My five days on the SNAP Challenge were not fun

[NaturalHigh]

My only experience with real hunger was years ago when my pay at one newspaper job didn’t go far enough. But last week when my wife and I accepted the SNAP Challenge from the good people at Restore Hope Ministries for five days, I quickly realized my only experience with hunger was nothing.

The SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) Challenge offers people a chance to live like millions of Americans who rely on SNAP subsidies for food. When you accept the challenge, you goal is to live and feed yourself within the financial restraint of someone who relies wholly on SNAP to eat.

That means $4.50 per day.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepage2/because-i-said-so-my-five-days-on-the-snap/article_0dde8aec-7a2e-5cb6-977a-084603c99668.html

Just to be sure that I'm clear, I am not the person who took the SNAP challenge. I'm just reposting an article.

[NYC_SKP]

1. I don't know how anyone can do that, nutritious meals on $4.50/day, even from scratch.

I guess a lot of bulk produce and grains, discounted products, and cooking up stews and soups.

Sadly, most don't prep or shop for bargains and end up with highly processed and preservative packed goods.

Ewww.

[cali]

4. I did. for almost 2 years. I ate well.

but let me hasten to add that it was a lot of work, I'm a really good cook and I had the time to do it.

[NYC_SKP]

6. The knowledge piece is probably most missing, followed by local resources, and then facilities.

I fear many on SNAP have kitchens and might even have local providers of bulk, say, rice and beans for protein.

What's likely missing most is awareness of the importance of nutrition and skills and knowledge required to properly blend proteins and prepare nutritious meals.

Add to that folk's who are working, even off the books, and who don't have time and, well, it's a recipe for failure.

I'd rather teach them than to just provide more funding to enrichen Dollar Stores, but wouldn't mind educating them and giving more resources.

In the long run, it's an investment against health care costs and loss to communal well-being that impact us all.

[Aerows]

10. "The knowledge piece is probably most missing"

It is. If it doesn't involve opening a can of soup, many don't know how. I don't fault them, they just weren't taught how to use raw ingredients.

I always joke about visiting my sister for Thanksgiving (she had two small children at the time) and her pots were dusty.

Mom and I just looked at each other and sighed. My sister is firmly middle class enough to drive through McDonald's and the whole family has weight issues, so ... you do the math.

[eridani]

30. True enough, but knowledge does you no good if--

--all you have is a hotplate and a minifridge and limited storage space. If this is the case, you don't have a crockpot or a pressure cooker either. To make the experience more like that of a poor person, you should probably knock a few teeth out in addition.

[Aerows]

31. No doubt!

My point, though, is that some people even having a stove and an oven have no idea how to use them.

It's rather disheartening to me that as a society many have distanced themselves from the ability to cook a meal from fresh ingredients. Poor people have it the worst because many of them don't have a stove, an oven or the means to buy fresh ingredients.

[csziggy]

22. County Extension Offices are working with SNAP to teach

People how to best use their food dollars.

I posted the links before and am too tired to look them up again, but the County Extension services that helped increase nutrition awareness in farm families in the 1920s and 1930s is adapting to more urban lifestyles and setting up programs for people on food assistance programs or who have limited budgets.

In addition, they have a lot of information available on the federal and various state websites that is easy to access with a computer.

Here is the site for SNAP-ED: http://snap.nal.usda.gov/ Not hard to find at all. And lots of free info that is of use to just about everyone.

[NYC_SKP]

24. Excellent resource, thanks.

Should be pinned somewhere on this board, maybe frugal living or ???

[csziggy]

25. Plaese repost where ever you think appropriate.

I grew up spending a lot of time in the County Extension Offices, not only for 4-H activities but Mom took us there for cooking brochures, sewing instruction pamphlets, and gardening information. Mom had learned a lot from them when she was growing up during the Depression and taught us how to access as many free resources as possible.

The thing about County Extension Services is that it is county determined - if your local county doesn't get involved in programs they may not be available where you are. But most of the information is now on the internet so is available from almost anywhere.

I still cook as frugally as Mom taught us even though I don't have to. We might indulge in a rotisserie chicken sometimes, but often after the first meal when my husband I will each have a good piece (him breast, me a thigh) I'll cut the rest of the meat up and make chicken salad or a casserole. I can make 8 servings out of one chicken and we never feel hungry. My biggest indulgence is to buy frozen vegetables rather than fresh - less goes to waste and it is a huge time saver and not that much more expensive.

[napi21]

26. I cook like that too, though i don't have to

We are older and don't eat nearly as much as we used to. I can easily get 3 meals from on rotisserie chicken, and even those I only buy when they are on a special sale. I honestly think, unless you have a very physically demanding job, most people eat too much! When we go out to eat at a restaurant, I ALWAYS bring home enough in the doggie bag for dinner the next day.

