My Week on the Food Stamp Challenge

Mark Millspaugh, Assistant Director, Family Investment, Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services

My experience with the Food Stamp Challenge was illuminating. While I must admit that I cheated, it was still a great learning experience for me and those I came into contact with. The first thing I struggled with was not having a morning cup of coffee. I could not justify the expense and adhered to the rule of not accepting offers of free coffee from well-meaning colleagues who observed my grogginess each morning.

I survived the entire week drinking water almost exclusively, which brings me to my second issue. It became very clear to me that to eat a diet entirely funded through the Food Stamp Program, one had to consume fairly unhealthy food and drinks. I could not afford orange juice, thus did not get my daily recommended allowance of vitamin C. I could not drink milk, thus did not get sufficient amounts of calcium. I ate almost no fresh fruit or vegetables. The Ramen noodles I ate for lunch had very high sodium content. The only meats I could afford had a high fat content. The bread I used was not multigrain and therefore had a low fiber content. Much of my dinner each night consisted of simple carbohydrates which quickly turn to sugar in the body. Because of this I cheated and continued to take multivitamins which I had purchased prior to the FS Challenge.

Lastly, I inadvertently became an ambassador and spokesperson for the FS Program. As I stated earlier, when I attended morning meetings I would often receive offers for free cups of coffee. When I declined and informed the offerer of my participation in the FS Challenge the person would become interested and ask questions about the program and its benefit amounts. On Tuesday I chaperoned a field trip for my 8-year-old sons's school to Mt. Vernon, VA. We were instructed to bring a bag lunch (this is another time when I cheated and took a can of soda that I had purchased previous to the Challenge). When the other parents and teachers saw what I had brought, and how little of it there was, I could not help but notice their inquisitive looks. I told them of the Challenge and informed them of the very low monthly benefit levels that people on Food Stamps receive. They were shocked!

Overall, I think the experience opened my eyes and those of others with whom I came into contact. While I regularly bring my lunch to work each day and eat home-cooked meals each night, the food that I purchase at the grocery store to prepare those meals costs far more than a Food Stamp Program recipient can afford. It is amazing to me how many people routinely stop in Starbucks for a cup of coffee in the morning or go out to a fast food restaurant for lunch or order takeout for dinner. These are things that a Food Stamp Program recipient could not possibly do. Yet the majority of these recipients are employed and caring for children and have the same need for simplicity and expediency in their daily lives as the rest of us do.