What it’s like to get rejected from food stamps

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• I am college educated and unemployed. I make $340/wk after taxes and was turned down for food stamps because I make too much money. Hah.

  Luckily my friends and family are extremely supportive. One friend in Texas even sent me a care package full of food and some cash to pay bills with.

  I'm pissed that the food stamps program (and other programs as well) don't take rent into consideration. I have to pick and choose which bills I'm going to pay each month. And I always feel like an asshole standing in line with the elderly people at the food pantry each week.

• Your kidding right? I know this is an old post but for anyone just reading this,this woman "amanda" doesn't have her head where it belongs."I am pissed"... for what reason? TAX PAYERS aren't paying for your food??? You have been to college,guess what? WHO CARES.. your not employed so that "education" of yours is not doing you a darn bit of good is it? Stop spending your money on bs,I raised a child on my own with less money than that and I did just fine and was NOT at a food pantry each week.Grow up.

• Your KIDDING right?!? " I have to pick and chose which bills to pay each month" I RAISED AN INFANT ON THAT KIND OF SALARY.I was a CNA and I raised a child on that,paid rent,phone,cable,bought groceries,daycare,gas car payment ect ect ect... !! You need to live within your means bitch!

• Do you not understand that they don't take rent into consideration because YOU CAN FUCKING MOVE YOU TWIT. What the hell are they teaching in American universities these days? I mean, it's so fucking simple. BASIC. Welcome to real life brat. You bring home $1200 and you have no kids and no job, therefore no need to travel anywhere. You don't have to have any of those other things, including utilities. Many people on food stamps have to choose between food and lights. Wake the fuck up.

  I weep for the future of this country.

• Dude you have enough eggs to last you a week. Spinach omelet? Throw some salsa on them shits. You've got a jar full of something that looks edible. Eat that. You've got a bag of something on top by the cucumber (which should be eaten also). Maybe you forgot it was in there, but you should probably eat that. Is that a loaf of bread on the bottom? I saw two jars of peanut butter in your closet, you should try combining the two! Nice fancy cheeses. Eat it. Your fridge has way more food than mine.

  And about that "radical stance" of yours. Your radical stance is, plain and simple, wrong. Your "poverty" is a direct result of your poor choices. You took out (presumably) exorbitant student loans so you could go to college to get a degree in something that puts you on the path to being a struggling artist. Well, guess what? Now you're a struggling artist. You're a walking cliche of what's wrong with the education system in America, but from the sounds of your upbringing, you have no excuses for not knowing what you were getting yourself into. You aren't impoverished, you're broke, and it's 100% your fault, and my hard earned tax dollars that I get stolen from me after working my ass off 9-5 or 6 or 8 every single day better not be paying so you can eat artisan pickles and drink craft beer with your buddies.

  - a 23 year old

• Give me a break. This girl goes on to cry about how she got rejected from foodstamps while she refuses to defer her student loans, wont look for a real job, has an accountant, an iphone, a fridge full of overpriced organic foods, drinks craft beer, eats $15 dollar brunches, and has a Netflix subscription.

• I know a few people who get food stamp and they don't deserve them

• Please. Why don't you follow the advice you provided in the retail employment piece you wrote for this publication only one year ago before asking for public assistance?
  https://brokelyn.com/retail-jobs-starting-pay-employee-discounts/#comments-section
  How creative are you really? You can't even properly stage food in your cupboard and refigerator photos in a manner effective or pathetic enough to generate any sort of sympathy. Have you considered that you're not able to pay the bills as you work in a creative field because you're just not that imaginative?

• Someone should have read Caroline her Miranda rights before she wrote her article: "Anything you say can and WILL be used against you on the comment board..."

  I'm not really interested to hear what is essentially a rehashing of anything fiscal conservatives have ever said against social services--this idea that being financially comfortable means you "did something right" is just Predeterminism with a messenger bag and an iPhone.

  Helping people shouldn't be about shaming them for asking for help and justifying their choices in life, or if it is, I would hope we have professionals with more constructive advice than "Stop eating brunch and move back in with your parents" or "Make an omelet."

  On that note, are there any people who have experience in public policy, and would like to comment and perhaps give a little insight into the myths and truths of what living below the poverty line means?

• What we need to be addressing is the fact that SO many people are going hungry in America. Obviously, Supply-side economics only works for the wealthy, since we started cutting taxes on the wealthiest, we've lost net jobs, and they've reaped billions in profits. Minimum wage needs to be raised, and the wealthy need to be taxed for the phenomenal gain they get from society... subsidies to oil companies need to end. Why is it OK to give billions to the profitable oil companies, but when a family needs food stamps, we start nit picking about whether or not they have a tv? It's hypocritical and frankly, it makes me SICK.

• Dear Author,

  Please look up cultural capital; you have plenty of it. It's not that America wants you to starve; it's that (as so many have said in response to your article) you have the resources you need to avoid that.

  Incidentally, when I was your age, I did not have a college degree, my parents were dead, and I lived on a $6,000 disability income. No food stamps. I bought all my clothes at thrift shops (no, not vintage stores), my furniture was milk crates, I didn't own a tv, I frequented the library, I cooked my own food, a date was a walk and maybe an ice-cream. I was pretty happy actually, glad to have food & shelter and appreciative of what came to me. But I grew up poor. I think poverty when you're young actually makes you more creative. By the time you have kids or health issues, you'll be fine (due to your heavy "cultural capital").

  LS

• Here's the choice that the richest country in the world gives you:
  You can eat expensive, healthy food, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, dairy, protein, a few carbohydrates, run out of money, starve to death, and DIE now; OR you can eat unhealthy food, pasta, more pasta, much more pasta, and, of course, lots of carbohydrates, develop major illnesses but live longer, and DIE later. I'm sure you noticed the keyword.

• OK. I understand you want to be healthy and that is a great thing. Plus, your body feels crappy when you have to eat processed junk. But...when I saw the Ezekiel bread in the fridge??? That stuff is expensive. And the fresh cheese wedges? That's how Whole Foods earned the nickname "whole paycheck."

  Stop shopping organic and move to generic for 90 days. Buy the thin cheap bread and toast it....then it won't be so bad for sandwiches. You can cook really tasty meals with pasta, potatoes, rice, eggs, etc. as the main ingredient. If you don't "cook" a lot then find a foodie friend who can show you how to come up with some awesome dishes.

  But buying "brunch" when you are barely making ends meet is just being careless with $$. That is def. living beyond your means.