Food Stamps

[brdgt]

A Governor Truly Tightens His Belt
William Yardley (The New York Times, May 1, 2007)

"Gov. Theodore R. Kulongoski’s decision to live on $3 a day in grocery money for a week, as he had been urged to do in an Oregon 'food stamp challenge,' could confound the surest cynic. At 66, he was just elected to his second term, with a budget surplus surpassing $1 billion and a legislature controlled by his fellow Democrats. So just what was there to gain politically?

For a governor who has long pushed to reduce hunger and happens to like eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, maybe that was not the point.

As Wayne Scott, the leader of the House Republicans, put it: 'Obviously I’m in the opposite party, so it would be easy for me to knock him for this. Now, I don’t know that I fully believe that he’s eating on $21 a week, but I do think he’s trying to bring attention to the food stamp issue. He’s a pretty straight shooter.'"

Governor Shops on a Shoestring
Peter Wong (Statesman Journal, Oregon, Apr. 25, 2007)

"Gov. Ted Kulongoski learned a thing or two while shopping on a food-stamp budget Tuesday at the South Salem Fred Meyer.

A weekly allotment of $21 -- an average of $1 per meal -- did not allow for much in his shopping cart. His most expensive items were a small chicken and a box of Quaker Oats granola cereal. He bought a marked-down container of milk...

Kulongoski has made reducing hunger a priority ever since the U.S. Department of Agriculture pegged Oregon as the hungriest state in 1996-98. By its 2003-05 measures of hunger, which the USDA calls 'very low food security,' and food insecurity, Oregon ranked 22nd.

Oregon's rate of participation in food stamps, which were converted to electronic form a decade ago, now exceeds 80 percent of eligible households and is among the nation's highest."

Could You Feed Yourself for $3 a Day?
Harry Esteve (The Oregonian, Apr. 25, 2007)

"The governor's shopping trip was full of obvious ironies. He was driven to the store in a state car. Two bodyguards followed him through the aisles, as did a small throng of news media. In the checkout line, aides rifled through file folders to bring out coupons he could use.

But the governor took it seriously, studying prices, forgoing organic fruit to get the price break and taking advice from Christina Sigman-Davenport, a state worker who went on food stamps to support her family of five after her husband lost his job."

Food Stamp 'Stunt' Provides Food for Thought
Editorial (Statesman Journal, Oregon, Apr. 26, 2007)

"If Gov. Ted Kulongoski's food-stamp challenge is a publicity stunt, it's a darned good one...

The Oregon Food Bank got commitments from thousands of people who said they'd join the governor on lean rations this week. They include families, church congregations and workers from the Department of Human Services who want to better understand their clients' lives.

Others have at least given the matter more thought. Read between the lines of the governor's shopping list from Tuesday and you'll see that it's hard work to be poor. Kulongoski had to spend time searching for bargains such as a gallon of milk for a buck. He had to return a couple of items, a ritual that can prove embarrassing in the checkout line...

In short, the governor has this community talking across lines often divided by income, ethnicity and education. That's quite an accomplishment."

Comments

[xmorningxrosex.livejournal.com]

I wish more people who are in charge politically would do this. Only this guy had it easy in comparison knowing that he only had to do it for a week (meaning no despair, no worrying about stretching your food stamp money for an entire month which is harder to budget for), he probably just had the $21 for himself and didn't have to worry about buying food for an entire family, and all the cashiers knew what was up instead of making a big deal out of using an actual electronic food stamp card (if you go into a store and spend $21, they wouldn't give you a second look, $21 on food stamps probably would get you another look), and he probably has a well stocked kitchen at home to supplement the $21. my friend just got her foodstamps adjusted, and she and her son now get $10 a month. wtf are they supposed to do with that little? they might as well reject her. mine were taken away because i made too little as a grad student.

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

Yes, the 21 dollars was just for himself (his wife also had 21 dollars) but they were NOT allowed to use any food they already had (ie: their pantry) and they were not allowed to eat at government events (which they usually do for most of their meals - their usual weekly food budget is actually only 55 dollars a week total because they eat at home so little).

When I had food stamps I certainly couldn't live on them, but they helped me by supplementing what I was already buying.

What I think is great about this is that he has people talking about it instead of pretending like it doesn't exist. As one of these articles put it:
"Judging from the lively postings on StatesmanJournal.com on Wednesday morning, this "stunt" connected with everyday folks. Many of them second-guessed the guv's shopping list or his choice of stores. Some reminded him that food-stamp shoppers may cart groceries home by bus. There were comments about union vs. non-union wages and why some state employees live so close to the edge that they qualify for food stamps.

In short, the governor has this community talking across lines often divided by income, ethnicity and education. That's quite an accomplishment.

But as he noted in a speech later, hunger doesn't exist in a vacuum. People cut back on food when they're squeezed by high-priced housing and medical bills. Throw in rising gas costs and utility bills, plus the lack of good child care, and you see how quickly crises can pile up for the poor."

[alineskirt.livejournal.com]

I am really impressed with Ted Kulongoski. He has been in office since 2002 and he has consistently made Oregon's hunger problem a priority, but this is the first time I've seen it get this kind of press. I'm glad so many people are paying attention to his choices this week, whether they think he's faking somehow or trying to get publicity. I believe he genuinely cares that a lot of people don't have enough to eat, and Oregon Food Bank has gotten tons of calls, emails, and donations since his week started.

He really isn't a very public guy, but one other thing I really respect about him is that he has gone to every funeral for an Oregon soldier who's died in Iraq or Afghanistan. I think we're really lucky to have him.

[squiggle.livejournal.com]

wow, i'm impressed that a governor would do that. thanks for posting all those. i just read a book called "the working poor" with a lot of stories about the limits of food stamps.