# Ask the Person on Food Stamps **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 26, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597 "2009-12-26T01:28:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/81 "2010-01-04T15:17:46Z")
Having re-read the above _after_ the edit window passed (of course) I realize I may not have fully understood the “consider vegetarian” question. Neither my husband nor I have ever felt compelled to eat meat at every meal, and we do sometimes go a day or two without eating meat just because we have some other yummy goodness happening that just happens to not contain meat. So I guess we are in that sense part-time vegetarians (particularly of the ovo-lacto type) but it’s “let’s have hummus for lunch” (I _can_ eat chickpeas) rather than “let’s eat vegetarian for lunch”. We sort of “accidental” vegetarians at times, but what it comes down to is that we just like tasty food. As I said, I usually “budget” 4 ounces of meat per person in a meal, but I was doing that _before_ we got poor. Remember I mentioned having a frugal lifestyle? We did that and upped our vegee intake years ago as a way to help keep us healthy. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/82 "2010-01-04T17:03:39Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Having re-read the above _after_ the edit window passed (of course) I realize I may not have fully understood the “consider vegetarian” question. > > Neither my husband nor I have ever felt compelled to eat meat at every meal, and we do sometimes go a day or two without eating meat just because we have some other yummy goodness happening that just happens to not contain meat. So I guess we are in that sense part-time vegetarians (particularly of the ovo-lacto type) but it’s “let’s have hummus for lunch” (I _can_ eat chickpeas) rather than “let’s eat vegetarian for lunch”. We sort of “accidental” vegetarians at times, but what it comes down to is that we just like tasty food. > > As I said, I usually “budget” 4 ounces of meat per person in a meal, but I was doing that _before_ we got poor. Remember I mentioned having a frugal lifestyle? We did that and upped our vegee intake years ago as a way to help keep us healthy. _nods_ I did mean a deliberate shift to a more vegetarian diet, in order to save money, but clearly in view of your allergies that would be difficult at best. You did say you’d been growing a lot of vegetables, which was what prompted the question. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/83 "2010-01-04T17:31:54Z")
Do you have any friends or family members whose opinion of food stamps and people who are on food stamps have changed as a result of your being on food stamps? Do you ever run into people who express opinions like some of those [expressed in the comments on this New York Times article](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/us/03foodstamps.html?scp=2&sq=food%20stamps&st=cse)? How do you handle it, if you do? Has what you do about people like that changed since you went on food stamps? Are there comments you would have let slide before, but now you say something about them? > [@Broomstick](#): > > Over a year ago I voluntarily put us on a very strict food budget just simply to stretch money. How difficult was that? How hard would it be, for someone who’s not used to having a food budget? ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/84 "2010-01-04T18:16:53Z")
Is there anything we can do for you from here? I’ve enjoyed your posts and stories ever since you joined the board, and my heart has ached for the troubles you’ve endured. I don’t have much, but I’d love to send you something - seeds, mittens, a card . . . Please let me know. ---
**Author:** ![Success20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Success20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Success20)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/85 "2010-01-04T19:07:46Z")
Modem I meant to say you probably do qualify. I also have food allergies and restrictions. I cannot eat certain foods at all. I have to eat low fat foods, little salt or none, no spicey food. I am also anemic - so getting enough iron around my other food issues is a challenge at times. I know what I can eat. I also know it it is best for me to purchase quick prepare foods - and I choose healthy ones - to keep my utility costs low. I actually ended up very sick from not eating at all - for quite a while until I applied for the assistance. It really damaged my health long term. Now I am on the road back and spending tons of time looking for work with thousands of others and jumping through government hoops. This politicians or whatever who try to live on Snap - aren’t living reality - they should have to live without heat, no water, no money for utilities, sometimes people are homeless, no car, no gas for car, no public transportation, no libraries with puters - then they would really see what it is like. Now there are people having to live that way. They didn’t make bad choices or use drugs or alchohol or engage in criminal activity. Many people seem to judge and think that being on the edge means we did something bad - that we are lazy and uneducated or stupid or whatever. Because they haven’t been in our situation - yet. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/86 "2010-01-04T19:18:30Z")
