Blog: Living on Food Stamps

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/30/am.callebs.foodstamps.blog/index.html

By Sean Callebs
Monday Feb. 2, 2009

8:59 AM ET - Day two on trying to live on food stamps, and I discovered the first chink in my armor. I am really worried I didnt buy enough fruits and vegetables. I really would love a pear, orange, some apples --but right now it's not in the cards. I have 176-dollars to live on for the entire month. When you break that down it comes out to about $6.28 a day. I loaded up on carbs at the grocery store. The dietician I spoke with before starting this project told me to eat carbs at every meal, saying it will give me energy. I had a healthy portion of spaghetti with meat sauce on Sunday night while watching the Superbowl. I ran three miles Sunday, no fatigue, but it was just the first day. I will say I woke up ravenous Monday morning. During the first few hours while I did live reports with Kiran and John my stomach was growling. But, I held off eating as long as I could. A bowl of cereal, a banana, and a cup of tea. Lunch is a long four hours away. I have had a lot of response from people about this story. Many tell me, "I could do it.. I could live on $6.28 a day." I am sure they could, but remember they dont HAVE to. 31-million Americans do.

Friday Jan. 30, 2009

6:24 PM ET - Part of the economic stimulus bill calls for raising payments to food stamp recipients by 13 percent. That's a clear signal there are a ton of people hurting out there. According to the USDA, there are 31 million people in the U.S. that need food stamps every month just to put food on the table. In Louisiana, where I work and live, one out of every six people is on food stamps. Think about it, you fill the Superdome -and ten-thousand people there are going to be getting government aid.

To find out what it's like, I approached the state about living on food stamps for a month. So, Sammy Guillory, basically the head of family support for the state, told me the most a single person can qualify for each month, is $176. He couldn't give me the food stamp funds, that would be fraud, even though I offered to reimburse the government.

So, I invested $176 in a debit card.

First thing, food stamp is a misnomer. It is actually a credit card. And, no one says food stamps anymore it is called the SNAP program. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Guillory tells me he doesn't think there is a stigma with the program, and the funds are supposed to be a supplement for the money one spends on food each month -it isn't intended to be the sole source of funding.

To help me learn the ropes of the program, I met Arkesha Darensbourg, who has been on and off food stamps over the past few years. She has three small children and says the assistance really helped. We walked up and the down the aisle at Rouse's grocery store near my house. "Don't buy name brands," Arkesha constantly reminded me. Oatmeal, mac and cheese, rice, pasta, the cart began to get full all the time I was worried about my budget. There isn't a lot of money for meat, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables.

I bought some milk, juice, but state officials urged me to give up bottled water for good ol' tap water. That, made Arkesha laugh.

I met with a doctor, --my weight is 220, and I am 6'3". Blood pressure is 128 over 82. I am curious if that will change in just a month. And, I talked with a dietician at Ochsner Hospital here in New Orleans. Eve Dansereau Harmeyer is convinced I can make it through the month on $176. She says I am lucky, I had a chance to educate myself on what to buy. She says a lot of folks on the lower end of the socio-economic status don't, therefore, their diets suffer. Harmeyer told me one person asked her if potato chips are a vegetable.

I have been running a decent amount, 20 or so miles a week. Harmeyer doesn't think I will lose any energy as long as I eat carbohydrates. We'll see.

I am going to be militant about sticking to the plan. Kind of good I picked the month with the fewest days, but stinks that I start on Superbowl Sunday. While everyone else is wolfing down chips and beverages, I had a salad and some generic brand lemonade.