us, I could never use it all, and I could buy almost anything I wanted – even organics.
But, as I said, I live in Michigan, a state who gives food assistance to just about everyone, to the point that it’s kind of a joke. College kids are notorius users of the system – not the poor, putting-themselves-through-school type, but the ones whose tuition is paid & everything. They claim no income so they can get free food.
I can’t imagine living in a state that really restricted it to $29/week! That’s crazy.
The limes alone would eat up $5 here
Limes are like a buck a pop. A BUCK A POP!
*throws desk on its side, storms off*
In NY depending on the season and where you buy them, I can get between 3 -5 for between 1 or 2 bucks. Not organic.
I saw $1 for 6 limes this morning. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them for more than four for a dollar!
Fresh fruits and vegetables can be pretty pricey in my area are certain times of the year, depending on what part you’re living in. Those fortunate enough to live closer to the rural markets can probably get better pricing, but that can be a forty minute drive for some people arund here. That’s not even addressing the issue of food deserts and the type of living situation that doesn’t even allow you easy access to good produce to begin with.
The food purchase Goop made could be good if you have the skills to know how to use the ingredients. I don’t know how to say this with out you all cutting me down, but it is true none the less. I work in a facility that offers a food pantry to the public. Believe me or not, but the overwhelming majority of people who come in as clients to our food pantry do not know how to prepare any kind of food other than pre-packaged meals-items like box macaroni and cheese. We constantly have clients reject bags of dried beans, which would provide many meals. I’m not sure if it is the time involved in the preparation or the lack of knowledge in how to prepare them. We have tried passing out recipes to show how the items can be combined to make nutritious meals, but the bottom line is the clients for the most part, NOT ALL clients, but the majority, want quick fix meals. For that matter, isn’t that true for most of us? Don’t most of us tend to gravitate towards quick fix food items, fast foods, etc. Not many of us have the luxury of the time at home to fix fresh foods, or the expense of purchasing them in the first place. That is why so many of us are overweight. We choose quick fix foods with little nutritional value, and a lot of calories. Goop’s choices for one week are healthy choices, but how many weeks do you eat rice and beans? They are healthy food items, will fill you up, and are cheap. But…
Yep, making home cooked meals, from scratch takes a LONG time. In my family, of five, to make a home cooked meal is about 3 hours, on average. I just started making bread (and I hand mixed and kneaded it, and boy was that a mother…..), and to make two loaves took me like three hours in total…..
And I went with my grandma when she went to our local Food Mill, and 90% of what they give you IS stuff that comes in boxes. But my grandma can actually cook, so she gets stuff that she can make (like dried beans)…..
@Zwella Ingrid – I appreciate what you’re doing with the food pantry…but why don’t you ask them why they don’t want the dried beans? My bet is that if you are (maybe) working several jobs, or even just one job but have kids…maybe you don’t have the time for laborious meal preparation like soaking beans for hours. That was my first thought anyway…
No soaking, slow cooker in broth, fin.
Gonna one up you and ferment. But that’s like soaking so nm. Bye.
@ kiddo – How many poor people have slow cookers? If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, I’m not sure a slow cooker is high on your list of priorities…
I really wasn’t speaking for those in poverty. Just as a general update on the soaking requirement idea. Personally, I’d rather wash out my grandmother’s old pot than a crock, so I cook them slowly, on low, right on the stove. My crock is also a hand-me-down. I have no idea what a used one might cost on ebay.
Pressure cooker. 30 mins. Buttery soft.
Just put them to soak the evening before. We eat a lot of beans because we love it, but it is a food for poor where I’m from and I ate it often when I was a kid and that’s how my mom did it (and generally everyone here who doesn’t buy them canned).
I’m a sucker for cooking shows where the general public is concerned, but what comes through is that most people really don’t know how to cook and that informs their grocery shopping. We’ve lost our ability to cook as a result of quick, easy take out or quick fix or microwave meals and that’s sad.
There is a fascinating doc on BBC at the moment where a family is living a decade per week starting with the 50s, and it’s interesting to see how much cooking from scratch was lost through time although we’re going full circle back to the 50s, but with better and wider selection of ingredients.
So true.
I think we also have to look at the historical context of processed foods. In the US, women were responsible for meal prep for many decades. When processed foods because available, it was also when women were getting out into the work force. Now they could work a full day AND still provide meals for their family because a tv dinner didn’t take hours to prepare. (Sadly when women went into the workforce in larger numbers, their home duties didn’t typically get moved and divided among the entire family).