> [@Success20](#): > > Many people seem to judge and think that being on the edge means we did something bad - that we are lazy and uneducated or stupid or whatever. How do you deal with that kind of attitude? Any good stories of putting judgmental people like that in their place? ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/87 "2010-01-04T20:18:25Z")
Are there any items that you aren’t allowed to buy with food stamps that you think should be allowed? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/88 "2010-01-04T22:58:51Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Do you have any friends or family members whose opinion of food stamps and people who are on food stamps have changed as a result of your being on food stamps? Family: my mother’s family survived the Great Depression in part because of food aid from the Federal government. So growing up I heard the tale and mom basically told me that disrespecting someone who had accepted government help was much like doing the same to her and her family. She always told me that there was no shame in accepting help when you need it, the only shameful thing would be to give up and stop trying to get back on your feet. Three years ago my extended family had 10 adults either employed full time or retired yet still fully independent. Now… among the remaining 9 (mom has passed away) only TWO are employed full time right now, and the retiree has moved in with one of his daughters. So… my sister is Buffalo is working full time (at two part-time jobs), housing dad, and her husband is only intermittently employed (his company used to employ 26 - now it’s down to 3 and those with unsteady hours). Her son is employed, and helping to put _his_ sister through college. My other sister has had both of her children hospitalized for life-threatening problems and she was homeless about three months of 2009. Me and my husband are struggling to get by on my on-again and off-again work. So… my family is on government aid again. And we’re OK with that, as far as it goes, though we would ALL like to be fully independent again. My friends have either had financial troubles themselves in the past, or are just decent people - if they weren’t, I probably wouldn’t consider them friends just “acquaintances” at best. > [@](#): > > Do you ever run into people who express opinions like some of those [expressed in the comments on this New York Times article](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/us/03foodstamps.html?scp=2&sq=food%20stamps&st=cse)? How do you handle it, if you do? Has what you do about people like that changed since you went on food stamps? Are there comments you would have let slide before, but now you say something about them? Most people voicing those opinions don’t realize I’m on food stamps because I don’t look like the stereotype they’re imagining. When I challenge them, they often say I’m an “exception”. Funny, though, a lot of people at the welfare office look an awful lot like me (in circumstances if not ethnicity). No, I wasn’t inclined to let comments slide before in most cases (saving the truly stubborn), and I’m not so inclined now. Not much has changed, except who pays for my groceries. I have, very rarely, run into someone who insisted I MUST be doing something wrong, or I MUST be lying and withholding information on some other problem, because in their world a college-educated sober white woman in her 40’s who is willing and able to work couldn’t POSSIBLY have trouble finding work. Usually, you’re not going to convert them to reason and in that particular case I usually give up after a certain point. They’re just convinced that if you’re poor you’ve done something to deserve it. If I see them coming I might avoid a confrontation entirely, I just have better uses for my energy. In the old days I might have waded into the argument but it’s just a little too personal these days. > [@](#): > > How difficult was that? How hard would it be, for someone who’s not used to having a food budget? If you tried to do it all at once it would be a very difficult shock. We gradually segued into it, over a period of years. Budgeting is a _habit_, you have to develop it just like any other habit, good or bad. Too many people are used to just running out to the store at the least excuse. About 15 years ago I told my husband I was no longer going to stop at the store on my way home from work. If we run out before the end of the week too bad - either he gets it himself or we do without. That along cut down on a lot of impulse buys. I use a list and stick to it. We might budget, say, $5-10 for “impulse” buys at the store, but no more than that and it may well be some sort of fruit we don’t usually get as opposed to cake or cookies. I haven’t really sat down to analyse my “system” - it’s just that over the years I would adopt this or that strategy and after time they added up to a much smaller food bill than many other peoples’. And we aren’t fanatics - we have, when it seemed like a good idea, purchased ready-made foods and frozen meals. Oh, and we buy a lot of “house brands”. Not always, but we’re at least willing to try the housebrand. > [@phouka](#): > > Is there anything we can do for you from here? I’ve enjoyed your posts and stories ever since you joined the board, and my heart has ached for the troubles you’ve endured. I don’t have much, but I’d love to send you something - seeds, mittens, a card . . . Please let me know. Right now, your good wishes mean