Missouri Lawmakers Don't Want Food Stamp Recipients To Buy Steak

a reply to: MystikMushroom

What's your idea of healthy? I buy all my food and cook and it's cheaper than packaged/processed food for the most part.

dbl post

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Bingo! I agree wholeheartedly with you. The cheaper fruits and vegetables are also often the least healthy for you. Potatoes are usually cheap but not good for you to eat every single day yet it is pretty much a staple for most of us.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

I understand what you're saying, I truly do. But the hypocrisy is in the "haves" being all high-and-mighty about "You can't dictate to me how I should raise MY kids, or how I should spend MY money, because it's none of your business!", and then turn right around and say, "How dare you buy steak and lobster for a special occasion?"

Budgeting is a subject that should be taught in school, just like early childhood development should be.....for anyone who is emancipated and of "fertile" age, but, you know -
the thumpers don't want to fund that mission OR help out.

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a reply to: OccamsRazor04

At this point anything that's not pasta noodles and cheap sauce or ramen.

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
I understand what you're saying, I truly do. But the hypocrisy is in the "haves" being all high-and-mighty about "You can't dictate to me how I should raise MY kids, or how I should spend MY money, because it's none of your business!", and then turn right around and say, "How dare you buy steak and lobster for a special occasion?"

The difference being that food stamps are NOT your money. It's MY money. How dare you spend MY money on lobster when I can't even do that.

When you get off assistance buy all the lobster you want and I won't say a peep. I have no problem with someone needing assistance and being on it. It's disrespectful to use it like that, others, like myself, are going without.

a reply to: Puppylove

I make lots of beans/rice/potato dishes, chicken is cheap, I buy boneless thigh for $1.99/lb or less. Veggies and fruits sometimes spoil so i buy mostly frozen veggies, and some fresh fruits some frozen.

originally posted by: ketsuko
I have a weekly grocery budget of around $120 to stretch for three. You tell me where I'm finding room in there for steak and lobster.

Damn girl, only 3 people at $120 & you can't manage to budget in some affordable $5 or $6 a lb steak? (many different cuts of steak out there, shop around) I have to budget for 3 adults & 2 kids on the same amount, we do well with whatever meats we squeeze in (hint: shop. sales. And bulk, Costco's a big help)

We're not on EBT anymore, but we were for a time. I'll be the first to say it's not a waste of money cake-walk for junk food or "luxury" food if you're frugal enough. Rice & pasta were a big part of our diet, chicken as well (whole, it's cheaper than a package of cuts is. Do the cutting up yourself & save a few bucks) We also crunched numbers & figured out how much we would be tossing on draining grease from 80/20 ground beef. We paid a little more for the leaner meats, yes, but a lot less was wasted going into the grease jar that way. Ergo, better use of the money per lb. We sought the leaner cuts of beef, but typically didn't buy anything that cost more than $5 a lb (plenty of quality meat if you seek it) For a few birthdays, we'd pay a buck more a lb & get some shrimp & have shrimp stir-fry. Granted, that was in FL & shrimp is much cheaper down there, the point remains the same -- it was for a birthday meal.

We never bought much junk on EBT. The vast majority was fresh, of very good quality, and didn't bust our budget allotment. Many months, we had a surplus roll over to the next. What I get out of this bitching & moaning over who would prefer who bought what with EBT money is "I can't shop for crap, so I assume no one else can, either, waaaa, no more food for you." Get with it & learn. It's not effing hard.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Quinoa per 100g is twice as expensive as rice ($1.33 versus $0.68 bulk price). Kale is 2 to 3 times more expensive than iceberg lettuce. While it can seemingly be easy to justify an extra $0.60 here and an extra dollar there, if you do that with 5 or 6 items on your grocery list, you've doubled the cost of your groceries for half the product. Instead, the way a poorer person would look at it is if you get the cheaper rice and lettuce, you'll have a $1.50 more to use on something else essential like bread.

a reply to: MonkeyFishFrog

Yes, I would love almond flour too, too expensive. So while I don't buy as healthy as I want, I consider it healthy, and everything I eat is homecooked. As soon as my wife is able to work the problem will be fixed.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

okay, got it. So - make a list of what is approved to buy with food stamps......
put little yellow stickers next to the price thing on the shelf
marquee that says "WIC approved"
(you know - the Women/Infants/Children program),

but, OTOH, silence everyone who objects to you raising your child to be the next Ayn Rand.

