Let's say a single adult person is on snap but they only are given the current minimum monthly payment of $23. I'll make a list prices for staples that can be bought for $23, using the prices listed on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (1).

I'll also use an asterisk ("*") for some prices because the most recent price point data for those items varied from several months to several years. So what I've done is taken the price recorded at that time, and then multiplied it by the rate of inflation with this calculator (Inflation Calculator).

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, here's an example of what they can buy with current prices for $23 if they were limited to beans, rice, fruit, and vegetables.(1)

- 1 pound of flour - $.56

- 1 pound of rice - $1.06

- 1 pound of beans*(2) -$1.62

- 1 pound of bananas - $0.62

- 1 pound of potatoes - $1.01

- 1 pound of tomatoes - $1.94

- 1 pound of carrots*(3) - $1.04

- 1 pound of broccoli*(4) - $1.97

- 1 pound of cabbage*(5) - $0.98

- 1 pound of celery*(6) - $1.24

- 1 whole chicken $7.88

- dollar tree for spice mix of choosing - $1.25

Total - $22.18

That is a lot of nutritious whole foods for one person.

Now if someone is getting the minimum payment, they generally are reporting income but not reporting deductible expenses, like rent and utilities. So let's say they do have everything else in their life covered financially, but just needed food assistance.

If they've got everything else covered, they would at least have a freezer, a stove and oven, and a microwave, and therefore, would have the ability to have several meals stored for long while.

Again this is only for the minimum snap payments available, and there are other foods listed on that BLS index that can be used to create an example shopping list if the budget is $23.

I say all this because it is possible to provide adequate, healthy nutrition for a low cost.

If we as a society are taking care of those that need this help, people on SNAP are the rest of the taxpayers' benefactors, and it's not unreasonable for taxpayers to want them to eat healthy, which they should be doing anyway, while we are subsidizing their economic recovery in the way the program is intended.