Sherrie Tussler received these emails on Wednesday and Thursday after the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel story ran. Charlie Sykes, WTMJ-AM radio personality, spent a portion of his Wednesday show discussing the Journal-Sentinel article and the challenge.

Ms. Tussler,

While I applaud your willingness to take on the challenge to eat for $21 per person per week, I feel you are missing some important points.

1.  Parents who really DO qualify for Food Stamps also qualify for FREE school breakfast and lunch for their children.  Your daughter might not actually "like" the choices offered, but they'd be free.  Our schools in Fond du Lac always offer at least two options for each meal.  I know that, in the summer when our district offers totally free lunches to anyone under 18, my kids go as often as possible to our neighborhood elementary school.  And I'm a teacher, so we definitely make too much to qualify for the free meals during the school year.

2.  People who really DO qualify for Food Stamps will accept free food.  Granted, it's not usually prime rib.  But they'll stand in line to get the meals or groceries offered by the Salvation Army or churches' food pantries. Or school districts. Or a neighbor's invitation to a meal.  Heck, even we "privileged" citizens accept free food.

3.  I think you are too quick to dismiss the recipes that your friends sent you.  Some may actually be frugal.  For example, you could have bought a pound of dried beans for a really low price.  You could use some of the "10 for $10" deals at Pick 'n Save to buy canned tomatoes or tuna.  In fact, this past week I purchased 10 packages of Starkist Chunk Light Tuna in Water for $10.  These are not cans but pouches.  The display included manufacturer's coupons for $1.50 off 3. I ended up paying $5.50 for 10 pouches of tuna, with no cans to rinse and no can opener to wash.  This is cheaper than Roundy's in cans, and I've found that I prefer Roundy's to the name brands when I purchase tuna in cans. A person who gets food stamps will learn to be frugal and to purchase items that will fit into the monthly budget. Your friends may have been trying to be HELPFUL.  Instead of thanking them, you find their suggestions offensive. Hmmm.

4.  How did your daughter heat her ramen noodles?  We could save a whole lot of money if our kids had access to a microwave at school.

5. There are plenty of student-athletes who manage to make it through school and practice with food stamp meals and free/reduced meals.  What might that extra $21 per week have bought?  I remember eating breakfast at home, bubbler drinks during the day, school lunch(at a whopping $0.55 per day)/packed lunch/running home for our 32-minute lunch, bubbler drink, and 2-hour track or cross country practice.  I certainly didn't think I was deprived.  We thought it was great when our coach brought cold water during the hot and humid August practices.  You complain about drinking safe water(you don't mention whether or not it was TAP water) during your work day. 

6.  Sorry, but why do you not include Child Support in your budget?  The father of your children should also contribute to their meals.  I realize that there are a lot of mothers who "would never" ask the father of their children to contribute to the raising of the children they created.  I think this is ridiculous.  (I receive CS from the father of my oldest, and my husband paid until his oldest turned 18 and graduated.)  Why should taxpayers bear the burden of supporting children of never-married or divorced parents?

7.  You mention, more than once, your coffee habit.  If this is indeed important, you'd have an inexpensive coffee-maker in your home and a good insulated mug.  We have never happened to have caught the "coffee bug".  But we do know that if you brew it at home, it's not terribly expensive.

8.  You  complain, more than once, that you had to drink water.  Big deal.  You probably grew up without a coffee mug or water bottle in your hand.  We did. Most of the tap water in Wisconsin is actually pretty good.  (Note:  I said "most".  I can think of at least one community, where I went to a state college, that always had and still has foul tap water.  But I managed to live through 4 years of that, and during the past 23 years I have enjoyed great-tasting water in a variety of Wisconsin municipalities.)  I take a refillable water bottle to work; so does my husband.  You can, too. McDonald's recently had a promotion for a 42-ounce drink for 89 cents.  I kept the cups and lids, and refilled at home after hand-washing.   Very, very inexpensive.

9,  Canned and/or frozen fruit and vegetables can be inexpensive.  Check out the store brands or even the sale brands.  LOOK at the ads that appear in your weekly papers or "Saver"/ "Community" papers.  We have enough cans of sale-priced veggies that we can donate to our local food pantries when the kids bring home a food-drive notice.  Fresh is great, especially in season, but canned and frozen tend to be just as nutritious and pretty inexpensive.

