The New Poverty: 1 in 10 Americans Now on Food Stamps
The price of food’s been going up, up, up. I watched my normally cheap veggie-protein, quinoa, double in cost overnight. Hey, that’s one of my staples! It’s already rough enough when you insist on shopping at the organic grocery, but even bargain shoppers are feeling the pinch. Don’t believe it’s bad? This just in: the number of food-stamp users has hit 31.6 million people ““ that’s 1 in 10 Americans.
Take a moment and think about that. That means 1 in 10 Americans now have income levels far enough below the poverty line to qualify for food stamps. Ouch. I guess it’s just one more inspiration to push people to try and grow their own food. It’s not going to be a case of Victory Gardens like in WWII or urban gardening chic – we’ll be doing it out of necessity if this keeps up. Personal sustainability is going to get, well, personal!
We think of food as being a third world problem. But it may in fact be a global problem. How are you coping with high food prices? Have your shopping habits changed?
Images: CNN, Tainted Balance
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6 Comments
December 14th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I’m storing and preserving all my food. I’m starting to grow only plants that do double service as both landscaping and edibles. No more shrubs, blueberry, raspberry and blackberry bushes. The hanging plants in my house are cherry tomato, rosemary, strawberry, peppers, etc.
I’m doing my damndest to throw very little out and make the most of everything I have.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Oh how wonderful Amy, I never thought of growing cherry tomato and strawberries as hanging house plants! Very cool idea!!
December 16th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
this is one of the reasons my fiancée and i became vegans – we just don’t think it’s sustainable to continue to consume meat and dairy products; in addition to the fact that the mass production of beef contributes more to greenhouse gases than cars…
although it’s funny you mention the quinoa! i thought i was crazy for thinking that the price had gone up this last time i went to buy it!! it does make it more difficult to shop at whole foods and local groceries/farmers markets, but our priority is to consume organic, locally grown, preservative-free, all natural foods as much as possible, and right now, that costs more. we just don’t spend $ on other things…
grechen’s last blog post..Introducing New EDUN Live Organic Tees
December 18th, 2008 at 5:05 am
going vegan, or even vegetarian helps, growing your own food helps, getting food stamps help, and skipping dining out and that extra dessert helps! boy times are hard!
Lia’s last blog post..Obamas Stimulus Plan Expands Health Care Provisions
February 18th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
One unfortunate thing about food stamps is that they cannot be used at Cosco, farmer’s markets or co-ops. Sadly, i think that most of the US food stamps get spent on corn-fed beef, chicken, eggs, dairy products and processed foods containing corn meal and syrup. Kind of funny that the government pays farmers to grow it and us to eat it!
September 15th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Strangely, the smaller bodied vegan and vegetarian Asians are overtaking the “Smoke-Stack Era” Legacy Workers of America, big strong hulking philistine meat eaters, and leaving them behind! Even the Uber -Rich American Capital has moved to the predominantly vegetarian Asian stock markets! Is there a lesson here?
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