1. “It’s Just A Dollar”
By Elysabethe Brown

2. • Alicia Quetel,
from Easton, PA,
is a day care
worker, who
struggles to take
care of her family
of six as her
husband was
recently
demoted. She
shops at her local
Shoprite while
her children are
at school.

3. • Along with 22,188,845
other households in the
country, the Quetels now
take part in the
Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program
(SNAP). As of January
2012 the average
amount of money a
household receives on
food stamps is $277.27 a
month according to
fns.usda.gov. “We just
started receiving food
stamps. They kept telling
me I made too much
money. But by the end of
the month I’m spending
my own money that I just
don’t have.” The Quetels’
receive only $100 a
month.

4. • “I spend about
$100-150 a week
on groceries. It
depends how
much I get.
Sometimes the
money’s just not
there,” said
Quetel.

5. • As
Mrs.Quetel
scans each
item, she
seems
embarrassed
to compare
the prices
between
items,
carefully
looking
around the
store before
she does so.

6. • Mrs.Quetel
explains that
her
children’s
school offers
lunch
specials of
$2 hot dogs
and pizza
and 25 cent
snacks two
days a week.
“It takes the
pressure off.”

7. • She explained
that with three
growing boys
and a little girl,
food doesn’t
last very long.
“I try to buy
the family size,
but it goes bad
so quickly.
Sometimes I
have to buy
smaller packs
of food, which
costs more.”

8. • “I try to
keep it
as
healthy
as I can,
but with
fruit
normally
I just
have to
walk
away.”

9. • “I get the
bowls of fruit,
which to me
aren’t as
healthy, but
what can I do?
They complain
about kids
being
overweight,
but I can’t
afford it when I
have to keep a
roof over our
heads.”

10. • While standing in line
to pay for her food
Mrs. Quetel told the
woman standing in
front of her that she
had dropped a dollar.
The woman laughed
and replied “Oh, well
it’s only a dollar. No
big deal, ya know?”
Mrs. Quetel smiled
and handed her the
bill.

11. • Quetel later
confessed that she
had to buy $80 worth
of food stamps for
$60 from another
woman she knows.
“The government
needs to look into
that stuff. Right now
we struggle to make
ends meet. Some
people get $500 a
month and don’t even
use it all.” According
to delcotimes Over
the past three years,
more than 3,000
people have been
convicted or pled
guilty to SNAP-related
fraud.

12. • The total for
the shopping
trip was $89.
The food will
get them
through the
weekend,
unless her
children “are
extra hungry
when they
see all of the
food in the
kitchen,” she
laughs.