Wow! I think it's great that your doing this, Congressman Ryan. Public policy choices affect real people in real ways and it's encouraging to see you step out of the "Beltway Bubble" and into the life of a low-income American.

Thank you for taking on this challenge. Perhaps if more of us realized just how difficult it is to eat properly with such little money, we'd be more motivated to do something about this situation. Can you challenge any of your Congressional colleagues to join you in this?

Dear Rep. Ryan,

I can't tell you how impressed I am with you for stepping up to this challenge and walking in another man's shoes. This is the kind of compassion, growth, and genuine concern and interest I want from my government. May your fellow legislators learn much from your experience, and may they have the courage to connect with their constituents in such a real way in the future. Little has made me proud to be a Democrat in recent years – this surely does!

Thank you,
Jessica Schwartz Hahn

Not only do the inner city poor not have access to warehouse club stores or transportation, quite often they don't have a refrigerator or freezer. Eating (or not eating) is only a small part of the problem.

Work a 40 hour week at minimum wage, see what you have left in your paycheck. Then pay rent, utilities, even keeping clean is expensive, have you been in a laundromat lately?

The proportion of income lost to mandatory deductions by the poor is astronomical compared to the likes of Paris Hilton who can deduct the cost of her doggies designer clothes because its a business expense.

It would be interesting for you to provide your meals from each day to a nutritionist, calculating the caloric content, and then comparing it to malnutrition levels.

How does the body and mind perform at various levels of malnourishment?

Any how does this affect the lives of children under these same circumstances?

Let's hope that local grocery stores in Ohio's 17th district can step up and provide services to the inner cities. I listen to the radio and many grocery stores who advertise there claim how "proud they are of their roots in the city", but exist with their fresh produce only in the suburbs.

Sure grocery stores are businesses that need to have profit to survive, but it would be nice for local companies to put "their money where their mouth is". The convenience stores which are the primary means of nutritional support for many neighborhoods lack healthy options, unless you consider chips, pop, tobacco, and alcohol to be a proper diet.

Maybe "farmer market fridays" in the downtowns of Warren, Akron, and Youngstown are a step in the right direction. Both individuals who work in the downtown and families who have access to food stamps can use public transportation to come and support a central location for fresh produce.

It's an experiment worth trying.

Congressman Ryan:
Thank you for your leadership and willingness to walk a mile in the shoes of nearly 1.1 million Ohioans who depend on Food Stamps to feed themselves and their families. As you will soon discover - your food won't last. In fact in Ohio, Food Stamps last on average 2.5 weeks of each month, forcing our neighbors to turn to one of the state's 3,300 foodbanks, food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters to meet their basic need - for food.
I'm sure you’re not feeling very well and over the next few days the hunger will come in waves, accompanied by periods of light headedness, headaches and the endless growling in your stomach will make it increasingly more difficult to concentrate and focus. I ask that you tell your colleagues in Congress how you feel and challenge them to try and feed themselves and their families on less than $1 per day per meal.
If they do, I suspect that they would view the nutrition title of the 2007 Farm Bill a little differently.
Food Stamp benefits must be increased now or this country will certainly pay the price of uncontrollable health care cost, low literacy rates, a continuing rise in poverty, unemployment and diminishing productivity.
The research tells us that hunger robs children of their ability to learn and adults of their ability to earn.
I see the impact of hunger everyday as the director of the state’s largest charitable response to hunger, our lines are growing, our supplies are diminishing and some of our agencies are rationing food in their attempt to feed the growing number of people who are turning to them for food.
The thousands of faith based and non-profit food pantries and soup kitchens in Ohio are stretched to their limits as more people who are living with hunger everyday turn to them for assistance.
Increasing food stamp benefits to a level of what it actually cost to eat nutritional meals, providing $500 million per year in funding for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and at least $160 million per year in funding for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) would help us significantly in our efforts to feed the hungry throughout our state and nation.
I urge you to stay the course and thank you for your commitment.
Lisa Hamler-Fugitt
Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks

You think this is tough, trust me, this is nothing. Try living off of nothing but foodstamps and social security, a little more than $1000 per month. You do this for three months, and then you'll know the true feeling of most americans, tossing around bills, hoping to god you can find a way to lower the bills just enough to make it. I look back on my life and wonder how my mother, a single mother of two on disability, could have ever made ends meet, and I'll tell you what, it amazes me.

