Today, five days in, I'm going to admit a full on fail of this SNAP challenge. I made the commitment that for as long as I could eat a healthy and balanced diet I would continue. I can no longer do that.
Although I have some things left, it would never get me through to today, tomorrow and Sunday. If it did it would mean subsisting on a couple of eggs, peanut butter, celery, bread, some fruit and that's about it. I would have had a potato left as well, had one not exploded in my oven. But that's another story... With savvy shopping, I was able to make it about 4-1/2 days of healthy eating. That leaves 2-1/2 days of only enough to barely subsist on.
I understand why there is that stereo-type of going on SNAP benefits and gaining weight. In order to eat through the entire week, you'd need to eat a lot of starch: pasta, rice, cheap boxes of macaroni and cheese. There is no way to get enough protein into a diet relying on SNAP benefits, much less fruits and vegetables. That's 15% of the U.S. population that isn't getting enough nutrition. What concerns me more is the Food Research and Action center estimates that 1 in 5 who are eligible for assistance are not being served.
I also understand why it seems that people on SNAP appear to make poor choices with the benefits. For example, buying frozen chicken nuggets instead of whole birds or buying cheap boxes of MacNCheese. The time I spent cooking from scratch took a great deal of time. Time a working poor family might not have to spend.
I think about families on SNAP, or more specifically the children. It is estimated that 1 in 4 children go to bed hungry. There is no way a parent could feed their children relying on SNAP benefits even if the parents themselves go hungry. I also now understand why there is such a weight crisis among our children - parents are doing the best they can and its about filling kid's tummies instead of giving growing children proper nutrition. It's an oxymoron, isn't it? A weight crisis and lack of nutrition on SNAP benefits.
Throughout discussions on my Facebook page, I've seen time and time again about supplementing SNAP benefits with a Food Pantry. And I don't know about where you are, but here in the City of New York the food pantries are in crisis. Overwhelmed by people in need and donations of food items are not keeping up. I encourage you to donate to your local food pantry any way you can. Keep in mind they can buy food cheaper than you might be able to, so if you can make a financial donation, even a small one it would help relieve this problem.
Friends have often heard me say that Universe (God/Allah/Yahweh - whatever that divine spirit we all aspire to) may not bring you what you want, but it will always bring you what you need. I picked up my mail from my box on Wednesday to find a small postcard from the National Associate of Letter Carriers. It reads: Fill a Bag. Help Feed Families. On Saturday, May 9th Letter Carriers will be picking up bags of donated food to shelters and food pantries across America. What an amazing synchronicity! The week I do the challenge is the same week the NALC announces this year's drive.
I ask you to please fill up a bag of non-perishables (no glass) and leave it by your mailbox on Saturday May 9th, 2015. You can also take a bag to your local post office on May 9th.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
Adventures At The Grocery
Actually, it was quite depressing. Although I had researched the sales, I still couldn't get everything I wanted to get. It basically equals cutting back on protein, calcium and missing whole meals.
Below is the list of what I had on my carefully crafted shopping list and the actual prices at the grocery. I have noted the sale items which comprise half the list:
Below is the list of what I had on my carefully crafted shopping list and the actual prices at the grocery. I have noted the sale items which comprise half the list:
| Parmesan | 1.99 | Sale | |
| Oatmeal | 1.69 | ||
| ½ Gallon Milk | 2.65 | ||
| Yoghurt (6) | 3.00 | Sale | |
| Coffee | 1.99 | Sale | |
| Pasta | 0.99 | Sale | |
| Rice | 0.99 | ||
| Canned Tomato | 0.88 | Sale | |
| Tomato Paste | 0.79 | ||
| Chicken broth | 1.39 | ||
| Kidney Beans | 1.09 | ||
| Ground Turkey | 4.99 | Sale | |
| Chicken legs | 5.36 | Sale | |
| Dried Lentils | 1.49 | ||
| Eggs | 2.79 | ||
| Butter | 1.50 | ||
| Peanut butter | 2.50 | Sale | |
| Small bottle of oil | 1.99 | Sale | |
| Total: | 37.47 |
Looking at the list and taking into consideration that I only had 24.26 left in my budget, you can see I had to do some pretty creative thinking.
