Lawmakers Find $21 a Week Doesn't Buy a Lot of Groceries

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), co-chairmen of the House Hunger Caucus, called on lawmakers to take the "Food Stamp Challenge" to raise awareness of hunger and what they say are inadequate benefits for food stamp recipients.

"Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and three other members of Congress have pledged to live for one week on $21 worth of food, the amount the average food stamp recipient receives in federal assistance. That's $3 a day or $1 a meal. They started yesterday." "McGovern and Emerson have introduced legislation that would add $4 billion to the annual federal food stamp budget, which was $33 billion last year and covered 26 million Americans. The proposal could be incorporated by Congress into the new farm bill." McGovern, who revealed that he had eaten only a banana for breakfast and was going through caffeine withdrawal, said: "All of us in Congress live pretty good lives. We don't have to wake up worrying about the next meal. But there are a lot of Americans who do. I think it's wrong. I think it's immoral that in the U.S., the richest country in the world, people are hungry." Ryan and McGovern are both blogging about their experiences with eating on a food stamp budget, and it's clear that they're having problems, only the first of which is sitting with their hands in their laps at official dinners. Ryan disclosed his shopping list and, as a once upon a time user of food stamps, I have my doubts about his survival. "One bag of corn meal- $1.43 Two jars of strawberry preserves- $4.00 One jar of chunky peanut butter- $2.48 Two boxes of angel hair pasta- $1.54 One can of coffee- $2.50 Three jars of tomato sauce- $4.50 Two cartons of cottage cheese- $3.00 One loaf of wheat bread- $.89 One clove of garlic- $.32" The first rule of shopping for anyone living at this level of poverty is: know how to cook. The second is: know something about nutrition. Once Representative Ryan has licked the preserve jars clean he's going to find himself still hungry; he should have thought about buying a bag of beans and one of rice, instead. Combinations of bean, rice, and cornmeal make for balanced protein, without the expense of meat. Poor Ryan. "No money for milk" because he squandered it on cottage cheese. And trying to turn corn meal into grits? Good luck, Mr. Ryan. It's most fortunate that the challenge only lasts a week. I don't think you would survive much past that. McGovern's blog is at: [url=http://foodstampchallenge.typepad.com/]http://foodstampchallenge.typepad.com Ryan's blog is at: [url=http://timryan.house.gov/]http://timryan.house.gov/ How are they making out? Not very well, but they're learning what it takes to live on the edge. I do wonder if Mr. McGovern's job is being made unnecessarily more difficult than it needs to be. He's feeding a whole family, and I believe the $21.00 allotment is for a single person. It's been a long time though, thank goodness, and I may be wrong.