Another example of a politician "proving" something with no knowledge of the subject. Instead of doing the food stamp challenge, spend some time in the food stamp offices to listen to the case managers and listen to the clients that they see every day.

A person getting twenty one dollars of food stamps per week would have some other kind of income. They might have subsidized housing and energy assistance to go along with that. Housing can be found in nice neighborhoods with clients paying a fraction of the monthly rent. They get help to prepare for work to include fixing their cars, buying their clothes for work, tools for work, etc. Bus passes and bus tokens are provided for them to get to interviews and/or work. A look at the parking lot at the office where I work shows a good variety of Hummers, Acuras, Expeditions, and even a Beemer or two. Child care is provided for any client looking for work or going to work and the client pays little or nothing. Many of the food stamp clients also receive MEDICAID which provides quality medical care coverage and the client pays no co-pays or deductibles. Look at the fraud and abuse that is found in the program and look at the ridiculous requirements that you must verify when someone applies for assistance.

The program needs to be looked at but before the politicians throw money at it and brag about how they "helped" the situation, they should spend time to look at everything and not just how far twenty one dollars will go.

I've been a case manager in Nevada for many years and welcome your email to give you info you might need.

Bill

We were blessed as a family of 5 to qualify for food stamps a year ago. We knew at the time that our family income was borderline. Now after a year we have been denied the supplement. My husband makes $40,000 or so a year. We are not proud to have the opportunity to utilize the program, yet it has helped us survive substantially. We missed recieving the program by $150.00 this time.

It gave our family the option to give our children the opportunity to experience other extracurricular activities and further their education by freeing up our funds monthly. The days of struggling for food are once again in the picture.

I agree with you. Buying fresh fruits, vegetables, 100% juice products, and lean meat will once again be put on the back burner in our home. Even with the food stamps, we had to scrimp on healthy foods. Now it will be much more difficult. Especially with the children being on summer break. Keep up the Good Work!!! We were blessed in the first place to get help.

Congratulations on undertaking this very worthwhile project! My own family is on an extremely tight budget at the moment, though we haven't yet been forced to apply for goverment assistance, and I just wanted to chime in with those who have said that you got very poor value for your $21.

We do shop at Wal-Mart, which does have the lowest prices on some (not all) items, but whenever possible we buy our food staples (flour, sugar, oatmeal, etc.) at Dollar General and buy store brands rather than name brands. Just wanted to note that one thing that greatly helps us stretch our food budget is frozen pot pies--you can often find them for 50 cents apiece, and while they're certainly not the healthiest thing you can eat, they do contain some modest amount of actual foodstuffs and are reasonably tasty and satisfying, running about 350-400 calories each.

Other good bets are packaged noodles, frozen and canned veggies, process American cheese singles, bananas, peas and beans, condensed soups and anything you can get on sale--Kroger will sometimes run 10-for-$10 sales on all sorts of items, including various types of real cheese.

So, while $21 a week is definitely not much, it doesn't mean starvation if you're very careful what you buy. I would propose you try it again sometime (after you've recovered from your current effort!) taking into account all the advice your readers have offered, and see if you don't make out a little better. :)

Something you should know: the warehouse food stores (Costco, Sam's, BJ's, etc) don't take food stamps. A lot of the smaller "corner stores" don't either. A few of the dollar stores are now accepting food stamps and most of them have canned vegies for fifty cents a can. Not as good as fresh, but at least it's vegetables!

I do not have food stamps, but I do live on a very limited budget. I find that Ramen Noodles (the packs, not the cups) are an inexpensive way to fill an empty tummy. They run about 10-30 cents a pack.

I'm glad that someone realizes that eating healthy requires more money then some of us have to spend. After rent, utilities, GAS, insurance, and other minor incidentals, it doesn't leave much left over to buy organic, low fat, or balanced meals. I am only 22 and I hate to think what nutrients my budget requires me to deprive my body of.

