Money for food stamps (SNAP) could run out at the end of the month. So could money for the Women, Infants, and Children program. Neither program provides enough money to eat as well as the Boehner-Cruz cabal, but each helps people stay alive. SNAP, for example, pays approximately ten bits per meal.
Can you stay alive on less? On just a dollar a day?
Yes, at least for a while. It won’t be fun, it won’t be tasty, it will scandalize nutritionists, and disturb physicians, but it can be done. It’s called the noodles and oil diet, aka the Daines Diet. It’s not a balanced diet, and healthy only to the extent that surviving is better than starving (although in a sense you’ll be slowly starving), but it does provide your daily caloric requirements.
Adult men and women require (PDF) approximately 2,200 and 1,800 calories per day respectively. A standard package of ramen noodles contains 380 calories, and costs $2.24 at Walmart. A pound of Blue Bonnet margarine contains 2400 calories (~ 70 cents/oz) and costs $0.92 at the same health food emporium. Twelve cartons of ramen costs $26.88. Four pounds of margarine costs $3.68. Your monthly total is $30.56, or $1.02 per day, which rounds off to a dollar a day. That gets you 1,800 calories per day, enough for women, and enough for men if they slow down a bit and accept losing a pound or two a month. The noodles and oil provide the carbohydrates and fat, and the eater provides the protein by converting muscle mass to blubber.
Ideal? Of course not. A viable survival strategy? You betcha, at least for a month or two. A reason to vote only for Democrats? Damn right.