I think we have a generation that grew up eating processed food because that is what their parents prepared for them, and now they are providing the same for their children because its all they know. Time is a luxury that not everyone has, and understanding how to cook meals from scratch is not something that everyone is taught.
LAK, For the past year I feel like I’ve been back in the 50s, cooking meals from scratch, nothing processed, because of issues my son is having. It’s a lot of work and for me, fairly ungratifying because it disappears so fast. Pure drudgery at times. I can really see how women started to go a bit bonkers under the pressure to be the perfect “homemaker.”
Zwella — since you seem to have the inside scoop on how this works, a question I have is whether this $29/person/week is intended to cover all grocery-store type expenses, or just food? When I see wealthy people taking this “challenge,” like Goop, their purchase pictures include 100% food. They do not include pricier items I’m sure people on food stamps, like the rest of us, need to buy, such as cleaning supplies, toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc. Does the $29 need to cover this stuff as well?
@Mixtape, food stamps only cover food. Food stamps do not cover diapers or laundry detergent. Food Stamps do not cover toilet paper, paper towels, kitty litter, dog food, trash bags, or many processed foods.
See my note below. I worked in a food pantry. It’s not lack of skill but lack of access to a kitchen that is the real issue. Many people who resort to snap and food pantries live in cheap motel rooms where they might have a microwave oven if they are lucky, and where cockroaches are an issue. No storage space, no plastic storage ware, etc. So how are they supposed to cook and safely store that homemade bean soup?
I am so, so lucky.
I don’t know who the people are that only get $29 for food stamps. When I’m at the store I see young women with kids and trust they get a hell of a lot more than $29 for their kids.. some get up to 3 to 4 hundred a month. And then by the end of the month they don’t have food for their kids.
I think for married people w/kids it may be different and perhaps what State you live in. But the young single mothers I see in grocery store..well they have loads of stamps or a card to use. So much so they sell or buy things for people they know. This is something that has bothered me forever. I saw it so much when I was teaching. Many of these mothers don’t know how to shop. Their carts are full of processed foods and junk foods. Very seldom to you see fresh vegetables. And the kids eat until it is all gone and then when the month begins again. There are ways you can eat on a budget and still have a great meal for your family.
little rant
They probably coupon, too. I’ve rarely seen coupons for fresh produce or meat — they are most frequently for the processed crap. I guess they can stretch their money in that way.
Exactly. I would LOVE to coupon, but the things I buy don’t usually have coupons (fresh fruit & veg, meat, etc.).
Yeah, my older sister is a “welfare” mother….no exaggerations. She could be so so so much (like she can do hair, nails, make up, can decorate cakes and bake, etc), but she chooses to work at places like McDonalds, etc. She’s got two kids. And she knows how to cook and is very good at it, but she just doesn’t want to. And my nephew is seven years old, and is always hungry, because she always buys him those nasty frozen dinners, or something from a box………and she complains that she doesn’t have enough $$ from her EBT because of it.
People need to realize that welfare and food stamps are not supposed to be a lifestyle. You are supposed to use it when you have no options. It’s supposed to be a temporary helping hand. I know of families that have been on welfare for generations ! Something needs to be done about those that abuse the system. There should be a time limit of how long you can be on welfare. Obviously, there are situations that are out of your control and you need to be on welfare for longer than others…but the ones who abuse the system need to be given warnings and have case workers check up on them.
@Word, there are time limits. They have been in place since the mid-1990s.
@ Lilacflowers
In what country? I live in Canada and am pretty sure we don’t have a time limit here. But if the welfare recipient keeps having kids, they won’t get turned away from welfare right? I mean they can collect until the child turns 18.
3 Kids + Mom = 4 people x $29 per week x 4 weeks in a month = $469.
Yep.
And let me just point out that, according to the USDA, a family of four typically spends no less than $630 per month on groceries.
I live with just my husband. So 2 adults and we spend no less than 300 a month… We’re not eating gold. Just healthy. To eat well costs more. And we have to prepare all the food.
I think some people would greatly benefit from money management courses. Knowing how to stretch a dollar is a good skill to have.
You are so right about the money management classes. If they would start with the basics in high school or even junior high, it might save a lot of people from running up credit card debt, taking out bad mortgages, not knowing how to budget, etc.
