Great piece. Another way they get us is "buying in bulk." I was living in Seattle in the late 1970's and the early 80's without much money, and a friend scolded me for not buying in bulk. I replied, "I don't have enough money to buy in bulk."
YES! That is a great example. In my next post I'm going to talk about a related phenomenon: getting paid salary/all at once on the 1st of the month. I had basically the same salary working Direct Care to when I transitioned to the University..but not having to coordinate bill payments/groceries/etc with only getting paid every other week was such a huge game changer.
not to mention buying in bulk requires having someplace to store what you buy. Who has that kind of storage space? And if it's perishables, what if you're sharing a fridge with roommates? I was lucky for a few years when I lived upstate in a nice big (fire trap) apartment with an extra room to put my bulk stuff and the occasional guest, but that was a rarity. Most of my life I had to buy just what I needed at the moment. Oh, and there's also the folks who are like, just drive there, assuming everyone can afford a car. Not me. No car. Just my trusty "abuela cart" as I and my friends used to call them, and my two feet. Which, I can add, means you take extra hours out of your day/week to do everything, including going to the laundromat, etc.
The ironic thing is that when I got the notification of this piece, I had *just* been explaining to my two older sons (18 & 14) this very insane Kim Reynolds idea. She’s declining the federal money to help feed kids in Iowa because of childhood obesity. When I read your newsletter last month (or maybe the month before) that linked to an article with her stating that idea- it seriously had me so fuming that I couldn’t sleep that night.
Guess what kind of food people who are poor can afford?? Cheap food, which is shelf stable or frozen and full of preservatives and crap that isn’t the most healthy. It’s too expensive to eat fresh and healthy. I had a conversation with a hospice nurse who was working with an elderly lady who had diabetes, but had to rely on food pantries. NONE of the food available at the food pantry was good for someone with diabetes. Food pantries rarely have fresh foods.
I’m a single mom of four (12, 14, 16 & 18). I have only been able to work part time because basically I can either have kids or work (long story short).
The only time we have not been food insecure was when they extended EBT benefits to the full amount regardless of income during the pandemic. Once that ended, back to having to shop cheap. With rising grocery prices, I’m lucky if that food money makes it three weeks.
The other great thing is that once I started getting disability for one of my children, $700 a month, my foodshare got cut by $350, and my rent went up $323. I fought the system for a year and a half for that. Mostly because this child is going to need it when she’s an adult and I’ve heard how impossible it is to get for people over 18. So, the real kicker is that we will also have to go through all of it all over again once she turns 18.
There is ONE good thing here. Iowa has a chain of grocery stores called Fareway that has a program to promote healthy eating for people on EBT. For every $ (up to 10 in one trip) that you spend on produce, they give you one dollar on a card that you can later purchase produce with. Every grocery store in Iowa should do this.
Ugh thanks for sharing Kristin and that all sounds beyond frustrating. All those hoops and bureaucracy on top of the rising grocery prices is unsustainable. Something has to give and I'm not quite sure what it will be but my fear is that by the time it does whole swaths of our communities will be lost.
I went to Taco Bell the other day and there was a guy asking folks to buy him food. I was receptive, and he asked for a Deluxe Cravings Box (about $10)... I was like "dude, that's expensive, how about a regular cravings box?". He was OK with that so I bought him that ($5.50) -- which was still more than the meal I was buying myself... and yet I still feel guilty that I didn't buy him the Deluxe box.
I'm generally happy to buy homeless folks food but I just don't know what's "appropriate". I just don't know how to feel about this... no one should have to beg for food...
Hey Sean thanks for sharing something that you don't quite know how to feel about (which is a huge thing in today's social media/always have to have a platform and hot take type of discourse) I had a buddy that got super bent out of shape when he gave someone some cash on the street then about a half hour later saw the guy heading to a tobacco shop. I too oscillate on how I feel about situations like that. It can feel like getting taking advantage but at the same time, what's a few bucks?
Great piece. Another way they get us is "buying in bulk." I was living in Seattle in the late 1970's and the early 80's without much money, and a friend scolded me for not buying in bulk. I replied, "I don't have enough money to buy in bulk."