I dropped the chicken legs. Although on a great sale, they were packaged in 4lb to 5lb packages. So I opted to keep the ground turkey. Still, by stretching the turkey with rice and kidney beans, I will have lost at least 4 meals. Notice how the chicken was dropped first? It was the most expensive item.
Dropping butter and Parmesan was a no brainer.
I dropped tomato paste and bought two cans of crushed tomato on sale instead of the planned for one can. I'll need to make up those missing meals with starchy meals of pasta and sauce.
Two boxes of pasta instead of one. That should add four meals.
I also dropped the oatmeal. I'll eat an egg and toast every day and just tough it out. I was planning on eating oatmeal every morning and using the eggs as omelets for lunch and dinners. That's 7 meals cut out.
I also dropped the oatmeal. I'll eat an egg and toast every day and just tough it out. I was planning on eating oatmeal every morning and using the eggs as omelets for lunch and dinners. That's 7 meals cut out.
I dropped the can of chicken broth. I usually make my lentil soup with one can broth, one can water.
Yoghurt too was dropped completely. Although this omission does not represent a meal, it represents an important component to lunches and means dropping important calcium from my diet.
Yoghurt too was dropped completely. Although this omission does not represent a meal, it represents an important component to lunches and means dropping important calcium from my diet.
So this is the actual list of what I bought:
| ½ Gallon Milk | 2.65 | ||
| Coffee | 1.99 | Sale | |
| Pasta | 2.00 | Sale | |
| Rice | 0.99 | ||
| Canned Tomato | 1.76 | Sale | |
| Kidney Beans | 1.09 | ||
| Ground Turkey | 4.99 | Sale | |
| Dried Lentils | 1.49 | ||
| Eggs | 2.79 | ||
| Peanut butter | 2.50 | Sale | |
| Small bottle of oil | 1.99 | Sale | |
| Total: | 24.23 |
I just made it with .03 cents to spare. I'd like to note, that if the sales weren't as good as they were this week, I would have wound up being able to buy only one can of crushed tomato and one box of pasta which meant 4 additional meals would be missing.
What concerns me more is although I think I can make it by on the fruit and veg I've bought, I look at this menu and there is severe lacking in dairy/calcium. Even though I've filled in with beans and legumes, peanut butter and will stretch the ground turkey with rice, proteins are also lacking.
I'd like to say I'm sure I can make this a healthy and balanced diet but estimating the above, I've lost 7 meals. That would have been 11 meals had the pasta and crushed tomatoes not been on sale. I can fill it in by eating peanut butter on bread. Filling, but certainly not balanced. Not unhealthy, but not exactly healthy.
It's not a fail, exactly, but I'm not sure one could call it a success either. I'll see how far I can get on what I've bought.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Adventures at the Fruit and Vegetable Stand
I honestly thought the easiest part about doing this SNAP challenge would be buying the fresh produce. I knew in advance I'd need to cut back on my fruits. I usually eat 3 to 4 a day and I cut my allowance to two for this challenge. Let me start by showing and listing what I bought before I go into the dirty details of what I didn't buy and what I put back.
| 1 Romaine hearts | 3.99 |
| 1 lb Carrots | 0.79 |
| 4 Zucchini | 0.67 |
| 2 Tomato | 0.94 |
| 3 lb Onions | 1.29 |
| 4 Potatoes | 1.50 |
| 1 Garlic | 0.52 |
| 5 Bananas | 1.57 |
| 3 Apples | 2.07 |
| 2 Pears | 1.03 |
| 1 Oranges | 0.69 |
| 1 Cantaloupe | 1.19 |
| 2 loaves Italian Bread | 2.49 |
| Total: | 18.74 |
This looks like a lot, but it is less fresh produce than I would buy on a typical week. I was trying to keep the budget to $18. And that's without a few things I put back like broccoli, cucumber, a few kiwi and a couple of lemons to flavor plain water. I also put back a small container of about 1/4 lb container of walnuts to put in yogurt, salad and oatmeal. I had really hoped I could buy more oranges and apples to fill in for snacks and apple and peanut butter for lunch. The orange was bought more for some token effort to include some vitamin C in my diet, but I only splurged on that one and it put me over budget.
