Food stamps a fact of life

Donna Chapman learned quickly to stretch her food stamps, but sometimes it’s just not enough to feed her family.

Toward the end of the month, oftentimes the food stamps and the food run low. That’s when she and her husband, Wayne, get by on crackers and peanut butter for dinner, or when they make do with a box of macaroni and cheese. Sometimes she’ll just eat less to leave more for others.

“Three hundred and twenty dollars for a whole month ain’t very much,” said Chapman, 44, who lives with her husband, her daughter and her daughter’s 8-week-old baby in Stockbridge in Henry County. “We run out.”

More and more Georgia families, hit by the hard economy, are turning to the nutrition assistance program funded by the federal government and managed by the state. State assistance officials say they are seeing 10,000 new cases a month since July. Georgia had a total of 480,103 cases in November, a jump of 79,934 cases —- or 19.9 percent —- above the year before.

Because each case can include one person or an entire household, the actual number of Georgians receiving assistance is 1.16 million, officials said. Many are seeking public assistance for the first time, as the sour economy creates more unemployment and foreclosures.

The Chapmans have been on food stamps for about two years, ever since problems with Wayne’s back left him barely able to walk, she said. He had worked for 24 years at a tire company, earning up to $60,000 a year, she said.

His parents refinanced their home to help with the family’s bills.

Meanwhile, the challenges of putting enough food on the table are heightening as food prices go up, experts say.

Different families offer varying accounts as to how far food stamps can go. Some say they set the table well enough.

Tangy Toliver, a 48-year-old single mother, said she is grateful for the help. After having to take time off for her daughter’s illness and multiple surgeries, she lost her job and apartment a few months ago. Now she is living in a Lawrenceville extended-stay motel and depending on food stamps and charities for her expenses.

She was approved a few weeks ago for $259 a month in food stamps.

“It has been a big help,” she said. “It’s one less thing to worry about.”

Many say they have to shop carefully, hunt for bargains and swear off eating out.

Chapman limits many of her food purchases to staples that go a long way. Boxes of spaghetti, canned foods, ground beef. She’s learned the tricks of stretching a meal: Hamburger Helper, boxes of macaroni and cheese, and frozen pizza.

One recent meal: hot dogs, chili, homemade coleslaw and french fries. That comes about once a week.

Chicken can be used in a salad and the next day with some pasta.

“We use everything down to the bone,” said the woman who stuffs her purse with ads from the Sunday newspaper.

Her husband added: “I haven’t had a steak in a year.”

Many families who receive food stamps find additional ways to fill the kitchen cabinets. While benefits vary, the maximum food stamp benefit for a family of three is $463 a month, according to the state Department of Human Resources.

Experts point out that food stamps were not designed to pay a family’s entire food bill, but rather supplement other income. Some struggling families benefit from other government nutrition programs. Chapman’s granddaughter gets help from the Women, Infants and Children program.

Food stamps —- actually a green plastic card these days with a peach on it —- can buy food items only. People can’t buy alcoholic drinks or cigarettes or many household staples such as toilet paper, diapers and shampoo.

Shirley Cabe, who runs a food and household goods pantry at the Norcross Cooperative Ministry, said she sees many families whose food stamps don’t carry them the entire month.

Cabe worries that many of these families are not obtaining the proper nutrition. Some live in single-room motels or rent a room somewhere, where they don’t have the facilities to make a proper meal. She sees them getting by on canned ravioli, salt-saturated soups and lots of pasta.

Some don’t have the skills to make a decent meal, and for many, other troubles fill up their day and drain their energy.

“The standard story is that people run out at three weeks,” said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, who has written about food stamps.

The Chapmans have been fighting to get Wayne on government disability, and finally received approval weeks ago.

“I’m so tired of getting handouts,” said Donna Chapman. “But I feel like we’re drowning.”

FOOD STAMP FACTS

> State officials say they are seeing 10,000 new food stamp cases each month since July.

> Eligibility standards require that a household’s resources, such as checking and savings accounts and savings bonds, are limited to a combined value of no more than $2,000.

> In November, there were 480,103 food stamp households in Georgia, making for a total of 1,166,986 recipients.

> In November, the total food stamp benefits in Georgia were $133,377,534.

> State officials recently began a program whereby people can apply for food stamps from any Internet-connected computer. The Web site is www.compass.ga.gov.

Source: Georgia Department of Human Resources