You have such personal knowledge of the habits of SNAP beneficiaries, but seem to know very little about the benefits themselves.
$29 is what you get WEEKLY in food stamps PER PERSON. For a family of two, that’s $8 a day, for a whopping total of $250 a month. Does that sound like “loads of stamps” to you?
I worked with someone on SNAP benefits (pro bono therapy and daily living skills training). Single woman, disabled, at one point got $200 a month, now gets $180.
My mom was on welfare growing up (single mother, 5 kids). My grandma couldn’t work because the paycheck she would get didn’t equal what she would get from welfare/even begin to cover childcare costs. So, she stayed home with the kids.
My mom told me stories about ONCE a month getting a special treat a McDonald’s…they each got one plain hamburger. That’s all they could afford. Otherwise, my grandma would cook every meal for them.
Yes, some people abuse the system. But some people need the system so f****ng badly that their family would die or be homeless without it.
And FYI, my mom, aunts, and uncle are all very successful people with jobs, degrees, their own homes, etc.
I just get really worked up when people say, “I see girls do blah blah blah ALL THE TIME.” Please stop generalizing those that actually need help. You don’t know their life, you don’t walk in their shoes.
^^ Comment meant to respond to Lisa2’s, just FYI!
@Suzanne you nailed it. When I see folks using ET cards I don’t think let me play Fraud detector. I don’t care. I also think they must need it. Shaming people is bullsh-it.
Amen, Suzanne and Outstandingworldcitizen. I get so frustrated with these amateur fraud agents who see nothing but treachery in folks that rely on public assistance.
Excellent comments lobbit and Suzanne. You both hit the nail on the head. I said something similar upthread about how the SNAP benefits aren’t always what people think. You’re also limited on what you’re allowed to buy and one common misconception is that people can use them to purchase alcohol and cigarettes.
300 dollars isn’t enough when it comes to feeding a family. My mom gets food stamps for my younger sister and I we get about 300 a month and we stretch it as much as we can. We buy store brand items and food to cook and the cheapest fruits and vegetables. My mom does not buy us junk food we’re not allowed to get chips, candy or prepackaged food the only treat we get is that my sister and I can each pick a bag of cereal in the beginning of the month and once that cereal is gone its gone we can’t get another box until the next month. And even though we buy the cheapest
And even though we buy the cheapest foods that money only last for 3 weeks my mom has to pay out of her pocket for the next 10 days and sometimes we don’t have enough money so we have to go without food. Or we have to choose between paying the light bill or buying food. I don’t understand why people judge others just because they have food stamps or are on welfare. I’m pretty sure most of the people on benefits would rather pay their own way instead of having to rely on the government. And I know that there are some people who abuse the system but there are others who really need it. Instead of judging single mothers who are trying to make ends meet and feed their children you should be judging the deadbeat dads who left them with no choice but to rely on benefits.
(this is the rest of my comment. I don’t know why it didn’t let me edit my first one.)
Thank you for sharing your experiences, Carolina.
Thank you for sharing your story, Carolina.
@Carolina, I’m sorry you are having a rough time, hon. 🙁
I buy store brand items a lot myself. Some are actually very good. Things start to get very expensive as soon as you purchase any cleaning items, which, of course, is vital for food safety and a healthy living environment.
Wealthy famous people doing “poverty” challenges will never not be patronizing. Unless you follow up with advocacy or political action, it’s an entirely toothless gesture.
+ 1 million
Right.
If you’re doing it just for the publicity aspect, yes. But I do think there is personal benefit to be found in taking the challenge and increasing your personal awareness of the challenges of others and gratefulness for what you have.
Exactly, lobbit.
I’d love to see what she makes from this collection for her kids. I know they live on rice cakes and sunshine, but really, what the hell do you cook for dinner from this? Brown rice with some sautéed peas and lime juice? You’d think she might have considered getting a box of Barilla pasta for a buck and lose a few of the limes.
She’s doing the challenge, not the kids. She bought real food; I could make several different dishes from what she purchased, although I would have made some different choices.
That is going to stretch to 63 MEALS (assuming 3 meals a day for three people, since hers is not a family of four)? yeah – OKAY….. good luck with that, Goopster.
I think $29 per person, per week, sounds like a reasonable amount, especially if you’ve got the time to cook, so I’m not sure what the challenge will be for her.