I bought pears even though they're not a favorite fruit of mine, but they were on sale for .69cents/lb. I bought a cantaloupe because it was on sale too and I know I could get four servings of fruit out of it. The bread is the only bread I will buy this week. I could have bought a 5lb bag of potatoes for $1.99 but they were spongy and smelled slightly of mold. I could have bought two whole heads of romaine that would last me the week, but I would have had to buy two and they were 2.69 a head. It was cheaper to spend 3.99 on the romaine hearts.
.74 cents doesn't sound like much over budget, but it's still over budget and must come out of my grocery store budget. Even with sales, that's going to be really tough to keep that shopping at or below $24.26.
I had no illusions this would be an easy exercise. I knew going into it that this would be tough even if I wasn't adhering to the original $29 challenge but using New York State's $45 allotment (minus $2 for the seeds I bought for my kitchen window herb garden.) Already it isn't a balanced nutritious meal plan because I've had to cut back on what the FDA recommends for servings on fruits and vegetables.
Tomorrow is grocery shopping. I can't say I'll be looking forward to it.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Thinking About Stuff: Beans and Legumes
Yesterday, I was thinking how exhausting the planning has been for this Food Stamps Challenge. This morning, a thought occurred to me. What if I was never taught to plan meals and cook? I know that sounds funny, but bear with me. Over the years I've learned a lot about nutrition and after learning a thing or two about beans and legumes, I began to try to find ways to incorporate them into my diet.
With this challenge, planning meals meant I needed flexibility on what to cook in relation to the sales. I'm used to doing that. I think everybody is used to doing this since the last economic downturn. Sales shopping is a no-brainer except what if you don't really know how to cook? But that's another blog.
I realized very early in my planning that I was going to have to substitute a lot of my meat intake with beans. There just isn't enough money in the budget to eat meat 7 days a week. If you look at the American diet, meat is in at least two meals a day. There's no way I could afford that on SNAP!
Fortunately, I started incorporating bean based recipes in my diet years ago. But, how many people can look at a package of beans and think to themselves "I can cook different meals six ways to Sunday with these?" I know I can't. I know how to make:
Black bean Soup
Lentil Soup
Cuban black beans
Mujadara (middle eastern lentils with rice and onions)
Curried lentils
Felafel (made with chick peas)
Well, on second thought, I can cook beans six ways to Sunday, but I only really know how to make 6 bean based recipes. What if I didn't?
On SNAP benefits, one would need to know how to make bean based recipes. I'd like to say I'm expert at it, because according to my nutritionist, as an American I incorporate more beans and legumes into my diet than most, but I'm not. Yet, she made the point that I incorporate more beans into my diet than her other patients. Far more than the average American who puts a scoop of kidney beans into their salad or eats a bean burrito a couple of times a week and feels good about going vegan. It's not enough.
This got me to thinking. Take the average middle American family that suddenly finds itself in a downturn. Dad lost his job and can't find another one. Mom works, but doesn't make enough to pay the bills and buy food. The family finds itself on SNAP benefits that are half-that of their regular food bills. They can not continue to eat as they had when their financial picture was better. They can not continue eating meat seven days a week one, two or even three times a day.
I commented to a friend yesterday that my biggest problem with this challenge was variety. But that variety centered around meats. It's a mindset that anyone finding themselves on SNAP needs to get over. A very difficult thing for an American used to lots of meat in their diet. Now I understand why the "go to" for families on SNAP is starch like rice and pasta. It's cheap, filling but doesn't meet nutritional needs without beans. And if you don't know how to cook beans... you're metaphorically cooked nutrition-wise.
With this challenge, planning meals meant I needed flexibility on what to cook in relation to the sales. I'm used to doing that. I think everybody is used to doing this since the last economic downturn. Sales shopping is a no-brainer except what if you don't really know how to cook? But that's another blog.
