Food Stamps, EBT, Medicaid, and Government Assistance Trap

My opinion on Food Stamps, EBT, Medicaid, Government Assistance, Church Welfare, etc. is a very difficult one for me to hold.  I think they are vital for helping people in need who don't have the funds to care for themselves.  The problem with them is that many times it is very difficult to break away from the programs once involved in them.  There are pretty strict financial guidelines that have to be met in order to be on assistance programs and as someone who has been on them on and off if you try to build your savings enough to be able support yourself there is a line where if you get any savings you still can't support yourself for more than a month or two so you'd struggle going off the program, so then knowing that, most people on it spend any income very fast because if they don't then they get kicked off, then in a month can't afford food for their family.  Its an awful cycle.  The other thing is that there is a very heavy agenda pushed by those providing assistance that is super hard to tolerate at times.  For example I study health and nutrition heavily and EVERY time we have ever gone to the WIC clinic (very common while we were on medicaid and still going to school but had kids to feed) they gave many recommendations I know are unhealthy.  They offer only specific foods and most of those have very high amounts of sugar or high fructose corn syrup.  They say thats because of their financial capabilities, which may be partially true, however in many stores I've seen cheeper options of the same item that is much healthier by the ingredients..  My point is that these are wonderful programs that are very needed by many, however I do wish certain changes would be made to help people ease off them.  As I've heard so many times "give someone a fish, and he will eat for a day.  Teach someone to fish, and he will never go hungry again.

So I've been trying to do this new diet with mostly fruits and vegetables with some eggs, nuts and fish/meat.  Its very similar to the Paleo diet, but has a few differences, one being that I don't think its healthy to have the majority of food intake be meat, but rather veggies.  So I'm trying for 80% veggies and fruit.  I am also trying to re-balance the good bacteria with probiotics in my body and have been doing the My Feel Good Foods Cleansing Product Line for a little over a week.  I was feeling awesome, then realized how much it was costing to eat this way.  All the vegetables it takes to fill up when there isn't any filler foods like grains and beans (along with limiting the amount of meat) is just crazy.  Vegetables don't cost that much, UNLESS you have to buy this much of them.  Then they add up to A LOT.  I talked to my mom about it today and decided that what I really need is a good meal plan to stay in budget and still keep the healthy diet.  So here goes writing a meal plan.  Maybe I can share it in my book when I'm done with it too.  :)  

The Right Track...

Still far from perfect, but I have managed to stay married for 5 years, have 3 adorable children, learn tons about holistic healthcare, develop my own recipes that are healthy and yummy at the same time, and have learned how to make much of my own hygene and cleaning products.  I would say that even though its gone by quickly and I am still far from my end goal of perfection, I would say I'm at least on the right track.  :)