SNAP Challenge Recap

At the suggestion of my wife, Rita Osborn, I participated with her in the $4 a day SNAP Challenge.  I found it very challenging, indeed.  My meals consisted mainly of cereal and milk for breakfast, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, and some type of rice and beans concoction for dinner.  I drank water and coffee. For one of the few times in my life, I went to bed hungry and woke up feeling hungry.  It was sobering for me.  I learned that a poor person's diet is greatly impoverished by the high cost of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthy options. I found even more appalling the realization that a billion people on our planet experience such hunger each day. 

I was not fully faithful to the SNAP challenge, I must confess, as our week-long experience was punctuated by a restaurant visit with our two adult daughters.  This type of "family meal" is one of my most cherished activities and it is simply not possible on a daily food allowance of $4.45.  Our Mexican meal included rice, beans, some meat, and drinks with a total bill that exceeded more than $4 per person, needless to say.  By that meal, however, Rita and I acknowledged that we were both very hungry and I was noticeably lethargic and grumpy.  Hunger is not ennobling.  Although I failed at doing the full five-day challenge, I realized how much I take for granted my ability to dine out and enjoy full meals.  

Besides feeling some physical hunger, I felt an increasing sense of anger that food choices were limited and clearly inadequate on $4 per day.  This challenge forced me to think about food deserts in poor urban areas and about massive government subsidies (i.e., corporate welfare) to agribusinesses in the USA and in other parts of the developed world.  During this time, moreover, House Republicans voted along party lines to cut $40 billion from the federal food assistance program over the next 10 years, offering draconian cuts and new rules to prevent poor people from having access to food stamps and other beneficial programs.  At least 4 million poor Americans would be affected and harmed by this legislation.  Of course, this is the same body and the same party that endorsed a "Farm Bill" in July 2013 that provided, once again, for billions of dollars in commodity subsidies and crop insurance that flow disproportionately to our country's largest farmers in "agribusiness." 

I could continue with a rant, but I'll leave this topic in the capable hands of Nobel laureate Paul Krugman who recently wrote, "Free to Be Hungry."  He points out that the SNAP program has been good public policy and sound economic policy.  In his view, the Republicans' "war on food stamps" underscores their stance as "meanspirited class warriors." See http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/opinion/krugman-free-to-be-hungry.html?ref=paulkrugman

Before closing, I want to share insights from Timothy Egan who points out that the many people receiving food stamps live in Republican-voting rural counties.  He notes that "Among the 254 counties where food stamp use doubled during the economic collapse, Mitt Romney won 213 of them."  Some of the country's poorest rural areas are represented by Republicans who have voted to cut SNAP allocation and who refuse to approve a raise in the federal minimum wage. See "Red State Pain" at http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/red-state-pain/  Iron County falls right in line as a poor county (20% of households at or below the poverty line) that is represented by a Republican who joined all of his party brethren in voting to cut the SNAP program.

I doubt that I would have paid as much attention to this legislation or the politics of food had I not also been personally affected by going a little hungry for a few days. The SNAP Challenge has been educational in many ways. 

SNAP Challenge: A Week in Review

Tim and I wrapped up the SNAP Challenge on Friday last week, happy to have more or less made it five days eating on a $4 per day budget.  By the end of the week, the leftover food we had amounted to a half bag each of rice, dried beans and lentils, some peanut butter, an onion, a bit of granola, a few slices of bread, half a lemon and the oil and spices.   It’s true that for our last SNAP meal we threw in everything we could into an eggs and rice dish, because we knew we didn't have to stretch our resources into another meal.  It felt like a feast.

My SNAP Challenge week was indeed challenging, partially by design.  I chose to purchase all condiments and extras, which reduced the amount of funds I had for additional food items.  I did not take advantage of any community resources like our local soup kitchen’s Wednesday lunch, mostly due to scheduling conflicts.  And Tim and I ignored another fairly large free resource – our backyard garden.  It’s late summer and our garden is in full swing, providing us fresh produce week after week.  But while I do think encouraging gardening as a way to increase the availability of fresh food is the right idea, our individual garden seemed like a luxury that we are only able to afford because we have outdoor space, time and the money to pay for our water bill.  So we stuck to the food I bought, going to bed hungry each night, waking up hungry each morning and tempted by all of the items we wanted but could not afford.

