SNAP Into Action with Kai Loundon

Week Three Blowout

2010-03-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, a series of sad faces from my spouse prompted a dinner outing (all smiles after the lamb vindaloo). Friday, a birthday led to a buffet spread of crab legs and sushi rolls. Saturday, a bout of depression drove me to a midnight rendezvous at Denny's, where I was ministered to by a friend and made medicine of an omlette (and hash browns, and two slices of toast, and half a stack of my friend's pancakes). Sunday morning, a rare sibling Gathering (around bacon and waffles) was the rationalization for my demise.

Given that I'm not supposed to eat even the deliciously free cakes and pies and chocolates that co-workers bring in to Foodshare, I have to plainly state that I failed the Challenge this past week. I would like to say, however, that picking up a free meal from better-off family members or from a friend who thinks you'll feel better with food in your belly is a great way to get fed on the cheap. It's also good to have family and friends who have the means to be generous, for which I am most grateful.

I didn't quite realize how much of my social life revolves around eating. A plate or two on the table serves an important social function (if for no other reason than being a safe focus of conversation). It makes more sense to me now why many soup kitchens call themselves "community kitchens"... because they're about more than just the food that's served.

2010-03-11T08:10:00.000-08:00

Challenges: There was a discussion last year about whether or not Challenge-takers could eat food that others bring to work. I don’t mean raiding other people’s lunch packs in the fridge, which should only be done if no one will find out. We have a generous staff here at Foodshare, many of who like to share their baking triumphs, bring in vegetables from their gardens, or leave holiday candy lying around on the kitchen tables. We also have a ready supply of coffee, so that we’re very much awake driving our forklifts and merging Excel documents. My difficulty is that this month all these wonderful products of generosity are off the table for Challenge-takers. Last week, L.J. in Operations brought in banana bread for everyone; George, my supervisor, brought in delectables from the Windsor Donut Shop; and I noticed a huge tray of what looked like rice pilaf in the kitchen during lunchtime. Now that I can’t partake of these offerings purely as my stomach dictates, I notice and appreciate them more.

Rationalization: Referring back to a previous entry, where I mentioned that my wife had bought a case of beer… as Food Stamps can’t be used to buy alcohol, I decided that her purchase doesn’t count as part of my $28 allottment this month. I’ve had a few.

A Near Miss: Yesterday I got off to a late start and neither ate breakfast nor prepared a lunch. I made a pot of coffee and grabbed a banana on my way out the door. Around lunchtime, I was quite hungry. Per habit, I got in my car and drove to McDonalds, with pangs of guilt amplifying pangs of hunger, so that by the time I arrived at the backed-up drive thru, I was fairly nauseous. My plan was to order two delicious fillet-o-fish sandwiches for $3.33 and pay cash so that there would be no record of the transaction. I was four cars out from the ordering station when I happened to glance in the rear view mirror… and saw a co-worker in the car behind me! She was looking at the large menu display and didn’t appear to have recognized me, so I discretely slipped out of line and drove back to work. The banana was delicious.

2010-03-05T05:46:00.000-08:00

I’m one of those who measures shopping success by how quickly I get out of the store. When it comes to grocery shopping, I have a vague mental list of important items (coffee, bacon, beer, wife’s sanitary pads) and I use habit and store layout to guide what I buy. I don’t clip coupons, look at the orange price-per-unit-size labels, or check my receipt for mistakes. I’m in and out and happy to spend $120 each week in less than 20 minutes. Occasionally that time includes picking up flowers for my wife, in case I’ve forgotten something she really needs.

I realized that I would have to change my habits to succeed in the SNAP into Action Challenge. I started by preparing a menu of what to eat—I actually had to plan my meals! This was a novel task, made impossibly difficult by two impositions: having to spend $28 on food for the week and having to work within the range of my culinary skills (low end: McDonald’s drive-thru, high end: microwaving frozen Mac & Cheese). I came up with a breakfast-lunch-dinner scheme that had fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and protein—everything except anything remotely appealing. I was pretty apprehensive about how bland and repetitive the menu looked, and especially concerned that I was locked into eating only things I had bought based on that menu.

On my latest Sunday foray to Stop & Shop, I brought a shopping list and calculator... I’ve never spent so long and bought so little. I was weighing apples. I was comparing prices. I was wandering around the store looking for canned tuna fish. I constantly totaled costs, disbelieving that only halfway through the list I had exceeded the $28 limit. I halved my allotment of pasta sauce, decided to shelve the jelly for my PBJ sandwiches, and was frozen with indecision for nearly 10 minutes in the bread aisle. It was a somewhat disorienting and painful experience, one that I'm less enthusiastic about repeating in the upcoming weeks.

Anecdote: Lin (wife) doubts my resolve to complete the SNAP into Action Challenge. I think this is based on her knowledge of how quickly I “forget” New Year’s resolutions (2010: no drive-thru fast food, lasted two weeks). I suspect she’s testing my commitment to the Challenge: I came home from work on Monday, after abstaining from Foodshare coffee and eating a meager peanut butter & banana sandwich for lunch, only to find a case of beer in the fridge (she doesn’t drink). Wednesday night, for dinner, I made pasta. She made mushroom and shrimp linguini, my favorite dish. As we ate, she made yummy noises and poked a fork-full of deliciousness across the table, saying, “You’ve got to try this, it’s amazing. I made enough for two”. I offered her a bite of my cold Rotini-tuna salad and asked her to freeze the leftovers, to eat in April. I like to think she was impressed.