Living on food stamps

[PrincessSuzanne]

So are you only going to "exist" on what you can buy with that dollar amount? No reserve pantry, no items bought before hand? While the intent to learn about doing with less is admirable, not every food stamp recipient lives in poverty. I'm not saying that they live like kings but they don't all live in filth. You should limit your computer access to the public library, pretending that you don't have such items as pcs, video game systems, etc. I think it would be much tougher to live without all of the amenities that we take for granted, perhaps even using public transit for the month to further understand how hard living with less can be. In regards to your victory garden, is that part of your food stamp experience? Not trying to attack you, just wondering how the whole learning about poverty lesson comes about when you are already providing yourself a cushion of some amenities?

Poverty has nothing to do with filth, just because someone lives under the poverty limit doesn't mean they are dirty. As a matter of fact, in the line of work I am in, working in a hospital with the uninsured, most have no money, yet they come in wth their hair done, their designer purses and clothes, manicures, the best cell phones and other electronics, yet they get food stamps, medicaid and money, given to them by the government. Most of them don't use public transit, they're driving big, nice SUV's.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

This sounds like a great lesson that will serve your son all of his life!

How old was your son when you started this project?

Speaking to the falicy that people on food stamps are struggling to get by...
We have owned apartment buildings for the past thirty years. Approximately two thirds to three quarters of our tenants benefit from government programs.

Not a week goes by that we don't witness someone trading a trip to the grocery store using their food stamps for cash/material goods.

Whenever we get a new tenant,9 times out of 10, we or our managers are approached with a trade of food stamps for rent. For example, we are usually offered $100 of grocery purchases for $75 reduction in rent. It is a currency. Most food is procured through church run programs.

That's also known as food stamp fraud and can land you in jail for a while, I don't think I would be sharing that on a public forum.

 

[ilovemk76]

In RI, snap is the new name for food stamps.
You can qualify for Snap and not receive cash

Where did I say cash? The thread is about food stamps and I was just pointing out that a family, like the OPs, could get additional food above SNAP, knew name for FS.

 

[pocomom]

You can do ALL of that without pretending to be impoverished in some strange money saving scheme.

Ok, obviously you are offended by this in a way I don't get... But I do think living with less than they normally have for a period of time will help my kids appreciate what they do have and empathize better with some of their friends and other people in our community. And it is not a black and white issue, I think posting here opened up the discussion to many more factors some of which I'm already talking to my oldest about - just making the plans for it is opening up the discussion - so I think it is a good thing, and I don’t see how it is really any different than when we had an Egyptian feast when studying Egypt or teaching them to use an abacus for math. Clearly, I could have just read their textbook with them this is just another way to go about it, and I think it is better for my hands on learning kind of kids.

 

[Miss Peach]

That's also known as food stamp fraud and can land you in jail for a while, I don't think I would be sharing that on a public forum.

I can't share that is offered to us?!?! We have never accepted the offer! How nice that you would read between the lines to presume that we would participate in illegal activities!

Sheesh!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

That's also known as food stamp fraud and can land you in jail for a while, I don't think I would be sharing that on a public forum.

The person said they were approached by new tenents with that deal, not that they accepted that deal. I know back in the day when my mom was on assistance that food stamps were traded for cash/cigarettes/drugs all the time. That is why I get so peeved when people talk about cutting food stamps taking away from the children. In my day the food stamps did not necessarily feed the kids. They were traded as currency with whatever was left over feeding me (the child). Again my family dynamics have changed considerably. I am a adult now and have never used government assistance but I have been around the "game" as it is called among those using it for a long long time.

Food stamps are the gateway into getting many many many benefits.

 

[Miss Peach]

The person said they were approached by new tenents with that deal, not that they accepted that deal. I know back in the day when my mom was on assistance that food stamps were traded for cash/cigarettes/drugs all the time. That is why I get so peeved when people talk about cutting food stamps taking away from the children. In my day the food stamps did not necessarily feed the kids. They were traded as currency with whatever was left over feeding me (the child). Again my family dynamics have changed considerably. I am a adult now and have never used government assistance but I have been around the "game" as it is called among those using it for a long long time.

Food stamps are the gateway into getting many many many benefits.

Thank you! Obviously reading comprehension is a lost art!