I do agree with a previous blog comment that food stamps are suplimental, not the sole source of grocery money.
I applaud your effort and only wished I was in your district. I noticed I didn't see anyone from my state, Pennsylvania, trying to live on a meager budget. Whats good for the goose should be good for the gander.

We need more men like you in positions where they can make a difference. Keep up the good work.

I'm glad you're doing this, but it's extremely disheartening that any of this is news to you and other lawmakers. I hear echoes of supermarket scanners.

Incidentally, your money will go much further if you eat popcorn (air-popped, not microwaved) and cheese sliced paper-thin for dinner. Bulk grains, beans, herbs, and flours will stretch the money, too. The hippies have the right idea about cooking poor. For produce, I recommend gallery openings and large pockets. Or, if you're in suburbia, fruit trees in expensive neighborhoods (wrong time of year right now). It will help to look polite and college-educated. You can bake bread for about fifty cents a loaf, less if you use cheap white flour. Tuna fish is your friend, except when it comes to the mercury; but you can put it on pasta with some fake shredded cheese and dried basil, or you can put it in generic soup thickened up with potato flakes. Nutrition on a budget, my man.

Oh. You also need to have perfectly lousy cooking utensils and uneven heat in your oven. Please be cooking on one of those tiny mini-kitchenette stoves, or even a hotplate. You should be getting your TP from public restrooms, and, let's see -- toothpaste, hm, that's a tough one. Expensive stuff. Maybe you'll skip that. You can use cheap shampoo for almost all kinds of soap. Except dishwasher, but you shouldn't have one of those anyway.

You're wimping out, btw, on the public transit. You want to do that in the rain, with at least one small child.

Info courtesy of the early-90s recession. Enjoy the rest of your experiment. And don't forget the duct tape holding your shoes together when you go grocery shopping in the rain.

I'm not one of your constituents, but I just read an article in the Washington Post about the food stamp challenge an I was encouraged and wanted to say, "thanks" for doing something so significant. Kudos to you to for taking the challenge. I can't believe so few congress-people accepted the challenge. I think the fact that your grocery items weren't balanced nutritionally illustrates another point as well. Most people don't have the know-how to make nutritionally AND financially sound decisions when on such a limited budget. Again, thanks.

Congressman Ryan,

I've been reading everyday. When I read the WashingtonPost article online (forwarded to me by a good friend) I was so touched and inspired that I nearly cried. I always knew food stamps were low but never that low. I spend almost half that amount every day on food.

I'm so impressed with your effort to better understand how the working poor are struggling. I look forward to reading more, and I hope that a lot of good can come from this experiment.

I agree totally that there is a definite link between not getting enough to eat daily and children not performing well in school. Which in turn limits their options in life and their children's thereby creating a Cycle of Hungriness that might last generations. Hopefully we can find an effiecient way to help these families seek NUTRITIONAL options for themselves and break this cycle.

I'm out of your district by just a few blocks... but I've always felt you do a great job representing all of Northeast Ohio. Keep it up and good luck!

~Jessica M.
Akron, Ohio

Another thing I thought of... perhaps by Saturday or Sunday (when you're running low on food) you could stop into a soup kitchen or another sponsored free hot lunch program? Though I am fortunate to have plenty to eat, I live in an area where I know that's not true for everyone. I've seen the signs around the city for free lunches on Saturdays. Some are in your district, Congressman. Would a sponsored lunch such as this be breaking the rules? Seems like it would fit the exercise.

Good luck,

~Jessica M.
Akron, OH

Congressman Ryan, I am not one of your constituents, either, but I am glad that you are doing this, even if it's just a week. Try doing something like this for several years.

Poverty is expensive. Amazingly so. I learned that when my retail wages began to shrink because Circuit City decided that we did not need fat commissions for our sales. There were months where I had to string the rent together from two paychecks. Thankfully, I had an understanding landlord.

In spite of my difficulties, I made too much to qualify for food stamps. So I had to use my credit card for 'cash advance' payments, which were extremely costly. I maxed out my credit cards not on frivilous things, but on money for food, fuel, and rent. I nearly went into bankruptcy. Happily, I got a good job with the state, and have nearly finished paying that back.