10.  You seem to have a huge chip on your shoulder regarding the use of leftovers.  There's NOTHING WRONG WITH LEFTOVERS!!  Cold pizza is the best breakfast in the world.  You complain about having it.  In our fridge right now, we have the following leftovers:  Noodles, which can be served with jarred spaghetti sauce/homemade-                 garlic-cream sauce/butter/fresh mozzarella-basil-olive oil; baked chicken breasts, which have been served as a main dish/pasta/fresh garden tomatoes; and some other main dish my husband made.  Leftovers are easy and inexpensive.  It takes no longer to cook a whole box of pasta or a bag of chicken breasts than it does to make two servings.  Leftovers are versatile.  Saute up a 3-pound package of ground beef; divide it into thirds and freeze two packages in ziploc freezer bags; buying in 3-pound packages is much less expensive than buying a pound at a time, even if you are picky and choose only ground chuck or ground round over "ground beef".

11.  Did you look at your farmer's market as an opportunity?  I've recently purchased, at our farmer's market, bunches of beets for 50 cents apiece.  50 cents for a meal including steamed beet greens, and another meal of sauteed beets.  When I was a kid, we didn't have a choice.  We ate beets and beet greens, or we didn't leave the table.  I LOVE such veggies as an adult.

12.  You seem to rely on only one grocery chain for your groceries.  Check out others within your radius of acceptable shopping.  Walgreen's often has really, really good deals with weekly flyers and monthly "Easy Saver" deals.  Right now, in Fond du Lac, we have basically one choice:  Pick 'n Save.  Roundy's has driven out the traditional options, but Festival Foods will open soon here.  In the Milwaukee area, you have many more choices.  Yes, it will cost you more time to read the ads and comparison-shop.  That's what frugal shoppers do, whether they are using food stamps or not.

13.  More than once, you mention beer.  If it's really important to you, look for deals on your brand.  It's easier to limit yourself to one or two than to totally refuse it.  This goes for other alcoholic drinks, too.  I like white wine and have my favorite labels; one friend likes a particular brand of rum and mixers.  It ends up being a LOT cheaper to buy alcohol at the store than at a bar/restaurant/charity function.

14.  Clip coupons!!  The Sunday paper usually contains more value in coupons than the cost of the paper itself.  Even less if you subscribe.  Online coupons require a lot of diligence, as many coupon sites result in spam(which takes time and effort to evaluate and delete) or invalid coupons(which can result in embarrassment, even if you sincerely believe that the coupons are legit).

Basically, it seems to me that you have taken this challenge as a burden instead of as an opportunity.  You might want to try it again, as someone who is trying to feed THREE people for TWENTY-ONE dollars per week for FOUR weeks.  Actually, no breakfasts or lunches for both daughters, since they'd actually get free breakfasts and lunches if you actually qualified for food stamps.  So 3x21x4 =$252 for the month.  The girls get free breakfasts and lunches during the school week.  Child support should cover at least a
portion of their dinners and weekend meals, especially if they spend one night per week or every other weekend with their father. Buying large quantities and on sale, and regarding leftovers as a daily occurrence instead of as a burden, would help you meet your monthly budget goal.  I realize that many of your clients have no choice, but you do;  YOU can rise to the challenge, so that you can inspire your clients and share your budgeting tips.

I read the article in the Journal Sentinel regarding you and your daughter Madeline and I had to stop what I was doing to thank you (and Madeline) for what you're doing to bring attention to the impoverished of Milwaukee.  I thank you so much for your dedication to ending hunger in Milwaukee and Wisconsin, it is obviously a thankless job at times, but I applaud your strength and tenacity.
 
What I really want to say is this...the people who "ribbed" you and sent you emails taunting you (even in jest) have obviously never been hungry. Their children have obviously never gone to bed hungry and got up the next morning and went to school hungry. They have obviously never heard the growling empty stomach of a child.  They obviously never had to make a pack of hot dogs, loaf of bread and a box of cereal feed a family of 4 for a week.  Their insensitivity at what you and your daughter are trying to accomplish astounds me.  Instead of laughing it off and teasing you, they should push their plate of prime rib away and share a box of macaroni and cheese with another person.  Instead of sending "funny" emails, they should sacrifice "lunch with the guys/girls" for an entire week. They should skip breakfast everyday, for a week.  They should eat just a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, for a week.  They should eat a pack of ramen noodles for dinner, for a week.  No prime rib, no steak, no ground beef, no chicken...nothing else.  That's how poor people eat--lots of inexpensive "sides", not much meat, not many vegetables-and as such they miss out on necessary vitamins and protein.           
 
I have lived on $21 (and less) a week.  I have gone to bed hungry just to make sure my kids' bellies were full.  I've lived on Ramen noodles and boiled potatoes and nothing else. There were times where I had to choose buying groceries over paying a utility bill. There were times I really should have gone to the local food pantry but my pride wouldn't let me, so I didn't eat at all to make sure my sons were fed and full.  I have family members who dread when school is out for the summer, because they have no idea how they are going to feed their kids.  The summer meal programs offered at some schools are the only meal a lot of kids have all day.
 
