Blade Hunger Games

Welcome to the Food Stamp Challenge

Could you live on a food budget of $23 a week? That's the question facing Blade staffers this week as they participate in the Food Stamp Challenge. Here you can read about our thoughts and experiences as my colleagues and I have a food budget of just $23 each to stretch over five days.

The average food stamp recipient receives $138 per person, per month, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. As of February, more than 1.8 million Ohioans were receiving the assistance. In 2011, an average of 1.7 million people in Ohio received food assistance monthly. A total of $3 billion in benefits were issued in 2011 in Ohio; the program is federally funded.

-- Kate Giammarise, Blade staff writer

When your mind is always on food...

It’s midday on the fifth day of the Food Stamp Challenge, and I just finished breakfast and lunch from the vending machines: $1 yogurt and $1.25 for peaches to go with my oatmeal. It was delicious. I wanted nuts and raisins, but I didn’t have $1.50 for them. 

Dinner isn’t looking too appetizing. I am 31 cents over my $23 budget. On Thursday, I spent $3.91 more for reduced-price broccoli and carrots, corn, and canned black beans. There are no dinner foods left, so you know what that means? For dinner, oatmeal and toast, as there’s plenty of that left. 

Now, as this challenge winds up, I have a confession: I cheated. Twice. Yep. 

I put butter on my toast. As I spread it, I thought, “You know, Rose, people who are poor cannot cheat. If it’s not in the budget to buy, there’s none for toast.” The toast didn’t taste that great after that. 

The second time I cheated was on Thursday while doing a household project. I needed a boost of energy, so I downed a couple of handsful of almonds and raisins. I already had them at home but had not eaten any before on the challenge. The snack helped me to finish my project, but the guilt about not being true to the challenge made me feel rotten, and I couldn’t even blame the circular saw.   

After that experience, I thought about the working poor whose jobs often require labor. With no money for healthy snacks, no wonder people are attracted to cheaper snacks heavily laden with sodium, sugar, and carbs. I struggled to avoid my favorite snack, potato chips. Rekindling that romance would have put me back on the road to eating what’s not good for me more often.   

I hope policy makers paid attention to reports on the challenge. Food budgets must be increased for those who need assistance. I don’t know the answers as to how that should happen, but as my colleagues and I have shown, it has been tough to stay on the budget and think of much else besides food. 

— Rose Russell

Life is not fair

I've often wondered about the unfairness of life. I was born into a family with a mom and dad who both had paying jobs, and my maternal grandparents owned a 200-acre farm. I never thought about food until I went to college and saw people sitting on the streets in Columbus begging for change. I helped my grandmother tend a one-acre garden from the time I could carry a bucket. I helped her can each fall what she called "the basics" -- 100 quarts of peaches, 100 quarts of applesauce, and 100 quarts of tomatoes. We butchered a cow and a pig each year, plus ate as many eggs and chickens as we could gather and kill. The only issue about food was where to store it all. My grandmother was a generous soul, sending me regularly off to families in our small town that she said "needed the help" with peck baskets full of fruit, vegetables, and frozen packs of meat. I asked her one time why they didn't pay me for the food, and she sternly told me, "You should be grateful for what you have."

I've been thinking a lot these past five days not just about the food I couldn't eat, but about how grateful I should be about the plenty that's always been in my life. And why I've been so blessed. If I were born to a family in a public housing project in Toledo, I probably would have grown up hungry most of the time. If I were born to a family in Africa or Asia, I may not have grown up at all. But, by luck or fate, I was born into a family of plenty in a community of plenty in a country of plenty.

Living for five days on $23 is possible, but for me just a little inconvenient. Tomorrow I go back to my life of plenty. Life is not fair when so many have so little in a land of such plenty. ...

-- Dave Murray

Fail ... though not epic

I will be the first to admit it: I failed the food stamp challenge. I could not do it.

