head, “some newspaper” is the Washington Post. If you don’t trust their standards (and it is one of the most respected and well-known newspapers out there!) I don’t know whose you will.
Food stamp benefits vary depending on the size of the family and their assets (any savings they have in the bank as well as income of any kind automatically lowers the amount of food stamp benefits for which they are eligible.) However, the average American family living on food stamps receives $21/week.
The minimum benefits of the food stamp program have not been raised since the mid-70s despite inflation. $21 may have been sufficient for a week’s worth of groceries in 1975, but it isn’t in 2008. Maybe it’s “easy” to live on $21 if you have access to newspapers that advertise sales and a car to drive to the stores that feature them. But citizens who are poor enough to be eligible for food stamps don’t have any of that. They can’t get coupons and often are restricted to one or two grocery stores that are walking distance from where they live, so comparison shopping is not really an option.