$4.73 is the Georgia SNAP allotment per person, per day for the poorest families in Georgia. In preparing for this month, my focus has profoundly changed around any purchase I make. Suddenly, everything I buy, I think about it in terms of this number.
A $4 latte at the coffee shop suddenly comes into sharp focus as your entire food budget for a day. $8 to park your car becomes two days worth of food in exchange for parking. $50 to fill your gas tank? 10 days worth of food.
Public transportation seems much more attractive than it used to be. Walking is even more attractive than public transport.
In Georgia, food stamps count double at select farmer's markets. Thanks Wholesome Wave Georgia! With private funding, they make my $4.73 become $9.46. Truly an oasis for many living in a food desert, if you can get to a farmer's market.
A $4 latte at the coffee shop suddenly comes into sharp focus as your entire food budget for a day. $8 to park your car becomes two days worth of food in exchange for parking. $50 to fill your gas tank? 10 days worth of food.
Public transportation seems much more attractive than it used to be. Walking is even more attractive than public transport.
In Georgia, food stamps count double at select farmer's markets. Thanks Wholesome Wave Georgia! With private funding, they make my $4.73 become $9.46. Truly an oasis for many living in a food desert, if you can get to a farmer's market.
Hi, I saw this on your Twitter. Yesterday I was reading over the requirements for vegetables allowable under SNAP. They don't allow veggies with added salt, fat, oils, or sugar. However, canned peas with blue or green petroleum food dyes get a pass. I am so happy that Georgia doubles SNAP for farmer's markets, I just wish they would add food coloring to that list of no-no's. Processed foods, including veggies, are cheaper to make, fool us into thinking their bright colors equal nutritional value, and are easy for folks in lower income levels to buy. Just my two cents.
ReplyDeleteI started blogging about our family's food dye sensitivity this month at www.diefooddye.com - check it out and let me know what you think.
Thanks for your comments! Great name, diefooddye. Can you send me or post the link where you found the info on the veggies with added salt, fat, oils or sugar? I can't seem to find that info. It does not seem to be a regulation in Georgia. I would be interested to see the info.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Here is a dreadfully long URL you can copy/past, pointing to the list of veggies approved by the USDA's FNS (Food and Nutrition Service):
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/HIP/docs/purchase_list.pdf#xml=http://65.216.150.153/texis/search/pdfhi.txt?query=vegetables+fat+oils+sugar+salt&pr=FNS&prox=page&rorder=500&rprox=500&rdfreq=500&rwfreq=500&rlead=500&rdepth=0&sufs=0&order=r&cq=&id=4ea8939b177
Or you can just search the http://www.fns.usda.gov site. Sorry I don't know an easier way to give this to you!