On Thursday I was dispatched to Pelee Island, a tranquil Canadian place with farm fields and extremely friendly folks who wave hello just for driving by on whatever paved or dirt road you may be on. I think I was down to less than $1.50, and while I could have packed three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the whole day, I did not.

Lunch turned into a philly cheese steak sandwich charged on a company credit card. So while I technically didn't pay for it, I still cheated and thereby failed the challenge. I skipped dinner last night.

Today is Friday and I am going to finish strong, hence the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the office refrigerator, a banana sitting on my desk, and the water fountain near by.

-- Ignazio Messina, Blade staff writer

Success is slightly boring

I’ve always felt it would not be that hard to eat healthy on a limited budget so this challenge was a good opportunity to put that theory to the test.

After five days, I can say that I lived within the $23 budget though I didn’t have much variety in my menus, didn’t eat out at all, didn’t snack, and I was at times a bit hungry.

Part of the reason was that I refused to give in and eat cheap carbohydrates like bread and pasta. I focused on fruit, vegetables, eggs, and chicken, buying nearly everything on sale. I drank water from the tap and enjoyed all the coffee I wanted with the $1 deal I got on Maxwell House (it was on sale and I had a coupon.)

My staples for the week included: a dozen eggs (99 cents), a large head of of romaine lettuce ($1.99), a 4-pound bag of frozen boneless chicken breasts ($6.99), a large cantaloupe ($1.50), bananas (39 cents/lb.), a pint of strawberries ($1.25), grape tomatoes ($2.50), and a 3-pound bag of granny smith apples ($3.49). My husband cooked up a batch of inexpensive bean/barley soup with a hambone left from Easter that sufficed for two meals.

It was not exciting stuff, but it was healthy and stayed in the budget. I think it would be challenging to do this week after week but, assuming you have the ability to stop at a few different stores, you can plan your meals around what’s on sale, what might stretch the farthest.

I’m thrifty as a rule, but I’m thankful I don’t have to be every day.

-- Jennifer Feehan, Blade staff writer

Here's hoping...

I’ve done the unthinkable. Today, I killed my best friend.

My pal who I used to cherish on sandwiches, my favorite flavor of cereal, the secret ingredient in some of my dinners, the best topper to any dessert.

Peanut butter is dead.

OK, a bit dramatic, but peanut butter has been my fail-safe, go-to food for years. I never dreamed of a world where peanut butter didn't taste good. But now I’m living in it, and I’ll tell you something, it’s gray.

It’s not all bad, though. Although my overdose of peanut butter sandwiches has had some casualties, it has also helped me to survive through Thursday on a mere $6. Bread, peanut butter, bananas, and orange juice (most purchased on sale or with a coupon) have carried me through breakfast and dinner and left me $17 to spice up my lunches. I’m not much of a snack person, so this strategy has worked well and helped me keep some semblance of balance. Sacrifice in the morning and at night, normal meal mid-day.

Saturday is a mere 24 hours away and I can’t wait to get back to my normal eating routine. Not just for the food, but for the convenience. I’m always on the go, so I eat out a lot. This week has taken a lot of grade school planning and diligence. It’s the hope for Saturday that keeps pushing me through this challenge.

And realizing that (and sticking to the dramatic theme), I started pondering about hope. How when I was dying for a home-cooked meal during those 'dark days' at college, when my friends still living out of their parents’ pockets wanted to go to the mall and I’d have to pass, favoring instead to spend my remaining dollars on gas to get to school or dinner off some dollar menu, that I always held on to the hope that it wouldn’t always be like this. That’s not to say college was awful. It was probably the best four years of my life. But once the meal plans were spent and I was working to pay for food and gas and rent, living on such a small budget got old and brought to the forefront why I was really there. I was shoveling every penny I had into my college education so I could someday afford to live a healthy lifestyle.

And now I can happily say I’m living in that reality. All that hard work has brought me somewhere that has given me the ability to stand on my own two feet and live comfortably.

