My friend Irene, a hardworking single mother who also cuts my hair, is an absolute inspiration to me and I’m sure many others fortunate enough to cross her path.
Moms like Irene silence all the naysayers like Dr. Oz who claim that it isn’t possible to eat healthy on a very tight budget or that those who eat organic are elitist.
You see, Irene is on food stamps.
Irene’s situation is not at all rare anymore. Â The number of Americans on food stamps, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as it is now called, has increased by 260% since 2000. Â In a more sobering statistic, the actual number of people relying on food stamps to eat has increased from 17.1 million in 2000 to over 44 million in 2011.
Despite Irene’s challenging budget which includes food stamps, she manages to buy nearly everything local and/or organic to prepare the healthy, homemade meals she prepares.
How?
By refusing to settle for anything less than the best for herself and her son and by using creativity and street smarts to carefully plan and implement her food stamps budget strategy.
When you demand the best and refuse to settle, as Irene does, the world frequently seems to open up to you with opportunities and people necessary to fulfill your goal suddenly coming across your path.
Irene also gets competent alternative medical care by shrewdly trading hairdresser services for routine chiropractic care which has prevented her family from requiring any conventional medical treatment or antibiotics or other drugs for quite some time.
How does Irene do it? Â How does she manage to source only the most nutrient-dense foods for her family including more expensive, gourmet items like grass-fed raw milk and butter while on food stamps?
The brilliance of Irene’s food stamps budget plan is in its incredible simplicity.
- Irene has learned which farmer’s markets around town accept food stamps and so she buys much of her produce at these venues. Â She also buys fresh, locally made, artisanal bread at the farmer’s market. Â Yes, it’s true! Â You can use food stamps at many farmer’s markets if you just ask around!
- Irene buys her grass-fed meats and bones to make stock at Whole Foods. Â Did you know Whole Foods takes food stamps? Â Another option would be for Irene to split a cow sourced at a local grass-based farm with one or two friends. Â This may present itself as an option for Irene in the future, but for now, Whole Foods is the best stand-in source for her meats given her limited time and storage space.
- Irene has figured out which health food stores carry what organic brands at the best prices. Â She uses her food stamps to buy foods like freshly ground almond butter, raw honey, cheese, and other staple items this way.
- Irene uses the food funds she is able to contribute herself for raw dairy which is not covered by food stamps (although I do know of one other friend in town who is able to buy raw goat milk with food stamps because she is allergic to cow milk).
- If Irene finds that she must buy something at the supermarket, she makes sure that it is a low spray item like asparagus or a GMO-free item based on an analysis of the ingredients label.
Hat’s off to Irene for showing us all how to eat healthy during hard economic times. Â Her refusal to accept anything less than the best, nutrient dense fare for herself and her family is the line in the sand that opens the door to solutions.
Well done Irene!
Are you on a food stamps budget too? Â What are your tricks for eating healthy, local, and/or organic despite this challenge? Â Please share to inspire those who may be facing a similar situation.
If we were on good stamps we would get a LOT more money for food than we have in our budget now. But, we do not rely on the government for hand outs.
Did you know that the majority of government money goes to the rich in the former of tax breaks, bailouts to corporations. It’s called wealthfare. Government assistance for the poor is a small portion of government money. Just food for thought!
Well said!=] …some people are so ignorant and don’t realize that everyone has their own share of shortcomings! I’m a full-time college student, with a 3.96 GPA, and rely on food stamps to eat! My life chances didn’t include a BMW or home to call my own and my mother, well she’s a single mother of two and worked MULTIPLE jobs just to get by! I know that my situation is temporary and once I attain a stable career and descent income I’ll be able to stand on my own two feet.
The beauty of America is the number of resources available to those in need and MAINTAIN this country in equilibrium!
Please don’t blame the poor, blame the government and corporate elites that contribute to the outsourcing of jobs in America and use the poor as scapegoats!!
Good for you ! You want a cookie?! Don’t judge others unless you KNOW their situations and life chances!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I BUY DEER FOR MY MEaT aND RaISe chickens.
I don’t get assistance, but I am struggling to buy these foods. What I would like to see is a detailed article that would show how much she budgeted and the math for it, not just a story.
I did not see soda, chips, or frozen entrées on her list. . .could that be her secret?
It may be possible for people on food stamps, but there are those who fall a bit short of receiving assistance. That’s when it gets really hard because every single penny has to be pinched. There’s not always a lot of room leftover for local or organic.
Meijer sells organic stuff for the same price as other stores sell non-organic stuff, some fresh and frozen produce do not need to be organic, and Whole Foods has some sales that make things not-quite-so-insanely prices, as well as extremely cheap spices and dried things in some of the bulk bins. However, if you are using your own money anyway, then you might as well do the “buy huge cartons of thy’re on sale and are sold in large packages” thing, and all the other things that fake alleged “poor people” blogs always write about that don’t apply to anyone who actually has little money. If you’re not on food stamps, that that means you make some amount of money that allows you to do things such as buy things from gas stations sometimes or pay for a bus, and therefore you should be able to afford the things that are listed on these blogs.
I work at a farmers’ market on Fridays and we occasionally have people that pay with food stamps. I think it’s great.
What a blessing for her! Glad she can do it! I was told I made $114 too much a month, lol. Plus we work with Gluten, Corn, and Soy allergies. So basically we do what we can and hope springs eternal to go all organic one day 😉
…And yet gluten and soy are things you should never be touching anyway, and corn is rarely available in any healthy, toxin-free product, so of course those thins are completely irrelevant since everyone else who cares about health is also not able to use them!
I am a very hard working mommy. My goal is to be completely independent of course but like any business it takes hard work and time to build. 🙂 I don’t qualify for food stamps all the time. There are ups and downs in life. I am very blessed its there if we are in need temporarily. Thanks again for all your support and encouragement. 🙂
Thank you so much for all your encouraging words and more info. So many useful information.