I spend about $110 a week for our family of three, and I buy 90% – 95% organic. I make almost all of our meals, including breads, pizza, cookies, and cakes. It does require planning, budgeting, and going to 3 different stores, and using coupons and going on “family nights” where there’s a 10% discount. I’m able to do this because I’m at this point a SAHM (not by choice) but my entire day is taken up with cooking, cleaning, laundry, and raising my son.
When I didn’t have my son, working 14+ hours a day, and it was just my husband and me, we spent $140 to $170 a week on groceries, and that didn’t include all the takeouts and eating out at restaurants.
$29 per person, per week, is only a challenge if you have to absolutely live by it, no back ups, no savings, WHILE working or raising kids or living with no help.
Yup, you hit the nail on the head. A lot of these people work multiple jobs and don’t have the time to go to different stores and spend hours cooking. And by the time they get home, they just want to feed their family and try to relax for a bit (DON’T WE ALL??). Not to mention housework, laundry, homework, etc. that the parent may need to do for/with their child(ren).
It’s situations like these that make me realize how privileged I am to have been born into my family and country. It’s a weird luck of the draw, and acknowledging it and then DOING SOMETHING TO HELP makes all the difference.
OK but you’re spending $110 weekly, that’s $23 more than the average SNAP allotment. It sounds as if you’re well-versed in meal planning and budgeting, so you know that $20+ makes a big difference in a grocery bill.
And you have the resources to get your food bill down to $110 per week. Many people on SNAP do not. There are people using SNAP that don’t have reliable transportation – it’s a struggle to get to one grocery store, never mind three. These folks do, in fact, live by their food stamp benefits – and they have lower incomes, little savings, and less help.
People are missing the point, lobbit, but you’re correct.
Not only do they not have reliable transportation but many of the poorer neighborhoods do not have grocery stores at all. Add to that the fact that many of these people do not have adequate food storage abilities or appliances. By “appliances”, I don’t mean blenders or slow cookers, I mean ovens and refrigerators. Very often, they may just have a stovetop and no refrigerators. The lack of a refrigerator is a problem not only for food but in cases where someone in the family is on a medication that needs to be kept cool. I did poverty law for a while and I was initially shocked at what I took for granted and what people right here in the US lacked.
Good point Lilac.
i spend less than that every week on food. it’s the other stuff that messes you up like things to clean with, paper products etc.
“it’s the other stuff that messes you up like things to clean with, paper products etc. ”
You can’t purchase that stuff using SNAP benefits, so you’ll need discretionary income to get those items.
We have little key limes from Mexico and they aren’t expensive here — but no way in hell $29 is enough to feed one person let alone a family (Albuquerque). I have tried and it is hard to do, though I have enough limes for my beer.
That’s a lotta limes…
The food stamp challenge is utterly ridiculous. We budget and spend $400 per month for groceries for a family of three. That comes out to $33 per person per week and we eat VERY well. The key is to COOK meals from whole foods. Yeah, if all you buy are microwave meals and processed foods, it will be hard to live off that allowance. We buy tons of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and beef and seafood, and low fat dairy items. Plus, there is room for a few ‘treats’ like snacks for our child and gourmet cheeses. Maybe the food stamp program should educate recipients (through a booklet or whatever) about how to cook meals with ingredients and not rely on processed crap.
No offense but your situation works for exactly one person. You.
I’ve had to do food surveys for those on EBT as well as going shopping with those getting welfare and at the end of the day the food priced reasonably for their circumstances was the processed food. Vegetables and fruits are more expensive, have a shorter shelf life, and tend to last for very few meals once cooked into one meal. These are not people with time, the best appliances, or many options. They need as many meals as possible for the price, not one or two good ones with some leftovers.
The only person I knew getting a ‘large’ budget for food stamps was a woman with 6 kids who got 749 per month. Suffice it to say she just had a different budget for the same poor circumstances. With grocery food becoming more expensive and quality of food varying greatly depending on the supermarket you go to you might prefer processed food to nearly-dead veggies half the size they should be (and yes sadly this supermarket was the closest to her, the good supermarket charged more for better quality food but she didn’t have the resources to go there anyway).
You need to understand that not everybody has access to healthy food that can be afforded for $400 a month. Food deserts are a very real reality in the United States.
The late night commercials with Valerie Bertinelli and Cindi Crawford where they rave about this face cream, “made from a rare melon found only in a small village in France.” Half of this planet is starving to death literally, and they are wasting food on shallow vanity. Infuriating.
