By Igor Volsky on
Jun 19, 2013 at 9:09 am
Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX)
Conservative firebrand Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) argued in a press release on Tuesday that the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides cushy benefits to
recipients and accused Democrats protesting proposed cuts of engaging in a
“left-wing publicity stunt intended to make it appear proposed cuts to food
stamps would leave families unable to feed themselves.”
On Friday, the Senate
advanced a farm bill that would take $4 billion out of SNAP and the House is
considering cutting the program by 2.5 percent and leaving some two million
families without food assistance. In response, more than 26 members of Congress are
taking the “SNAP Challenge,” living off a food stamp budget for a week to draw
attention to the inadequacy of the average benefit of $4.50 per day.
Forty-seven million Americans are currently enrolled in the program.
But an aide in Stockman’s
office claims to have “debunked” their effort and is accusing Democrats of “intentionally buying overpriced food and
shopping at high-priced chains to make it appear the cuts go too far”:
Donny Ferguson, who serves
as Stockman’s communications director and agriculture policy advisor, was able
to buy enough food to eat well for a week on just $27.58, almost four dollars
less than the $31.50 “SNAP Challenge” figure.
“I wanted to personally
experience the effects of the proposed cuts to food stamps. I didn’t plan ahead or buy strategically, I just saw the publicity
stunt and made a snap decision to drive down the street and try it myself.
I put my money where my mouth is, and the proposed food stamp cuts are still
quite filling,” said Ferguson.
“We can
cut the proposed benefits by an additional 12.4 percent and still be able to
eat for a week,” said Ferguson. “Not only am I feeding myself for
less than the SNAP Challenge, I will probably have food left over.” [...]
“I didn’t use coupons, I
didn’t compare prices and was buying for one, instead of a family. I could have
bought even more food per person if I were splitting $126 four ways, instead of
budgeting $31.50 to eat for one” said Ferguson. “I could have bought cheaper
vegetables instead of prepared red beans and rice, but I like red beans and
rice. Folks aren’t buying fast food instead of vegetables because of
benefit limits, they’re buying fast food because fast food tastes great and
vegetables taste like vegetables.”
Stockman’s office appears
to misunderstand the challenge. Rather than
impulsively buying food, participants plan for nutritious meals, akin to actual
families enrolled in the program. And with the average cost of food at home far exceeding the SNAP Challenge
allotment, families often struggle to afford meals.
A study published earlier this year by the
Institute of Medicine found that “low-income and minority populations are more
likely than other groups to experience limited access to supermarkets and other
large retail outlets” These families also lack the transportation to access
quality food and don’t have “sufficient time to produce healthy meals from
scratch.” Since food prices vary across the nation, “SNAP participants who live
in locales with higher food prices find it difficult to meet their needs with
the current benefit,” the IOM concluded.
Indeed, as Rep. Barbara Lee
(D-CA) — one of the members participating in the challenge — pointed out, “When
I was a young, single mother, I was on public assistance. It was a bridge over
troubled water, and without it, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” “I spent hours debating what to buy and what
to skip, all the while keeping my sons in my mind,” she wrote.
The latest poverty data
show that SNAP lifted 4.7 million households out of poverty in
2011.
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