Food shopping with a VISTA

At around 3:00 yesterday, several hours after my post, Taylor came home from his second job and we went grocery shopping. I'd like to tell you a little about a typical grocery store excursion for us.

Before we set out, we take an inventory of what we already have. There's nothing worse than coming home with a bunch of duplicate items that will either a) spoil before we can use them or b) take up shelf space (and money) for the week. Next, we make a rough plan of what meals we'd like to make for the week. We also compare our coupons to the store ad to see if we can find any good deals on items that we either need right now or can stock up on for the month. Based on this assessment, we make a quick list of everything we need, then grab our EBT card, our Kroger card, coupons, and reusable grocery totes (hey, we may be poor but we're still green!), and hit the road.

Once we arrive, we start circling the store. After years of college living, I have had a bit of practice in stretching my dollar as far as possible, and the same principles apply when shopping with food stamps. I know that I could stretch our food stamps a lot further if we only bought Ramen noodles or mac 'n cheese every week. And if I were still single, that's probably what you would find in my cart. Thankfully, the better half of our household knows how to cook with real ingredients and recipes and values fresh food.

In an attempt to be as healthy as possible, Taylor prefers to stick to the outer walls of the store, which is where all of the fresh foods such as fruits, veggies, meat, and dairy lives. The interior aisles are where more of the shelf stable stuff (like Ramen) lives, which is often loaded with sugar, sodium, and preservatives. The foods in this section have the highest caloric content, are cheapest to buy, and last longest in the cupboard. However, they are also lowest in nutritional value, which eventually will cost us in terms of our health and energy. Because we have food stamps, we feel less guilty about investing a little extra in fresh items for our weekly food supply.

Our first stop is in produce where we pick up an average of 3 kinds of fruits (usually some kind of apple, banana, peach combo depending on what's on sale), 2 kinds of fresh veggies (carrots, celery, etc.), and an occasional bag of salad.

Next we grab a loaf of bread, tortillas, and a bag of bagels, before moving into a few interior aisles to replenish condiments, spices, or baking ingredients, and to grab the occasional bag of cereal, pasta, canned vegetables, peanut butter, soup, salsa, or box of crackers.

Then it's back to the outer walls and the meat department where we always buy a pack of lunch meat (Taylor's lunch staple). We might get some ground beef or pork chops if they're on sale, but usually we find that fresh meat tends to cost more money than we're willing to spend. We don't particularly mind this, though, especially after reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. If fresh protein isn't appealing, we'll pick up a few cans of beans or a bag of frozen chicken for the week, maybe a block of tofu.

Next comes the dairy department where we always buy two gallons of milk and about 8-10 yogurt cups. We also tend to buy cheese, butter, and sour cream, depending on our needs for the week.

Finally, we'll scan the frozen food aisle. Sometimes with our coupons and the store's sale we can get a great deal on frozen pizzas, frozen potatoes, and yes, ice cream.

Now, this probably sounds like a typical grocery store visit for most families, especially during the recent recession. We're not making any exotic purchases but we're also not living on rice and beans. We're doing alright.

What makes our experience different, though, is the checkout line. First, if Taylor and I have any non-food items in our cart such as toilet paper or sponges or something, we have to check out separately, once with cash or credit card, the second time with our EBT card. Nowadays, using the EBT card saves the user a considerable amount of embarrassment, as it is faster and easier than tearing out actual stamps to present to the cashier. We have found though, that while the person behind use might not know we're using food stamps, the cashier always does, which can be just as embarrassing depending on his/her philosophy on public benefits.

When the cashier sees me pull out my EBT card, he assumes it is a regular credit card and automatically hits "credit" on his key pad. So I always have to swipe the card twice unless I explicitly specify "food stamps" before this process begins. A majority of the time, I can re-swipe without incident, except for the handful of times when we encounter the self-righteous 16-year old who rolls her eyes and sighs loudly when I say "oh, no, this is an EBT card." And that's about the same time that she and anyone within earshot starts examining the contents of our cart and the clothes on our backs to see if, yes, we really do deserve food stamps. And when they see we're buying anything more than rice and beans, a disapproving look crosses their faces as to why we would ever buy such extravagant food as apples and milk and yogurt on the government's money.

It is this kind of reaction from the general public that keeps the food stamp stigma alive. Through this blog and our daily interactions with cashiers and neighbors and friends, we hope to educate the public and alleviate the stigma people in poverty face everyday. Everyone deserves a little variety, a little flavor in their life. And everyone deserves at least three nutritious meals every day. Unfortunately, $3/day per person in food stamps doesn't always make the cut.