© 2024 WFAE
90.7 Charlotte 93.7 Southern Pines 90.3 Hickory 106.1 Laurinburg
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
WFAEats
Welcome to WFAEats — a fun adventure where we explore all things tasty and interesting in the Charlotte food scene. We want to share stories, recipes and culinary escapades and hear about yours!

Eating On A Food Stamp Budget: Day Five

Amy Rogers

Day Five: Rumors and Reasons

It’s not really about the food.

That’s what I’m starting to realize. People are angry, exhausted, frustrated, despondent. Resentful, worried, afraid or annoyed – but no one I’ve talked with in the last five days is blasé on the topic of food stamps and other programs that help feed the hungry.

All week I’ve been taking the SNAP Challenge to learn first-hand what it’s like to feed yourself with no more than $31.50 per week. (You can read back through prior blog entries for more about what’s happened so far.)

The novelty wore off quickly. I didn’t mind restricting my food spending or intake; in fact, it was a good reminder of something I’d been meaning to work on anyway. But I discovered that doing so requires a level of focus and attentiveness I was not prepared to summon. And it suddenly dawned on me that plenty of my fellow grocery shoppers, at any store on any day, were having to do the same: Add and subtract the cost for each food item, weigh its necessity, hope you can manage to make it last.

But most of all, I wasn’t braced for the intensity of people’s reactions. Some posted comments online, others emailed me, and one conveyed his nearly unprintable remarks through a mutual friend.

People respond to what they believe to be true. But when the underlying beliefs are incorrect or “contrary to fact,” so are the conclusions. So let’s set the record straight on a few things right now:

You cannot use SNAP to purchase cigarettes, alcohol or lottery tickets.

You cannot use SNAP to purchase household items, personal care items or vitamins.

You cannot use SNAP to purchase medicines, either prescription or over the counter.

You can use SNAP only to purchase eligible food items.

This is the area where people disagree strongly – and loudly. Say you believe cookies and snacks shouldn’t be eligible. Well, what about fruit rolls, cheese crackers, granola bars or protein breakfast bars? Want to exclude steak from the list? What about low-cost family-sized packs, mark-downs or specials when beef costs less than chicken or cheese? And since we recognize the harm that results from a cheap, fast-food diet, how can we deny people access to the fresh foods that are also more expensive?

There’s an “us vs. them” component to all of this. That shouldn’t be surprising, because as long as we’re pointing fingers at each other, we don’t have to acknowledge the enormity of the problem.

Or the possibility that any of us could find ourselves hungry, sometime soon.

*SNAP is the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. And for many low-income individuals and families, it’s not a supplement; it’s their only means of buying food.

Amy is documenting her experiences with the SNAP Challenge all this week. Check back daily for updates.

Amy Rogers is the author of Hungry for Home: Stories of Food from Across the Carolinas and Red Pepper Fudge and Blue Ribbon Biscuits. Her writing has also been featured in Cornbread Nation 1: The Best of Southern Food Writing, the Oxford American, and the Charlotte Observer. She is founding publisher of the award-winning Novello Festival Press. She received a Creative Artist Fellowship from the Arts and Science Council, and was the first person to receive the award for non-fiction writing. Her reporting has also won multiple awards from the N.C. Working Press Association. She has been Writer in Residence at the Wildacres Center, and a program presenter at dozens of events, festivals, arts centers, schools, and other venues. Amy Rogers considers herself “Southern by choice,” and is a food and culture commentator for NPR station WFAE.