a great deal. Seeds I won’t need until spring. Um… we’re OK for _right now_. Other folks have been helping us out. If you _really_ feel compelled to do more than good wishes send me a PM. > [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > How do you deal with that kind of attitude? Any good stories of putting judgmental people like that in their place? No, not yet. If I get any of them I’ll share. > [@badbadrubberpiggy](#): > > Are there any items that you aren’t allowed to buy with food stamps that you think should be allowed? No. It actually covers some things I myself probably wouldn’t have included in the program, but I’m not so hung up about it as to complain. It’s a problem intended to cover the needs of a nation of 300 million people in a wide variety of climates and situations. It will _never_ be perfect and I think the current form - assuming you don’t run into hassles getting on or staying on the program - works well enough. Well, OK - I wish there was a permitted allowance for toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, and deodorant. Because it ONLY pays for food and you still need that other stuff. But it is a food program, not a personal toiletries program. ---
**Author:** ![Success20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Success20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Success20)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/89 "2010-01-05T04:56:11Z")
I wish people would learn it is called Snap - not food stamps any longer. Really I just heard on the news that lots more “middle class” are on Snap. Many people actually qualify who don’t get them (maybe due to the humiliation heaped on people who get them). I wish the card looked just ordinary - everyone knows what it means. The cashiers still have to push a button and some like to give you that look. Ironically I went to the store tonight - everyone working was a teenager! I didn’t see one adult working there! I KNOW adults are applying for those jobs. I know because I have applied there. And of course there was alot of giggling and talking going on instead of work. I realize teenagers need money too - but whatever happened to hiring an adult? Next time your out there shopping - see who is working. And it isn’t because adults won’t work a minimum wage parttime job either. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/90 "2010-01-05T05:33:43Z")
> [@Success20](#): > > I wish the card looked just ordinary - everyone knows what it means. The cashiers still have to push a button and some like to give you that look. I was at the grocery store on Saturday, and waited in line behind one customer. When I got to the register, the cashier apologized for my having to wait, and told me that it had taken so long because the previous customer was paying with food stamps. :eek: I was so gobsmacked that I didn’t even tell her how incredibly inappropriate it was to tell me that. And the wait wasn’t any longer than usual when you’re behind someone with a lot of groceries, anyway. I wish I could remember which cashier it was - I’d go back and complain to the manager. **Broomstick** , thanks for starting this thread. I actually work with [an organization](http://www.withinreachwa.org/) that helps connect people with food and medical benefits to which they are entitled, but I don’t know all that much about the programs themselves. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/91 "2010-01-05T05:39:27Z")
> [@Success20](#): > > I realize teenagers need money too - but whatever happened to hiring an adult? Teenagers are easier to control, and don’t know how to complain when they are asked to do things like work off the clock. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/92 "2010-01-05T08:02:40Z")
I am on ebt also at this time. I’ve found at times buying foods that are not so healthy just to save money. Right now, Banquet tv dinners, which are loaded with sodium and are obviously not as healthy as homemade food, are $1, so I’ve bought them. Although, buying staples such as beans, rice and pasta can make numerous different meals yet be inexpensive. Its a huge savings to not buy pop or chips, except for occasional treats. No one has ever looked at me funny or made comments because I use this card. The card is much better than the former food stamps, pieces of paper. This is because one could buy a pack of gum for 25 cent son the paper stamps and get 75 cents back, some parents used this money for cigarettes, so the card keeps it to just food, which is good. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/93 "2010-01-05T09:34:14Z")
So many of you are sharing your lives and circumstances with the rest of us, and I find that so gratifying, you know? Like I don’t have to feel so alone anymore. There are other folks in the same boat with me, and we’re **all** good people who’ve had bad things happen to them. Many would think, “Well what business is it of anyone else what my life is like right now, and I’m sure as hell not gonna write about it!”, but this isn’t a time for that. It’s a time to share and help each other out, and I _know_ I’m gonna sound like a “flower child” when I say this, but I think it’s _supposed_ to be that way! 🙂 _Communal_ is the word which seems to fit.😉 Hey. Remember Archie Bunker’s quote when Michael was talking about communes? “People who live in communes are Commu-_nists_!”😃 So, some really _good_ things are happening within this thread, and I hope it can continue in some way and not just “thread-wise”, but maybe with a whole 'nother category with a really cool name, though I can’t think of one right now. :rolleyes: Just how I feel, man. Ya know?😉 So whatcha guys think? Am I full of shit or what? If I am, I could be a fertilizer machine for y’all’s gardens! 😛 “Woodstock Nation” without the dope, but _within_ **The Dope**!🙂 And no, I’m not _high_:rolleyes:! Just having trouble sleeping, so I’m here having ideas!🙂 Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/94 "2010-01-05T09:43:08Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub_vBBjqF3g) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/95 "2010-01-05T10:11:34Z")
