I think that you're probably talking about WIC, a program which is available to far more people than is conventional welfare (what used to be called AFDC). Maybe CA is different and has a coupon type AFDC program. Somehow I doubt it, though, since the coupon thing was always attacked as paternalistic because it dictates food choices. I see that they now use debit cards for food stamps. I wonder how that goes over. Where I used to live there was a healthy underground trade in food stamps. I've seen the debit card thing hailed as freeing people from stigma, but it must also be good for preventing that trade. dunno.
Anyway, with WIC you're eligible if you have ~28k for a family of three. Where I live, you can live on that income, though certainly not live in the sense that you can afford much more than a single, older car, 1000 sq feet apt (2br/2ba) at ~$640.00 (subsidized HUD housing), your clothes will come primarily from bargain bins, Sally's Boutique, and yard sales, and your food budget will be pretty slim since you're unlikely to afford fresh fruits, vegetables, or meat (to add insult to injury, you won't have any training in how to balance non-meat sources of protein in order to prevent a B12 deficiency).
Some friends and my sister rec'd WIC. One friend, a health major, eventually went to work for them, after she'd completed her college degree. (We used to save money by swapping childcare so we could attend class, study, etc.)
WIC gives you 'coupons' for milk, 100% juice, low sugar cereal, eggs, cheese, peanut butter, dried peas and beans.
Now, imagine that you are trying to feed two adults and a 3 year old. You buy a lot of inexpensive refined grain products--pasta, white bread, rice. These are supplemented by legumes, canned vegetables, frozen vegetables, cheese, and limited quantities of inexpensive cuts of meat or, more likely, breaded frankenfood meat patties, hot dogs, bologna, etc. Add to that more refined grain products: snacks, sweets. Potato chip bags advertise themselves as a marvelous source of vitamin C!
OK. Now, figure out how many cals you need a day. Usually, it's somewhere between 12-15 cals per pound of body weight for sedentary USers.
Now, eat your req'd calories eating what you can afford on, say, $50/a week in food. Eat mainly refined grain products like macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, white bread, rice, cereal. Carrots, corn, potatoes, beans, and peas--cheap, starchy vegetables.
Eat like that, with very little fat and, say, the recommended 50-60 grams of protein in a 2000 cal diet. Diet: 10% protein, 20% fat, 70% carb mainly from refined grains and starches.
This is a recipe for serious overeating because you will feel extremely hungry: you have no fiber or fat to make you feel full (they digest more slowly) and the refined grains get quickly absorbed into the bloodstream so that you're on a "sugar high" (and, soon, a crash) even though you may not be eating sugary foods, just refined grains--like cereal, white bread, macaroni, white rice. Now if you put in that mix the sugary treats, sugary cereals, and salty snacks--things you buy yourself because they have a long shelf life and because, well, in a world where your biggest thrill is getting a good deal on department store cast offs at The Sally every third Thurs of the month, is it any wonder people are overweight?
kelley