‘Teen Mom’ Star Gary Shirley Shouldn’t Be Bashed for Food Stamps & Junk Food

I agree that theres no shame in accepting foodstamps as help for a few months in an emergency situation. I am not a fan of continuing use of them rather than increasing your income, but everyone needs help at some point. Our family was on foodstamps for three months when my husband was laid off. In my experience, it was not difficult to eat healthy with them, we recieved more than enough to buy fresh organic produce, especially since the money is meant to be used to supplement your food budget, not foot the whole bill.

Well qrex913, I am happy you have it all figured out for those on food stamps. Wow. It is there choice how they use it and alot of families do use what they are given as their only source of means to buy food not just to " supplement", so they are not able to buy the organic and fresh foods all the time. I have a friend who recently had to go on assistance and she has two kids to feed, she surely isn't given enough every month to eat that way!

The amount you recieve is based on your income and household size. an adult with two kids recieves enough to feed an adult and two kids. And its not that I have it all figured out, I was fortunate to have savings and budgeting skills to get us through that time comfortably. I know that not everyone is thst fortunate and I certainly didn't intend to sound condescending, but SNAP stands for supplemental nutrition assistance program. It is a supplement. If you budget accordingly, you can make it work.

QUOTE: Here's the truth: the biggest obstacle standing between low income consumers and healthy food isn't their pocketbooks. It's knowing how to be a smart shopper.

YES YES YES!!!!

 

I say that ALL the time!!!  People get a lot more money from food stamps, for a family our size, then I EVER spend on groceries!  I shop sales, coupon, check the store at a time when managers mark down the stuff that has a 'sell by' date.  We are a family of 7 and I spend $400 a month on food and toiletries.  Food stamps should NOT equal junk food/unhealthy eating.

There is no shame in someone using what their taxes have paid for as a temporary safety net. However, When families have been on them for years and have HAD MORE KIDS during the time they have been on food stamps, there IS shame in that! We all know people who have been on them for 10 years and have 4 kids UNDER 10 years old. If you go on food stamps, you life is in a financial emergency, or it should be ssen that way, and you do not produce new mouths to feed if you are in a financial emergency state. If a single father with one child like Gary went on them for a time, I see no problem there, as long as he didn't make any more babies until he was supporting himself and his existing child without assistance.

My food stamps of $250 per month definately "suppliments" my food budget. I have 3 children (7, 13 & 14) & and exhusband who disappeared a few years ago. We live off of my $20,000 per year gross income. I pay insurance & food stamps is the only govt assistance we get. my 13 tear old has autisim & yeah I pay for all his expenses/meds/etc too. I do not buy junk food. I also cannot buy all free range/organic/preservative free foods. But I buy as many as I can each and every month. No one in my house is hungry, no one is overweight, but it would be ignorant to say that people on food stamps have enough money to be choosy about thier apples or chicken. I buy the chicken when I can afford it & dried beans when I can't. If I can afford a bag of fresh apples I don't give a crap if they are organic, I want my kids to get to eat the apples. I don't buy the processed foods in the middle of the grocery store (in general) or already prepared frozen meals. But I work 2 jobs to afford it. I challenge anyone to feed a family of 4 (with 2 teenagers) an organic/preservative free/free range/pesticide free/hormone free/etc diet on even $300 per month (what I spend most months including my food stamps & my money I rearned from working). If you do it please send me a how-to, I'd love to be able to do it.

I'm on food stamps and it's true, we don't eat junk food. One thing I noticed right before we were approved that all our money went to cheap food. Now that we're have food stamps we eat a lot healthier. I used to be vegan so I know exactly a lot about healthy foods, to shop in season and best way to get protein(beans). Another thing that proves this is true, I saw my sister in laws fridge, it's completely empty in the fridge but the freezer was packed! Her and her bf work and have an infant. Where as me and my bf are jobless after moving from AZ to KS, my family helped us in AZ and now his parents are helping us in KS. His parents aren't as helpful hence applying for food stamps. I just wish all the cash we had when we first applied went towards diapers,wipes,crib and highchair instead of the junk food we had to eat while waiting for getting approved a month later.

The rumor is not that people on food stamps have to eat junk.... its that they usually pick junk.. I know this personally from working with the public and they always buy candy cigarretes for their kids and chips and soda all when they get their food stamps... That is why the rumor is about people on food stamps eat junk... most usually they do!

I have both an older sister (family of 4) and younger brother (family of 4) who receive fs.  My older sister works the coupons, sale ads, in store specials and feeds her family healthy meals everyday.  My younger brother on the other hands, buy nothing but frozen pizzas, chicken nuggets, boxed mac n cheese, soda by the case and other junk food.  You can't find a piece of fruit or fresh vegetables in his house anywhere.  So yes, you can plan and provide healthy meals for your family on food stamps but many people use it the way my brother does instead.