So I first heard about the Jewish Community Food Stamp Challenge when the author of a blog I follow (Kosher on a Budget) wrote about her experience trying to follow the food stamp challenge with her family. She had a leg up because she is such an avid couponer but an extra challenge of keeping kosher, which meant she often couldn't go generic for her purchases because she needed a heksher.
We talk a lot about how we need to help those who are impoverished and reach out to those in need. And we certainly try to raise awareness about the ongoing challenge of poverty and hunger that has been only exacerbated by the economic crisis that still has not abated. On the North Shore we often act as if folks up here in our community don't face hunger, thinking that we would have to go into the city to find folks who are really in need but that is simply not the case.
In the haftara portion on Yom Kippur, the prophet Isaiah reminds us that God does not desire a fast in which we are physically hungry ourselves but do not change how we act. Rather God desires a fast that affects our own actions: that we reach out and help those in need, that we feed the hungry and do not just physically deprive ourselves for a single day.
So for one week, beginning today, November 11th, through November 17th, I will be living on 31.50 -- the average food stamp benefit of $1.50 per meal. My husband, Scott, has also decided to take the challenge so we are doing this together. I knew before jumping into this experience that it wouldn't be easy and just this single day has confirmed that assumption. I hope you consider a donation to JCPA, the organization working to organize the food stamp challenge and to combat hunger. You can visit our fundraising page here.
Scott and I have chosen, in general, a very expensive way to eat. First of all, we are both vegetarians. And while meat is an expense (especially organic, kosher, ethically raised and slaughtered meat), special soy-based vegetarian food is very expensive. When we eat dairy or eggs, we are very particular that the dairy be organic and from ethically-raised animals, and that the eggs are cage-free, organic fed, free range, ethically raised eggs ... which is actually hard to find sometimes and hard to discern from the way eggs are labelled. We do our very best to eat as organically as possible and try to eat locally when we feel like we are able.
The more we have learned about where our food comes from and the affect that conventional farming has on the environment and both directly and indirectly on our bodies and our health, it became increasingly important to us to ensure that our food choices reflected our ethics in an even deeper way than simply refraining from eating meat. I became a bit obsessed with Michael Pollan and his excellent books that helped me learn about where our food comes from and what food choices people make and why.
This year Scott and I have tried to take our ethical eating a step further and joined a CSA for the summer and fall shares. CSA means Community Supported Agriculture. Shareholders in a CSA sign up to recieved weekly shares of food straight from a farm (or group of small farms) for a specific fee for a season. And you know who is growing your food, how it is grown, that it was ripened on the plant/vine, harvested recently, and transported only over a limited distance. And you know that your money is going straight to the farmer for their needs and not in large part to a big company that stands as an intermediary between the consumer and the farmer.
We have loved being part of a CSA. (This year we are part of Genesis Growers CSA.) Vicki, the farmer, sends weekly emails about what is going on around the farm, telling us what to expect in our CSA box, and sometimes suggesting her favorite preparations of the produce. And it has forced us out of the box in terms of what we typically cook and eat. Kohlrabi--in our very first box. And we had no idea what it was! Thank goodness for Google. (It's delicious, look it up.) And it's no small feat to have two parents of an infant cooking meals with fresh produce most nights instead of just reheating frozen stuff!
But the CSA is another expense. When you consider how expensive organic produce is in general (in addition to the hidden cost of transporting the produce over very long distances, etc), it's actually quite a deal.. We get a ton of produce for about $35 per week. But not everyone is willing to cook according to what they happen to receive rather than based solely on taste.
In any case, eating organic and eating local and being vegetarian and trying to eat as ethically and sustainably as possible... it's really expensive. We spend a ridiculous amount on food, all things considered, especially for people who are trying to pay off student loans and buying diapers and such.
Which makes it a bit of a rude awakening to conceive of eating for $1.50 per meal.
Yesterday Scott went grocery shopping (after I spent some time finding coupons and such) at Dominicks. He spent 44.72 (43.65 not including tax) and bought:
Generic honey nut cheerios
A gallon of skim milk
a dozen eggs
frozen veggie mix
frozen broccoli
sliced cheddar cheese
2 cans of campbell's tomato soup (condensed)
a can of (condensed) campbell's cream of mushroom soup
a can of (condensed) campbell's cream of asparagus soup
a box of pasta
pasta sauce
a bag of shredded italian cheese
4 frozen "smart ones" meals
a big-ish can of tuna
a big can of diced tomatoes
a can of kidney beans
a can of black beans
a 5-lb bag of apples
a jar of peanut butter
a can of ground coffee
a loaf of bread
2 boxes of mac & cheese
Which seemed like a lot at the time but I am already realizing that it will be hard to stretch it, even with the leeway we still have of about 18 dollars.
Today I ate:
Breakfast:
Coffee
2 slices of toast with peanut butter
Lunch:
Mac & Cheese (1 box)
A spoonful of peanut butter (for "dessert")
Snack:
1 apple & 2 slices of cheddar cheese
Dinner:
1.5 grilled cheese sandwiches (3 slices of bread, 2 slices of cheese)
1/2 of a prepared can of the campbell's tomato soup
Nighttime "snack"
A cup of tea (I figured out that my tea bags cost 11 cents each, so I am tallying those against my total).
Things I would have eaten today FOR SURE if I hadn't been doing the challenge include:
A soy latte at Starbucks (or if i was feeling indulgent, a pumpkin spice latte)
A few mini bagels and some cream cheese at the Temple this AM during religious school and probably some sweet and coffee during the Adult Ed session I taught
More coffee or tea at home
A bigger snack (probably some fruit and pop chips)
Frozen greek yogurt for dessert once Sammy was in bed
... Not to mention the different, more filling, & healthier food choices I would have made for the things I DID eat if I had the leeway.
Scott and I are realizing we will need to buy another loaf of bread and more mac & cheese. Maybe also peanut butter. And we are debating whether we can afford coffee creamer and/or a dessert option (more for me than for Scott--he could live with a square or 2 of dark chocolate or even nothing for dessert but I am pretty much a dessert addict.)
It was already different to strategize at all (in a way other than "what do i need for that recipe") before Scott went grocery shopping. And he took practically a millennium doing it, he was being so careful with coupons and food choices. We barely ever shop somewhere other than Whole Foods so that itself was different... and I can't tell you the last time I looked through coupons. And the conversations Scott and I had today about what we were choosing for our meals and trying to make the food we have stretch as long as possible but still not leave us feeling hungry... these were very different conversations that already put me in the shoes of someone who is really food insecure.
If we run out of money this week during this little exercise, the worst that happens is that we will feel disappointed to have not succeeded in this exercise and probably I'd feel a bit guilty. But that's it, and we'd get more food and be done with it. But I am keenly aware that someone who is relying on the food stamp benefit for their sustenance most certainly does NOT have that choice.
As an aside, I have the Food Network on right now as I write this. Not my most intelligent decision ever.