I write a lot about how to cope with poverty and do a lot with a little. But the deck is stacked against poor people. They're a captive audience to predatory lenders and car dealers, high priced, low quality groceries, and bureaucratic red tape that is beyond belief. And let's not forget stagnant wages and an escalating cost of living- those affect the middle class, too.

I hope that you will address those things while you serve- I know that poor people (and middle class people slipping into poverty) will thank you.

I applaud the effort! Just one thing, what if you were GLUTEN-INTOLERABLE /Celiac disease? No wheat, and the price for gluten-free products, x2, x3 higher.

As I said before, there are a lot of stereotypes that surround the welfare issue. All too often, many citizens believe welfare is a free ride. It's not.
Subsidized housing requires you to pay 1/3 of your income and in MD the program happens to be closed to new applicants. Energy assistance doesn't always stop your electric from being turned off and doesn't include reconnect fees. Why complain about people getting help to prepare for work (ie. fixing their cars, buying their clothes for work, etc)? Isn't that what we want them to do? And believe me, no welfare recipients are getting rich enough off the system to afford Hummers, Acuras, Expeditions, or Beemers. (There's more to that story than meets the eye.) Finally, MEDICAID normally only covers children - with deductions coming from the working parent's check. Welfare is not a free ride at all. The truth is - we are all a cough away, a recession away, a natural disaster away, a national disaster away from needing help ourselves. We have to take care of each other. Instead of buying into stereotypes and labels, why not try to show some compassion. And remember, it is by God's grace that you are able to stand.

Thank you for taking on this challenge! I agree 100% with many of the others who have been commenting on your blog entries that we need to better fund the food stamp program. The best solution would not be to ONLY give people more food stamps, but to provide more food stamps AND make some other changes with the program. I've always felt that the food stamp program should be structured more like the WIC program- where recipients of the program are able to get assistance with nutritional items, rather than items with little or no nutritional value. As you already learned this week, it’s difficult for the average person to make the best decisions on how to shop for nutritional foods on a limited budget. By allowing people only to use their food stamps for foods that meet certain nutritional standards we will ensure that more people will be eating a healthy and balanced diet. With the state of the health care system in our country, this would be one way we could help lower the amount we are spending on Medicaid/ Medicare without cutting benefits. At the very least, we need to be offering nutrition classes for food stamp recipients so that they are better able to make the most nutritional meals they can on a limited budget. (It looks like some of those commenting on your blog would be very well suited for teaching these classes!)

Mr. Ryan I have to commend you on the experience that you have willingly taken on your shoulders. I was formerly a resident of Warren Ohio and now reside in a small community just north of San Antonio Texas. I did receive food stamps while my family and I lived there and we receive even less here. I have six children that are all going through growth spurts and I can tell you that when they do not eat properly they are not as focused as they should be, it is harder to get them to do their homework from school and they tend to become very irritable very quickly. I know there are families in even worse situations than I was in when we lived in Ohio. I am glad you took the initiative to take this challenge and I wish more state representatives would do the same all across the country. It is not just the food stamps either. When you go to apply for help the gross wages are considered not the net and the amount of income for each family to not exceed is a little too low. I am not trying to offend anyone but there are alot of diverse families, like mine that do not have just one or two children. My family is what I like to call a yours, mine and ours. I had two, my husband had three and we had one together. I would like to wish you well and tell you that your efforts are greatly appreciated. I also hope that your challenge does change some of these issues for the better.

