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WASHINGTON -- US Representative James P. McGovern pushed his grocery cart along the aisle at Safeway in southeast D.C., pausing for an agonizing moment in front of the coffee. Safeway brand, the cheapest, is three bucks a can. "This gets my juices running in the morning," he said. Into the cart it went.
And out of the cart it came. He decided he could not afford it. Instead he headed for dairy, where he selected a large package of shredded cheese, on special for $3.50. It would help stretch his meals for the week.
Normally when he shops at Safeway, McGovern, 47 and a Worcester Democrat, throws things into the cart regardless of price. He is not a food stamp recipient who shops deliberately, mindful of every nickel. Except for this week.
From breakfast last Tuesday morning (a banana and tap water) to dinner Monday night (whatever he has left), the Democrat from Worcester is eating on a total of $21, or $1 per meal. Nationally, the average monthly food stamp benefit in fiscal 2005 was $94.05, or about $3 a day, according to the US Department of Agriculture. (It ranged geographically from $76.39 in Wisconsin to $163.85 in the US territory of Guam.)
McGovern's point is that the allocation is inadequate and forces the poor to make impossible choices among food, rent, heat, gasoline, and healthcare. He and Jo Ann Emerson, a Missouri Republican, cochair the House Hunger Caucus and are trying to raise awareness among their brethren and the public as the Farm Bill comes up for reauthorization this summer. The food stamp program is included in the bill, and the duo has asked that $4 billion be added to the current $33 billion budget that covered 26 million recipients last year, 430,000 of them in Massachusetts. Under the bill, a family of four would get an additional $48 a month.
"We want to urge or shame Congress into doing the right thing," McGovern said as he entered the Safeway market. "Thirty-six million people are what is called 'food insecure.' That's something we should all be ashamed of in the richest country in the world."
McGovern is a big guy: 6 feet, 188 pounds. He has a healthy appetite. He loves red wine and desserts. Every day he gets a candy bar from the vending machine. "I love food," he said. "Everything."
At Safeway, he was joined by his wife Lisa, who is also taking the challenge. Together they had $42 to spend. (Their two young children will not be on the food stamp diet.)
They were accompanied by expert shopper Toinette Wilson, a single mother of three on food stamps who is earning a cosmetology license. Wilson offered tips: Buy bags of pasta, rice, and frozen vegetables.
The McGoverns bypassed chicken breasts and got a cut-up chicken for $7.32. They skipped the lean ground beef they usually buy for a cheaper, fattier cut.
Should they get the bag of brown rice for $2.79 or the white for $2.19? They splurged on the brown. Should they buy butter? No, they could not afford it.
Then there's the coffee question. He wanted it but felt guilty. She encouraged him: "If you're going to be miserable all week . . ."
In the end, it was McGovern staff member Michael Mershon who saved the day by putting a small packet in the cart for $1.55.
Lisa headed for the checkout line while her husband dashed off with another cart for their last supper that night before their lean cuisine begins the next morning. He bought steaks, asparagus, tomatoes, and a bottle of pinot noir.
At the register, the total for the week comes to $41.70 -- 30 cents under their food stamp allotment.
The total for that night's dinner for them and their two children: $44.
At home in southeast Washington, he broiled the steaks, sauteed the asparagus, and sliced the tomatoes.
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