Again, if no one else has said it, I'm saying it...thank you Sherrie and Madeline for your sacrifice.  The LOSERS who find your efforts funny, are either quite insensitive, quite unaware or quite unconcerned about their fellow man and if that is the case, they don't deserve you as a friend/colleague. You are too good for them.
 
My husband and I have consistently given both monetarily and in food donations to the Hunger Task Force, and will continue to do so.  Please keep up the great work and tell Madeline she is following in the footsteps of greatness!
 
Sincerely,
Dina B.

hi Sherrie-

i recently read an article in the journal sentinel about you and your daughter attempting to survive on $21 in food stamps and was immediately touched. Today as an educated and successful professional in the milwaukee area I sometimes forget that I spent most of my childhood receiving food stamps and subsidized lunches while attending public schools in racine. Not only is it humiliating, but more importantly, the families hardly ever get the nutritous foods that they need (i think you and your family are also learning that). I typically dont respond to such articles, but this one really hit home for me. I hope that your story and your efforts will force others to wake up and realize their privilege, position and that we do need to reconsider exactly what it takes for a family to 'survive' in this state.thanks again for your efforts,

q.l., racine

I hope that you are feeling better, I can understand your feelings, as well as the pain in your stomach and head. I have been there, friends used to say they needed to go on my diet, years ago I was on "afdc" before the w2 program, I had 2 children, rent (no low income housing was available) so my $530 check at the beginning of the month went for mostly rent, everything I needed had to be within walking distance, as well I had an infant.

The food stamps I had only lasted for 2 weeks if I bought things like a "normal" mom. Of course my son who was in school had free lunches, but as your daughter has found out it isnt "cool" to be different, as you can well imagine the school isnt suppose to let anyone know which children they are that are receiving the free lunch, but the other kids always know, the figured it out when he was still eating hot lunch when he wasnt returning the money on mondays like everyone else.

School trips which my son never missed out on any of them, and on those occasions I made sure he had a lunchable like the rest of the kids.

He hated the fact we had little to no money ever, and the comment made to a friend of his parent at a gathering at the school made the point really well, " I wish I could afford for my son to get hot lunch everyday" My comeback to this parent who weighed a normal 130-160 lbs. when I weighed 115lbs. " I wish I could afford to eat a meal everyday, instead of every other day so the boys have enough to eat for the month."

I dont think that most parents or adults really know what you go through as a single mother.

The son that went through the worst of it is now 19, and those days are behind us now, my youngest is 13. I am more on my feet than those days. But I always remember those days and those feelings that were in my stomach and head.

I hope that people really listen to you, I do know there are families out there that dont budget like I did or you do, and I see them on or around the first of the month and they are shopping for the month, the cart is filled with snacks, frozen food, and meat, which I still dont eat much of from those days. I also see them with lots of pop as well.

I wonder how they are doing it cause I would get my food stamps and seperate them for each week and you are right it averages out to $20 per week, I had help with the formula for my youngest when I had to stop breast feeding with WIC, which I dont even know if they still have that or not.

I wonder how or what those children are going to eat later in the month when I see these mothers doing that.

It would be really interesting to find out where they are getting the other monthly payments from, they are wearing clothes that I still cant afford, eating better than I ever did, and weighing a lot more than I did, so I know they are not skipping any meals.

I am not saying that all persons that are on aide are doing that, I know they are not, and since moving down to Racine from Madison area I have made friends with a few women down here, and help out when I can but it still upsets them as well as myself to see these others abusing the system and they are living hand to mouth.

In Madison they have a program for family gardens, it is subsidized by Madison and Dane county, but it is a fantastic program to help these families, to have their own FRESH produce, and that really helps them in the long run, it is like the scripture about teaching a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, verses giving them food and they eat only for that day.

The women I know down here came out and we helped each other with a large garden, as my Fiance had a work injury in May we lived off the garden as well as supplying fresh veggies to 6 families besides ours this summer, that dang rain last month wiped us out, otherwise we would still have more to give but as it is we had nearly 4 months of fresh produce for all.

I hope the word gets out for you, as well I hope that maybe you can start a program in Milwaukee for the families to get free seeds and a little corner to grow some food, it will help them as well as your organization as well, maybe you could contact Steins or other greenhouses and seed providers for free or reduced seeds for this type of project.

Good luck and BRAVO to your daughter for sticking with it, remember you will go back to your regular eating ways soon, and there are families out there that can't. :-).

