Lawmaker shops on food stamp budget

SALEM, Ore. – If Gov. Ted Kulongoski seems a little out of it this week, he’s got an excuse: He couldn’t afford to buy coffee.

In fact, the Democratic governor couldn’t afford much of anything during a trip to a Salem-area grocery store on Tuesday, where he had exactly $21 to buy a week’s worth of food – the same amount that the state’s average food stamp recipient has to spend on groceries each week.

Kulongoski is the latest, and the highest-profile person yet, to take part in a “food stamp challenge,” designed to raise awareness about the challenges of feeding a family on a food stamp budget.

The governor’s week on food stamps began Tuesday morning, when he charged into a Fred Meyer supermarket, accompanied by a horde of media and food stamp recipient Christina Sigman-Davenport. Kulongoski headed straight for a display of organic bananas, only to have Sigman-Davenport patiently steer him toward the conventional variety instead, far cheaper at 49 cents a pound.

The governor pined for canned Progresso soups, but at $1.53 apiece, they were too dear. He settled instead for a collegiate staple, three packages of Cup O’Noodles for 33 cents apiece. Kulongoski also gave up his usual Adams natural, no-stir peanut butter in favor of a generic store brand.

Kulongoski paused to chat with shoppers John and Bonnie White, of Salem, telling them all about his $21 limit.

“Don’t spend it all in one place,” John White warned.

The governor came equipped with a shopping list prepared by his wife, Mary Oberst, but tried to deviate from it right away, snatching two zucchini from a pile and refusing to give them up. He stuck to his list with a 10-pound bag of potatoes for 99 cents and a 4 1/2-pound chicken, and he blanched only a little bit at the store’s cheapest cheese, a generic brand of pre-sliced American for 99 cents, before dropping it into his cart.

Along the way, Sigman-Davenport, a mother of three who works for the state Department of Human Services and went on food stamps in the fall after her husband lost his job, dispensed tips for shopping on a budget. Scan the highest and lowest shelves, she told the governor, and look for off-brand products. Clip coupons religiously, get used to filling, low-cost staples like macaroni and cheese and beans, and buy in bulk.

After the hourlong shopping trip, Kulongoski said he was mindful that his week on food stamps will be finite, but that thousands of others aren’t so lucky.

“I don’t care what they call it, if this is what it takes to get the word out,” Kulongoski said in response to questions about whether the challenge was just a stunt. “This is an issue every citizen in this state should be aware of.”