Son of Food Stamps

Most of the six out of seven Americans who are not part of the Food Stamps (SNAP) program don't know how it works. As stated in the opening of the Food & Nutrition Act of 2008, the plan has a laudable goal:

"To alleviate such hunger and malnutrition, a supplemental nutrition assistance program is herein authorized which will permit low-income households to obtain a more nutritious diet through normal channels of trade by increasing food purchasing power for all eligible households who apply for participation."

The following items cannot be purchased using food stamps funds:
- Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes or tobacco
- Non-food items, such as: pet foods, soaps, paper products and household supplies

The following items can be purchased using food stamps funds:i. Foods for the household to eat, such as:
- breads and cereals
- fruits and vegetables
- meats, fish and poultry; and
- dairy products
ii. Seeds and plants which produce food for the household to eat.

No one can by force determine what you eat. But through restrictions on how the funds are used, the SNAP program discourages 'vices' and promotes shopping the edges of the grocery store where you will find more nutrition and fewer heavily processed foods. Having gotten in line with both the budget and most of the intent of the program, our family needs to implement the last item that was intended in the plan: growing some of your own food.

That last clause in the 'can be purchased' list is (we suspect) ignored by nearly everyone. Other than boutique or hobby gardeners, who grows their own food? In our post-agrarian society, who grows their own food even as a supplement their diet because they need to? With this in mind, we're going to mirror the plan by planting a winter garden and starting to grow a portion of what we eat.