I realized very early in my planning that I was going to have to substitute a lot of my meat intake with beans. There just isn't enough money in the budget to eat meat 7 days a week. If you look at the American diet, meat is in at least two meals a day. There's no way I could afford that on SNAP!
Fortunately, I started incorporating bean based recipes in my diet years ago. But, how many people can look at a package of beans and think to themselves "I can cook different meals six ways to Sunday with these?" I know I can't. I know how to make:
Black bean Soup
Lentil Soup
Cuban black beans
Mujadara (middle eastern lentils with rice and onions)
Curried lentils
Felafel (made with chick peas)
Well, on second thought, I can cook beans six ways to Sunday, but I only really know how to make 6 bean based recipes. What if I didn't?
On SNAP benefits, one would need to know how to make bean based recipes. I'd like to say I'm expert at it, because according to my nutritionist, as an American I incorporate more beans and legumes into my diet than most, but I'm not. Yet, she made the point that I incorporate more beans into my diet than her other patients. Far more than the average American who puts a scoop of kidney beans into their salad or eats a bean burrito a couple of times a week and feels good about going vegan. It's not enough.
This got me to thinking. Take the average middle American family that suddenly finds itself in a downturn. Dad lost his job and can't find another one. Mom works, but doesn't make enough to pay the bills and buy food. The family finds itself on SNAP benefits that are half-that of their regular food bills. They can not continue to eat as they had when their financial picture was better. They can not continue eating meat seven days a week one, two or even three times a day.
I commented to a friend yesterday that my biggest problem with this challenge was variety. But that variety centered around meats. It's a mindset that anyone finding themselves on SNAP needs to get over. A very difficult thing for an American used to lots of meat in their diet. Now I understand why the "go to" for families on SNAP is starch like rice and pasta. It's cheap, filling but doesn't meet nutritional needs without beans. And if you don't know how to cook beans... you're metaphorically cooked nutrition-wise.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Every Little Bit Helps
I'm finding it monumentally difficult to devise a relatively healthy meal plan for 7 days on $43. In some ways impossible! It would be far easier to budget out $194 over the month and give myself a more varied diet if I shopped the way I do normally: Shop the sales for the best price over the month and portion out the packages of different meats (eating some and freezing the rest for another week). Adhering to the challenge means $45 and that's that. So, my diet will be less varied. It seems fundamentally flawed to me, because it isn't how I normally shop.
What will likely save my taste buds is that the Associated Supermarket near me will have quartered chicken legs on sale for 59 cents a pound. I can make chicken in a variety of ways. So as I was planning on making a sauce, I will use chicken legs and thighs (I'll do my own butchering to separate leg from thigh) and put them in the sauce instead of Italian sausages. Ground turkey also went on sale for $2.69 per pound. Far healthier and I can do lots of different things with these two meats, but I am mindful that a sale like this doesn't happen often. But, it might very well have saved my blood pressure!
Before this last circular came out, I was concerned about dairy/calcium. I generally drink milk in my coffee, a glass with one meal and eat a yoghurt every day. This provides the USDA recommended amount of calcium for women my age. With a half gallon of milk at 2.79 and my habit is to go through about two half gallons a week, I will need to cut out that glass of milk out of my diet and limit myself to one half-gallon. Limiting to one half gallon, also cuts out the possibility of cereal. I'd never be able to keep to 1/2 gallon if I had cereal in the morning. The good news is I thought I might have to cut out yoghurt out of my diet next week as well. I won't because yoghurt goes on sale 6/$3 starting tomorrow.
A package of Bustillio coffee will be $1.99 on sale instead of $3.99. I've never tried this brand before, but my Hispanic friend tells me it's the only brand she'll drink. It's only six ounces, so I'll need to limit my coffee. I will likely go from three cups a day down to two.
No sale on cake mixes (boo hoo!) Sometimes you can get a box of cake mix for as little as .79 cents. I wouldn't have had frosting but I would still have a sweet to fall back on. My only hope is that MetFoods will put them on sale with Sunday's circular.