But what do people living on SNAP hope for? They hope to make it through the day making sure their families don’t go hungry. They hope to someday say yes to their children when they ask for that treat at the grocery store that’s just a bit too pricey. They hope to make it through the grocery line without the fear that their SNAP card will be denied. They hope to someday leave food stamps behind.

And as this challenge comes to a close, I’m unsure of what I’ve learned from it. I’ve learned the obvious: that this is no way to live, that things need to change.

But what can be done about it? Do we aim to change food stamps or the people who use them? Is it a bit of both? Is minimum wage the problem?

Every time I think I have an answer, more questions pop up. If anything can be taken from following this week's Food Stamp Challenge, I hope it's an understanding that hunger is a very real problem for hardworking people across the country. And I hope that understanding comes with a sense of urgency to fix it.

--Ashley Sepanski, Blade Web Editor

I miss eating and spending money

I came to a disturbing conclusion today. I miss food, but I think I miss spending money even more. Part of the joy of eating, for me, is the joy of eating out. Buying that way too expensive coffee at Starbucks, deciding where to buy lunch, going out to dinner with my wife -- all these habits, I now realize, are centered around spending money.

The food-stamp challenge has forced me to change in so many more ways than not eating as much. The best change is that after I eat my meager meal at lunch that I've brought from home I head out for a long walk around downtown. Downtown Toledo is an amazing neighborhood. The architectural detail is astounding, the people on the streets interesting, and how many people get to walk for more than a mile along a river every day.

If you have never taken a hike on the trails surrounding the Owens Corning headquarters you've missed a great walk. This week I've seen a Great Blue Heron in flight just inches from the surface of the Maumee River, a Red-tailed Hawk chasing a fat pigeon (I immediately pictured the pigeon on my grill), a small Garter snake sunning itself, and a pair of Canada geese on the lawn between Summit Street and OC with 10 fuzzy young chicks in tow.

I've found that walking is a great antidote to hunger, that and the cheap bag of apples I bought at the beginning of the week.

I've spent $21.26 so far to eat these last four days, and have leftover beans and rice for tonight's dinner and a few pieces of romaine and two tomato slices. I have two eggs left for tomorrow's breakfast, plus enough rye bread left for two pieces of toast and for a sandwich for lunch tomorrow. I have one banana and one apple left for tomorrow, but nothing left for Friday night's dinner, except for the $1.74 I have yet to spend. Any suggestions? I'm thinking about splurging and heading to McDonald's and buying the double cheeseburger off the dollar menu and asking for a glass of ice water. That leaves me 74 cents. Is there still such a thing as penny candy? I'm craving sweets.

-- Dave Murray

Sick of peanut butter...

It’s amazing how quickly one can revert back to old habits.

As a recent college grad, it wasn’t long ago that I spent four years living on a tight budget. Not $23 tight, but there were plenty of times that it came pretty close. There was a period of two weeks once where I lived off of bread, peanut butter, and pop tarts. If I could make it through that, what was one week of the Food Stamp Challenge? Doable. Definitely doable.

Well, it’s day 3 and my confidence and shopping plans have hit a snag. I caught a pretty bad cold Sunday and when I woke Monday morning to start my day with my usual cold remedy, a cup of tea mixed with a packet of Emergen-C, I stopped short at the pantry. A box of Emergen-C costs about $12.99 in stores, plus as a vitamin supplement, it's not covered by my $23 for the week. On top of that, my tea to go with it was in K-Cup form, meaning it is designed to be made in a Keurig Coffeemaker and costs about $12 a box. This just wasn't going to work. I hung my head and gave a distraught cough. So much for that.

As an alternative, I’ve battled hunger and my cold with lots of orange juice, a banana every morning, and more peanut butter sandwiches than I’d care to eat. As a Web Editor, I work strange hours that make cooking difficult. It’s been a carb-filled week thus far and I fear I’m on the verge of ruining peanut butter for myself forever. I’ve certainly sunk back into my college habits. Late nights. Crappy food. Empty wallet. Bad immune system.

This challenge has been a wake-up call in more ways than one.