MYTHS AND GRANDSTANDING
THE FOUR IN CONGRESS "TRYING TO PUT FOOD STAMPS WHERE THEIR MOUTHS ARE," ARE MISLEAD AND MISINFORMED. MEMBERSHIP ON A HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE'S HUNGER CAUCUS DOES NOT QUALIFY THEM TO FOOL US CITIZENS. THEY CLAIM THEY INTEND TO LIVE FOR A MONTH ON THE AVERAGE FOOD-STAMP RECIPIENT’S BUDGET OF $21.00 A WEEK. CHECKING THE FOOD STAMP WEBSITE I FIND THAT A RECIPIENT WITH NO INCOME, ACTUALLY GETS $32.00 A WEEK. THAT MEANS THE RECIPIENT RECEIVING ONLY $21.00 HAS OTHER INCOME THAT ALSO SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE FOOD BUDGET. TO DISSEMINATE THIS FIGURE IS DISINGENUOUS. THIS AMOUNT IS AN AVERAGE. SUBSIDIES ARE PRORATED AS THESE POLITICIANS WELL KNOW. ALSO, THE WASHINGTON POST'S REPORT OF THIS 'STAGED EVENT" LOADS THE ISSUE WITH POLITICAL CORRECTNESS BY MENTIONING THAT A RECIPIENT, A MOTHER OF THREE, SUGGESTS SPAGHETTI AND THE FATTIEST HAMBURGER MEAT FOR PURCHASES. CHECKING A WEBSITE I LEARNED THAT A PARENT WITH 2 KIDS OR 2 PARENTS WITH 1 CHILD WOULD GET $400 A MONTH OF FOOD STAMPS IF THEY HAD NO OTHER INCOME. THIS OVERLY GENEROUS SUBSIDY NO WAY MANDATES PASTA AND BEEF EACH NIGHT, BEEF WHICH CAN BE FREED OF ITS FAT SIMPLY BY FRYING IT OFF. OBESITY, BY THE WAY, RESULTS NOT FROM CONSUMING FAT, BUT FROM CONSUMING TOO MUCH OF IT. SENIOR CITIZENS SUCH AS MYSELF AND MY HUSBAND WOULD - IF QUALIFIED - RECEIVED $280 A MONTH IN FOOD STAMPS. THAT EQUATES WITH $9.00 A DAY, $64. A WEEK FOR US BOTH. FOR MORE YEARS THAN I WILL REVEAL, WE HAVE LIVED ON A BALANCED DIET FOR APPROXIMATELY $6.00 A DAY, $42.00 A WEEK. THIS REFLECTS THE ENJOYMENT OF 3 MEALS AND 2 SNACKS, WINE AND ZERO DEPRIVATION. IT CAN BE DONE, BUT NO ONE WE HAVE MET IN OUR LIFETIME IS DOING IT. WE HAVE BEEN ACQUAINTED WITH RECIPIENTS OF FOOD STAMPS AND WELFARE AS A RESULT OF OUR RETAIL CAREERS. WE RESIDE NEAR THE FAST FOOD CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. THOUGH WE RARELY PARTAKE OF RESTAURANT FOODS OURSELVES, WE ARE AWARE OF MULTITUDINOUS OTHERS WHO CONSISTENTLY DO. IN AMERICA, MONEY - FOR FOOD, DRINK, THE LOTTERY, RENT-TO-OWN MERCHANDISE, CREDIT CARD PURCHASES, CARS, CLOTHES, CELL PHONES, COMPUTERS, I PODS, DIGITAL CAMERAS, PLAY STATIONS, VACATIONS, MORTGAGES, PAYROLL ADVANCES, GAS, VOTES FOR THE AMERICAN IDOL, ENTERTAINMENT, DRUGS, GUNS, YOU NAME IT - FLOWS. AMERICA IS AWASH IN SELF-GRATIFICATION. FOR MOST IT ADDS UP TO MORE THAN $6.00 OR $9.00 A DAY. CONGRESS SHOULD GO FIGURE AND NOT 'GO EAT' LIKE THE FICTITIOUS MASSES.

Congressman Ryan I can't tell you what it means to those of us who work in the field of hunger that you are taking this challenge! As an AmeriCorps*VISTA member for two years, I lived on food stamps and, though I was eternally grateful for the benefit, it just wasn't enough.

Thanks again for your leadership in bringing this problem to the public's attention!

Thank you Congressman Ryan for taking up this challenge. As one of thriteen foodbanks in the State of Ohio, and one of the only ones with a Food Stamp Outreach program, I can only hope that this expereince leads you to more fully understand the complexities of poverty. We tend to hold poor people to a higher standard than we do ourselves with quick judgements about what they should or could've done. It is easy to observe and comment, much harder to live the reality. Now, think about your experience. How much are you thinking about what you are going to eat when this challenge is over? Are you going to start eating at midnight of the last day? What if you did not have this to look forward to? What kind of choices would you have then?

