Day 7: April 29, 2012

Meals=
          Breakfast: Little bit of cereal
          Lunch: PB&J
          Dinner: .....Out to eat with my family

Today posed many obstacles to this challenge that I was unable to fully deflect in order to complete the 7-day challenge. In the end my day count was 6 and 1/2! I feel really good about that ending. Although I failed in completing the 7th day, I take comfort in knowing that I still had enough food left over that I would have been able to complete the challenge had I not given in. On my last day I was with my family and they decided to go out to dinner, and of course they invited me to go along. I am a sucker for family functions and so I decided, although it would be going against the guidelines, to go out to dinner; and even if I did take into account the money I had left over for the week I would not have stayed within my budget.  But this did not taint my ability to feel solidarity who are living on food stamps and I still feel like I really came away with a lot from this week!

In the end I was left with:

0 Chocolate Chip Cookies                    = $ 0

5/8 pack of hot dogs                             = $ .47

1/2 box of spaghetti                              = $ .44

3 bananas                                             = $ .44

0 Caesar salad kit                                 = $ 0

1/2 jar of peanut butter                         = $ 1.44

1/2 jar of grape jelly                             = $ .84

1/2 loaf of bread                                   = $ .44

1/3 gal. Skim milk                                 = $ 1.09

2 sticks of butter                                   = $ .79

2 slices of cheese                                  = $ .20

0 Honey & Oat Tasteeos                     = $ 0

1 box Mac&Cheese                            = $ .39

7/8 Pasta Sauce                                   = $ .95

4 oranges                                             = $ 1.47

10/12 eggs                                           = $ .79

            Total                                       = $ 9.75 + $8.51 = $18.26

(These are approximate, so the total can be taken at a +/- value.)

So at the end of one week on food stamps I was able to get by on a mere $16.74! I am quite alarmed at that number! I would have enough extra money to spend more on food for next week if I was continuing. I wouldn't have to buy peanut butter and jelly,or pasta again, so perhaps I would be able to have access to more healthy and nutritious foods at a store with more options, but still I would only have $43.51 with which to get food and that is hardly comparable to what I am used to living on. 

I saw a post on the Coalition Against Hunger's Food Stamp Challenge website about another participant's experience with this challenge. They were talking about how they were able to drive to any store they wanted to because they had access to a car and could pay for gas and did not struggle in getting around. Unfortunately, what we don't realize is that the hunger aspect of many on food stamps is not the only thing they are suffering. My brother-in-law, a social worker, told me that people will try and sell their food stamps so that they can pay for other amenities, such as rent, bills, etc. Although I see what it is like to deprived of access to all food, I did not experience that complete deprivation that so many suffer. 

At the end of the week I have "successfully" lived on food stamps, but at what cost? I no longer had the same access to healthy food options and I had to be sure that I saved food so I knew where the next meal was coming from. I definitely did not have the same energy that I am used to having throughout the week and I think that can easily be explained by my diet. 

I hope that I can take this experience and apply it to advocacy for better options for people living on food stamps, and my first step for that cause is to make sure that food stamps are still available. There are threats to cut back SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and if we want to work towards a better option for those who are hungry, the first step cannot be to get rid of the programs that we have in place, but to improve them and make them better for everyone involved!

I hope that all you reading this have learned at least one thing during these posts and I encourage you all to research the food stamp program and see what you can do to help out the hungry in your community and all over the world! Hunger is real, and not only on the other side of the globe! Let's end hunger together!

Thanks for reading!

Day 6: April 28, 2012

Meals=

            Breakfast: Bowl of Honey and Oat Tasteeos

            Lunch: 2 grilled cheese, 1 orange, and 3 cookies

            Dinner: ---

Today was the first day that I skipped a meal, quite the accomplishment for me considering how often I wake up too late for breakfast, or get home too late to eat dinner, or just completely forget to eat lunch. This week I wanted to make sure that I didn’t skip any meals so that I could truly feel what it means to eat a “balanced” diet with 3-square meals on only $5 a day. However, if I had taken on this week with the same life-style of eating that I am inclined to on occasion, I feel that I would have ended up with a lot more food left over. Perhaps this is part of the reason that college students are not usually allowed to apply for food stamps; in the end, so much of it would go to waste.

I ran out of my first food item today: the chocolate chip cookies! Of course they would be the first thing to go. They became my go-to “I am hungry” snack and so they disappeared. I am glad they are gone, so that I don’t eat anymore, but then I realize that in only 6 days I ate 24 COOKIES! I can’t remember a time when I ate that many cookies in so short a time, and it does not make me feel very good about myself. A great reason to avoid cookies if ever doing this challenge again; no matter how cheap they are!