--Ashley Sepanski, Web Editor

Hump day

They call Wednesday hump day, as we’re on the downside, cruising to the weekend. People in the Food Stamp Challenge may not feel so excited if they are being true to the challenge and have little food and money left until Saturday.

So far I have spent $17.15 for 10 packets of oatmeal in a box; reduced yogurt; can of red beans; reduced fresh broccoli and carrots; white rice; dried black-eyed peas; a bag of mineolas; box of cornbread; loaf of bread; four ears of corn; six eggs, and a pack of gum.

You know what I’ve had for breakfast (oatmeal and yogurt), lunch (red beans, and left over rice and black-eyed peas and corn bread), and dinner on Monday and Tuesday (rice, black-eyed peas, corn on the cob, corn bread). 

Tuesday night, though, I needed something else, so I fixed an egg and two slices of toast. Because I have set aside seasonings I would normally use, on Tuesday I found myself wanting to add salt to lunch and dinner, thinking it would give me a fuller feeling. It did. A packet of salt from the cafeteria on lunch and a little on dinner made me feel better.

 

As I engaged in turmoil about using salt, I thought that perhaps high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes are so rampant in poorer communities because those residents consume a lot of foods with high amounts of sodium, sugar, and fat. After all, the money is simply not there for them to buy lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, which are more expensive.

Though not this week, I spend more than $23 a week for fresh foods. So now, if the grocery budget lets you get more food but that is less healthful, what are you going to do? Could it be that poor people’s grocery carts are filled with foods that are high in fat, salt, cholesterol, and sugar because those foods are more affordable and help ward off feelings of emptiness and hunger?

 

I hope the answer to those questions helps the more fortunate empathize with what  poor cope with regularly.

 

— Rose Russell, Blade Feature Writer 

I'm smelling food where ever I go

No joke, I think I smell food cooking everywhere. Fried food, mostly, which I don't usually eat, but it smells so good. Last night I made rice and beans and it was good, but that's dinner again tonight. Not sure what I'm going to eat on Thursday and Friday. I've already spent $18.76. I have enough food for lunches and breakfast, but the dinner meal is the real problem, plus I have nothing for evening snacks, which is really bothering me. I've lost 2 pounds so far, which is good. I'm already fantasizing about what I'll eat on Saturday. I'm thinking about a ham and cheese omlette for breakfast, lunch at Chipotle with lots of shredded pork and cheese, and dinner at Ciao's. And lots of coffee, and then more coffee...

-- Dave Murray

Day three

Obviously, no one wants to have only $23 a week for food. While some people have said "good for you" for taking the Food Stamp Challenge, others have suggested participants like Blade writers are making light of the plight that poor people face every day. This could not be further from the truth. The point of journalists taking part in the challenge is to raise awareness for the reader to make his or her own decisions and for us to gain a greater understanding of a huge segment of the American population.

My own week on the challenge is half-way done. No doubt the folks at Biggby, Jimmy John's, and Subway are wondering if I am out-of-town. Last night's dinner was leftovers from the night before. There is still enough food in that container for one more dinner tonight. Friday will be a challenge. I must subtract another $1 since I used a bag of frozen broccoli and cauliflower to add something healthy to the mix last night. That puts me down to $7.51. Breakfast today was another banana and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (I made two sandwiches and the second is for lunch today.) So let's see, that cost me another 30 cents for that morning banana, $2.50 for the loaf of bread on sale, and $3.28 for a jar of peanut butter.

That leaves me with just $1.43.

Growing up in a lower middle class Italian family in New York City, I learned to waste as little as possible. One of my father's catch phrases to this day is: "What's the matter? That's no good? Eat it!"

At the same time, it's amazing how much food people throw away after parties and weddings. My lesson learned this week: making your food stretch is possible if you throw away nothing, eat light, and bypass
the items that are healthy but more expensive. My guess is I will run out of food money before the end of the week and use that bread and peanut butter for four or five meals Thursday through Friday night.

--Ignazio Messina, Projects Editor