So you think you can live on the food stamp budget for a month? Good on you! Do you think you could do it for two months? For three? For a year? Forever? How long til your preferred brand of fair trade, shade grown, organic decaf whole coffee beans runs out? How long til you slip a little and buy regular celery and regular apples and regular lettuce because it’s on sale, instead of 3x the cost for organics? How long before you buy a cheaper loaf of bread, a generic cheese instead of an artisanal brand? Two gallons of store-brand milk instead of one carton of organic vanilla soy? When will…

Ever notice how you learn a new word, then hear it everywhere you go? When you’re pregnant, all you see is pregnant women walking the streets or moms pushing strollers? You’re thinking of going to Paris, and suddenly every newspaper, TV station and poster has something to do with France? In recent weeks, it seems that poverty, welfare and hunger have permeated my brain. And I keep overhearing snatches of conversations. Yesterday the clock radio went off really early — maybe 5 a.m. From a dead sleep, I heard a man say, “Well, those deadbeats on welfare don’t want to get their hands dirty when they can stay home drinking…