Last days of the Food Stamp $21 Challenge

If you haven't had a chance, please read my first two entries (here and here) or the $21 Food Stamp Challenge

Day 5

Today was not a good day in the food/energy category. Oatmeal for breakfast…had a conference call at the lunch hour, so went to grab my lunch beforehand to boost energy. I couldn’t find my lunch anywhere. I know I had lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, one hard boiled egg, and half a can of tuna fish for today’s and tomorrow’s lunches. Where did I put it? Did I leave it out on the counter mistakenly and it got put in the trash? Did someone else mistake it for their own lunch? Did my food go to the same place where the socks go when they don’t come out of the dryer?! In any case, very bad timing!

So, during any other week, being able to weather this type of unforeseen circumstance...I would have pulled out my wallet, gone downstairs, and spent at least $4 for a half Asian Chicken Salad. I didn’t, but wow, did this make me think. Mistakes happen. Unforeseen circumstances arise constantly. People on food stamps cannot just pull out their wallets when a lunch or two have gone missing. What happens when one accidentally burns something when cooking? And, what if you are feeding children? Seems like the pressure is on to guard against such circumstances. That would be stressful! The consequences are high! I was in a bad mood for the rest of the day…I grabbed alittle bit of lettuce and tomato from a friend (estimated $1, increasing my debt)…the last serving of tofu vegetable stir fry for dinner just didn’t cut it for dinner. What was I going to do tomorrow for lunch

Debt after Day 6: $21.11 (exceeding my food stamp allotment!)

Day 6

Friday…oatmeal with raisins for breakfast (all gone now!). Also, I used the last of my ground turkey, tomatoes, and broccoli for lunch. I had a hard boiled egg for dinner. I rescheduled my evening dinner plans and opted for a movie. My friend bought a big bucket of popcorn….which I feasted on abundantly. It was filling – he hadn’t had dinner…and really, neither had I. I think this breaks the rules of the challenge! I’m crumbling…

Day 7

Saturday…Last egg, fried, for breakfast…it tasted good! If I didn't last night, I guess I went off the challenge at lunch, with a grilled (soy) cheese sandwich, with neither the 2 slices of bread nor the soy cheese on my original shopping list for the week. Hey, I convinced myself that this was okay because two lunches this week went gone! Anyway, the deviation of food item was fabulous. Would this be another $1 in debt? In the evening, I formally went off the challenge, when we ordered Thai for dinner. I had a beer while I waited.

Debt after Day 7: $22.11, plus Thai meal and a beer. Definitely over $30!

Post-challenge

Sunday…My church is opening its food pantry for a full afternoon the Monday before Thanksgiving… and offering a turkey and fixings for pantry visitors to take with them for later that week. I think I will volunteer. If you are in need of a food pantry or soup kitchen, call United Way-sponsored 211 to get the location nearest you.

Yet, we also need to find a way that people don’t need to come to a food pantry to begin with…or, ultimately, that people don’t need to rely on food stamps…so people’s dignity is respected…and folks’ basic needs are secure. In the meantime, please join me in responding to Liz’s invitation to contribute $21 (or more) to the Community Support Fund.

It is Sunday...and the preaching was on gratitude...and, ya know, I coordinated a food pantry for almost 10 years, and helped out with the soup kitchen...and I learned, over these seven days, in a new way...just a snapshot of the reality of those hundreds probably thousands of people that I met years ago. I respect those hundreds, probably thousands, even more now. And, I realize that I am really, really lucky.