 

[mks18412]

Why are you doing this? The Mario Batali Food Stamp Challenge is meant to show people how it feels to walk in the shoes of people who have a limited amount of money for food. It's meant to create empathy for people on food stamps. I may be wrong, but it seems that you are approaching this as a super-duper-Budget-Board-No-Spend-February-Eat-For-$10-Per-Day challenge all rolled into one. On one hand, I think it's fine to find inspiration to save money where you can. OTOH I am bothered that inspiration comes from the poverty and distress of others.

She is doing this for a homeschool unit. As a learning experience, I think its great!

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Thank you! Obviously reading comprehension is a lost art!

Excuse me, you don't know anything about me and my reading skills.

You did post that you were a witness to such behaviors and people were making offers to you, you did NOT say that you didn't accept the offers.

 

[dawnball]

And frankly if I had to buy us all new toothpaste, shampoo etc. for the month without planning I could go through a whole weeks budget...

the situation where living like this would be necessary would be a job loss and we would still have these things then at least the first few months

I think that's kind of the point of the food stamp exercises, though. You don't just lose your job, walk into the social services office and walk out with food stamps. You certainly don't walk out with max food stamps. It takes some time to be eligible for food stamps, it takes time to be approved... Most people have eaten through their food reserves they had by the time they have benefits.

The guidelines you create don't necessarily need to be based in the reality of collecting public assistance - but they should be based on the educational outcomes you want. What specific skills do you want to teach? What understandings do you want them to come away with? Do the guidelines you're creating lead to those skills or understandings? Is your process efficient?

This seems more like the project driving the educational outcomes than the other way around, like those letters about WDW vacations being educational. If my kid's teacher told me that it was "educational" for an 11 year old to cut coupons, read recipes, create a paper price book, handle money, make an inventory, weigh and measure or learn unit pricing - I'd be asking what the school taught up until then.

 

[pocomom]

I think that's kind of the point of the food stamp exercises, though. You don't just lose your job, walk into the social services office and walk out with food stamps. You certainly don't walk out with max food stamps. It takes some time to be eligible for food stamps, it takes time to be approved... Most people have eaten through their food reserves they had by the time they have benefits.

The guidelines you create don't necessarily need to be based in the reality of collecting public assistance - but they should be based on the educational outcomes you want. What specific skills do you want to teach? What understandings do you want them to come away with? Do the guidelines you're creating lead to those skills or understandings? Is your process efficient?

This seems more like the project driving the educational outcomes than the other way around, like those letters about WDW vacations being educational. If my kid's teacher told me that it was "educational" for an 11 year old to cut coupons, read recipes, create a paper price book, handle money, make an inventory, weigh and measure or learn unit pricing - I'd be asking what the school taught up until then.

You make a good point in the first paragraph- we'll need to think about and discuss this , as I said our "rules" are still being decided upon.
The educational items I was mentioning were not all aimed at all my children- weighing apples won't be educational for my 11 year old , but for the seven and three year old absolutely. I won't make the three year old write a paper about modern poverty either I disagree about the price book however- my 11 year old has never used Excel and I think it will be a great learning experience to create the price book.

 

[moopdog]

So are you only going to "exist" on what you can buy with that dollar amount? No reserve pantry, no items bought before hand? While the intent to learn about doing with less is admirable, not every food stamp recipient lives in poverty. I'm not saying that they live like kings but they don't all live in filth. You should limit your computer access to the public library, pretending that you don't have such items as pcs, video game systems, etc. I think it would be much tougher to live without all of the amenities that we take for granted, perhaps even using public transit for the month to further understand how hard living with less can be. In regards to your victory garden, is that part of your food stamp experience? Not trying to attack you, just wondering how the whole learning about poverty lesson comes about when you are already providing yourself a cushion of some amenities?

I think the OP mention the unit they were working on was Nutrition - hence your entire post is a moot point. Not trying to attack you...just saying.

 

[mks18412]

I think that's kind of the point of the food stamp exercises, though. You don't just lose your job, walk into the social services office and walk out with food stamps. You certainly don't walk out with max food stamps. It takes some time to be eligible for food stamps, it takes time to be approved... Most people have eaten through their food reserves they had by the time they have benefits.

The guidelines you create don't necessarily need to be based in the reality of collecting public assistance - but they should be based on the educational outcomes you want. What specific skills do you want to teach? What understandings do you want them to come away with? Do the guidelines you're creating lead to those skills or understandings? Is your process efficient?