To be honest healthy for me is very low sodium stuff, which is hard to do on a low budget, cause sodium is skyrocketting in everything cheap.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

It would be easier to put stamps on the few items not approved. Food stamps are not YOUR money, it's someone else's money. It should be treated as such.

If you don't have money for food and I take you out to dinner, do you order the most expensive item on the menu, or keep it simple?

I always look for the cheaper items, always. I am not asking others to act in a manner I wouldn't act. If I ordered lobster I would feel like a complete prick, rightfully so.

a reply to: Puppylove

I'm lactose intolerant and have a low insulin producing pancreas. The cost of food that I should be eating would put me out on the street. For me, lactose-free milk is $8 a gallon and low GI bread is $4.50 a loaf. One could argue that I could just cut milk and bread out of my diet but then I would have to use the money on calcium and fibre supplements or some other replacement that is usually more expensive. I really feel for the people who are not only low income but low income with dietary issues because the chances are you are going to ignore the guidelines for your health in order to just keep yourself fed.

a reply to: Puppylove

Only processed foods. I buy chicken, veggies, rice, make stir fry. Very low salt, I add almost none. For ~$10 I can make 16 servings of homecooked food (assuming 4oz chicken per serving). I usually eat 3-4 servings at a time which sucks for my budget

a reply to: MonkeyFishFrog

Hugs, it sucks being in our position. If I didn't find a way to afford my pills I'd be dead in no time.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

And for ~$10, a person on food stamps can get about 20-30 servings of Kraft Mac & Cheese.

Wow. More self-righteous posturing and judgement from a bunch of people who really have no clue what they are talking about, or what life is like for someone really down and out. Otherwise, people would not be supporting this sort of assinine limit on what people can eat.

I was once homeless, and received food stamps to eat with. The problem when you are homeless is that...well...you don't have a home. And thus, you have no fridge or pantry to store food, no stove or oven to cook with, no utensils to prepare and eat with, so you are limited to food that is pre-prepared, non perishable, and easy to carry around, which isn't really cheap. So I would get stuff at the deli counter at the store, like trays of sushi and stuff, because it was a full meal that I could eat without having to make it, and was more nutritious/less caloric than the sandwiches and such.

So was I abusing the system with sushi/edamamme diet at the local IGA? Hardly. I was eating whatever was the most practical and economic, and in my case at the time, that was grocery store sushi trays, or some of the leaner sandwiches/deli plates.

So these assholes in Missouri think that poor people should just buy gruel and cabbage, then? What about when steak and lobster are on sale? I've bought packages of good meat and seafood that had been marked 50% or more off, with food stamps. Hell, I made a week's worth of lobster bisque for less than 10 bucks, when one of our stores was selling nice frozen lobster tails for one dollar each. Naturally, I only bought lobster when it was on a blowout sale like this. Same with prime meat or other luxury foods. Living good doesn't have to be expensive at all, if you know where to look.

Maybe instead of trying to control what poor people are allowed to eat and buy on food stamps, they should take a look and find out why there are so many poor people in the first place.

originally posted by: MonkeyFishFrog
For me, lactose-free milk is $8 a gallon and low GI bread is $4.50 a loaf.

We make all our own bread and it's very simple, no special equipment. I buy cashew/almond/coconut/soy milk $6 a gallon.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Will need to see what I can do trying that. Right now I'm in between jobs relying on help from my friend who let me move in and is paying for everything. So I'm just happy to eat what I can. So I been grabbing only the cheapest thing I can stomach. If I had my own money I could buy in bulk, and use my crockpot to make food reserves for months cheaply. But it requires a lot upfront to last for a long time.