I went today to apply for food stamps. Got denied due to my having too much savings. I applied since it was something that they mentioned at the orientation, saying some apply and some don't, and that during past sessions there had been moral dilemnas. I know I went through different though processes before applying. First off, should I even apply since if necessary, my parents would support me? Second, isn't it a bit contradictary to be volunteering but then utilizing the system? And third, would I be able to swallow my pride? Apparently I was able to swallow my pride. Sort of. I went in since I thought I'd rather be on food stamps than asking my parents for help.
Anyway, after I got denied and was leaving, I thought about my reason for rejection. There reason is that the government perfers you be flat out broke before you can receive any aid. On one hand this makes sense, you target those with the highest need, but that's reactionary. Part of me thinks that people like me should be assisted as well, those with low/modest incomes so that they can improve themselves. Ah well.
So I went grocery shopping today. I bought the cheapest everything I could find. It was surprising as I compared cheap stuff to the name brand stuff nutritionally. For tuna, the generic was lower in cholesteral and sodium. More surprisingly the generic had 4% of the RDA of iron, while the Starkist was 2%, and it was 20% vs 26% for protein. So the question is then why does the generic have more metal and less fish? Hmmm . . .
