Reporter lives off $31.50 for Food Stamp Challenge
EUGENE, Ore. -- As part of the week-long series "The Food Stamp State," KVAL News will profile different aspects of hunger in Oregon.
Every night, KVAL News will share a story about people in the community who are part of the rising number of Americans who face hunger everyday.
They aren't alone: 46.6 million Americans are part of the SNAP program, commonly known as food stamps.
Oregon leads the nation in food stamp use. In Lane County, 82,650 people are on food stamps according to October 2012 statistics from the DHS and the SNAP program.
As part of my series, Lauren Lee from KVAL News is participating in the Food Stamp Challenge to live on $31.50 for food for the entire week. That's the average food stamp benefit per individual in the U.S.
The goal: to find out whether or not Lee can be healthy while on food stamps. Is it possible? If so, how difficult is it? The challenge lasts from November 11-17.
Before heading to the grocery store, Lee spoke with nutritionist Dana Baxter from Food For Lane County. She shared a few tips for healthy and smart grocery shopping on a budget.\\
Baxter said you should:
- Focus on seasonal fruits and vegetables,
- Shop in the bulk section of the grocery store,
- Price check two like-items such as chicken, and
- Buy ingredients instead of pre-made, pre-packaged foods.
She says keeping these tips in mind at the grocery store will help you save money at the register.
With $31.50 to spend, there's a difference between what a shopper wantw versus what a shopper can afford.
For example, red seedless grapes are $1.87 per pound. Sitting right next to the grapes were pears at 96 cents per pound. The pears were a better deal for my money.
As a meat lover, Lee wanted to buy steak or other meats. Baxter had this to say about proteins: "Try to focus on plant based proteins like beans, legumes. You can make soups and chiles out of them. They're very high in fiber which a lot of the animal based proteins are not."
So Lee purchased ingredients for a red lentil soup with pasta, primarily bought in the bulk section. She also purchased ingredients for a chicken soup, all at a low cost.
After picking up a whole chicken, bread, bananas, peanut butter, some vegetables and fruit - it was off to the checkout.
Lee spent a grand total of $21.20, which left her $10 for the rest of the week.
Lauren Lee will be Tweeting and updating my Facebook page all week with updates, photos and more. You can find her at:
Twitter: @LaurenLeeNews and #FoodStampChallenge or #FoodStampState
Facebook: Lauren Lee KVAL
I'd use the Food Stamps at Winco, Grocery Outlet and/or Walmart, if I had a way to get there, groceries are more reasonable priced than Major Chain Stores, Buying for a Week is Unreasonable Since Recipients Recieve the Total for the Month all at Once, so you wouldn't have to figure Breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week out of the 31.50 a week, You would have the total of $126.00 according to the amt you are saying. But with the first 31.50, I could buy, 2 lbs. of Whole Grain Spelt from the Bulk Section for $1.08a lb. $2.16, to make noodles, biscuits, Tortillas, a 2# Block of Cheddar Cheese, for about $4.48 to use in tacos, burritos, sandwiches,  A bag of Dried Beans for burritos or side to tacos(black, pinto abt. 13 servings per bag) $1.20 and A Lucrene Lite Sour Cream $1.28, for tacos, burritos a 7 oz Can of enchilada sauce/salsa, or green verde, for tacos, burritos .89c, a Head of Lettuce $1, Whole Fresh Chicken, or thighs bone in skin on when on sale, or whichever cut is cheapest at the time, for tacos, soup, enchiladas, chicken roll ups, about $5. 3 or 4 oz of protein is plenty for a meal. 2 onions, .75c . 1 doz. bay leaves in bulk, .10cents, some salt in bulk .25 c, 2 tbs Taco Seasoning, 1 tbs, poultry seasoning in bulk .25c, baking soda in bulk .25c, baking powder in bulk .50c., the Chicken consumme base in bulk $1.00,  cheapest catsup, $1.28, cheapest mayo, $3., sweet relish, $1. Margerine cubes, $1.00, box of soy milk 1.28, Package of Frozen peas, $1., 2# bag of carrots .88c, a loaf of whole wheat bread $ 2.50, $31.20, That is enough food to make a batch of Homemade noodles for soup or spigetti, a dozen burritos or 9 burritos and 3 rollups, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, To go with the chicken noodle soup, 2 or 3 chicken rollups.   This doesn't list anything for breakfast, because, i was trying to prove a point of how far $31.50 will go. This makes a lot of Good Nutritious Food.
I would also like to see the itemized menu for 7 days with just those items....breakfast, lunch, dinner? This weeks menu is with one chicken and one bag of beans?
This is all fine and well but I have not once in the recent past seen someone who uses food stamps apply ANY of the principals they are suggesting here. Â I see soda pop, juice packs, sugar snacks, chips, hot dogs, frozen food, sugar cereal, and boxed dinners, along with a gigantic package of t-bone steaks oh and for veggies, they throw in a 10 pound bag of spuds...I think SNAP should be more like WIC - list the things they can buy with the SNAP card and include things like toilet paper and laundry soap but nix the junk processed foods and soda pop and sugar drinks. Â I saw someone else comment about this on another website and they suggested a class or two on how to make your SNAP dollars stretch, that would help too!Â
Hey KVAL what store did she shop at just wondering=))