Oh, and when I received foodstamps, I received $200 per month for ONE person. I never spent that much in cash for good before I received the benefits. Whoever is claiming that families only get $29/week are not very familiar with the system or are taking a flawed stance on the issue.
That’s not far off. The amount received varies by state, varies by the income the person receives, and is affected by how much the person pays for rent and utilities. The $29 a week per person is the average for New York City.
With the price of beef and other foods, no one can afford to eat these days. Don’t shame those who have to use SNAP. I live in Kansas and I’m so ashamed of this governor who could care less about the poor, minorities, disabled and education. He only seems to care about relieving his rich buddies of taxes, the hell with the rest of the state. He should change his name from Brownback to Kochback. “No regulations/laws for corporations to destroy the country (or pay their taxes) but let’s tell the people how to live their lives, what to eat, wear, where to go to church, how to think, let-us-see-and regulate-your-uterus, guns-guns-guns, and Oh, Jesus and Koch Bros. loves them some Sam.”
‘What’s The Matter With Kansas?’ Indeed.
As Jon Stewart pointed out, if only the Federal government treated Kansas like Kansas treats their welfare recipients, then maybe Brownback would get it.
Kansas takes $1.29 from the Federal government for every $1 the residents pay in Federal taxes. Maybe the Federal government should give Kansas a 3 year deadline before they get cut off?
I didn’t initially understand what was meant by the food stamp challenge when I first saw this topic so I breezed past it.
Now knowing that’s what she’s attempting to do and looking at her food options I don’t know whether to laugh or get angry. Someone up thread said it but it’s so true, this challenge done by someone well off just comes across as patronizing and a little insulting. There’s a level of desperation that’s missing, a harsh reality that hasn’t been realized.
Come back to us when you have to rely on public transportation to get to the supermarket Gwenny. Let us know whether you pick fresh fruits and vegetables when the offerings are half rotting or twice as small as they should be at the good supermarket. When you really, and I mean really, have NO other options on how to feed your kids and know that if you mess up and run out of food they. will. be. hungry.
No supermarket fairy god mother Gwen.
Choose wrong and your children’s stomachs will be empty and you’ll see the sadness on their faces of knowing for some reason their lives just have this emptiness that others don’t.
This woman…smh. These are the food choices of a privelaged woman who will be apparently feeding her children limes for breakfast, lunch, and one dinner before they starve for the rest of the week.
eating only becomes an “issue” when you can’t afford it. those who have never gone hungry (and by that I mean not eaten for days) have no idea what it feels like. if those republican congressmen were unable to eat or go to a dentist or doctor due to lack of funds, they might have a little more compassion for the struggling working class. the 1%, instead of hording their money and doing meaningless challenges should give to food pantries and soup kitchens in their communities or where there is the most need. this should be done anonymously but if they must have the publicity then so be it; as long as they give. but what is the likelihood of them giving something without the possibility of getting something back for self?
Gwynneth is very poorly advised. Showboating efforts like this one are just so blatant that they actually have the reverse effect. Yes, she’s wealthy and unbearably pretentious, but I’m sure her image can be rehabbed — but not without smarter people on the case. To change perception in an effective way, she and her P.R. team need to find topics, causes and activities that are actually of interest to Gwynneth, are really something that are authentic to who she actually is. No one believes helping the poor or underprivileged is what Gwynneth is all about.
The veggies and fruits she chose are probably very cheap where she lives (not where I live) and she tried to pick things that would make for a healthy diet rather than just thinking about calories. She’s showing how tough it is to have a healthy diet on that amount of money per week. A good exercise would be to add up the calories, protein, fat, and fiber to see what the totals are per day and if they are reasonable. I think the exercise assumes some things are already available in the kitchen, such as oil? If so, they need to prorate the cost of such things to be honest so they are included properly in the weekly spending.
Many people are not in a position to grow their own food even if they knew how. They don’t have the facilities, or the ability to keep other critters/pests/ neighbors from stealing the food, or the weather won’t cooperate. We don’t all live in California. Or they may simply not have the time or energy or money or physical ability to set up and tend a garden.
I can see why people will buy things to sell if they can. How else do you buy stuff like toilet tissue, soap, etc.? When stamps were paper, they could get change to cover that. I imagine that doesn’t work with the cards. The food stamps aren’t usually free, by the way, but rather people are given a discount to buy them depending on their resources. If you have nothing, they’re free. But otherwise, you’re paying a certain percentage of the value, unless they’ve changed the system since I last looked at it (before the cards).