Like my colleague Nancy, I too was relieved when my SNAP Challenge week came to a close – but also well aware of the vast number of households for which there is no similar end in sight.  It’s humbling.

Eating and Eating Well

Taking the SNAP Challenge this week has been an interesting exercise for me, and it’s made me think differently about the economics of basic nutrition. One thing it’s especially made me reconsider is the difference between what I think of as “the basic essentials” and “luxury foods.” I’ve usually thought of things like fancy cheeses, pesto sandwich spreads, exotic olives, or pricey herbs and spices as things that I would splurge on now and then because I could afford it. None of these are things that I need to have a nutritious diet. It had never occurred to me that meeting the minimum requirements of a healthy, well-rounded diet could be somewhat difficult to attain.

For instance, I’ve always taken for granted the notion that one should eat a variety of fruits and vegetables of all shapes and colors. I was surprised at how difficult it was to do this on $4/day. We managed to squeeze a total of 3 apples, a bag of spinach, and a can of tomatoes into our budget. This is better than nothing of course, but I’m used to starting every day with a smoothie containing kale, blueberries, banana, and maybe some apple, carrots, pineapple, or whatever else I happen to have on hand. I usually snack on fruits and vegetables during the day, and our dinners almost always are filled out by 2-3 different vegetables. That sort of diet seems normal and healthy to me, but it was not an option with the budget we had this week.

And then there’s the difference between whole grains and refined flour. Again, I’ve never questioned the notion that one should in general default to eating whole grains. But when it’s a choice between the $1 loaf of “enriched flour” bread or the $3.50 loaf of hearty whole grain bread, the budget demanded that we go for the cheaper, but less nutritious option.

I also got to wondering about what someone who was especially environmentally aware would do in this situation. For example, for those who think that cage-free eggs are ethically preferable to the standard factory farmed eggs, it costs an extra couple dollars to purchase eggs in accordance with their values. Likewise, many people (especially pregnant women) would prefer to eat mostly organic fruits and vegetables because of concerns regarding pesticide-treated produce. These products however were simply not available on the SNAP Challenge budget. It became clear that eating in line with one’s environmental concerns is itself a luxury available only to some of us.

What I’ve realized by the end of all this is that staying fed and not hungry on $4/day is certainly doable, if not exactly fun. The real difficulty, however, lies in maintaining a well-rounded, healthy, nutritious diet on that budget. I’m glad I participated in this exercise, because I think it’s important to be aware of the economic realities facing the less fortunate members of our society. This is especially important when we consider the effects of diet on children, who are still developing their bodies and minds. It’s repeatedly been shown that the quality of a child’s diet is directly correlated with their performance in school. Hence, it’s not enough that we make sure everyone can eat. We as a society should strive to ensure that everyone, especially children, can eat well.

Day 1 Down...

Made it under budget, barely.

Yesterday I stopped in at my local grocery store – Smith’s – to do my shopping for the SNAP Challenge.  Forty dollars for five days, for two adults.  I didn't exactly plan ahead but, as the person in my household who normally does the grocery shopping, I was fairly confident I’d be able to find items that would stretch into multiple meals.  And for the most part, I did: a couple bags of rice, lentils, dried beans all came to less than $5.00.  But what about flavor?  After adding in oil, a lemon, hot sauce, and some garlic and chili powder - on top of more staple items such as peanut butter, eggs and bread – I had exactly $0.59 left to my name.  I thought about trading the spices for a cheap box of tea, but the prospect of several meals worth of unseasoned lentils deterred me.

More challenging was actually implementing my meal plan.  My single pb&j for lunch failed to tide me over and by the time I made it home after a long day of meetings, waiting more than an hour just for basic lentils to cook was an exercise in patience.  And I like to cook! 

