Great article in Salon.com about hipster kids living off of food stamps and eating well.
Apparently, there was some backlash too.
Best line?
By the way, a whole rabbit at Lexington Market is $10, feeds at least four people, and is healthier than factory-farmed chicken (around $6 for a whole one at the same market).
People assume that things like rabbit are expensive, when I know that you can get a good deal at the butcher and make what sounds like fancy food for very cheap. (Love my slow-cooked spicy lentils with country ham! Rediscover farm-wife cooking and you can make delicious food for cheap!)
I feel bad for Gerry Mak, A: because his name sounds Chinese to me and people are accusing him of being white/overly bourgeois. B: because this could have been me if I had not finished college during some economic boom years. Back then I could make my financial mistakes and recover to get myself through the economically lean years in my 30’s. I backpacked in Europe for a month and returned to the US to find a job in less than 30 days, nowhere near as long as folks who have been ‘funemployed’ for over a year now.
I hang out with a lot of recent grads at work and for the most part, they are so swamped with educational debt that they live hand to mouth in DC because of the high cost of living. Rent & commuting costs are very high here if you want to live in a safe neighborhood with reliable transport access.
I don’t feel like he’s sponging off the system. This is what public assistance is for. It’s for getting you through these times so you don’t have to worry about what you are going to eat. You pay in when you have a job, so what’s wrong with getting paid out when you don’t? Even if I never need SNAP benefits, I don’t mind helping my neighbor through the tough times. It’s why my primary charitable contributions in 2009 and 2010 have been to a food bank.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Dear Mapgirl:
Longtime reader, longtime fan. I take your point about how the general public incorrectly assumes that if you are “a creative” and care about food issues, you must necessarily belong to a white and privileged demographic.
Must take issue however with your use of the word “accused” to describe that false assumption.
“…people are accusing [Gerry Mak] of being white / overly bourgeois.”
Race may be a descriptor, but it is not something to be “accused” of.
Thanks Mapgirl!
Your supportive reader,
Meadow
When I was getting my Master’s I received foodstamps. I qualified for $115 per month and I ate well. Some classmates asked me where was my pride. It was in tact, I was not to proud to participate in a program that exist to help myself and others just because the many of the people participating where abusing the system.
This is a system that everyone who pays taxes supports, therefore if they have a need for the benefit they should participate. Foodstamps is not a gift from the government it is a program that the public pays into.
Don’t be hungry because you are proud.
Meadow, I am reporting a fact about the comments. The commenters accuse Mr. Mak of being white, not me.