This seems more like the project driving the educational outcomes than the other way around, like those letters about WDW vacations being educational. If my kid's teacher told me that it was "educational" for an 11 year old to cut coupons, read recipes, create a paper price book, handle money, make an inventory, weigh and measure or learn unit pricing - I'd be asking what the school taught up until then.

I think you would be surprised what the standards are when it comes to an 11 year old or a 4th grader. I teach by the standards and this would pretty much "hit the nail on head". She obviously would not teach the younger children what she would teach the 11 yr old. You could definitely customized for each grade level. This is a great life lesson.

 

[momof3ds]

Creating a budget is an essential life skill. Knowing how to make a shopping list, how to assess what you need, differentiating between needs and wants are also important.

Teaching meal planning is also good.

The food stamp challenge as I have seen it called is a good jumping off point.

These are all things I have had to learn on my own, and sometimes the hard way.

Life skills should be a part of the curriculum, at least at the muddle & high school levels. Not everyone learns it at home

 

[undertheradar]

I'm amazed that according to this thread, the majority of those receiving food stamps are living better off than the rest of us. I never stated that everyone living in poverty was living in filth, yet other posters believe I did. The generalizations of the Dis posters continue to defy common sense.

OP, the idea of teaching your 7 and 11 year olds to set and live within a budget is admirable. Wanting to expand it and teach them to budget by portion cost and maximum utilization of product, perfect. To try and teach them how others are living in poverty and doing this, I don't buy into it. They are honestly too young to grasp what it means. Great intent but years before they can fully process the reality of living without. This is based upon my own experiences growing up. We recently relocated from a higher cost of living area for a higher salary. My 14 and 16 year olds are learning just how lucky they are when they see kids from school shopping for groceries and the whole family is trying to decide which items they have to do without. These are high schoolers and they are just starting to realize how poor some folks can be. It is very hard to grasp the lesson you are trying to bundle together in a 28 day period.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

'm amazed that according to this thread, the majority of those receiving food stamps are living better off than the rest of us. I never stated that everyone living in poverty was living in filth, yet other posters believe I did. The generalizations of the Dis posters continue to defy common sense.

OP, the idea of teaching your 7 and 11 year olds to set and live within a budget is admirable. Wanting to expand it and teach them to budget by portion cost and maximum utilization of product, perfect. To try and teach them how others are living in poverty and doing this, I don't buy into it. They are honestly too young to grasp what it means. Great intent but years before they can fully process the reality of living without. This is based upon my own experiences growing up. We recently relocated from a higher cost of living area for a higher salary. My 14 and 16 year olds are learning just how lucky they are when they see kids from school shopping for groceries and the whole family is trying to decide which items they have to do without. These are high schoolers and they are just starting to realize how poor some folks can be. It is very hard to grasp the lesson you are trying to bundle together in a 28 day period.

Actually, you did, in a way say that they live in filth, that is your quote below from your first post.

"not every food stamp recipient lives in poverty. I'm not saying that they live like kings but they don't all live in filth."

Many of those living off food stamps do live better than some others.

 

[undertheradar]

Actually, you did, in a way say that they live in filth, that is your quote below from your first post.

"not every food stamp recipient lives in poverty. I'm not saying that they live like kings but they don't all live in filth."

Many of those living off food stamps do live better than some others.

So writing that they don't all live in filth is actually stating that they live in filth? Only on the Dis!

 

[Miss Peach]

Excuse me, you don't know anything about me and my reading skills.

You did post that you were a witness to such behaviors and people were making offers to you, you did NOT say that you didn't accept the offers.

Using your own 'logic'. I never explicitly directed my comment to you. You assumed I was speaking to you.

One is presumed to use common sense. One is. You are not.

 

[undertheradar]

I think the OP mention the unit they were working on was Nutrition - hence your entire post is a moot point. Not trying to attack you...just saying.

I didn't know that cleaning products were nutritional? The Op is trying to wrap budget, math, menu planning, nutrition, economics, social science and history into this lesson. I probably missed a couple, but that is what the OP's first post indicates.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Just a Sidebar. Not everyone on foodstamps is on it due to low income. That lady with the Coach and the new Iphone who is paying with food stamps? She might well be a foster mom.