IRVINGTON— Kitty Combs-Smith cruises the aisles of the Irvington Pathmark searching for enough food to get her through the next three days. And, she plans to spend just $kitty shop14.
Drumsticks at $2.47 go into the grocery cart, along with a $1.49 loaf of wheat bread and a 60-cent can of green beans. At the register, she coughs up $14.28 &8212; 28 cents more than she planned to spend &8212; and is on her way.
Combs-Smith was one of about 20 people throughout the state who volunteered last week to take part in a Community FoodBank of New Jersey Challenge to shop and eat for no more than $31.50 &8212; the average weekly food stamp amount allotted to an individual in New Jersey.
I was really upset, about the amount of food in the cart, said Combs-Smith, a retired insurance underwriter at Prudential who lives in Newark and learned about the challenge at her church.
I was adding it up, looking at the budget and saying, &8216;this is all the money I have to spend,&8217; so I kind of had to let it go and that was the hard part, she said Friday about having to pass up a whole chicken for just $6 more. That and looking at something I wanted and I couldn&8217;t buy it &8212; to see it in someone else&8217;s cart and to know that you couldn&8217;t have it.
The challenge, issued on the internet, by e-mail and through word of mouth, began last Monday and ended Sunday. The exercise, FoodBank officials say, is an important lesson in how people across
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ArticleTitle:N.J. Community FoodBank challenges food-stamp recipients to eat more cheaply
ArticleUrl:http://www.kitty-blog.com/catsshop/217.html
