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!
Cool that you're doing this, the Bear! Question: what's the policy on finding Free Food options? Being on a college campus, there are probably regular programs that at least provide water and snacks to attendees. Are you allowed to partake?
ReplyDeleteGood question Red! I am not supposed to accept any free food. This means that I have been avoiding accepting those items offered at events, though it is very tempting!
DeleteCan you imagine if you had other desires like cigarettes or soda (not to mention alcohol)? Also, on food stamps, are you eliglible to go to a soup kitchen in the community for a hot lunch - an evaluation of that would be interesting from this new perspective; I remember how we thought we were offering such a nice meal when we volunteered at St. Francis. Now I wonder...
ReplyDeleteI have thought of that, mom. I am really glad that I do not drink coffee cause that we would a big chunk of my weekly stipend. But I did find out that you are not allowed to spend food stamps on cigarettes, alcohol, medicine, etc. which I found to be interesting.
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