Another view of the SNAP Challenge

As you may remember, GardenShare was encouraging people to try the SNAP Challenge during September - living on a SNAP budget for a few days, a week or longer.

Here is one response we received to this idea:

"Although I believe it would be a valuable experience personally and to share with the wider community, I decided not to participate in the SNAP Challenge this year.  As the person generally responsible for planning, shopping for and preparing meals for my family – myself, my partner, and two busy teenagers (one currently away at college, and the other a growing-like-a-weed and active high school student) I was concerned about the time and energy it would take to do so within the confines of the Challenge and considering my full-time paid work, volunteer and family responsibilities.  But that’s the point, isn’t it – to, at least a little bit, better understand the often overwhelming situation of trying to feed a family well on a very limited budget?

"However, I can’t stress enough the importance of the opportunity GardenShare provides to take part in this Challenge and share the experience.   At times, my family and I have received benefits such as WIC, HEAP, Medicaid, reduced-price school meals and various other forms of need-based financial aid and support.  With an income level that sometimes fell below or hovered around the poverty line - always with one or both adults in the household engaging in paid work – and at times negotiating the use of only one vehicle, the myriad of paperwork and appointments to obtain and maintain these critical benefits was often daunting and stressful.  It is so important that we offer opportunities to better understand the experiences of our neighbors so that we can work together more effectively and compassionately to combat hunger."

Did you try the SNAP Challenge?  Share your feedback here or by e-mail.

Guest blogger: (Over)thinking the SNAP Challenge

September is Hunger Action Month and one action we are encouraging people to take is the SNAP Challenge, where you try to live on the average SNAP food budget.  President of the GardenShare Board of Directors, Carol Pynchon, is undertaking the challenge and had these thoughts to offer as she starts this journey...


Gloria has suggested that I might be overthinking my participation in GardenShare’s SNAP Challenge, and I have to admit she’s right. And that has provided my first take-away from this effort to feed my family on the average SNAP allowance: I have time to think about the challenge and plan how I am going to manage. And I’ve been doing that. A lot! But not everyone has that opportunity.

I have been strategizing how to get the most for my food dollar and where I’ll get the best deals. I have time – and a car with gas in it – and will drive around to get the best prices. I don’t imagine that most people who find themselves requiring assistance have a lot of time to creatively think about and map out how they will feed themselves and their families for $4.60 per person per day. And they don’t get to choose when it’s most convenient – when having a strapped food budget won’t interfere with weekend plans, a birthday celebration, or a particularly full long day of work. 

So, I need to stop thinking about it and do it! We are going to take the challenge next week.  Stay tuned for further reports and consider taking the SNAP Challenge sometime during September, which is Hunger Action Month. Check out some suggestions from GardenShare for other ways you can take action here.

--Carol Pynchon

September is Hunger Action Month

A final message from our summer intern, Amanda...

Mid-July, I lined up behind Kent Family Growers tent at the Canton Farmers Market to pick up a CSA share, excited to assorted vegetables waiting to be prepared for next week’s meals.

Next to the sugar snap peas was a bin of pulses I did not recognize—a bean of some sort. I took a bite, but the starchy shell was rather chewy. The experience wasn’t unpleasant; in fact, I didn’t spit the green out. Actually, I ate the entire pod. The sign read “Fava Beans,” but my tongue read, “Do not eat raw.” Weighing my allotted pound and a half, I assumed I simply lacked the knowledge to make this produce desirably edible uncooked.

This experience made me wonder: How many people have encountered a strange vegetable and not known how to cook its earthy flesh? Many people I talked to at the market had no clue what to do with a Fava bean. In fact, my parents had never even heard of the bland legume until I attempted grilling them a handful based on a Google search. I then speculate, how many people wouldn’t have even bothered with cooking advice?

As humans, our lives are pivotally centered on food because energy acquisition is literally a matter of either life or death. Consequently, we spend the majority of our lives growing, procuring, cooking and ingesting food. The Bureau of Labor Statistics claims an average American spends 90 minutes a day eating. This statistic fails to include the process - like working a 40-hour week to pay the grocery bill.

This summer I’ve learned eating fresh produce is a privilege. I can afford to not only eat food from the Farmers Market, but also to take the time to prepare a meal. The time and money food consumes in our daily life is  one reason processed (and often cheaper) food is so popular. Cooking means I at least have fresh produce possibilities and different culinary choices for my meal tonight. This same opportunity is what GardenShare wishes to give everyone across St. Lawrence County.

September is Hunger Action Month, a national call for people to take initiative to fight hunger in their community. At GardenShare, we believe everyone has a right to healthy and affordable food as we promote the local food system.

Join us in our various activities that help directly impact friends, families and neighbors who are food insecure.

-Amanda Mae Korb

GardenShare summer intern