The $33 A Week Food Challenge

While waiting in line at my local grocery store, I've noticed a growing trend that has become quite disturbing over the years. Its sad to see, especially more so since I live in Silicon Valley, where the cost of living is very high. What is that trend?

Who's Holding Up The Grocery Line?

So the story goes, I'm in the supermarket and getting ready to check out. I stroll my cart into a lane of four people after peering over to another lane that had five. Mistake. I get stuck in a lane where the person in front is using food stamps. Ten minutes roll by and my grocery cart wheels haven't moved. The clerk is checking each and every item to see if they fall within the guidelines of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). No beer, alcohol, tobacco allowed. Stuff like pet food, household supplies, hot foods, are forbidden too. Then just when I think the guy is exiting, his total exceeds his food stamp allocation. Ugh! Everybody in line groans. The person now has to decide on what items to remove. Never mind that the bag boy has already bagged the items. Out the items go, and back in they go again.

I swear, the food stamp phenomenon must be at an all time high. For I never in the past 30 years seen it this bad. It reinforces my belief that times are indeed tough and that more and more people are using food stamps to get by.

But sometimes you have to look at it another way by putting yourself in the shoes of the other person.. You can tell those who are in pain just by observation. One look at the body movement, facial expression, and posture says it all. Oh sure, there are some people out there abusing the system with their 8 kids and fourteen cats. But its the people truly in pain you have to feel for, and the humility of it all.

Seeing that this is a growing trend and a week doesn't go by where I don't get stuck in line, I have a plan. I will desensitize myself from it through three means:

1. Educate thyself
2. Live it
3. Frame it in my mind

So follow along because there are things (suprisingly) that can be learned here.

Food Stamps: A $6.9 Billion A Month Program

Each month, 45 million Americans rely on food stamps according to the USDA Food and Nutritional Service (FNS). A total of $6.9 billion dollars flows out each month, broken up into two parts:

1. $6 billion dollars for recipients
2. $900 million in administration costs (no idea why it costs this much)

This amounts to each recipient receiving $133 per month or $33.25 per week in food stamps.

Now, 45 million is quite a lot of people. Given that there are 307 million Americans in 2011, that is around 14.6% of the population. It just means that one out of every seven people in the grocery line are going to be using food stamps.

So you might as well get used to it because it is growing worse every year. Don't believe me? Here's visual proof to burn into your mind.

Historical SNAP/Food Stamp Chart: Number of Participants On The Rise

Notice the steep inclination of this curve. Since 1980, we have had a 100% increase.

Historical SNAP/Food Stamp Chart: Dollar Benefits On The Rise

Because of rising inflation in food prices (more on that below), there has been a 200% increase in payout to SNAP participants since 1980. As worldwide population increases over time, so does the demand for food. Prices increase as well.

Data courtesy of USDA FNS

Food Prices Going Through The Roof

Now you may be wondering, why are dollar benefits rising? Its because of inflation in food prices.

Here are some historical food price charts to quickly glance over. The impression I want you to take from this is that agriculture commodity prices are out of control which puts pressure on increasing the benefits recipients must take to keep up with the cost of food. And as unemployment rises, this increases the pool of participants, of which someone has to make up for increased payouts (hint: you the taxpayer).

Price of Milk 1995-2011

Up over 40% since 1995.

Price of Bread 1980-2011

Up over 300% since 1980.

Price of Eggs 1980-2011

Up over 120% since 1980.

Price of Chicken 1980-2011

Up over 100% since 1980.

Price of Orange Juice 1980-2011

Up over 110% since 1980.

Data courtesy of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics - CPI Averages.

If someone is trying to convince you there is no inflation in this country, ask them if they are smoking weed because clearly, this is greed that has gotten out of control.

My $33 A Week For Food Challenge

With that said, I wanted to take on a 7-day experiment to see if I could really get by on $33 bucks of food. I wanted to know what it felt like, both physically and mentally.

Below is what $33 bucks of groceries bought. It should be noted that in the picture, there is an extra gallon of water and milk missing (I already had those in the refrig).

Looking at it, and knowing what I bought, this is going to be a challenge. More so since I cannot go out to eat or grab stuff from fast food places. Oh how I will miss my sushi, Ben & Jerry's, flavored bottled water, chilli, steak and potatoes, BBQ chicken, danish pastries. - you get the picture. But hey, maybe I'll lose some weight too!

Grocery Item	Cost
Milk 1/2 gallon	$1.99
Crystal Light	$2.39
Loaf of bread	$0.99
Canned spaghetti	$0.99
Spaghetti O's	$0.99
Spaghetti Sauce	$1.48
Spaghetti noodle	$0.78
Rice O' Roni	$0.98
Can of chunk tuna	$0.69
1 Gallon water (2)	$1.98
1000 Island Dressing	$1.59
Hungry Man Meatloaf	$2.28
Kerns Mango Nectar	$1.98
Michelina stroganoff	$0.98
Michelina beef steak	$0.98
Ice cream popsicle	$2.18
American cheese slices	$2.29
Cottage cheese	$2.07
Lettuce	$0.69
Dozen medium grade eggs	$1.68
Bananas (3)	$0.54
Peaches (3)	$0.97
Turkey franks	$1.29
Tax	$0.00
Total	$32.78

Now what I am going to say next is very important. I would not gotten by on the food bill unless I shopped at a discount super market. In this case, Food Maxx which is a warehouse supermarket based here in California. If I shopped at Safeway, Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe's, or a specialty grocery store, there is no way I could have gotten the volume of food I did.

I tried to chose items that would round out the major food groups (dairy, meat, grain, vegetables). Junk foods I avoided like the plague. Stuff like ice cream, potato chips and soda water were ignored (ugh! although I did buy popsicle). Meat and poultry for this experiment is expensive and grocers no longer sell smaller packs these days. For example, there is no way I could keep within budget if I bought a $6 pack of chicken and $8 pack of top sirloin. They would take up nearly 40% of the bill. That would not be smart.

When there were choices to be made between named brand and grocery brand, I chose the grocery brand at a lower cost. I also actively looked for food items that were on sale. Much of the volume of food I purchased had to do with just choosing grocery items on sale. Having to sacrifice brand and quality over cost was a conscious effort too. And because I couldn't buy in bulk to get a lower price, that made it more difficult.

It's interesting how my diet changed as well. I'd have to say that looking at this list, its not that healthy! A lot of processed foods come into play and organic definitely was not affordable. I'm sure I could have gone to my local farmer's market and to my local independent produce market to get the cost of vegetables down. But when I come to think of it, it'll cost me twice that in gas to get to the store.

Framing It With Some Perspective

Here's what I learned from this experiment. In a nutshell:

• Stretch the grocery bill by shopping at a discount grocery store
• Avoid brand names if you can. Go with off brands to save
• Only purchase items of necessity and ignore the rest (no junk food)
• Go on the Internet or look in the newspaper for manufacturer coupons
• Discount supermarkets have a savings section. Sometimes those are items at the front of the store when you walk in. Sometimes there is a dedicated "wall". Look for them and use it.
• Not being able to buy in bulk due to limited funds, forces SNAP families to pay higher prices per unit
• Government should force supermarkets to sell smaller size meats, fish and poultry. SNAP families cannot afford to buy in volume. It also forces a poor choice of food and dietary habit
• $33 a week is pretty tough!