As someone who used to live off of food stamps, I know how hard it is. My family suffered through some seriously hard times, and I saw how much money ruled whether or not we could eat 3 meals a day... and sometimes we, or my parents at the least, made do with 2 or 1.
This project - http://foodstampchallenge.typepad.com/my_weblog/ - where members of congress lived a week on foodstamps to experience what others are was absolutely fascinating.
I actually almost cried reading it.