I dare you to find any combination that allows you to get even close to the full amount of ounces you’re entitled to.

Yes! This was one mathematical equation that had no solvable answer! I stood there with my pamphlets for quite some time trying to figure it out, but there was no way to maximize your ounces especially if you threw in the requirement that the cereal you got was something your kid would actually eat (although this made me feel guilty because I was trying to be thankful for any free food and not be too picky).

I think the folks who worked out this method for buying cereal on WIC were the same ones who came up with packaging hot dogs and hot dog buns in different quantities.

I would disagree with you, but only because I remember when my father was on foodstamps and how we rarely got treats at all… instead of buying them (cause we didn’t have the money and my dad didn’t think we *could* use foodstamps for junk), my brother and I would steal them… and I got VERY good at it… my brother started stealing first… but then realized that I, as a girl, often carried around a rather large purse… and so he started getting me to steal and I kept stealing cause I got away with it, I got to have sweets when I wanted them. My brother went on to start stealing things other than candy, like baseball cards (I even helped if he agreed to give me the bubblegum)… he was really into collecting them… then one day he got caught and my dad threw all of his collection out… that got the message through to my brother… but not to me. I kept stealing cause I didn’t get caught… until one of the stores I usually stole from (a little mom and pop store) had to close down… I blamed myself and felt guilty (yay me) cause until then I had never really thought I was hurting anyone by stealing a bag of m&m’s here and there…

I think if we’d been allowed a few sweets when we were young and poor (or if my father had known we were allowed to buy sweets… actually I’m not certain we were allowed back then, but it’s hard to remember) my brother and I would not have resorted to theft.

I’ve seen customers buy over $100 worth of junk food using their food stamps. I’ve seen others buy a comparable amount of meat; I’ve rung up entire orders consisting of nothing but $100 worth of steak and pot roast.

Customers with children are definitely among the best shoppers. Most of them still buy a lot of soda, but they also select a reasonably balanced variety of grains, fruits and vegetables, meat, and dairy. Young, presumably single men, on the other hand, seem to rarely shop well, with older single men doing nearly as badly.

I still think the food stamp program is an extremely valuable one, and God forbid that anyone should see my criticism as a desire to make it even more difficult for poor people to feed themselves. But I do think that soda and candy, at the least, ought not to be covered by food stamps. If an item has no nutritional value whatsoever, then it shouldn’t be considered food for the purposes of the food stamp program.

I *Hated* having to tell a mother with her obivously hungry child that she couldn’t buy this because it wasn’t covered by the WIC check. Or that she couldn’t buy the food because the WIC check had expired.

I also remember being very ashamed in middle school because even with both of my parents working and my mother in school to get a better job, we still had to use food stamps. The paper ones, where you had to have the exact amount, because they wouldn’t give you change.

I realize now, that my mother was doing the best she could for us. But when you start talking about Food Stamps and WIC in your health class, and everyone turns to look at you, because they *know* you’re on foodstamps, it’s the worst feeling in the world for a kid.

I got GOOD at that.

These things were a GODSEND to me, because I was pregnant during the summer, and so for the months leading up to my son’s birth, I was able to eat fresh vegetables all the time in a way that I absolutely wouldn’t have been able to afford on my own at the time. What was cheapest? Squash and zucchini, which I developed a taste for as a result, and which I learned to prepare in so many ways as to be ridiculous.

I always thought that program was absolutely brilliant. Poor women and children get fresh vegetables, and local farmers got the money instead of big corporations. It was the best sort of welfare.

On another note, buying cereal on WIC is a total nightmare. They give you a total number of ounces you can get and a list of what you can buy, but I dare you to find any combination that allows you to get even close to the full amount of ounces you’re entitled to. I know I always found it fun to have to whip out a pamphlet and spend 20 minutes performing complex mathematical calculations in order to make sure I get enough cereal to feed my kid for the month.

I did food stamps too, because working 3 jobs between 2 people paid for a roof, utilities and fuel for one vehicle. And yeah, there were some nasty looks from the ladies in line because I was invading their neighborhood. I would stop on my way home from work and began making a point of wearing my work apron and nametag when I shopped so it would be obvious I was employed and not “lazy.”

I lost 30 lbs in 4 months, but my kids had enough to eat.

When I was a little dharmadyke, my mother, brother and I were on foodstamps, and the nasty comments from cashiers and other customers were endless. I also remember her figuring out what we could get versus what we couldn’t get.

I loved the woman in Saoba’s story, I’ll try to be her more.

yrs, a dharmadyke

The new list would increase the amount of canned fish to 30 ounces and add canned salmon as an option. The president of the U.S. Tuna Foundation, Anne Forristall Luke, applauded the plan.

“Canned tuna is a convenient, affordable and nutritious food we all grew up on and is unrivaled in its nutritional benefits,” she said.

that would be the same canned tuna that is contaminated with mercury and should be avoided by women and children, yes?