The purpose of the program isn’t just to help people who are already poor, but also to help people between jobs or in low-paying jobs from slipping into poverty. The idea is to at least cover food so whatever cash they have can go for other things. So people really should apply for them right away once they’re eligible, to stretch out their remaining money as long as possible. But even careful planners can end up short on food by the end of the month if they don’t have other resources. Even people eligible for drawing unemployment benefits (which don’t last long) find that their fixed expenses are not covered by it, such as rent or mortgage because it’s set too low. This is how people run up high credit card debt, trying to stay afloat in difficult times- very few of them are shopaholics. They’re putting essentials on the cards until they get another job, which can take a long time.
One problem with the Challenge though is that it does not recognize that many people who are most in need of SNAP benefits don’t live in households where they have access to a kitchen or have a safe place to store their food. Same thing with telling the poor to start gardens– you need access to garden space, a water source, hoses, gardening tools, and leisure TIME. It is not free food.
There are great programs out there. Our local food bank has two of them. First, they offer free cooking classes to help people stretch their food dollars, and do so in a way that doesn’t take much time and is nutritious. Second, they grow their own vegetables (and some fruit, but no much as we live in a cold climate), and offer those items free or at greatly reduced prices to those who need them. The garden is run by volunteers, including some of the recipients of the food, and they also offer guidance for neighborhoods using empty lots to plant a community garden.
Those who seem so angry over what people buy and what people do or don’t do might consider funneling their energies into something decent, like these options, or at least educating yourself instead. Go work at a food bank once in awhile – you’ll see the true and very varied faces of hunger, and I’m guessing that all of the judgment will lessen. The stereotypes are unfair.
I am absolutely dying laughing & crying at the same time. Limes??? Cilantro???? HYSterical… I could imagine the looks on my kids faces.
Get a grip on reality, GOOPY.
As for my tears, the fact that someone is expected to buy enough protein and food to at least fill you enough without getting rickets on $29 is horrible.
The thing I find most insulting about Gwyneth’s participation in this experiment is that I have no trouble whatsoever believing that — on her own — she COULD live on that pile of food she photographed. She could eat two of those eggs and a tortilla on the side every morning for breakfast; a Romaine salad with peas and a bit of avocado for lunch every day; and make a big pot of lentils with rice, limes and cilantro at the beginning of the week and eat that for dinner every evening with a bit of sauteed kale. That’s probably Goop’s idea of a perfectly healthy week, food-wise.
But the truth is, she got her math totally wrong. She says in her description that the photo shows what $29 buys you at the grocery store, and then says that’s what SNAP families have to live on every week. But it’s $29 PER PERSON, so really, all she did was shop for herself. Which is fine, but it seems so in character, doesn’t it? That Goop would only think about her own needs for this experiment.
In other words, she didn’t shop for her kids, too — and that just makes her participation in this even more of a farce, in my opinion.
Or she decided that the kids would not participate. Maybe they’re with their dad for a week. Picking apart every little thing seems exhausting.
But isn’t her clearly stated point that this $29 worth of food is what a family has to live on for a week? When in truth it’s what a single person has to live on. And my point is that she’s being disingenuous, because we all know that on her own, she wouldn’t have any trouble living on that pile of healthy virtue for a week. The exercise would make much more of an impact if she showed us how she would also feed her kids on the prescribed amount of money. Healthy as her kids might be, I doubt her week’s groceries would consist of all those greens and limes.
I’m not trying to be “exhausting.” I just think if someone as entitled as Gwyneth Paltrow is going to take on this challenge she should at least attempt to make it realistic.
$29 per person, per week isn’t too hard to live off of depending where you’re at and if you’re willing to get off your high horse and eat *gasp* non organic, GMO food when necessary.
My family of four eats on about $60-70 a week, and that’s shopping in winter/early spring when our garden isn’t producing. Come summer, I’m only buying meat and dairy and then we still spend less than $60/week eating organic, locally grown, unprocessed food. It can be done.
No one believed me when I said she’s broke. And now she’s on food stamps. This is not a stunt. She is POOR. It’s a way of hiding the obvious in plain sight. It’s a great PR move to make everyone think she’s just acting poor. Watch what happens next. She will next claim to be downsizing to be closer to her acting roots. Like, when was the last time someone gave that awful woman a job.