I found another change I would make if I was to do this challenge again: I would not buy all of my fruit at the beginning of the week. Unfortunately, the 2 bananas and the 5 oranges I have left have started going bad. My bananas are turning brown and mushy and the oranges are drying out. These are the food items that I feel best about eating but now they are the hardest thing to eat because they have lost their appeal. (haha…peel.)

I have learned two very important things to remember for this challenge and may be beneficial if any of you decide to try this out sometime: 1)buy healthy food at intervals, rather than all at once and 2)don’t buy the sweets! It sounds difficult, but with the healthy stuff you feel better and fill up quicker, so it is a good switch to make, whether on food stamps or not!

Only one more day…

Day 5: April 27, 2012

Meals=

            Breakfast: Bowl of Honey and Oat Tasteeos with milk

            Lunch: Banana with peanut butter, 2 grilled cheese

            Dinner: Orange (at work), Spaghetti and sauce with 2 slices of buttered bread

This was my first experience being on “food stamps” while at work, and let me tell you, it was NOT easy! They say that when you lose one sense, the others are heightened; well, I found that when you lose access to and availability of certain foods, your sense of smell and salivary glands are heightened! I realized this most strongly while working in a restaurant! I instantly began to seriously crave all the food that I smelled, and all I could do to satiate my hunger was drink tap water! When I ate my orange, shortly before I left work, it did not taste as good as oranges usually do, so it was a serious letdown. I imagine that this happens for most people on food stamps. If you are limited to a certain amount of food that you are able to afford, then it must be difficult to continuously eat the same thing. For me, I have not begun to tire of foods yet, nor do I think that I will because I am only experiencing this for a week; I know that at the end of this week I will slip easily back into my old routine of eating whatever is available and going to the store to buy whatever food I may want to eat, when I want to eat it.

My hope is that I can come away from this experience appreciating what individuals have to go through living on such a fixed budget for food, so that I can advocate for more support for these people.

Only 2 days left!

Day 4: April 26, 2012

Meals=

            Breakfast: Egg sandwich with cheese on toast

            Lunch: 1 grilled cheese sandwich, 1 orange, and banana

            Dinner:  Mac&Cheese and 1 hotdog, Caesar salad, 1 orange, cookies

I have begun to notice that I am eating more at meals (I assume you have noticed, as well.). My diet is so salty that I just don’t fill up as quickly as I used to, which means I may have to go shopping sooner than I think. I still have 3 days left on this diet and I can’t help thinking that I am glad I am doing this for a week. I know that at the end of this week I will not have been worse for the wear of trying living on food stamps; but I also know that this feeling is because I am only doing ONE week. Another week of PB&Js, grilled cheeses, mediocre cereal, and lots of pasta would continue to get much harder.

Over half way done! Wish everyone on food stamps could say the same...

Day 3: April 25, 2012

Meals=

            Breakfast: Bowl of Honey & Oat Tasteeos and milk

            Lunch: 1 PB&J sandwich, 1 orange, and 3 cookies

            Dinner: 2 hot dogs with cheese on bread, Caesar salad, cookies

Still, as you can see, the only meal that is really varying is my dinner, and my dessert is still a constant. 

I haven’t mentioned what I have been drinking. It is not that exciting: water and an occasional glass of milk. I have only been drinking tap water (not my usual Brita filtered water) and as I am already down to about a ½ a gallon of milk, I really need to start rationing that better. For my dinner today I did something that I rarely do: I ate my hot dogs WITHOUT ketchup. The rules for this challenge did stipulate that I am allowed to use condiments and spices that I already have in the house, but since my brother-in-law thought that might be cheating, I did without.

 What has definitely begun to make this week more difficult is being surrounded by food that is better tasting and healthier. Tonight, my sister and brother-in-law had a homemade Stromboli, and man did it look delicious! I wonder how often I have consumed food without taking a minute to realize how fortunate I am that I have this food, or even just to appreciate the quality of ingredients that were used. The cheese that I bought for this week is by no means of the highest quality (I did get it for only $.99). Someone mentioned that they look a little bit like military rations…

Day 3 has come to a close and I am thinking that I may need to use my remaining $8.51 to spice up the variety of food I have left…this must be when you really start to remember that you are living on food stamps.

