shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com January 29, 2019 • Page 7 Stretch Your SNAP Funds With These SDSU Extension Tips BROOKINGS, S.D. - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Purdue, authorized the early release of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds. January 20, 2019, more than 93,250 South Dakotans who depend upon SNAP to help feed themselves and their families will receive their February SNAP funds. This is not an additional benefit. The early release is due to the partial government shutdown. We do not know how long the shutdown will last, even if it ends in February, individuals still won’t receive their benefits until March 10. Receiving food assistance early could create a challenge, explained Kimberly Wilson, Family & Community Health Field Specialist, who works with the Expanded Food and Nutrition Program (EFNEP) & SNAP-Education (SNAP-Ed). Typically, SNAP recipients would receive these funds February 10. “South Dakotans need to make these dollars last, because this is their February payment,” said Wilson, of the funds designed to supplement a grocery budget by about $4 per-personper-day. “Because these funds are only designed to provide a percentage of the money necessary to feed a family, sadly, for many families, when they receive SNAP benefits January 20, their accounts may already beempty.” Wilson is among a team of SDSU Extension staff who are working with South Dakotans to help them stretch their SNAP funds. The SDSU Extension nutrition team is available in locations across South Dakota to meet over the phone or oneon-one with individuals and help them create low-cost, healthy meal plans. SNAP funds don’t expire – plan to make them last Once SNAP funds are issued, they are good for 12 months. They do not expire for a year and do not have to be used the same month they are issued. To help stretch the grocery budget, Prairey Walkling, SDSU Extension Family & Community Health Field Specialist, said to begin by meal planning. “Meal planning allows you to take advantage of sales offered at grocery stores, it reduces the number of trips you make to the grocery store and, it allows you to plan healthy, lowcost meals,” said Walkling, who meal plans for her family of four a week at a time. “I encourage making a plan for five, low-cost main dishes. If you have ingredients you need for five main dishes, then you can re-purpose left-overs for the other two days in a week.” Evidence-based tips to stretch SNAP funds Below, Walkling and Wilson provide evidence-based tips to meal planning and more. When meal planning be sure to: •Know how many people will be at every meal. •Plan menus for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, writing down all ingredients needed to prepare each item. •Check your cupboards, refrigerator and freezer for items you already have. If you do not need it, do not buy it. •Organize your list by the layout of the store - this will keep you from backtracking and possibly buying items not on your list. •Buy canned or frozen fruits and vegetables rather than fresh. Canned and frozen often cost less and will last longer. •Plan the use of leftovers. When safely handled, leftovers can be used in casseroles, soups, for snacks and in lunch boxes. When meal planning try to avoid: •Pre-packaged (convenience) foods like bagged salads and individually wrapped slices of cheese. These items are usually more expensive. •Frozen or boxed meals. These usually contain a lot of fat, sugar and sodium and can cost up to twice as much more as making it at home. •Fruits and vegetables that are already cut - they are usually a lot more expensive •Junk food (candy, sodas, chips…) Also: Look at serving sizes of each package to determine how much food you will get from that item. Remember, prepared foods cost more than unprepared foods. Lettuce will cost less than bagged salad, just as a chunk of cheese will cost less than grated cheese. Buying fresh potatoes and preparing them yourself is usually cheaper than instant mashed potatoes. To learn more about how to stretch your grocery budget or SNAP funds, contact one of the eight SDSU Extension Regional Centers. Find contact information for SDSU Extension Regional Centers online or below: Aberdeen: 605.626.7120 Lemmon: 605.374.4177 Mitchell: 605.995.7378 Pierre: 605.773.8120 Rapid City: 605.394.2236 Watertown: 605.882.6300 Winner: 605.842.1267 Sioux Falls: 605.782.3290 MV Shopper SHIINE Program MV Shopper Seeking Volunteers M I S S O U R I VA L L E Y In Print and Online! • 665-5884 M I S S O U R I VA L L E Y PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Senior Health Information and Insurance Education (SHIINE) program is currently seeking volunteers for all aspects of the SHIINE program. Volunteer counselors are vital to the success of the provide fast, reliable service program, as they provide opportunities for seniors to disto our most difficult to cuss their Medicare questions and concerns in person. serve locations. And I see SHIINE volunteers receive training on all parts of a role for companies ready Medicare and learn how to provide one-on-one Medicare to invest in new 5G technology, which promises faster, counseling. All services are unbiased and confidential. To learn more about becoming a SHIINE volunteer, more reliable service over please visit www.shiine.net or call 605-394-2276. cellular data networks. SHIINE is a federal program designed to help individuAdditionally, we’re going als with questions about Medicare and protecting their to commit state resources benefits. to closing the broadband SHIINE is funded through the Administration for Comgap. But we can’t, and munity Living and administered by the South Dakota shouldn’t, exclusively rely on those to get us across Department of Human Services Division of Long Term the finish line, so we’re deServices and Supports. veloping a series of publicM I S S O U R I VA L L E Y private partnerships to help overcome the challenges of service in rural areas and achieve the ambitious goals we’ve set for South Dakota. I’m confident we can find a way to bridge our own challenges and secure broadband for South DaChallenging Sudoku Puzzles byTo place your ad call... KrazyDad kota’s next generation and beyond. Governor's Column: Expanding Broadband By Gov. Kristi Noem I’ve heard it said that 65 percent of children in elementary school today will work in jobs that don’t yet exist. These jobs of the future – the jobs our children will depend on to support families of their own – will almost certainly require access to technology, particularly the internet. We must make those investments now. Raising the next generation with tools such as broadband is our responsibility. South Dakota’s lack of broadband is a big problem to tackle. Half our counties have rural areas where one in four people don't have adequate internet access. Some counties have rural areas where half the residents don’t have reliable access. We must close the broadband gap to ensure South Dakotans have the opportunity to work and hire locally while selling globally. That’s easier said than done. Fiber optic line can cost $15,000 per mile to lay, and the low number of customers in some rural areas makes it too expensive for companies to justify their investment. Some have discouraged me from even trying to expand access across the state because it’s too hard and too expensive. But I refuse to quit. Geographic location cannot be an excuse for the government to do nothing when the future vitality of our economy is at stake. 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