From Lifeline to Hammock: How Food Stamps Became a Way of Life

<![CDATA[I grew up poor in a family where food stamps were part of survival. My grandparents, with whom I often stayed, used them carefully and well. They bought real food: flour, eggs, milk, pork chops, coffee, lunchmeat, bread. Every now and then my brothers and I each got a chocolate bar, which cost a quarter back then but later went up to thirty cents. They bought a few Cokes in glass bottles as a treat, but mostly we drank ice water dipped from a styrofoam bucket with a tin ladle. Later, when they could afford it, they bought an Igloo water dispenser with a spigot, which felt almost luxurious.]]>