Deb

Good Morning Sherrie,

I read the article in today’s paper about what you are and your daughter are doing.

Could I please speaker out of turn for a minute? As I said it’s commendable what you and your daughter are doing, but instead of going for more food stamps wouldn’t it be better to go after the legislators from the this great taxing state of Wisconsin, home of Governor Baldy the high mucky muck of taxes, to the nation’s capital to lower the taxes. The lower the taxes, the more people would have in their pockets to spend for staples i.e., food, etc. Besides, again excuse me for talking out of turn, the more that is given out in the form of “handouts” the less chance of bringing the taxes down so people to take care of at least their basic necessities without help. If we could get the politicians to do what you and your daughter are doing, maybe they would think twice about wasteful spending on a lot of “pork”. I know, like that’s going to happen.

As the old saying goes, been there and done that, when I was laid off between February of ’82 and February of ’85, while the Milwaukee Road(RR) played their bankruptcy games. Since, I’ve learned  about how the big bite of the taxes, as they go up, are the culprits for people either being unemployed or underemployed.

Again, a great thing you’re doing, as always, and thank you for letting me speak out of turn.

Have a Great Day,

George C.

Dear Sherrie:

While I applaud your efforts to bring awareness to the issue of the cost of food, I wanted to let you know that some of us feed our family, myself included, for the same amount or less than what you are challenging, without food stamps – and we eat well. Based on your challenge, I can spend $126.00 per week just on food. I have six people in my family (2 adults/4 children). Our children range from 12 on down to less than 2. Plus, we have another child on the way.

I spend on average $100 to $125 each week at the grocery store. ($100-$125 / 7 days / 6 people / 3 meals = $0.79-$0.99/person/meal). Keep in mind, though, that my cost of $125 is not just for food, but also includes all personal products (toilet paper, paper towels, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste) and diapers. I comparison shop Rupena’s, Pick N Save, and Sentry to find the best deals and also have recently started to make purchases at the Farmer’s Market.  I also use coupons on occasion for things that I buy regularly, such as diapers.

For example, I purchased a ham as part of the “Meal Deal” at Pick N Save. The ham was expensive at $23.00, but I got a loaf of bread, a box of stuffing, and a frozen 3 lb turkey breast for free. That one ham fed my entire family for three main meals: Ham, Baked Corn on the Cob (13 for $4.00 at the market, but we only cooked 8), and Betty Crocker Julienne potatoes (bought the boxes when they were on sale 10 for $10.00, cooked 2).

There was plenty of ham left over. Easy stuff was cut off into small pieces for sandwiches, to mix with eggs,  and to use in scalloped potatoes and ham (Betty Crocker Scalloped potatoes (also bought the boxes when they were on sale 10 for $10.00, cooked 2). The stuff stuck to the bone was boiled off. After removing all bones and unusable tissue, the broth and ham had 20 potatoes and ½ an onion cooked into it – Ham and Potato Soup.

I can usually stretch a whole chicken ($5-$7) for two meals, as well. We will roast and eat the chicken the first night. Again, the leftover is boiled and the bones and unusable tissue are discarded. The chicken meat is cut into bite size pieces and put back into the pot with the broth. Add 8 oz bag of mixed frozen vegetables and either rice or egg noodles – Chicken Noodle or Chicken N Rice soup.

This past week, some of the incredible deals that I found in addition to the ham special included boxes of cereal for $1.25 per box; 10-lb bag of potatoes for $1.98; green peppers for $0.25 each; corn on the cob for $4.00 per baker dozen; frozen vegetables for 5 – 16 oz bags for $4.00; tuna for $0.39 per can; 8 oz packages of shredded cheese for $2.00, just to name a few.

One of our children recently had a birthday. I could have purchased a cake for $15-$20. Instead, I baked a cake from a box (purchased for $0.98) and made my own frosting (butter, vanilla, powdered sugar, and milk). (I baked the cake in a glass bowl and stuck a Barbie in it before frosting). We also made homemade sugar cookies for her to take to school for her birthday treat. All it cost was a portion of the ingredients that I always have stocked.

There are a lot of times when I see people in line making purchases with food stamps and I cannot believe how much prepackaged “junk” they are purchasing. While the amount of money that people receive may be considered low, I think that it would benefit people more in the long run if organizations such as the Hunger Task Force taught how to cook from scratch, comparison shop, use coupons, plan menus, etc.

Finally, I have to agree that the price of milk is getting a little steep – but again, you can buy 2 gallons for $5.00 at Sentry this week!

Sincerely,

C. Johnson