With the price of fresh vegies, I find it much cheaper to use frozen. You take out what you need and put the rest back for another day. I find with fresh, there's either too much that hubby gets tired of it two days in a row, or I use part, and the rest goes pad before it gets used.

[R B Garr]

7. That's impressive! Did you use some recipes or food storage tips

you care to share? Or just some general ideas or references. I'm always intrigued by how people go about kitchen setups, etc.

[cali]

11. I've shared some. I'm happy to share more.

but again, I had the time and knowledge to do it and that's no small thing. I also have a very good coop in my tiny town where I can purchase in bulk.

So ideas: Eggs are cheap. Omelets make a delicious dinner with a green salad and french bread. sauteed vegetables and a bit of cheese make a great filling for omelets. roasted root vegetables, brown rice with beans. soups. chicken in a variety of ways- chicken thighs are more flavorful as well as cheaper. You can often find a whole chicken for under 1.99 a lb. Use a chicken carcass for stock. Sharp knives so that you can cut up a whole chicken. grow your own herbs inside- chives, parsley, tarragon and basil. Interesting foods can be found at "dented can" stores and places like Ocean State Job Lots.
I love oatmeal and bought steel cut in bulk. Buy what's on sale. Don't buy prepared or packaged foods- that stuff is expensive and will do in your budget in no time.

It's so funny now that I don't have to think about prices and can buy, well, whatever I want; I'm still careful and still don't buy prepared stuff.

[R B Garr]

15. Thanks, cali! Very helpful. It does take a serious commitment

to that lifestyle. It takes being very versatile about using leftovers and using up things before they go bad and combining them in different ways. I haven't tried growing my own herbs yet, but that's intriguing.

One thing I've found recently is the packaged stuff is very salty after you've been off of it for awhile. Even salt I've added on my own doesn't taste as salty as packaged items.

Now I have to give up my daily coffee run and make my own at home. It's just so nice to run out and get some, but it gets expensive over a month's time.

Great tips!

[riderinthestorm]

20. I've also found that I'd you don't "plan" menus too rigidly and buy what's on sale

You can save an amazing amount of money.

I've gotten chicken legs for example, in the discount bins because they were at their past sale date, so they were being sold at more than half price which meant that was going to be the night's dinner instead of the lasagna I'd planned.

So having flexibility is another key I've found but that also means (as you've said) you know how to cook, have the facilities, and have the time to prepare.

I'm not in any financial straits but I love a deal...

[dionysus]

29. oooh, you have a OS Job Lots there... my toen back in Maine has one. i replaced my hammock there

this year. they have a little of everything there... they always have a ton of cheap beef jerky there.. I always wonder how old that stuff is!

[dionysus]

28. i'm sure you could do it with boxes of pasta and cheap sauce, but it wouldn't be healthy for you...

you could buy a box of pasta for a buck and a jar of sauce for a buck.. you'd eat, but you'd probably start feeling like shit a few days later from it due to lack of nutrients...

[daredtowork]

2. Thank you for trying it!

Now imagine this not being "tightening your belt" for a week, but going on for month after month after month while you're waiting for the SSI process to dither along. There is no vacationing from it.

Puts a totally different spin on why that person is begging on the corner doesn't it? Now imagine that there is no cash aid or subsidy for any necessities, transportation, bills, etc., either. So the "food" stamps might have to also serve to acquire other-purpose items: lemon juice, baking soda, and vinegar all make interesting alternative hygiene and household cleaning supplies.

If you really want to help, fight for adequate General Assistance, transportation subsidies, and emergency housing support even before food stamps. $4.50/day can be done. Homelessness is could be irrecoverable.

[liberal_at_heart]

3. This is where our money needs to be going, not on war.

[NaturalHigh]

27. You got it.

I wonder how many people the price of one tomahawk missile would feed. How about an F-22 bomber?

[Terra Alta]

5. I don't see how people can survive on such a small amount

Maybe on processed food and lots and lots of ramen noodles. But that isn't a very healthy way to live. It's a shame we are spending billions on bombs and bullets to fight wars in foreign countries but can't afford to take care of our own citizens. Disgusting.

[MissB]

8. Folks really can't live on that amount and do it in a way that is healthy.

I could. But I have the time and skills to do it. I know how to plan a healthy meal, buy items in bulk (or stock up on other items at the lowest price) and cook from scratch.

One of my favorite web sites currently is budget bytes (budgetbytes.com). She's doing the snap challenge right now. There are some choices that she makes that I question - like why buy premade pita when you can make it yourself? - but in general I find her approach to the challenge quite good.

