The Urban Institute has a new report out analyzing the “low-income meal costs” in counties versus the maximum per-meal SNAP benefit. Its not-so-shocking conclusion is that in 99 percent of US counties, the per-meal benefit is less than the actual cost of a meal.
The maximum per-meal SNAP benefit is $1.86, but in Monroe County, the average “low-income meal” — that’s the organization’s phrasing, not mine — costs $2.32. The Urban Institute calculated similar average costs in surrounding counties: $2.02 in Orleans County, $2.19 in Genesee County, $2.26 in Livingston County, $2.28 in Ontario County, and $2.21 in Wayne County.
But these averages got us wondering how it’s even possible to spend that little on a meal; realistically, most people probably focus more on their weekly grocery bills than the cost of each meal they eat. One of our writers figures he spent about $4 a meal for a soup he made this week, which included meat. I went through and calculated the cost of a salad and sandwich I made the other night — neither included meat — and that was roughly $3. Both my coworker and I have cars and can easily get to grocery stores and farmers markets.
Urban Institute explains its methodology on the study’s webpage. Basically, it uses the numbers from a Census Survey where people self-report their food spending, information from the USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan, and price indexes from Feeding America’s “Map the Meal Gap” report.
If you haven’t done it in a while, try to figure out what the last meal you made cost. And then think about what you could make for $1.86 and where you’d have to go to get that food; it’s an enlightening exercise that can really illustrate income-based food and nutritional disparities.
This article appears in Mar 7-13, 2018.
Let’s see, SNAP benefits for an individual are $192.00
An individual meal plan for a 30 day month:
3 meals/ day time 30 days = 90 meals
Breakfast: 3 eggs, two slices whole grain toast, small nectarine.
Lunch : 2 slices whole grain toast, 3 slices turkey, fruit
Dinner: 1 chicken breast, vegetable, 1 potato
Totals: 90 eggs > 7.5 dozen : Wegmans 36 large eggs for $3.98 = 11.94 for 108 eggs
Whole grain bread > 120 slices: Wegmans whole grain 16 slices per loaf = 8 loaves x 3.25 = 26.00
Small nectarines > 60 : Halos 20 nectarines /bag = 4.99 x 3 = 15.00
Chicken breast > 30: Wegmans bulk Chicken breast 10 / pkg. = 3 packages ~ 10.00/pkg = 30.00
Vegetables > Wegmans frozen vegetables 3 bags family pack 4.99/ bag = 15.00
Lunch meat >4 packages X 4.99 = 20.00
Potato > 30 potatoes x 2.99/bag = 2 bags = 10.00
Miscellaneous (butter, salt, pepper, cooking oil, etc…) =20.00
Total = $128.00
Allowed from Snap : $192.00
Balance left for misc. food items: $64.00
The whole point to the program is to provide basic sustenance. Not to feast. And, for those of you who are going to complain about the lack of variety see the above statement. If people would adhere to this perhaps we’d also break the cycle of people on welfare being obese.
Chuck beat me to it. Toss a 20lb bag of rice in there for $12 also. You get a lot of meal bases/sides out of that $12.
My breakfast choice is similar to what he listed, with eggs as the main staple. Lunch, post-cancer, has become a 1lb bag of green veggies, usually brussels sprouts (available for $1 in the frozen section at Tops. Several veggie choices are $1/lb at Tops/Wegmans/Probably Aldi’s and Price rite also). Dinner will usually include some form of animal protein (chicken/pork, not beef), and the before mentioned rice, plus a veggie. Snacks are baby carrots (99cents/lb) or bananas (44cents/lb).
Sick of this misconception that “poor people have higher obesity rates because unhealthy foods are cheaper”. That’s garbage. Laziness is why people in this country are fat.
Meals under $1/serving:
http://www.allyou.com/food/supercheap-meal…
Meals under $2/serving:
https://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/20-d…