The Food Stamp Challenge
05-23-2007, 11:35 AM
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The Food Stamp Challenge
Given the commentary on these boards about how regional pay is tantamount to welfare and food stamps, here is an experiment going on in Seattle that might be of interest.
From the Seattle PI:
She gazed longingly at the organic apples but chose regular red delicious instead. Missing from her shopping cart were her usual "bad habits": chips, salsa and frozen yogurt.
In their place were a package of marked-down chicken thighs, 10 pounds of potatoes, bulk oatmeal and brown rice, and store-label wheat bread and peanut butter.
Sally Clark embarked Tuesday on the Food Stamp Challenge, a one-week experiment to live on an average food stamp budget of about $21 a week -- $1 a meal -- in Washington.
"It's a great reminder of the struggles people do face," said Clark, a member of the Seattle City Council, as she exited the checkout stand at the Ballard Fred Meyer store. Clark went shopping with guidance from Claire West, a food-stamp recipient for the past nine months. West works for Food Lifeline, a non-profit food-distribution agency that issued the challenge to draw attention to hunger issues. National Hunger Awareness Day is June 5.
More than 26 million people in the U.S. received food-stamp benefits in 2006. Washington's 535,000 recipients usually can make their monthly allowance last only 2 1/2 weeks, leaving them to turn to food banks or feeding programs for the rest of the month, Food Lifeline officials said.
That means watching every food penny, something Clark wouldn't normally do while shopping for her normal $90 to $100 a week in groceries for herself and her partner.
"Anything crunchy and good for us is too expensive," she said while looking at organic broccoli and carrots.
Clark plans to participate in the challenge until Sunday. She spent $19.38, ending up with 15 items ranging from milk and romaine lettuce to cheddar cheese and canned black beans.
"She can work with that," said West, an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer. "It may not be what she's used to. That's part of the game."
The value of food-stamp benefits has eroded in the past decade because of federal welfare reform, said Linda Stone, Eastern Washington director of the Children's Alliance.
Food-stamp benefit levels are based on household income after non-food basic expenses are subtracted. The formula used to be adjusted to reflect cost-of-living increases in basic expenses. Welfare reform froze that adjustment. If inflation were taken into account, a typical family using food stamps -- a single parent with two children -- would be receiving about $24 more each month, Stone wrote in a report released this week by the Children's Alliance.
Even if benefit levels increased, a problem remains. Only about two-thirds of those eligible for food stamps in Washington receive them, including just 51 percent in King County, according to a national study that placed the Seattle area near the bottom of the participation list among urban areas.
About $54 million in food stamps went unclaimed in 2004 in King County, said the study by the Food Research and Action Center of Washington, D.C.
Among the possible reasons for the low rate of participation: a complex application process, confusion about eligibility, language barriers and the stigma of receiving government help.
The amount of food stamps allocated varies depending on, among other factors, the income and savings of the recipient. Someone with almost no income could receive the maximum benefit of $35.77 a week.
From the Seattle PI:
She gazed longingly at the organic apples but chose regular red delicious instead. Missing from her shopping cart were her usual "bad habits": chips, salsa and frozen yogurt.
In their place were a package of marked-down chicken thighs, 10 pounds of potatoes, bulk oatmeal and brown rice, and store-label wheat bread and peanut butter.
Sally Clark embarked Tuesday on the Food Stamp Challenge, a one-week experiment to live on an average food stamp budget of about $21 a week -- $1 a meal -- in Washington.
"It's a great reminder of the struggles people do face," said Clark, a member of the Seattle City Council, as she exited the checkout stand at the Ballard Fred Meyer store. Clark went shopping with guidance from Claire West, a food-stamp recipient for the past nine months. West works for Food Lifeline, a non-profit food-distribution agency that issued the challenge to draw attention to hunger issues. National Hunger Awareness Day is June 5.
More than 26 million people in the U.S. received food-stamp benefits in 2006. Washington's 535,000 recipients usually can make their monthly allowance last only 2 1/2 weeks, leaving them to turn to food banks or feeding programs for the rest of the month, Food Lifeline officials said.
That means watching every food penny, something Clark wouldn't normally do while shopping for her normal $90 to $100 a week in groceries for herself and her partner.
"Anything crunchy and good for us is too expensive," she said while looking at organic broccoli and carrots.
Clark plans to participate in the challenge until Sunday. She spent $19.38, ending up with 15 items ranging from milk and romaine lettuce to cheddar cheese and canned black beans.
"She can work with that," said West, an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer. "It may not be what she's used to. That's part of the game."
The value of food-stamp benefits has eroded in the past decade because of federal welfare reform, said Linda Stone, Eastern Washington director of the Children's Alliance.
Food-stamp benefit levels are based on household income after non-food basic expenses are subtracted. The formula used to be adjusted to reflect cost-of-living increases in basic expenses. Welfare reform froze that adjustment. If inflation were taken into account, a typical family using food stamps -- a single parent with two children -- would be receiving about $24 more each month, Stone wrote in a report released this week by the Children's Alliance.