I also priced out a small bottle of oil for cooking. An off-brand 16oz bottle of corn oil will be $1.99. Again, here is where I find a flaw. I don't buy oil every week. One 48 oz bottle will last me a month and I can generally wait to buy it on sale for $1.99. So, I'm paying a lot more for the smaller bottle, but saving my budget. I'm finding this a big issue with other things as well.
Butter: I go through about a 1lb package a month. I wouldn't buy butter every month but wait for it to go on sale (generally 2.99 per lb). I noticed today that a 1/2 lb package of butter was $3.49. Yikes! That works out to $1.75 a stick! Double-Yikes!
Oatmeal: I generally go through a carton of oatmeal in about three weeks. Buying a package of store brand will take out $1.29 and I will only go through, at best, half of it.
Rice: Well I've already gone over that in a previous blog so I won't go there and make your eyes glass over.
Lentils: I plan to make lentil soup next week. I'll pay for the whole package (1.49 cents) but only use half to make the soup.
This is the biggest problem in adhering to this challenge. Planning meals with a small budget but needing/wanting to buy items that are prohibitively expensive in smaller packages or being forced to make a choice because although butter might be on sale for 2.99 a lb, I can't buy the one stick I use each week.
So next week will be a no butter week. Instead I'll use peanut butter on my toast which is on sale for 2.50 a jar.
I'm going to really miss butter...
What will likely save my taste buds is that the Associated Supermarket near me will have quartered chicken legs on sale for 59 cents a pound. I can make chicken in a variety of ways. So as I was planning on making a sauce, I will use chicken legs and thighs (I'll do my own butchering to separate leg from thigh) and put them in the sauce instead of Italian sausages. Ground turkey also went on sale for $2.69 per pound. Far healthier and I can do lots of different things with these two meats, but I am mindful that a sale like this doesn't happen often. But, it might very well have saved my blood pressure!
Before this last circular came out, I was concerned about dairy/calcium. I generally drink milk in my coffee, a glass with one meal and eat a yoghurt every day. This provides the USDA recommended amount of calcium for women my age. With a half gallon of milk at 2.79 and my habit is to go through about two half gallons a week, I will need to cut out that glass of milk out of my diet and limit myself to one half-gallon. Limiting to one half gallon, also cuts out the possibility of cereal. I'd never be able to keep to 1/2 gallon if I had cereal in the morning. The good news is I thought I might have to cut out yoghurt out of my diet next week as well. I won't because yoghurt goes on sale 6/$3 starting tomorrow.
A package of Bustillio coffee will be $1.99 on sale instead of $3.99. I've never tried this brand before, but my Hispanic friend tells me it's the only brand she'll drink. It's only six ounces, so I'll need to limit my coffee. I will likely go from three cups a day down to two.
No sale on cake mixes (boo hoo!) Sometimes you can get a box of cake mix for as little as .79 cents. I wouldn't have had frosting but I would still have a sweet to fall back on. My only hope is that MetFoods will put them on sale with Sunday's circular.
I also priced out a small bottle of oil for cooking. An off-brand 16oz bottle of corn oil will be $1.99. Again, here is where I find a flaw. I don't buy oil every week. One 48 oz bottle will last me a month and I can generally wait to buy it on sale for $1.99. So, I'm paying a lot more for the smaller bottle, but saving my budget. I'm finding this a big issue with other things as well.
Butter: I go through about a 1lb package a month. I wouldn't buy butter every month but wait for it to go on sale (generally 2.99 per lb). I noticed today that a 1/2 lb package of butter was $3.49. Yikes! That works out to $1.75 a stick! Double-Yikes!
Oatmeal: I generally go through a carton of oatmeal in about three weeks. Buying a package of store brand will take out $1.29 and I will only go through, at best, half of it.
Rice: Well I've already gone over that in a previous blog so I won't go there and make your eyes glass over.
Lentils: I plan to make lentil soup next week. I'll pay for the whole package (1.49 cents) but only use half to make the soup.
