How to afford food when money is tight

Life Kit

NPR

Health & Fitness, Self-improvement, Kids & Family, Education, Business

4.3 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Millions of people have been left without access to food as a result of funding delays for SNAP benefits. Kevin Curry of Fit Men Cook, an online food community, shares resources for those affected, including how to build a low-budget cart at the grocery store.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.
0:07.7	Hey, it's Mariel.
0:09.4	I saw a post on Instagram the other day from Kevin Curry.
0:13.0	He's the founder of Fit Men Cook, and we've had him on the show before.
0:16.8	In the post, he shared a bunch of tips for what to do when it's hard to afford food,
0:21.6	like when the federal government stops paying SNAP benefits because of a government shutdown.
0:26.1	Kevin has personal experience with SNAP.
0:28.3	He graduated from Harvard Business School in 2008 during a global financial crisis.
0:33.5	I remember a couple of buddies.
0:35.7	We were all talking about it.
0:37.0	And some of us knew friends who had graduated from HBS and they were driving Ubers and putting their resume on the back of the cars and Ubers. And so everyone was just trying to like, just trying to make sense of it all.
0:49.4	Kevin ended up applying for Snap and he had a lot of feelings about it.
0:53.1	I was embarrassed. I was angry because
0:54.7	I had done everything quote unquote right but then a caseworker changed my entire perspective
1:01.0	when I was there. She looked at my Harvard fleece. I had no idea that I was wearing my Harvard
1:05.0	fleece. And then she said, don't be ashamed. This assistance was made for her people just like you.
1:10.7	This is a bridge
1:11.2	from where you are to where you are going. People need help, and it doesn't look like one,
1:16.5	one type of person. And I think that once we get that out of our mind, then I think that people
1:21.8	will be able to look at SNAP for what it is. And it's a resource for all of us.
1:28.0	On this episode of Life Kit, Kevin Curry is going to share the tips and resources he's learned
1:32.1	about with us, including how to navigate food pantries and find free hot meals, how to get
	...

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