> [@Success20](#): > > I wish people would learn it is called Snap - not food stamps any longer. Don’t think that change will happen for awhile, “food stamps” is pretty ingrained. > [@](#): > > Really I just heard on the news that lots more “middle class” are on Snap. > > Many people actually qualify who don’t get them (maybe due to the humiliation heaped on people who get them). Or a perception that they’re not _that_ kind of people - accepting SNAP is an admission that you are no longer middle class, that you are poor. And for many Americans, being poor is equivalent to being a professional, personal, and moral failure. > [@](#): > > I wish the card looked just ordinary - everyone knows what it means. The cashiers still have to push a button and some like to give you that look. Well, yes, cashiers know what the card looks like, but where I am it really is no different than buying with a debit or credit card. I’m sorry you’ve gotten dumped on, that has not been my experience. The most acknowledgment I’ve gotten is when one of the cashiers at Aldi’s, who knew me as a regular, noted the change in payment method and wished me a better 2010 with fewer problems. > [@](#): > > Ironically I went to the store tonight - everyone working was a teenager! I didn’t see one adult working there! I KNOW adults are applying for those jobs. I know because I have applied there. And of course there was alot of giggling and talking going on instead of work. > > I realize teenagers need money too - but whatever happened to hiring an adult? It is still perceived that an educated, experienced adult will not stay in such a position long but will move elsewhere quickly - despite the fact that these days there seems nowhere else to go. And what **even sven** said. I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time of it. It’s like I keep telling people - I have it bad, but there are folks worse off than me, too. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/96 "2010-01-05T10:18:11Z")
> [@ENugent](#): > > I was at the grocery store on Saturday, and waited in line behind one customer. When I got to the register, the cashier apologized for my having to wait, and told me that it had taken so long because the previous customer was paying with food stamps. :eek: These days, when someone says something like that I think that maybe the person in question was on WIC, which still uses paper and can take extra time at the check out, and which many people also call “food stamps”, but like you said, it was not appropriate to share that with anyone else. Longer at the grocery? At most, I swipe 2 cards - 1 for the food and 1 for any other purchases I made. Still takes less time than the folks writing checks. At the places I buy food the cashiers range from entirely business to very friendly, and the most anyone has said is “I hope things improve for you soon”. I wish everyone was that decent about it. (Of course, now that I’ve said that I’m sure I’ll get some despicable harpy next time I’m in line…) ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/97 "2010-01-05T10:42:22Z")
> [@Success20](#): > > Ironically I went to the store tonight - everyone working was a teenager! I didn’t see one adult working there! I KNOW adults are applying for those jobs. I know because I have applied there. And of course there was alot of giggling and talking going on instead of work. > > I realize teenagers need money too - but whatever happened to hiring an adult? From a business standpoint, teens will take lower wages and often have wider availability through the week, making them better seasonal or service hires. I’d add that when you’re 18 or 19 you’re a teen and a legal adult, and some under-18s are live independently or support a family, which is about equivalent. (Side note: personally, I’m a little offended by your “of course” when you described the workers’ behavior. Not all teen employees are giggly gossips, and not all giggling/gossipy employees are teens.) **Broomstick** , sorry for hijacking your thread, which has been interesting and educational. I hope that this situation comes to a satisfactory resolution. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/98 "2010-01-05T14:45:29Z")