This is the biggest problem in adhering to this challenge. Planning meals with a small budget but needing/wanting to buy items that are prohibitively expensive in smaller packages or being forced to make a choice because although butter might be on sale for 2.99 a lb, I can't buy the one stick I use each week.
So next week will be a no butter week. Instead I'll use peanut butter on my toast which is on sale for 2.50 a jar.
I'm going to really miss butter...
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
SNAP (Food Stamps) Challenge
The other day I saw a meme on Facebook of how Gwyneth Paltrow was going to take the Food Stamps Challenge and challenged someone else to do it with her. The idea behind the challenge is to illustrate how hard it is for singles and families to subsist on Food Stamps (SNAP Benefits) by living on the average SNAP benefit of a $29 budget to buy food for the week for one person without using anything already in one's kitchen, like rice, oatmeal, salt, sugar etc.
I'm not a big fan of Paltrow's but it got me to thinking, especially after I saw the photo of the food she bought with the $29 challenge (and btw, clearly she's not a 'shopper' - I could have planned out and shopped for what she bought for far less.) I'm a bit squirrely on the amount. $29 seems extreme considering I have a neighbor who receives SNAP benefits and his works out to be $45 and change a week. He receives top benefits as he is disabled, but I learned that if you have no income coming in, one does get the top benefit here in New York State.
The second thing that made me a bit squirrley was that SNAP is an acronym for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program which is a Federal and State funded program for people living under the poverty level. It's not meant to comprise the entire food budget for a person or a family. SNAP is meant to supplement and assist buying good nutritious food. Yet, we find so many singles and families trying to live on these benefits because they have to. Sadly, they have no other alternative but to make the budget work.
While doing some research on SNAP, I learned that other States give far less. And that's sad because it forces people to subsist on less than healthy but cheap processed food. Additionally, I know I have resources here in my fair corner of Brooklyn that most people don't have. I know that some people have no access to fresh produce except for the pricey stuff at the supermarket where I have multiple markets in which to buy the best produce for the best price. I am also the proud farmer of a kitchen window herb garden I was able to create. Snaps (no pun intended) to my brother Richard for making the trip from Rhode Island and installing shelves in my window so I could grow and enjoy fresh herbs.
That being said, I decided I'm going to self-style my own SNAP challenge based on what benefits I would receive: $45 a week. I'm also going to go on the premise that I've lost my job and have no income coming in. That last bit was after a long discussion with buddies on my Facebook page about whether or not spices and sugar should be included in this.
1. I don't use sugar unless I'm baking or make a sauce or chili. I've been using the same 5lb bag of sugar since last October. So, I will not be budgeting for sugar in this challenge.
2. Salt and Pepper: I buy peppercorns yearly but that's more for freshness than actual usage and I'm using the same one pound box of salt I bought a year and a half ago. So, I will not be budgeting for salt or pepper I use while cooking.
3. I will limit myself to herbs I grow on my kitchen window garden. I did concede that I'd deduct $2 for seeds that I used to make it, because evidently one can buy seeds to grow food with SNAP benefits. If I make curry or chili, I will use part of my budget to buy the spice. But I will buy the cheap stuff. You know the $1 a bottle kind that I would buy if I were under the constraint of living on SNAP.
4. Because I know I have the advantage of fresh produce at great prices, I will be limiting myself to two fresh fruits a day. My usual intake is 3-4 fruits a day. Also, if I run out of any fruit or veg... that's it. No purchasing more unless I have the extra money.
5. I will only include items I plan to eat that week. So for example, instead of eating off the last half of a box of oatmeal which takes me 2 to 3 weeks to finish, I will buy a new box. I will buy a small bottle of oil instead of using what I already have in the house. Same with lentils, kidney beans, butter and yogurt.
6. Rice is an issue. After much discussion, on my Facebook page with buddies, I decided that I will pro-rate the cost in advance of what I'll use. Let's face it... I'm a single person. If I buy a 5lb bag of rice, I'm not going to use it in one week. It would take me more like two months to use up a bag of rice.
