A SNAP Challenge that did not happen

So, I was planning to do the SNAP Challenge the week of September 17.  Instead, as some of you know, I was in the hospital at Upstate that week after having a seizure the Thursday evening before.

The SNAP Challenge, of course, is when  you try to live on the average SNAP budget of $4.60 per day for food for a few days, a week, or longer.  It can be an eye-opening exercise for anyone, including me when I did a few years ago, while I was still at Foodshare in Connecticut.

I do remember working hard to create a menu and a budget that worked for the week I was doing the Challenge.  And I remember how my two sons played into it.  The youngest, DJ, was still at home and partway through the week, he said to me, "I understand why you are doing this, but why do I have to do it?"  Hmm, I guess you're right, DJ, so he went straight for the ice cream that was in the freezer from before I started the Challenge.

I had planned my challenge to be from a Monday to the following Sunday.  Well, on Friday of the week, my older son, Alex, called me from the University of Connecticut to say that he wanted to bring a car full of his college friends to the house for dinner that very evening!  What mom is going to turn down that offer - to see her son and his friends!  So, the challenge went out the window a couple of days early and I cooked up a feast for the boys.

I did realize how lucky I was to have all of these options.  My menu/diet while on the Challenge was significantly different that usual.  Lots of carbs, lots of PB&J, and many less than healthy choices.  How glad I was to have Alex's phone call and get rid of this menu a couple of days early!

So, while I did not end up participating in this year's SNAP Challenge, I hope that I will be able to next year,  And thank you all for your good wishes during and after my recent hospitalization.  While I don't have any clear answers yet, I do have confidence in the team at Upstate and hope to know more soon.

Gloria

Defeated by the SNAP Challenge before it even starts

Another take on the SNAP Challenge, where people try to live on the SNAP average budget of $4.60 per person per day for their food...

"My husband and I were planning on trying the SNAP challenge, but were defeated before we started. We consider ourselves very healthy eaters. While healthy isn't always synonymous with expensive, there are certain things in our diet that make it impossible for us to live on ~$4/day each. 

"We start each day with a healthy breakfast smoothie. One ingredient is hemp protein, which costs around $30 for a package. One package lasts us more than a month, but the challenge doesn't allow us to use things that were already purchased. It makes sense, because a low-income family certainly couldn't afford a $30 investment in a food item that doesn't have any flavor if they are trying to stretch their SNAP dollars to last all month. We also add kale, bananas, blueberries, chia seeds, and almond milk in our breakfast smoothies. Those costs are adding up! 

"When I think about the fact that we also eat one Braeburn apple per person per day, I know we are over our $4/day without even dealing with lunch or dinner. Braeburn are my absolute favorite type of apple, but this challenge made me notice they are also the most expensive ones in the store at $4.99/lb! The cost of the diet we are comfortable with and live healthfully on is already so far beyond what a SNAP recipient could afford."

- A dual income, no kids household from Norfolk

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: SNAP Challenge Reflections

The President of GardenShare's Board of Directors, Carol Pynchon, continues her reflections on this exercise.  Read her earlier posts here.

It’s Hunger Action Month! Consider helping GardenShare raise awareness and understanding of hunger and poverty issues this week – or any day(s) or week(s) this month – by taking the SNAP Challenge. I did it last week – shopping and eating on $4.60/person/day. Here’s a snapshot of how it went and what I learned:

• It wasn’t terrible, I didn’t starve. I had enough to eat, but I sometimes felt like what I was eating wasn’t the healthiest and didn’t make me feel great, like cheerios for breakfast and peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. That’s a lot of carbs!
• Shopping on a very limited budget is challenging and nerve-wracking. Because I was buying for only one, I wanted/needed small quantities; all the “deals” and good prices were for the “family size.” And even if you were feeding a family, the large sizes really add up and take a chunk out of your budget.
• Sugary, high-carb food tends to be cheap. I had pb&j for lunch all week (which I will admit was a treat at first). It was affordable, but monotonous and not my healthiest choice. I did avoid mac and cheese and ramen, which are really cheap and filling options.
• Friends can help! One friend brought me peaches as a thank you and another gave me a cabbage and a couple of spaghetti squash that were surplus from a prison garden. They were amazing treats and great supplements to my diet.
• Another boon (and one might say slight cop out!): a senior friend asked me to drive her to a doctor’s appointment. On the way home she offered to take me out to lunch. Bam! Protein – an amazing smoked chicken sandwich on hearty multigrain bread. What a treat (and nice change from pb&j!). Also, my periodic minimum-wage job – bartending at the Bucc – offers a free meal for a full shift. I don’t usually take advantage of that, but last week the juicy hamburger was much appreciated! I had anticipated taking advantage of free will meals in our community – Campus Kitchen on Monday and Methodist church on Wednesday, but these two “free meals” helped get me through.
• I had read suggestions on SNAP Challenge and low-budget meals (Good and Cheap is a great resource no matter your budget). In the end, I was sorry I had followed some of their advice though; I could have done without pasta, bread, cereal and relied on more vegetables and fruit.
• I’ve never been more convinced of the value of GardenShare’s Bonus Bucks program and SNAP/EBT options at farmers markets. The food from my CSA (for which I could receive a subsidy if I were a SNAP recipient, and even if I wasn’t but needed some help) carried me through the week. Tomatoes, squash, greens, eggplant all made for delicious, healthy, and still affordable meals.  
• I only grow tomatoes and some herbs, but this time of year you could live off a small garden, even a few things grown in pots would add substantially – and healthfully – to any meal plan. Local bounty is plentiful and nutritious, everyone should have that option.
• When I described my challenge to my son, who lives in a co-op with eight others in Seattle, he reminded me that their meal budget is $3.25/person/day (in Seattle!). That just shows what you can do if you have the benefit of bulk buying, if you can muster enough money up front – on your own or combined among roommates – and have enough mouths to feed or space to store it so it doesn’t go bad. A small garden and an army of eager gardeners doesn’t hurt!

All in all, taking the SNAP Challenge accomplished its goal. I felt first hand the strains of shopping and eating on a very limited budget. As a mother, I couldn’t help think how much more difficult it would have been if I’d been managing a job, three young children, and their full schedules and hungry tummies. I recognize more clearly the barriers to affordable and nutritious meals - and the importance of GardenShare’s work to ensure “healthy farms, healthy food, everybody eats.”

-Carol Pynchon

Guest blogger: SNAP Challenge Blog #2

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 continues her SNAP Challenge story...

SNAP Challenge Blog #2

So it’s the end of Day #3 and I have already learned and gained a lot from this exercise.

I decided – yes, I was able to choose – to do the challenge for five days. Those happened to be mostly days that my husband and daughter weren’t going to be home. So that meant less money all together, but somewhat easier planning.

For one person for five days, my budget was $23 ($4.60/person/day). The “rules” are that I start from nothing, so I had to buy everything I was going to need for those five days. We do get a CSA share, and based on calculations for that ($12/week share for just me for five days), I figured that was $4.25 of my budget. So I had $18.75 to spend on groceries.

I did a little planning, including getting out my copy of Good and Cheap, which I had gotten when the author did a Kickstarter for her cookbook of recipes you can make on a $4/day budget. Mostly looking at her shopping list gave me some tips.

And off I went. It was late, and I was coming home from Potsdam, so I stopped at WalMart, not my usual shopping choice (Aldi was closed). Pushing my big cart, and with calculator in hand, I started in the produce section. (I knew I had kale, zucchini, tomatoes, onion, and a small eggplant left from my CSA share.) I got lettuce, a cucumber, and four bananas. The bananas were priced by the pound (I couldn’t swing the organic ones), and I had to hunt for the one scale in the produce section to figure out exactly how much my four bananas would be.

I found peanut butter and jelly (luckily, the small jar of naturally sweetened fruit spread was the cheapest – not the best economy, but the cheapest), a couple cans of beans, spaghetti, a jar of pasta sauce, eggs, and milk. I held off on bread and cereal, which I could only get in a huge box that was a budget buster.

I had planned to get some chicken as a protein source. This is when things got dicey. There was a big sign that showed $1.88/pound, but that was for the big, family packs – way more than I needed and definitely more than I could afford. So I looked at the small packs of tenders and a pack of ground chicken. $4.95. $3.86. And I began to get a knot in my stomach and started to feel anxious. How was I going to fit this into my budget? I looked at the big cart with a very few things in it and felt a bit overwhelmed. I checked my list and my Good and Cheap notes. I’d have to count on the eggs and beans for protein. No chicken.

I ended up stopping at the Price Chopper to get a small box of no-name Cheerios and the cheapest loaf of wheat bread I could find. I almost had a coffee coup - a $1.98  special – but then realized they were sold out of the special. No coffee.

In the end, my total grocery bill was $17.67. Even with the cost of my CSA I was still a little under my allowance. So I could do it, with some careful planning, a couple of stops, and a few anxious moments I was within my budget. But the upshot was going to be a pretty basic, monotonous menu for the week.

At the end of the week I’ll share some reflections on this experience. It’s Hunger Action Month. Consider giving the SNAP Challenge a try as you reflect on how others manage their families’ diets and nutrition on a limited budget.

--Carol Pynchon

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