The Food Stamp Challenge - A Week in Review

by Kimberley Chin, Director, Maryland Hunger Solutions

The last days of the Food Stamp Challenge: In many ways getting through the weekend was more difficult than it had been during the week. Without a strict work schedule, I constantly felt the need to snack or wander into the kitchen for something to eat. Crackers and carrots aren’t as exciting on the weekend when you face a kitchen full of different foods! Throughout the week people asked me if my mood had changed because of hunger or my change in diet. My family and coworkers would probably agree that I was slightly more moody than usual, but I don’t know if I can truly attribute that to this Food Stamp Challenge. My first meal off the challenge was a dinner at a community meeting and I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. When I got home, however, in the privacy of my kitchen, I felt like someone who had been rescued from a deserted island and sampled (gorged on?) many of the foods that I had missed throughout the week! I have now officially completed the Food Stamp Challenge and look forward to eating a wider variety of more nutritious food, but for so many others, there is no choice. This Challenge has raised my awareness of the difficulties that people face every day to feed themselves and their families. Food stamps are the first line of defense against hunger, but the benefits are not sufficient to help people eat healthy meals throughout the month. We must ensure that congress acts quickly on a Farm bill that can help make food stamps more accessible and adequate to the needs of hungry individuals and families in this country.

The Food Stamp Challenge - Spilling the Beans

by Kimberley Chin, Director, Maryland Hunger Solutions

The bean fiasco seemed to spill over into the morning. Once again I wonder when people have the time to prepare food, care for their children, keep the house relatively clean, maintain relationships and work full-time jobs. I threw the beans into a container to take with me for lunch, made my now daily breakfast sandwich of egg on toast, put some carrots into a bag and prepared for the day. The boys were fed, clothed and though a few minutes late, I flew to the car to get to work. As I was driving down the highway, it suddenly came to me that I had forgotten my lunch on the kitchen counter. On a normal day I would simply shrug and go out for lunch at a nearby eatery. Today I just thought about how hungry I would be if I didn’t have my food. I turned the car around and headed back home. As I picked up my lunch and prepared once again to head back into traffic to get to work, I thought about the choice that I had made. If I worked in a position where I had to punch a time clock, got docked for coming in late or had the threat of losing my job for coming in late, I can imagine making another choice. It would be better to go hungry than lose my job. It might be better to use a little of the rent or electricity money to buy a small snack than turn back and end up late for work. This exercise has been about the choices we are forced to make when we have limited resources. It is also about the choices this country can make to ensure that people have enough to eat and don’t have to worry about hunger. By the way, although edible, I think that my beans could probably be cooked some more!

The Food Stamp Challenge - Pressures on the Working Mom

by Kimberley Chin, Director, Maryland Hunger Solutions

This morning began as it does for many households with a full-time working mother with young children – with me getting ready for work while getting the three boys dressed, fed and ready for the day. The difference was that in addition to quickly making an egg sandwich for breakfast to carry to work with me, I also had to soak a bag of beans if I wanted any real variety in my diet tonight.

To make beans and rice, I usually use the cooked cans of beans that don’t need to be soaked, so this was new for me. I felt as though I was doing what my mother and generations of Caribbean mothers had done many times before me (but what I generally avoid doing) – soaking beans for the main meal. I quickly read the package and put the beans in a pot with water to soak for the day. I anticipated coming home to find beans that were ready to be used to create dinner. It didn’t quite work out that way. I came home, started preparing the dish, and realized that I heard beans clinking against the side of the saucepan. I don’t recall my beans clinking before. I quickly pulled the empty bean bag from the garbage and realized that I hadn’t put enough water in the beans. It looked as though I wouldn’t be having beans for dinner. I then did what any self-respecting, grown mother of three would do in that situation. I called my mother. She confirmed that I would have to boil the beans for a very long time for them to be edible.