Even if benefit levels increased, a problem remains. Only about two-thirds of those eligible for food stamps in Washington receive them, including just 51 percent in King County, according to a national study that placed the Seattle area near the bottom of the participation list among urban areas.
About $54 million in food stamps went unclaimed in 2004 in King County, said the study by the Food Research and Action Center of Washington, D.C.
Among the possible reasons for the low rate of participation: a complex application process, confusion about eligibility, language barriers and the stigma of receiving government help.
The amount of food stamps allocated varies depending on, among other factors, the income and savings of the recipient. Someone with almost no income could receive the maximum benefit of $35.77 a week.
05-23-2007, 11:45 AM
#2
With The Resistance
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Position: Burning the Agitprop of the Apparat
Posts: 6,191
Whether you are living after a local disaster or living hand to mouth, waiting for any government to provide you with a solution is going to be a very long and likely fruitless endeavor.
If those collecting on the massive scale seen in certain areas would devote as much time to honest work and gainful employment this would be a non-issue. Past sins of handouts for large portions of the population have created an entitlement mentality and a crippling dependence. Progress is not made by taking the dole for a lifetime.
21$ a week is about three hours of work at even the most menial job, are we to believe that this is impossible without assistance? I have no quarrel with real need, disabled or otherwise, but the heart of the problem is that when "free" handouts are made without regard for ability to work it sets a standard that drags people down and it has done exactly this for decades.
If those collecting on the massive scale seen in certain areas would devote as much time to honest work and gainful employment this would be a non-issue. Past sins of handouts for large portions of the population have created an entitlement mentality and a crippling dependence. Progress is not made by taking the dole for a lifetime.
21$ a week is about three hours of work at even the most menial job, are we to believe that this is impossible without assistance? I have no quarrel with real need, disabled or otherwise, but the heart of the problem is that when "free" handouts are made without regard for ability to work it sets a standard that drags people down and it has done exactly this for decades.
Last edited by jungle; 05-23-2007 at 12:10 PM.
05-23-2007, 12:30 PM
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Jungle, I agree with you that working an honest day is preferable to sitting in my single-wide trailer on my fat cargo hold waiting for the postman to arrive with my food stamps. You and I could discuss the morality and efficacy of food stamps until we are both FedEx purple and orange in the face. 
However, to try and keep this thread with some semblance to aviation (and avoid getting sanctions from The Man), I only want to say that my point was to, well, point out that the low regional pay is an indictment of the industry and of society.
We have a diverse group of people in the industry – young and old, rich and poor. For the most part, they are educated or at least intelligent enough to tell the difference between a yolk and a yoke. And in order to make it, people have to put in their time, paying for the hours in the air needed to even meet the minimums. The SkyHighs of this world will say that getting paid $30 an hour to fly a regional plane is a rather poor Return on Investment. I would have to agree with that. However, every profession demands a lot from its members, and I for one have done quite a bit of my share offering support and encouragement to many here on the boards to persevere in their dreams. The problem I have with the airlines is the cavalier way it eats its young.
It goes without saying that although I am only a student pilot, I am on your side and side of most pilots on this board. The low salary does not affect me personally, but I do hope for something better for everyone. And soon.
However, to try and keep this thread with some semblance to aviation (and avoid getting sanctions from The Man), I only want to say that my point was to, well, point out that the low regional pay is an indictment of the industry and of society. We have a diverse group of people in the industry – young and old, rich and poor. For the most part, they are educated or at least intelligent enough to tell the difference between a yolk and a yoke. And in order to make it, people have to put in their time, paying for the hours in the air needed to even meet the minimums. The SkyHighs of this world will say that getting paid $30 an hour to fly a regional plane is a rather poor Return on Investment. I would have to agree with that. However, every profession demands a lot from its members, and I for one have done quite a bit of my share offering support and encouragement to many here on the boards to persevere in their dreams. The problem I have with the airlines is the cavalier way it eats its young.
It goes without saying that although I am only a student pilot, I am on your side and side of most pilots on this board. The low salary does not affect me personally, but I do hope for something better for everyone. And soon.
05-23-2007, 12:46 PM
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With The Resistance
Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: Burning the Agitprop of the Apparat
Posts: 6,191
It has a lot to do with supply and demand. I would never argue that a Lawyer or Doctor has followed an easy path. The oversupply of pilots willing to fly for a less than living wage has a very strong effect on the group as a whole.
Many people risk their lives to enter this country every day and it isn't because there are no opportunities here. We happen to be in a very cyclic business and there are indications that we may be in this low point on the cycle for quite a while longer. People do what they must and it isn't always for a good reason.
Many people risk their lives to enter this country every day and it isn't because there are no opportunities here. We happen to be in a very cyclic business and there are indications that we may be in this low point on the cycle for quite a while longer. People do what they must and it isn't always for a good reason.
05-23-2007, 12:46 PM
#5
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Originally Posted by vagabond
We have a diverse group of people in the industry – young and old, rich and poor. For the most part, they are educated or at least intelligent enough to tell the difference between a yolk and a yoke.
Without pictures, I wouldn't be so sure.
.
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