I also receive food stamps (or SNAP if you want to call it that). For me, the amount is high and I have a pretty large amount of money leftover from previous months that I’m sure will come in very handy when I no longer receive them. I don’t just buy whatever I want with no regard for cost. I use coupons and I buy some store brands and I’m conscious of sales. However, I also do splurge on some things. I buy a lot of $5 sandwiches from the deli and vegetarian meat substitutes because I’m a vegetarian. Vegetarian food is specialty food and often organic and tends to be very expensive. You don’t have the option to buy the equivalent of Banquet TV dinners, for example. If you want a TV dinner, generally speaking it’s going to cost $5-6 and it’s going to be small. I get pizza from Papa Murphy’s with food stamps, nice birthday cakes for my daughter, etc. I don’t splurge JUST to splurge, but there’s nothing I feel like I can’t have in moderation due to cost. I also live in a place with a high cost of living, which definitely includes food (benefit amounts don’t vary by location except I believe in AK and HI). If someone is getting the full benefit amount (and I know many don’t) I don’t see how they could possibly have a hard time making it. I’m sure it would be harder if you had meat-loving teen boys in the house or something, compared to one woman and one girl who are both healthy weights, but as I said, specialty vegetarian food is far from cheap. > [@Success20](#): > > On the back of your ebt card is a web site address - by looking at this and entering your card number and pin - you can check your balance - and they have an account summary of everytime you spend something and where - this is to track your spending - yes folks big brother/sister is watching - you can see where you spent the money and when and the times - this is how the government knows where you are and when you are shopping - but the government also tracks what you are spending it on - they know if you are buying cartloads of junk food. They also can send alerts and contact you if you are buying things they deem unacceptable (an example would be vanilla extract - which is largely alcohol - if you buy too much of this - they will contact you). If they see your spend large amounts of money on certain items - they can question you about it. They know what your buying - and when - and how your spending it and where. In addition many stores are taking photos as you check out - this way they can determine if you or someone else is using the card - to find out if your living with someone - or allowing someone else to use your card. Lets say you are ill - or the kids or sick - and you ask your neighbor or relative to purchase some items for you - since you can’t get to the store - you hand them your card - this is documented - and can send up a red flag to have the FSSA investigate you. Are you sure about all this? I know they track the date and amount and store, but the actual items you purchase? I don’t see how they would do that. The store tracks your purchases if you use a loyalty card, yes, but I doubt they pass that information onto the government. Also, you’re allowed to have someone else use your card, although I guess it could conceivably cause them to investigate you further (which I realize is what you said, but as far as I know they don’t consider it suspicious behavior). I just don’t think they’re sitting there reviewing all the footage of people buying groceries (which I have never heard of either) and then matching it up with other photos they have of you. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/99 "2010-01-05T15:04:49Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > No. > > It actually covers some things I myself probably wouldn’t have included in the program, but I’m not so hung up about it as to complain. It’s a problem intended to cover the needs of a nation of 300 million people in a wide variety of climates and situations. It will _never_ be perfect and I think the current form - assuming you don’t run into hassles getting on or staying on the program - works well enough. > > Well, OK - I wish there was a permitted allowance for toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, and deodorant. Because it ONLY pays for food and you still need that other stuff. But it is a food program, not a personal toiletries program. Thanks, that makes sense. It must be hard to figure out what millions of different people might need. Are there programs available if you also need toiletries & personal hygiene items? I work in non-profit, and one of the programs we fund is a shelter/job coaching site for teens & young adults, and one of the big things they are always looking for is toiletries, pads & tampons, that kind of thing. It seems it’s much easier to find food than it is to keep clean, since it’s one of those things people don’t often think to donate. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597/100 "2010-01-05T16:45:35Z")
If you qualify for TANF - which requires children in the household, apparently - you get some cash every month. If you don’t, no, there is no government help for anything beyond food as far as household supplies are concerned. No help for getting soap, shampoo, tampons, pads, shaving equipment (for men - try to show up for a job interview looking ungroomed, that just doesn’t work), deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, toilet paper, nothing of the sort. IMPACT has assitance for people needing appropriate clothing for an interview, but not for obtaining the personal hygiene products needed to let them smell nice (as in “no body odor”). Some shelters provide such things for their clients, but if you aren’t in a shelter you’re on your own. I’ve heard some food pantries do likewise, but I’ve never seen it myself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-on-food-stamps/522597.md?page=6)