It’s clear that cooking on a food-stamp budget won’t produce any five-star meals. But that wasn’t the point of this week’s A la Carte story that reported how two chefs and a food magazine editor approached a challenge thrown down by The Associated Press.
The piece was one more how-to illustration of possibilities in the home kitchen — even on the most limited budget — when wholesome meals are a priority. It’s not such a stretch to argue that just as poverty can be generational, so can a lack of fundamental cooking skills. Since the 1930s advent of processed food, the fourth generation or so of Americans are coming of age with the belief that feeding themselves entails opening a package.
That trend plagues all demographics, not just families on food stamps. So why does the notion persist that meals purchased on food stamps are so bleak? Because low-income families are just a microcosm of the general population that also relies on processed food. The difference is those on strict budgets choose the least expensive (and poorest quality) while the rest of us can afford something a little tastier if hardly more wholesome.
The solution to true kitchen economy is avoiding the center of the grocery store, altogether. By that, experts mean where all the packaged food resides. Those boxes, cans and jars may seem inexpensive and convenient, but any nutrition or industry expert will attest that the entire point of processed food is to take more of your dollar while giving you less in the form of filler ingredients and empty calories. That’s how companies make money processing low-cost and low-quality ingredients into food-like substances.
Happily, we Americans are catching onto this scheme. Some, perhaps the former welfare worker who e-mailed me this morning, caught on long ago.
“Only a poorly educated person or a phony … would think buying Cup-O-Noodles, canned beans or packaged macaroni (and cheese) was sensible,” this former agency manager wrote.
Education, I responded, is exactly what food writers are after with articles like today’s. That’s why I consulted (yet again) Mary Shaw, culinary educator for Ashland Food Co-op. As usual, Mary was one step ahead of food writers when she repeated Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s 2007 exercise in food-stamp shopping with dramatically different results. The nutritional gap between the two approaches speaks for itself.
“I have no idea how the governor was planning to create meals with his purchases, but I suspect he ate a number of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” she wrote for a 2008 Co-op newsletter.
Mary proved savvy shoppers can buy organic ingredients, at the Co-op no less, for a week’s worth of meals on a food-stamp budget. Nor did she use any coupons or buy on sale. And before anyone argues that shopping with food stamps at the Co-op is simply a stunt, the store reported that between 5 and 8 percent of its daily sales totals are paid with Oregon Trail cards.
Because today’s article didn’t compare Mary’s efforts against the governor’s in full detail, I’m posting her shopping list and menu plan here to supplement similar information the AP gleaned from its experts. Mary’s cooking style most closely resembles celebrity chef Jose Garces’ which makes vegetables, beans and grains the center of his plates rather than meat. Note that most of Mary’s dry ingredients were purchased in the bulk section.
Governor’s shopping list (Salem Fred Meyer)
3 bananas — $.66
2 zucchini — $1.10
2 Cup-O-Noodles — $.67
1 gallon of milk on clearance — $1
1 can garbanzo beans — $.79
1 can kidney beans — $.49
1 (10-pound) bag of potatoes — $.99
1 can tomatoes — $.59
1 jar of peanut butter — $2.50
1 jar of grape jelly — $1.89
1 quart plain yogurt — $1.25
1 small chicken — $3.06
3 boxes macaroni and cheese — $1
1 package imitation cheese slices — $.99
1 loaf of bread with coupon — $1
1 box of granola — $2.99
TOTAL: $20.97
Mary Shaw’s shopping list
1 pound rolled organic oats — $.55
1 pound organic, long-grain brown rice — $.97
1 pound organic, whole-wheat spaghetti — $1.55
2 pounds organic pinto beans — $1.79
1 pound organic lentils — $1.09
3 organic carrots — $.52
3 stalks organic celery — $.24
2 organic yellow onions — $1.28
1 bunch local, organic kale — $1.69
1 bulb organic garlic — $.45
2 organic bananas — $.60
1/4 cup sunflower seeds — $.16
1/4 cup flaxseed — $.10
1/4 cup raisins — $.35
1 (28-ounce) can diced, organic tomatoes — $1.89
1 dozen free-range eggs — $1.98
2/3 pound Monterey Jack Cheese — $1.81
1/2 cup organic, extra-virgin olive oil — $2
1/2 cup red-wine vinegar — $.11
Assorted herbs, spices, and sea salt as needed for recipes — $.65
1/4 cup organic, red chili powder — $.95
TOTAL: $20.73
Mary Shaw’s weekly menu
Breakfast:
Oatmeal/Banana/Flaxseed
Scrambled Eggs/Cheese
Oatmeal/Banana/Flaxseed
Refried Rice
Oatmeal/Banana/Flaxseed
Frittata/Kale/Cheese
Oatmeal/Raisins/Flax
Lunch:
Refried Rice
Lentil/Kale Salad
Enchilada Beans/Rice
Lentil Marinara Sauce/Pasta
Home on the Range Chili
Rice/Bean Salad
Hard-Boiled Eggs/Carrot-Raisin Salad
Dinner:
Lentil/Kale Salad
Enchilada Beans/Rice/Kale
Lentil Marinara Sauce/Pasta
Home on the Range Chili
Rice/Bean Salad
Home on the Range Chili
Refried Beans/Cheese/Rice