7. Coffee too is an issue. Its a necessity. I generally buy 3 bags for $20 at Dunkin Donuts which lasts me about six weeks. It pro-rates out to about $3.50 a week. Cheaper than buying it at the market. BUT two issues with that: 1. coffee might be on sale for cheaper at the market. 2. The Dunkin near me doesn't take SNAP benefits. So it looks like I'll be budgeting for a can of coffee at the market. Not having my Dunkin Coffee is going to be a hardship. But that's what this challenge is about, isn't it? Finding out the hardships of trying to live on SNAP benefits.
8. I will base my menu plan on sales and purchases from the one produce stand (Three Guys From Brooklyn) and two small markets that are within walking distance of my house. (On that point I am at a big disadvantage because there are no big supermarkets in my neighborhood.)
Yes I know I'm making my own rules, but they're rules based on how I buy and my actual usage of food stuffs. A more realistic scenario to see how hard it is to actually live on SNAP benefits instead of the average I suspect constitutes the original challenge of $29. Still.. I'm under no illusion of how hard this will be based on $43 a week (deducting seeds from the budget in consideration of my existing herb garden.) I'm going to need to make changes in my diet and that's going to be difficult. Less meat, dairy and fresh produce. Where I do eat beans and legumes, it's only twice a week or so. I'll need to increase that consumption in order to make my budget. I also know in advance I'm going to have to curb my sweet tooth ... and I have a BIG sweet tooth! Unless it's in the budget, no sweet goodies for me!
I'd be very happy to see your comments and thoughts on this challenge I will undertake starting on Saturday.
I'll start daily blogging after my shopping to let everyone know what I could buy with what SNAP benefits would afford me.
Stay tuned!
*Edited to add* In further discussions on my FB page the idea came up to snarf salt, sugar and pepper packets from local fast food restaurants. Which is something a person or family might do in order to not have to buy salt and pepper (and maybe sugar). So this is what I'll be doing.
I'm not a big fan of Paltrow's but it got me to thinking, especially after I saw the photo of the food she bought with the $29 challenge (and btw, clearly she's not a 'shopper' - I could have planned out and shopped for what she bought for far less.) I'm a bit squirrely on the amount. $29 seems extreme considering I have a neighbor who receives SNAP benefits and his works out to be $45 and change a week. He receives top benefits as he is disabled, but I learned that if you have no income coming in, one does get the top benefit here in New York State.
The second thing that made me a bit squirrley was that SNAP is an acronym for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program which is a Federal and State funded program for people living under the poverty level. It's not meant to comprise the entire food budget for a person or a family. SNAP is meant to supplement and assist buying good nutritious food. Yet, we find so many singles and families trying to live on these benefits because they have to. Sadly, they have no other alternative but to make the budget work.
That being said, I decided I'm going to self-style my own SNAP challenge based on what benefits I would receive: $45 a week. I'm also going to go on the premise that I've lost my job and have no income coming in. That last bit was after a long discussion with buddies on my Facebook page about whether or not spices and sugar should be included in this.
1. I don't use sugar unless I'm baking or make a sauce or chili. I've been using the same 5lb bag of sugar since last October. So, I will not be budgeting for sugar in this challenge.
2. Salt and Pepper: I buy peppercorns yearly but that's more for freshness than actual usage and I'm using the same one pound box of salt I bought a year and a half ago. So, I will not be budgeting for salt or pepper I use while cooking.
3. I will limit myself to herbs I grow on my kitchen window garden. I did concede that I'd deduct $2 for seeds that I used to make it, because evidently one can buy seeds to grow food with SNAP benefits. If I make curry or chili, I will use part of my budget to buy the spice. But I will buy the cheap stuff. You know the $1 a bottle kind that I would buy if I were under the constraint of living on SNAP.
4. Because I know I have the advantage of fresh produce at great prices, I will be limiting myself to two fresh fruits a day. My usual intake is 3-4 fruits a day. Also, if I run out of any fruit or veg... that's it. No purchasing more unless I have the extra money.
5. I will only include items I plan to eat that week. So for example, instead of eating off the last half of a box of oatmeal which takes me 2 to 3 weeks to finish, I will buy a new box. I will buy a small bottle of oil instead of using what I already have in the house. Same with lentils, kidney beans, butter and yogurt.
