Fascinating article on food purchasing

[cdh]

Fascinating look at the 2010 foodstamp user: http://www.salon.com/life/pinched/2010/03/15/hipsters_food_stamps_pinched/

Educated, underemployed, infused with the Michael Pollan ethos. Wild caught salmon and other Whole Foods stuff bought with modern day food stamps.

I say hooray! Showing that food stamps don't necessitate a diet of mac'n-cheez and processed crap... others seem to think that nutritionally aware poor folks are uppity and abusing the system.

[LindaK]

Here in Boston, food stamps can be used at our farmers markets. Last year, the city launched a program that underwrites the cost of doubling the value of food stamps used at farmers markets. The Boston Globe wrote about it here. The article notes that a few other cities have similar programs--Atlanta, San Diego, Providence, and Holyoke, MA.

Given the subtitle of this topic, I hasten to add that the program was not intended to benefit hipsters (although if they are unemployed and qualify for food stamps, shop the farmers' markets, by all means). Rather, fresh produce can be hard to access in central cities, especially in less affluent neighborhoods, and though farmers' markets are great, they aren't necessarily inexpensive. This program helps bring down the cost of one of the few healthy options available to many people. Making local products more affordable benefits both the customers and the local farmers.

(Disclosure: I work for the city of Boston.)

[Chris Amirault]

Food stamps can also be used at all RI farmers markets; trips to the Broad St market (in South Providence, a poorer section of town and my neighborhood) suggest that a majority of purchases are made with food stamps. I also know several families in my school that fit the bill above: making lots of food from scratch, quality ingredients.

[Pierogi]

The inherant problem with this thesis (e.g. food stamp recipients *can* buy healthful stuff if they just wanted to....) is transportation.

There are pitiful few Whole Foods markets in poor neighborhoods where most food stamp recipients are likely to live.

There are pitiful few actual grocery stores (Ralphs', Von's, Albertson's, Stater Bros., etc.) in poor neighborhoods where most food stamp recipients are likely to live.

There are even pitiful few discount grocers (Food-4-Less, Superior, etc.) in poor neighborhoods where most food stamp recipients are likely to live.

There are pitiful few farmer's markets in poor neighborhoods where food stamp recipients are likely to live.

Pitiful few residents in poor neighborhoods where food stamp recipients are likely to live are likely to have a) reliable transportation to the upscale, middle class neighborhoods where Whole Foods, mega-marts and farmer's markets are like to thrive or b) time to wend their way through mass transit to upscale, middle class neighborhoods with good sources of good food.

Saying "they could, if they would" seems to me to be a rather simplistic response to a complex problem. Yeah, if they had access, which is easier in a small town, or in a compact urban area (i.e., Boston), maybe its easier. But in the typical urban sprawl, I think not so much.

Here, it's literally front page news, or the lead story on TV when a "real" grocery store (like, say, not a liquor store that also sells hot wings) opens in an inner city area.

It's all about access. If you can't get there, you can't buy it.

[djyee100]

The people in the article are making choices about spending their limited food dollars that are not the perceived norms for poor people. (Think about that one for awhile.) They're buying foods that many families regard as unaffordable, and that nettles their critics. The question in my mind is, what kind of food are food stamp recipients supposed to be buying, anyway?

The public policy underlying food stamps isn't really cockeyed. These recipients are buying good food for their mental and physical health, and that should put them in a better position to find and keep new jobs. Also, these particular food stamp recipients are doing some skillful cooking. Cooking from raw ingredients stretches the food dollars. Their labor is part of the equation of why they're eating so well, but their critics don't seem to recognize that.

I would also guess, although the article doesn't say, that if these people are buying expensive ingredients on a limited budget, they aren't exactly serving or eating humungous portions, either.

The article mentions a monthly food allowance of $150-$200 for a single individual. If that were my food budget, I'd either be buying a fair amount of conventional vegetables and meat, and eating three meals a day, or I'd be buying smaller quantities of organic vegetables and meat, and eating maybe one good meal a day.

Any other thoughts?

[Chris Amirault]

The inherant problem with this thesis (e.g. food stamp recipients *can* buy healthful stuff if they just wanted to....) is transportation.

The inherent problem with that statement is that no one made the "if they just wanted to" argument you're proposing here -- at least, not that I can find.

[Dakki]

I think it's interesting the article draws a line between the people buying this stuff and "real" poor people.

Think of it as the effect of a grinding recession crossed with the epicurean tastes of young people as obsessed with food as previous generations were with music and sex. Faced with lingering unemployment, 20- and 30-somethings with college degrees and foodie standards are shaking off old taboos about who should get government assistance and discovering that government benefits can indeed be used for just about anything edible, including wild-caught fish, organic asparagus and triple-crème cheese.

Food policy experts and human resource administrators are quick to point out that the overwhelming majority of the record 38 million Americans now using food stamps are their traditional recipients: the working poor, the elderly and single parents on welfare.

Pierogi, I think what you said about access to good quality ingredients in poor areas is true but I also think there's a large educational problem. Most people (not talking about eGulleters obviously) aren't aware you can make a very decent meal for less than the price of a burger in a box with a clown on it, and a good proportion of people literally can't cook at all. Maybe some of the resentment talked about in the article comes from people who live on crap and pay through the nose for it?