She's pretty darned good at coming up with tasty dishes that use basic ingredients. My dh and teenaged boys have loved everything I've made from her site.

Edited to add: I didn't mean to imply that anyone could eat on such a little amount if only they went to her website and cooked some of her recipes. My point was really that I can do it, and the shame is that I really do not need to do it from a financial perspective. I love to save money, but I don't HAVE to save money.

[Luminous Animal]

14. Her serving sizes are a cup to a cup and a quarter, my very active daughter could not

have thrived on 3 -4 cups of food a day. Neither could have I when I was growing up. There was a time, between the ages of 10 and 13 that I had to and it was awful. I was constantly hungry which resulted in loss of sleep and impaired my concentration and my performance in sports declined.

[R B Garr]

16. Great website! That African Peanut Stew recipes looks great

Thanks for the link.

[drray23]

9. you can not eat a balanced diet

On 4.50 a day but you can buy rice for 77 cents a pound at the food lion. So yeah if you are able to live on rice and maybe potatoes and bean you might.

Its still not acceptable than in our country , the richest in the world , 1 in 6 american is below the poverty line and have to resort to extremes like that.

We got our priorities screwed up. Just cutting half of the 500 billion a year pentagon budget and reallocating towards social programs would go a long way.

[cali]

12. You can. I did it. It takes way too much time and it takes knowledge and you need to be

a proficient cook, but yeah, you can do it. But I completely agree with the rest of your post.

[former9thward]

13. Every state must be different.

In AZ SNAP gives single person $194 a month. That is almost $6.50 a day.

[riderinthestorm]

18. Wow! Absolute decadence!!1!!! $6.50/day!!1!!!

Still.damn hard to eat properly on that amount...

[SomethingFishy]

17. Well, we would feed people,

but there are people to bomb, countries to invade, wars to win, shots to be fired, and thousands of unneeded tanks to be built. So, we are out of luck.

[alarimer]

19. I cannot recommend this website enough: Budget Bytes.

http://www.budgetbytes.com/

Cheap, easy meals. She gives an estimated cost breakdown and gives tips on how to stretch it further.

It made me interested in cooking. Because my biggest problem was always the time sink. It just took too damn long. I get home from work at 5, rest a little, workout and before I know it, it's 7 and I haven't even thought about dinner. No way do I want to spend two more hours cooking. These are 30-40 minutes, tops, depending on the prep work.

[MissB]

21. (I beat you to it up thread!)

I agree with everything you wrote in your post.

[hunter]

23. Bulk rice and beans, a way to cook, and a bit of larceny.

When I was living in my little shack I'd spend my showered-and-clean-clothing-days gathering up taco sauce, ketchup, and other goodies that customers had left for trash at fast food places. (If you've ever noticed, fast food places in less affluent areas don't ever leave things like paper napkins out where just anyone can take them, and certainly not condiments like ketchup packets. You have to ask.)

There's nothing romantic about any of this, I had issues...

When I had actual apartments and roommates, I'd make buttermilk in jars on top of the water heater. Powdered milk was heavily subsidized by the government then, and easily available. And it was horrible stuff as reconstituted milk, most especially because the city water tasted like sulfur. Fermenting the milk made it tolerable.

I can also brew alcoholic beer-like substances from most anything. (2-liter plastic soda bottles are magnificent for this purpose.)

I don't have to eat like that any more, maybe I never did, but I had a very low tolerance for living with others at the time. But I could feed myself, simply because I have some mad improvisational cooking skills I learned as a kid. My parents are artists, they had a mess of kids, and we were always a little short of money... if that explains anything.

But it's the daily grind of poverty and total absence of inexpensive bulk and fresh foods in many impoverished areas that wears people down.

A rational way to deal with hunger in the U.S.A. might be to put subsidized healthy markets near public schools. The goal of these markets would be education as well as food distribution. Sadly, the corporate money backs junk processed foods and they do not want the competition. They sell their wretched unhealthy food substances for a good profit even in impoverished neighborhoods where people are regularly going hungry.

In the largely Mexican-American community where I live access to good inexpensive food doesn't seem to be a problem. Immigrant grandmothers know how to cook, and most of the foods they are familiar with are readily available. The butchers here stock things like chicken feet or any other animal part you'd like. The green grocers stock at least half a dozen types of bananas and plantains. The problem is that a high calorie diet that might be appropriate in rural Mexico, where children might be doing farm work by hand alongside adults, is not appropriate when the kids are going to school and playing video games most of the day, especially when gallons of soft drinks and sugar-water sorts of "juices" are added to it.

Diabetes and obesity are common problems here.