THE SNAP CHALLENGE

By Stephanie Stone, Foodshare volunteer Board member

Day 1

So, the best laid plans...

I put out a challenge to many friends and colleagues - TAKE THE SNAP CHALLENGE!  Understand hunger, and try to feed your family well on $4 per person per day - see how that works for you - see how it makes you feel!

So, the challenge was supposed to start today.  And, like many of my best laid plans, I got an email about FAMILY DAY at many of Connecticut's State Parks and Museums.  Places were seriously reducing their prices to make their attractions accessible.  (That said, even the reduced entry fee and the reduced meal prices were not going to be within the realm of a struggling families budget). 

So, without realizing the date corresponded with the start of the SNAP Challenge, my family and some dear friends made a plan to go to Lake Compounce.  Both the children AND the adults were really excited, so the Stone family postponed the start of our challenge until tomorrow.  Therefore, technically, we have failed before we have even begun.

Worse, I awoke this morning with a debilitating migraine, and I couldn't go!  Our wonderful friends took my son, so he wouldn't be disappointed.  I took my prescription medicine and many Excedrin, and slowly drifted from miserable, to bearable, to almost human.  Interestingly enough, it crossed my mind that I hadn't spent a penny on food to this point in the day, but utilized my health care benefits  for the prescription (and paid a co-pay) and had paid cash for over the counter pain medication (generic, on sale, but not within the allotted budget - nor, I believe, allowed by SNAP).

So, I not only missed Lake Compounce, but I also missed our church picnic. While I know that not everyone attends church, a church picnic is one of my favorite events.  It fills my body with healthy (sometimes) and delicious (always) food, made with love by friends, familiar strangers and future friends.  Even more wonderful, the offerings feed and fill my soul with joy and happiness.  Breaking bread together is more than eating.  It is caring and committing and being grateful.  Things I treasure.  

Conveniently, however, our neighborhood association picnic was postponed to today, due to yesterday's weather issues.   By the time I had napped for several hours and took more medication, I was feeling almost human again.  So, I felt well enough to join my wonderful neighbors for a cookout and potluck lunch and dinner.

The association provided hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, chicken and beverages.  We all brought salads, appetizers, desserts and our chairs.  We gathered together to eat, laugh and enjoy the day.  We heard about grandchildren, pets, children, school...we talked about weather, houses, last years storms and how nice it was to get to know one another better in this time when people so rarely know their neighbors.  I silently, secretly, counted my blessings; I live in gratitude.

It is easier to live in gratitude when you're not worried about how  you're gong to feed your family.  I understand that.  This one day illustrated to me how much of my spiritual and social life is tied to food and nourishing body and soul.

Tomorrow will be my first day with the challenge, and I have some concerns already. More on that to come!

Day 2

Today I woke up with a sense of purpose.

By 9:19, I was fading fast.  I didn’t want to give up my coffee, so I am REUSING the Keurig cups that I got on sale at Target, thereby making my cup $.25 instead of $.50; but my 2 cups of coffee have only about as much caffeine as 1.25, due to the reuse. So, I was already dragging a little.

I had my usual Muscle Milk Light for breakfast. $.90. Would I really spend $24 for 30 Muscle Milks if I was on a monthly food budget of less thank $250?  I am not sure. But, it is usually enough to power me through my morning. Perhaps it is psychological, perhaps it is because of yesterday’s migraine, but it is NOT enough today. I am still hungry. I am not sure whether it is because I can not spend $$ or some other reason, but I am feeling dissatisfied and craving something full of carbs and cream cheese!

That is unusual for me these days.  I buy healthy, organic and fresh foods for myself and my son. I have been working hard to reduce the amount of processed foods (ok, with the exception of Kraft Mac & Cheese and Chef Boyardee that is apparently “non-negotiable”) and chemicals that we put in our bodies.
I love the effects that exercise and good, healthy food are having – on my psyche, my body and my life. I am struggling with the choices I have to make this week to feed my family.  This week, this budget, means I have to meander off my path. This scares me (will I gain weight, will I start to crave junk food more often again), frustrates me (why can’t everyone get healthy foods to eat in this, the most prosperous country in the world) and makes me angry (see both parans above).

For this week, David “qualifies” for free school breakfast & lunch, so he is buying them at school for the duration of the challenge. This allows me to put more toward our other meals.

I brought my lunch to work today.  I think I cheated there, too.  I brought a tossed salad that was left-over from yesterdays' block party.  There was lettuce, tomato, onion and peppers.  I used 1.5 tbs generic light dressing, and ate a yoplait greek yogurt with it - 2 containers for $1.65 at Target.  I have one left for later this week.  I felt it was sort of ironic that I brought this to work in my new Tupperware salad container, with reusable fork and knife attached, and a separate spot for dressing.  When I bought it, I was genuinely worried about our environment.  That worry, important though it is, pales in comparison of worrying about feeding the people in our community.

I was hungry and slightly cranky, but feeling good about sticking with the plan.  No cheating with Diet Coke or even my protein bar that I keep in my desk for hunger "emergencies." 

I filled my aluminum water bottle at the fountain in the gym (no Sobe for me today) and ate a frozen Amy's "Light and Lean" for dinner - $2.25 on sale.   David had a can of Chef Boyardee ravioli.  He loves it, and was thrilled, I would have preferred to make a meal with fresh whole wheat pasta and sauce doctored with fresh veggies.

After David went to bed, I fell apart and ate a Friendly's light ice cream cup from the freezer - total cheat.   They're only $.90, but I would NEVER have bought them on a really tight budget.

I am discovering (alright, I am having reinforced) how much I dislike having to plan my meals in advance, restraining myself from a treat or 2 (funny, when I am not TRYING to be restrained, I rarely indulge, but today all I wanted was treats) and forcing myself to be patient; delayed gratification is not my strong point!
Tomorrow is a new day - and I will try again.  If nothing else, this is thought provoking!