June 27, 2012
"People don’t necessarily want to put $8 jelly on their kids’ PB&J. I get that. But the whole elitist argument has never, ever resonated with me because my family is from total humble beginnings, and we always cared about food and spent money on it. Now we all spend $100 on cell phones. Everyone has cable. It’s insane."

— April McGreger, the cook behind Farmer’s Daughter Brand of artisan tomato jam, to SF Weekly. If I had more disposable income, I’d certainly buy more food from folks like her. Quite frankly, I’d rather spend money on good food rather than gadgets (though I don’t think I’ll ever leave behind the occasional craving for Velveeta). But as an average Joe on an everyday income, I just end up having to make choices over mass produced foods. It’s great that San Francisco’s food stamps program promotes local farmers markets, though!

2:22pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZzzsLyOFCVNc
(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: artisan foods food stamps San Francisco SF Weekly 
June 26, 2012

Dear Linc,

What did I do on my day off?

Well, early this morning I met with a social worker to discuss my food stamps eligibility. That was not a pleasant meeting. The system is set up to deliberately discourage you from getting food stamps. I have a few more hoops to jump through, so I spent the long morning taking care of that.

By the way, I never, ever want to hear or entertain the argument that food stamps is for bums. This isn’t just because I’m now in a position where I have to use them. Rather, it’s because of a conversation that I overheard from two fellas who were standing in front of me waiting in line with the rest of the crowd that showed up at 7am.

“You get more food stamps when you got kids,” said one to the other.

“Nah man,” his companion said. “If I got a kid, that just means I’m gonna give everything to my kid. Do right by him. Or her.” 

“For sure, for sure.”

But the deliberately discouraging system has taught me a lesson: so, after I took care of said hoops, I put in an application for a part time job. Not that my bookstore job is no longer my dream job — it always will be. But I could use a side job. And even if I don’t get the part time job that I’m applying for, it’s all right because I’m already making adjustments to my budget so that I can stand living on just the one job. It would be nice not to have to rely on food stamps if I can swing it, though.

It’s a lot to think about. So I spent the rest of the day bumming around the internet and trying to clean my room. I didn’t get anywhere with the cleaning, so instead I thought about all the kinds of dancing that I would do if we ever slept with each other. Yeah, I went there.

Joe

4:23pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZzzsLyOBKqtX
Filed under: 500 Days of Summer Hall and Oates food stamps 
May 19, 2011
$2 million lottery winner still gets food stamps

msnbc:

“If you’re going to … try to make me feel bad, you aren’t going to do it,” Leroy Fick told reporters.




I wish he would. What is this guy’s history? How long has he been on food stamps? Long enough to spend time dreaming about what life would be like off of food stamps? Long enough that he had so little money that he made a promise to himself that he would carefully plan every cent of every penny that would next fall in his lap whether it’s from a steady paycheck or a windfall? How much time did he spend thinking about what to do with that $2M once he got it? How did he use it to give back to the community that allowed those food stamps in the first place? What, exactly, does he feel about continuing to draw from the same pool of resources tapped into by persons who remain far less prosperous than he? To employ a meme: faulty state policy is at fault. But you’re a rich man now, guy. Turn in the card and never look back.

7:34am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZzzsLy5G30et
(Notes: 14)
  
Filed under: unemployment food stamps 
May 4, 2011
Wednesday night lights.

Dear Linc,

Unless I’m fasting for religious reasons or some other cause that I really believe in, I don’t think I’m ever again going to go almost 11 hours without food. I’ve eaten, but man, my head hurts from getting nourishment all out of whack.

Read More

11:46pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZzzsLy4sj_Sr
Filed under: San Francisco Giants New York Mets food stamps 
February 3, 2011
Grr.

Dear Linc,

The food stamps website just went out on me. I was about to pull up my case file when I came to the eventual realization that the hourglass icon was never going to go away. By the way, I don’t know why the state’s food stamps website uses an hourglass icon. I haven’t seen that since my Windows days. Anyway, this is what regular people have to go through. I’m sure you’ll never have to deal with the hassle of keeping the government updated about your income, or lack thereof, just so you’ll have an easier time feeding yourself. If that sounds a little bitter, I don’t really mean it to be. But a situation like mine set alongside a situation like yours just depressingly proves what different universes we each inhabit.

So, Mary wants to pop in a DVD, and I have to go to work early in the morning. But I’ll watch the movie with her until I fall asleep, which she seems fine with. I made her wait a little bit, though. I said to her, “Before we watch the movie, I’m going to write a letter to my fake boyfriend.” And she said, “Okay.”

I don’t know why I still feel compelled to write you so routinely when I clearly am blessed with an amazing support system of real friends and family. I don’t want any of my loved ones to think that they’re not enough in my life. But sometimes I can’t help feeling that something is missing, and for a little while, you fill that void.

Hey, FanFest is on Saturday. Unbelievably, I almost forgot all about it. I’ve been so consumed with work, school, and epically failing food stamp websites that the notion of an estimated 40,000 or so people mobbing San Francisco for a glimpse of baseball’s world champions nearly slipped my mind.

Joe

11:36pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZzzsLy2uueW4
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: Food stamps San Francisco Giants FanFest Microsoft Windows 
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