6. Rice is an issue. After much discussion, on my Facebook page with buddies, I decided that I will pro-rate the cost in advance of what I'll use. Let's face it... I'm a single person. If I buy a 5lb bag of rice, I'm not going to use it in one week. It would take me more like two months to use up a bag of rice.
7. Coffee too is an issue. Its a necessity. I generally buy 3 bags for $20 at Dunkin Donuts which lasts me about six weeks. It pro-rates out to about $3.50 a week. Cheaper than buying it at the market. BUT two issues with that: 1. coffee might be on sale for cheaper at the market. 2. The Dunkin near me doesn't take SNAP benefits. So it looks like I'll be budgeting for a can of coffee at the market. Not having my Dunkin Coffee is going to be a hardship. But that's what this challenge is about, isn't it? Finding out the hardships of trying to live on SNAP benefits.
8. I will base my menu plan on sales and purchases from the one produce stand (Three Guys From Brooklyn) and two small markets that are within walking distance of my house. (On that point I am at a big disadvantage because there are no big supermarkets in my neighborhood.)
Yes I know I'm making my own rules, but they're rules based on how I buy and my actual usage of food stuffs. A more realistic scenario to see how hard it is to actually live on SNAP benefits instead of the average I suspect constitutes the original challenge of $29. Still.. I'm under no illusion of how hard this will be based on $43 a week (deducting seeds from the budget in consideration of my existing herb garden.) I'm going to need to make changes in my diet and that's going to be difficult. Less meat, dairy and fresh produce. Where I do eat beans and legumes, it's only twice a week or so. I'll need to increase that consumption in order to make my budget. I also know in advance I'm going to have to curb my sweet tooth ... and I have a BIG sweet tooth! Unless it's in the budget, no sweet goodies for me!
I'd be very happy to see your comments and thoughts on this challenge I will undertake starting on Saturday.
I'll start daily blogging after my shopping to let everyone know what I could buy with what SNAP benefits would afford me.
Stay tuned!
*Edited to add* In further discussions on my FB page the idea came up to snarf salt, sugar and pepper packets from local fast food restaurants. Which is something a person or family might do in order to not have to buy salt and pepper (and maybe sugar). So this is what I'll be doing.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
The Lightening Tree
Across from
my bedroom window facing the Verrazano Bridge there is a small park. The park really nothing more than a tiny city
green space with some benches, trees and flowers, but it is lovely. This park has been and remains a great place
to sit in the warm weather, enjoy the fresh air and one’s neighbors. Often in the summer, some young person will
have their guitar, flute or other instrument and practice. Last summer a horn player visiting from New
Orleans graced us with some really great soulful music.
In this
park, on the eastern edge is an old growth Linden tree. It is as majestic as they come, but for some
reason it attracts lightening; so much so, that some in the neighborhood,
including myself, refer to it as the Lightening Tree. Its trunk is scarred and twisted and has to
have many branches removed because of damage done during severe lightening
storms. I have witnessed lightening
strike this tree during a summer storm and saw that afterward it had shed all
its leaves. I was sure that the tree
would not recover. Yet, this tree still
stood and thrived the next season shooting out new branches and leaves.
Some weeks
before Superstorm Sandy, I noted with sadness that the tree was marked with an
orange “X”. This “X” means that this
tree was slated for removal by the Park’s Department.
The night
Sandy hit, I lay in bed feeling the winds buffeting my old brick building that
has stood for more than 100 years. I
listened as the wind howled, the rain pelted and branches snapped. I also heard what must have been trees
falling and I thought: I wonder if that is the old Lightening tree
falling? I thought to myself there was no
way this damaged and scarred old tree could survive such an intense storm.
The next
morning, I walked outside to see the damage around the neighborhood. I looked to the south and to my amazement the
tree still stood. It was only one of
three trees in this small park to survive the storm. This tree has yet to be removed by our parks
service even after eight or so months after being marked as too weak and
scarred to stand. 
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