Day 2: April 24, 2012

Meals=

            Breakfast: Bowl of Honey and Oats Tasteeos with milk

            Lunch: 2 PB&J sandwiches, 3 cookies, and 1 orange

            Dinner: Spaghetti and sauce, 2 slices of buttered bread

Still feeling pretty good, but I have begun to see how food stamps can really be an inconvenience. Today I had a fair to attend after class, but since I didn’t wake up in time to pack a lunch I had to return home to pack it and then go back to campus for the fair. I was watching other students walking through the fair with their lunches that they brought from the cafeteria and I was beginning to feel envious. They had a plethora of food from which to choose, and here I was eating a PB&J sandwich for the second day in a row. It is such a strange sensation knowing that I am only going to be doing this for a week (God-willing) and I am only on DAY 2, but what about people who are on WEEK 2 or YEAR 2? I can’t imagine how they are feeling when they see me walking out of a restaurant.

I have also begun to see that my plan for trying to stay healthy this week may not have worked accordingly to plan. You may have noticed that 4 of my 6 meals thus far have included cookies. I bought the cookies so that I would have just a little something sweet in my diet, but also bought fruit so that I would have a healthy option. The problem is that in the one pack of cookies I got there are over 30 cookies, and meanwhile the combined fruit numbers only 17! I want to have a healthy option every day, so instead of eating the healthier choice as a dessert or a snack, I am taking the cookies. If I was to do this again I would rethink buying the cookies or see if I could find a healthier cookie option. But we wonder why obesity is such a problem in the United States. If the healthiest options are the most expensive than what are the estimated 1 in 7 people on food stamps in the Philadelphia region (Coalition Against Hunger) eating?

Day 2 has come to a close and I still haven’t even touched half of the food that I bought because of time and being out of the house. Hopefully I will be able to continue just as happily over the next 5 days!

Day 1: April 23, 2012

Today began the “Food Stamps Challenge” supported by Philadelphia’s Coalition Against Hunger. This challenge was instituted to allow people to see what it is like to live on the allotted $5.00 a day/$35.00 per week that individuals living off Food Stamps are given. I am hoping that participating in this challenge will educate me on what it is like to have to budget more strictly, especially when I have so little to work with.

To begin this challenge I have to go shopping!

I learned that whenever you need to learn how to budget while shopping it is good to take 2 people with you: 1) Someone who can find the best deals and 2) Someone who can point out the yummy stuff despite price. My #1 was my sister Becca, and she made sure I didn’t spend more than I needed to (she was adamant that I buy the salad kit rather than the salad and dressing separately. I saved $3.00!). My #2 was my sister Maddie, a 3-year-old who pointed out the good stuff so that I could really understand what I was going to be missing out on. Nothing like fully appreciating solidarity! After an hour in a Bottom Dollar grocery store (which I found out accepts WIC, so it was an appropriate place to shop) I came home with (in no particular order):

1 Chocolate Chip Cookies                   = $ .99

1 pack of hot dogs                               = $ .75

1 box of spaghetti                                 = $ .88

1 bunch of bananas                               = $ .44/lb

1 Caesar salad kit                                 = $ 2.68

1 peanut butter                                     = $ 2.88

1 grape jelly                                         = $ 1.68

2 loaves of bread                                 = $ 1.76

1 gal. Skim milk                                   = $ 3.26

1 pack of butter                                   = $ 1.57

1 pack of cheese                                  = $ .99

1 box Honey & Oat Tasteeos               = $ 1.79

3 boxes Mac&Cheese                          = $ 1.07

1 Pasta Sauce                                       = $ 1.09

4 lbs of oranges                                    = $ 2.94

1 dozen eggs                                        = $ .98

            Total                                       = $ 26.49

I still have $8.51with which to buy food for the week so we shall see how far this food gets me.

My first day of eating was as follows:

Breakfast:  Bowl of Honey & Oats Tasteeos with milk

Lunch:  PB&J sandwich and 3 cookies

Dinner: Mac and Cheese, banana and peanut butter, and cookies

Dinner was interesting today because I had made plans to meet a friend for dinner on campus, but since I am not able to use my meal plan during this week then I had to bring my packed lunch. Thankfully it was a friend I was with who appreciated what I was participating in, but I can understand how humiliating it is to have to say that you can’t afford to eat out. Since food stamps are not traditionally accepted at restaurants or fast food chains this means that I have to bring my food with me wherever I go, if I am not going to be at home. This means, that as a college student, whenever I go to campus I have to plan ahead, packing myself a lunch and/or dinner. How reminiscent of high school! I was borderline ashamed of my plastic bag of food, while my friend was enjoying a freshly prepared sandwich that was fairly delicious (It is campus food.). This brings to mind whether or not I could give up eating out all the time. Think about how often you and your family eat out. Could you supplement that with preparing a home-cooked meal every time?

At the end of day 1, I am feeling pretty positive about this experience. I seem to have a few options per meal so I am not being too repetitive, and I still have over $8.00 which I witnessed, when spent correctly, can get quite a bit of food. Here’s hoping that the rest of the week can remain just as positive!