YES! That is a great example. In my next post I'm going to talk about a related phenomenon: getting paid salary/all at once on the 1st of the month. I had basically the same salary working Direct Care to when I transitioned to the University..but not having to coordinate bill payments/groceries/etc with only getting paid every other week was such a huge game changer.
not to mention buying in bulk requires having someplace to store what you buy. Who has that kind of storage space? And if it's perishables, what if you're sharing a fridge with roommates? I was lucky for a few years when I lived upstate in a nice big (fire trap) apartment with an extra room to put my bulk stuff and the occasional guest, but that was a rarity. Most of my life I had to buy just what I needed at the moment. Oh, and there's also the folks who are like, just drive there, assuming everyone can afford a car. Not me. No car. Just my trusty "abuela cart" as I and my friends used to call them, and my two feet. Which, I can add, means you take extra hours out of your day/week to do everything, including going to the laundromat, etc.
Great points! Thank you! My friend who criticized me had a lawyer husband and a big house. She was a fine person, but just didn't understand.
The ironic thing is that when I got the notification of this piece, I had *just* been explaining to my two older sons (18 & 14) this very insane Kim Reynolds idea. She’s declining the federal money to help feed kids in Iowa because of childhood obesity. When I read your newsletter last month (or maybe the month before) that linked to an article with her stating that idea- it seriously had me so fuming that I couldn’t sleep that night.
Guess what kind of food people who are poor can afford?? Cheap food, which is shelf stable or frozen and full of preservatives and crap that isn’t the most healthy. It’s too expensive to eat fresh and healthy. I had a conversation with a hospice nurse who was working with an elderly lady who had diabetes, but had to rely on food pantries. NONE of the food available at the food pantry was good for someone with diabetes. Food pantries rarely have fresh foods.
I’m a single mom of four (12, 14, 16 & 18). I have only been able to work part time because basically I can either have kids or work (long story short).
The only time we have not been food insecure was when they extended EBT benefits to the full amount regardless of income during the pandemic. Once that ended, back to having to shop cheap. With rising grocery prices, I’m lucky if that food money makes it three weeks.
The other great thing is that once I started getting disability for one of my children, $700 a month, my foodshare got cut by $350, and my rent went up $323. I fought the system for a year and a half for that. Mostly because this child is going to need it when she’s an adult and I’ve heard how impossible it is to get for people over 18. So, the real kicker is that we will also have to go through all of it all over again once she turns 18.
There is ONE good thing here. Iowa has a chain of grocery stores called Fareway that has a program to promote healthy eating for people on EBT. For every $ (up to 10 in one trip) that you spend on produce, they give you one dollar on a card that you can later purchase produce with. Every grocery store in Iowa should do this.
Ugh thanks for sharing Kristin and that all sounds beyond frustrating. All those hoops and bureaucracy on top of the rising grocery prices is unsustainable. Something has to give and I'm not quite sure what it will be but my fear is that by the time it does whole swaths of our communities will be lost.
I went to Taco Bell the other day and there was a guy asking folks to buy him food. I was receptive, and he asked for a Deluxe Cravings Box (about $10)... I was like "dude, that's expensive, how about a regular cravings box?". He was OK with that so I bought him that ($5.50) -- which was still more than the meal I was buying myself... and yet I still feel guilty that I didn't buy him the Deluxe box.
I'm generally happy to buy homeless folks food but I just don't know what's "appropriate". I just don't know how to feel about this... no one should have to beg for food...
Hey Sean thanks for sharing something that you don't quite know how to feel about (which is a huge thing in today's social media/always have to have a platform and hot take type of discourse) I had a buddy that got super bent out of shape when he gave someone some cash on the street then about a half hour later saw the guy heading to a tobacco shop. I too oscillate on how I feel about situations like that. It can feel like getting taking advantage but at the same time, what's a few bucks?
Me too, Chuy. I remember $1.00 cheesburgers from Micky D's being my saving grace when I was in college. Great piece about the myth of meritocracy.