I was told that the USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan, which is the national standard for a nutritious meal for a minimal cost and a basis for maximum food stamp allotments, allocates 3 hours of cooking time a day. I actually think with the planning, preparation and cooking time it is much more. How are working mothers of small children supposed to “do it all?” How are they supposed to “do it all” with limited time and on an incredibly limited budget? And with the cost of energy and food going up, the budgets will get even tighter. Food Stamps are the first line of defense again hunger and with the rising costs of food, they need to be adjusted to adequately help people feed their families a nutritious meal. Anyway, I will eat another small salad as I sit here waiting for my beans to cook.

The Food Stamp Challenge - Variety and Cravings

by Kimberley Chin, Director, Maryland Hunger Solutions

As the days go by I realize that in addition to the fewer choices of nutritious food that can be bought on the food stamp allocation, there is also a problem with variety. After an egg on toast breakfast, eaten in the car on the way to work, and a spaghetti lunch, I just couldn't face spaghetti again for dinner. I had a banana and a salad of lettuce, carrots and cheese with crackers on the side when I got home. I'm fairly healthy, but definitely not someone who is obsessed with healthy eating, so it was funny to have such a craving for a salad. I am now really grateful that I bought lettuce and carrots. And of course cheese makes everything better. At the beginning of this challenge I received an email from someone who told me that the food stamp benefits that her uncle receives is very low - even compared to this challenge. With the increase in food prices, I can't even imagine how people make it work.

The Food Stamp Challenge - Feeding the Children

by Kimberley Chin, Director, Maryland Hunger Solutions

I have determined that I do not like white bread and peanut butter! I had optimistically brought a peanut butter sandwich with carrots for lunch, after a breakfast of a scrambled egg on toast. Not only did I have to try to eat the sandwich, I had to do it in front of about eight other people who were having a wonderfully catered lunch for a meeting. The good news is that I then had the opportunity to talk about the Food Stamp Challenge and the issue of hunger at this meeting. The bad news is that I was then starving by the time I got home and had my dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce. Also, since my children are not on the challenge, they are very curious about my separate meals. Today they said that they wanted spaghetti and meat sauce also, so of course I served them some of my dinner - realizing that this will cut into my supply for the week. I wonder how many mothers make the same choice every day to ensure that their children have enough to eat.

The Food Stamp Challenge - Hitting the Ground Running

by Kimberley Chin, Director, Maryland Hunger Solutions

Today I went with Kevin McGuire, the Executive Director of the Family Investment Administration of the Department of Human Resources, to a wonderful local supermarket in Baltimore, Santoni’s, to shop for the Food Stamp Challenge this week. With $21 to spend for the week, I had to take time thinking about and planning what I would be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next seven days. I spent $18.41 at Santoni’s today, so I still have $2.59 left to play with in case things get desperate at the end of the week. The shopping trip took much longer than normal because I really had to think about how much money I had to spend, what foods would make a meal together, and what was on sale. I also kept thinking about how hard this would have been if my three young sons were with me on this trip. Usually I just run in quickly and get what we need. This prolonged trip could potentially have been a nightmare with three cranky little boys five years old and younger. As to my purchases, I had to get white bread instead of wheat because that was on sale. I also chose iceberg lettuce over other greens because of the price. Some of my other purchases included spaghetti, tomato sauce, black beans, rice peanut butter and a few other items . Bringing the food home was an interesting experience. Although my sons are not taking the challenge with me, they were fascinated with my purchases. They watched me make a large pot of spaghetti and meat sauce tonight and asked me if I was making a spaghetti casserole to take to church – the last time they saw me make such a big pot, we took it to church for the food pantry. They were also confused about the white bread – they are used to seeing wheat. Finally, our household usually gets baby carrots because they are easier to eat and serve, they thought the regular carrots that I bought were “the largest carrots in the world!” It was also difficult to resist snacking with my three boys during the evening as I was cooking. All this is interesting for the first day, but the reality is that this is just a week for me and I can see an end. For so many, this is not a game – it is their reality.