Tim,

Charity organizations play a vital role in hunger relief in the U.S., but we'll never be able to replace good and adequately funded public policy. The Federal Food Stamp Program is our best response to hunger in America. Sadly, those in need are not realizing the food value today that people enjoyed years ago through the program. Also, tragically, with all of the need we are seeing today, the Food Stamp Program is only utilized at about 64% capacity. Those who would qualify are not accessing the program. Please advocate that rulemakers and public administrators make the application process easier so that more people can access food benefits.

Thanks for your courage to care!

I think this is an awesome experiment... I read about it on BoingBoing. I myself am unemployed and trying to get food stamps ( and get a job!). In the meantime, I visit food pantries and dumpster dive the local organic grocery store (they throw out 100 pounds of organic produce a day, easily). I juice all the greens and apples and freeze any bananas, berries, etc. for smoothies. I do not feel that low-income people are any less entitled to quality organic produce... it's just being creative and getting it! Any good organic store should be selling ugly or damaged produce at a discount, NOT throwing it out. The Willy Street CO Op in Madison, WI sells their bruised produce at a considerable discount. Organic food should not just be for rich people. So, yeah. Um. Food pantries and trash picking keeps me healthy. Thanks.

Kudos to you for doing this. I would hope though that you spend some time volunteering at a foodbank, or feeding folks at a soup kitchen, on a regular basis. These are the places that people turn to when the food stamps don't stretch far enough. This would round out the picture for you.

Please, continue to experience the plight of those who depend on these assistance programs, once you have completed the food stamp challenge. Don't use the food stamp challege as publicity stunt, rather continue to learn and use what you learn to advocate for real substantive improvements in these programs.

For the record, I'm currently unemployed and found myself pained yesterday to spend 5 dollars on a chicken, even though I knew I can get three or four meals out of it, and them make soup from the carcass. I know of what I speak!

Interesting reading people's comments... I still think it's a good idea, your decision to take up the challenge. Sure it's only part of the picture, but hopefully it will help you and others watching you to see more of the rest of the picture.

And hey, I'd like to know what Carolyn McLaughlin (one of the commenters) and her husband do, to be able to eat a balanced diet on $6 per day for the two of them. Maybe one of the things we need is more information and recipes and stuff for the people on food stamps, to help them stretch their dollars, whether it's $21/week or more.

I feel disheartened at the quibbling over the exact dollar amount each food stamp recipient would receive in a given situation and the argument over "additional income". I believe these issues are brought up by folks who can't see the forest for the trees. Bringing this issue to the national forefront is not about an "exact dollar amount", but is rather about empathy and understanding. Living on minimum wage or sub-standard earnings anywhere in this country is not going to afford individuals the flexibility to afford a healthy diet and quality housing, not to mention those extra things like quality education and healthcare.

I grew up in Northwest Indiana in a house where we were on and off food stamps as my father found odd jobs. We did have additional income, but it was so negligible that the addition of these funds did not make a real difference. If my mother was feeding myself, my two sisters and my nephew on $3 a day each or $12 a day each, the change didn't mean that we were at an adequate level of living overall.

Thank you for challenging yourself to experience something similar to what millions of Americans experience day to day. I hope your challenge leads to <i>real change</i> for the Americans who truly need it.

What changes do you hope to bring about as a result of your actions?

Congressman Ryan, as a former NE Ohio resident, I was inspired to see your food stamp experiment written up at Daily Kos today.

I'd like to share that is by no means strictly an urban issue. Here's a story about a North Dakota town that is trying to get a grocery store to come back:

http://www.studycircles.org/en/Article.516.aspx

I remember living in Lake Milton and Greenford in the 1980s and being miles away from a decent grocery store. With the higher price of gas, small-town and rural area residents are pressed indeed to make their budgets cover both groceries and the gas it takes to get 'em.

Thank you for bringing this to the nation's attention.