That's pretty easy to do. He won't be eating steak, but basic staples, at least around here...
Gal of milk - $4, sometimes less
Loaf of bread - $1.50, usually less
Jar of PB - $3
Bag of rice - $1
Bag of Beans - $1
Box of house-brand cereal - $2
Canned vegetables - $1/can, usually less...and fresh veggies are pretty cheap too, depending.
Throw in store specials and coupons, and eating on $30 a week is bland, but easily do-able.
The second week would be easier. You wouldn’t have to buy everything on that list again the second week, like the rice, the beans, or the cereal, and maybe a couple of the other items if you were careful. That money would be freed up to buy even more stuff.
Eventually, you’d be eating comfortably, again, if you were careful.
But, that’s too much to ask of the people who get free money from us. They deserve steak and lobster, because they’re POOR, dammit!
I keep remembering, however, my mother’s tales of growing up in a coal camp in northern WV.
They ate beans and potatoes through the week, and had meat on the weekends. My grandmother would keep the potato skins, fry them up and make a sandwich with them that she’d put in my grandpa’s lunch to eat at work.
They probably spent less than $30 a week on food for the whole family of five, even in 2012 dollars.
There was no “snap” or “ebt” or whatever then. Somehow, they survived.