I Almost Stayed Home from Work Today to Eat

by Yolanda M. Dockery, Executive Assistant to the Executive Director, Family Investment Administration, Maryland Department of Human Resources

Let me tie up a few loose ends of my Challenge experience. As you know, I discovered yesterday that my husband had been a Challenge participant and I hadn’t realized it by looking at the items he’d been consuming. By Sunday morning he’d dropped out of the challenge again because I saw cupcakes wrappers and traces of other non-Challenge foods in our trash.

After church on Sunday I had my heart set on eating tomato soup with a piece of toast for lunch. However, by the time my husband ran all of his after church errands I didn’t have time to fix it so had to settle for two PB&J sandwiches. Can I tell you I am sick of PB&J? Normally I’m not a big bread eater so eating all this bread was a bit much for me. By Sunday the bread wasn’t even still fresh and soft. I think the only thing that helped me make it through the day was knowing that it was the last day of the challenge. For dinner last night I had my mac & tuna salad. Even eating more of that was a bit challenging. I ended up throwing a little bit of that away as well. I can’t wait to cook a real meal that is satisfying and nutritious for my husband and I.

I truly hope that after this that policy makers are "challenged" to seriously consider increasing the food stamp grants. I believe that everyone should have an opportunity to purchase healthy food and drinks for themselves and their families. Over the last seven days I’ve been able to get a laugh here and give a laugh there but for many this is no laughing matter because this is how they live and the challenges they face on a daily basis. The Food Stamp Program is supposed to help 26 million low-income people and families buy the food they need for good health each month. I believe that when you have to choose between eating healthy or eating daily because you only have $3 a day, most people would choose to eat daily. The Food Stamp grants need to be increased for needy families everywhere. Thanks for following my Food Stamp Challenge Journey. I must admit - I’m glad it’s over.