My husband and I have followed a mostly vegetarian diet each for nearly 20 years now, and dry ingredients such as lentils are staples in our household.  But I am seriously considering returning my bag of dried black beans for something cheap and filling.  Following a restricted diet on restricted funds has me thinking of those who need low sodium, sugar free, non-fat or allergen free food and how they make do?

Joy

Some Thoughts on the Eve of my SNAP Challenge

Nearly 10 years ago, on a cold and snowy night in Chicago, I walked in to my local grocery store with exactly $20 to spend on food for the week for my then-boyfriend (now husband) and me.  I remember walking the aisles and trying to find items that would last through multiple meals, that would be filling and affordable on our extremely limited budget.  This wasn’t a one-time occurrence, but I think it stands out in my memory because of how worn down I felt that night: I was hungry, I was cold, we couldn’t afford to heat our entire apartment, and despite working two jobs (while going to school full time) I didn’t have a single spare dollar to chip in for food. 

Having grown up in a very low-income household, with parents who worked hard but scraped by week after week, I was intimately familiar with how much worse it could be; at least I had $20 to spend that night.  But it’s hard to feel grateful when it can be such a struggle to balance the basic needs of food and shelter.  Preparing for the SNAP Challenge has caused me to reflect a lot on the financial struggles I faced growing up, particularly as I stood in the store all these years later, feeling as though I was splurging on a large jar of peanut butter and wondering if my SNAP budget would allow for two bags of rice or not.

In November, more than 250,000 fellow Utahns currently receiving SNAP will find their benefits reduced or eliminated, and will have to stretch their food dollars even further to make ends meet.  Participating in the SNAP Challenge is an opportunity to build awareness of need in our communities, to face the hard choices that living in poverty presents each day.  I hope you will read the experiences of those who have completed the SNAP challenge and perhaps consider undertaking the challenge yourself, and think about what role you can play in alleviating poverty in your community.  My husband and I will be participating all week, starting Monday the 9^th, and I look forward to sharing our experience with you.

Joy Jankowiak, Executive Director

John and Nancy - final thoughts

John and I both consume caffeine on a daily basis so I made an effort to find something cheap to add to our diet to make sure we both had our daily caffeine! I had a 2 liter bottle of diet soda that lasted me for 5 days and John had a six pack of diet soda that lasted him 5 days. I didn't list those each day, but we did consume some each day. I also made tea from scratch and drank that. The cost was factored into the budget.

Overall the food we consumed cost about $36.87 (not including the 2 extra chicken breasts). The only reason we came in under $40 was the fact that we ate lunch at the soup kitchen on Wednesday. We had 1/2 of the margarine and jelly left over. We also had 2 hotdogs and buns leftover.

If I hadn't done well planning and shopping we would have been hungrier than we were. We also would have eaten more poor quality foods than we did. Many food stamp recipients don't have the luxury of choosing where they will shop, buying larger quantities (due to lack of storage or ability to transport) or access to fresh produce. Unfortunately, many food stamp recipients live in food deserts - areas with limited access to healthy, affordable food so they are hurt because of their limited budget and further hurt because of lack of access to good food choices.

I am glad we tried this and relieved to be done. I think food is not only a basic right, but critical to creating a healthy, educated workforce. The costs of not making sure everyone in this country gets adequate nutrition is far greater than the cost of food stamps to supplement the diet of low income individuals.

All Done!

Nancy and I are done.  Only five days.  What is it like to live the SNAP Challenge for years?

Here's what I learned...

• You can survive on $4.00 a day, but you won't eat well.  Quality, nutritious food is, for the most part, not in the budget.
• I missed my luxuries: coffee, wine.  But I learned I can live without them.
• PB&J's get really old really fast.
• Likewise with wieners.
• On the other hand, the chicken was great.
• We had salad every day.  No fruit.  No fresh veggies.
• Nancy tells me it would have been much worse except she knows how to use coupons, shop sales, and cook.

Do the SNAP Challenge.  You will learn some things.