Living on less than $18.00 a day for a family of four is insanely difficult alone, but now add living healthy on $18.00 a day and it becomes near impossible. This is the challenge families on food stamps are confronted with daily. In 2006 impoverished states such as Alabama, West Virginia and Louisiana have had growing rates of obesity. For example in 2006 Mississippi was the first state to have 30% obesity among its population according to WebMd.com. USA Today reports five of the poorest states were in the top ten most obese states (Mississippi, Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia and Alabama) showing a direct link between income and obesity. USA Today also explains, poverty areas are generally unsafe, have few grocery stores which offer fruits and vegetables, and many housing developments in these areas are not built with sidewalks for exercise. All of these contribute to the obesity epidemic.
Grocery shopping on than $18.00 a day for a family of four is already near impossible but if you want to eat right and be healthy, this task is impossible. This is the challenge families on food stamps are confronted with daily. A needy family of four can get up to $542.00 a month in food stamp assistance according to fns.usda.gov. Being a smart shopper is key when on this kind of budget. The protocol many poor adults follow is this, buy whatever is on sale, use coupons, buy in bulk and get as much generic as possible. What is not figured into this equation is healthy foods and fresh produce.
The typical middle class American family of four spends roughly $600.00 per month on food and more if the foods are organic, low fat, soy based or trans fat free. Often they do not think twice about spending a little extra money on an item if it will be healthier for them. For an impoverished family, the only thing they are worried about is stretching the budget as far as it will go, regardless of health benefits. For example, Ramen noodles are about ten cents a package which means a child can have one a day for a month for around $3.00. While parents are thinking this is a brilliant food item, they are not bothering to look at the nutritional values. One package of Ramen is equal to two servings. Each serving has 194 calories in it and 1960 mg of sodium (82% of our daily value). For many food stamp shoppers, fresh produce is a waste of money. If the item is not eaten right away it will go bad which means money was wasted. So instead they buy fruit snacks packed with sugar, pasta, rice, tacos and greasy chips. These are all things which can be bough for cheap and on a food stamp program and they will not go bad quickly.
In 2007 Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and his wife tried living in $21.00 a week (the food stamp budget in Oregon for a family of two). The governor found he had to say no to organic foods, Swiss cheese, low sodium Progresso canned soups and start saying yes to half a banana, Cup O'Noodles and store brand peanut butter and jelly. A worker for the Department of Health and Human Services in Oregon told the Governor to specifically look for low cost staple items such as macaroni and cheese, beans and rice all of which are high in carbs, fat, calories and far from healthy.
The Federal Nutrition Assistance Program brings nutritional education and a helpful diet for those on food stamps but it does not give more money to families to buy healthier products all it does is educate them which will hopefully help them make better nutritional choices. Dietary changes in schools have made it possible for children of low income families to at least get one healthy meal a day (lunch) and for those who qualify two healthy meals (breakfast and lunch), while they are at school.
The obesity epidemic is out of control as is the poverty level. It is difficult to fix one without fixing the other. Each problem also snowballs into other problems such as healthcare costs, disability cases, and unemployment. Obesity is not just one problem requiring a solution, it is a whole mess of problems which need multiple solutions.