While Visions of Burritos Danced in my Head...

As I see the end in sight, I feel the need to reflect back on what Sunny and I have learned this week. I know I am humbled by the experience and feel so very lucky for the life I have. Sunny mentioned how hard it was to not use the food we already had in our homes… being able to open up the fridge and having it full of condiments and other items. We both realize that is not the reality in many homes. How many times do you look through the cupboard in your kitchen and think “there is nothing to eat”. The reality is there is more than plenty to eat. Meals upon meals could probably be made from what we all have at our homes right now. We are lucky to have the luxury to choose what we want to eat, or what we feel like eating.

I also feel lucky to have enough money to buy the foods that are healthiest for me. One could eat healthy for very little money, but that requires more time. Dry beans are cheap, but I know I do not have time to soak, sort, and then cook those beans. I choose to buy black beans instead. I could make whole grain breads if I did not have to work. All those great bags of field greens I buy from the store, could be grown and eaten, but again where am I to get the time. If I do not have the time then how is the single mom with 3 jobs going to do it. I now understand why people choose to eat fast food as often as they do. It is cheap and easy. I know I enjoy my fair share of French fires, but my diet is not based on it. I also have had the opportunity to learn more about Nutrition in general, which means I have the tools to make better choices. We have this great program here at OFS, called Operation Frontline. Aaron, our nutritionist, teaches lower income families how to eat and buy healthier food. I really see after this week why this program is so very important to our community.

Of course as each day passes I write these posts while dreaming of the burrito I will be eating on Saturday….(families on food stamps do not have that luxury)

The Incredible Shrinking Woman!

I have read that other people participating in this challenge have lost weight. I did not think that would happen to me. I eat a healthy diet and watch my empty calorie intake. Well I was wrong. It is only Wednesday and I have lost 3lbs. Obviously it is the reduction in my portion size. Every meal I eat with the girls I am careful to make sure they get their seconds before I take my first. And I must say a few times I have been reduced to eating whatever they have left on their plates. Really it is kind of gross. Mac and Cheese left in the bottom of the bowl, or a part of a hot dog that is already cold. The hotdog thing in general is disgusting. Normally I buy kosher, all beef hotdogs for the 2 times a year we eat them, but the cheapest has ingredients in them I have never heard of. I had to get a Boca burger donated to us for my daughter Chloë, because she is a vegetarian. I must say I was very jealous of her veggie burger, and wished she had left some for me on her plate.

Sunny was able to get chicken on sale, which seemed like a great buy at the beginning of the week, but she is now getting to the point where she never wants to see a piece of chicken again. She has also shared that she is not sure how much longer she will be able to do this, and may decide to end the challenge early.

Both Sunny and I have been lucky when it comes to the support of our family and friends. My best friend and her husband have even joined me part way on this journey, opting to eat several dinners with us this week. Sunny’s husband has also agreed to participate and has eaten all of his dinners with her. That is not to say some people in my life have not used this opportunity to torment me with the details of how wonderful the burritos are they have eaten this week. Have I mentioned how much I love burritos?!?

Lunch at Our Desks AGAIN!!

Ah, another day and another lunch Sunny and I sit at our desks eating our food. Sunny with her soup and I am eating pasta yet again. This will be my 4th meal of pasta. Last night was our board meeting and we served the board members burritos. Really big, filled with goodness burritos. There were leftovers, and they sit in the fridge taunting me as I eat my whole ½ cup of fettuccini. I know I am not eating what I need to be healthy. My diet has been filled with nothing but refined carbs. I love carbs. I really love carbs, but I usually consume them in their whole grain form. Of course the ultra refined version of breads and pasta are the cheapest, and are what most lower income families are likely to buy.

This is a real issue in our inner city communities. How to get families to eat healthier, when financially it is not possible. We received an e-mail just yesterday from a woman in the community, asking for help in changing her diet. This is what she had to say….

“I've never done anything like this before in my life but I need help. I need help with purchasing food items. Although I receive $284 dollars a month in food stamps I am unable to purchase the items that I need to have to eat healthier. I have been warned that if my blood sugars don't get lower in the next 6 months I will be diabetic. My daughter too is very heavy. We try to eat healthy, but the whole grains, sugar free, lean meat products that we need to achieve this goal are just too expensive. I don't know what to do to get better.”

I cannot believe the timing on this e-mail. Her struggle mirrors what we are trying to prove, in order to eat healthy there need to be more resources for lower income families. More food donated to organizations like ours, more funding for the food stamp program.

By the way as I finish writing this latest post I have finished my lunch and I am still hungry.

Shopping with the Girls

Shopping with the girls was harder than I thought it would be. Both of my kids are pretty good, and they are not the kind of kids you see screaming for candy in the checkout line. But I did have to say no to many requests. Things that normally I would buy…blueberries, yogurt, string cheese. All of these things were too expensive and would have broken my budget.
It looks like the week will be filled with pasta. And peanut butter. I am allergic to peanuts, so really the PBJ is for the girls’ lunch. I am hoping we have leftovers some days, otherwise I will be eating a lot of ramen.
Before we went shopping we came up with a menu together. We will be eating pasta with red sauce (twice), macaroni and cheese with peas, bean burritos (no sour cream, no salsa), hot dogs and baked beans, another pasta with butter and tomatoes, more bean burritos and breakfast for dinner. For the mornings we will be eating Cheerios everyday (not really so much Cheerios, but “toasted oats”). As we walked through the store it was the cheapest of the items I bought. That means no whole grain bread, only fatty refried beans and I really do not want to know what is in the hot dogs.
I was able to get a bag of apples and some bananas, but I do not think there are enough to last me the week. And there are certainly not enough for me to eat any. I really just want to make sure the girls have enough.

Getting Ready for the Challenge

My name is Amy Graham-King and I am the Director of Food Resources at Operation Food Search. I am a single mom with two girls: Chloë, 8 and Mia, 4. Together, along with the OFS Executive Director Sunny Schaefer, we are going to take on the Food Stamp Challenge starting this Saturday. This means I will only have $21 a piece to feed myself and my children for 7 days. Right now my biggest concern is making sure both of the kids have plenty to eat. I am sure this is a common worry for women who are faced with this challenge every week throughout the year. I cannot imagine anything more heartbreaking than having to send my children to bed hungry. To avoid this I may have to skip a meal or two myself.

As the week continues I will keep an online diary so you can follow all of us on this journey.

$21 a Week Food Stamp Challenge

To commemorate Hunger Awareness Day on June 5th, Operation Food Search is sponsoring the food stamp challenge to raise awareness of the problem of hunger. The challenge is to live a week on the average food stamp benefit, spending no more than $21 per person for food and drink for the entire week.

Operation Food Search staff and volunteers are accepting the challenge. One person, the director of food resources, is a single mother with two children, typical of a family we serve. We invite others to join us during the month of June. Let us know how you dealt with the challenge of feeding yourself and your family on the limited amount of money.

The food stamp challenge was first issued last month by Congressional Representatives Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass), cochairmen of the House Hunger Caucus. They called on lawmakers to join them in taking the challenge to raise awareness of hunger and the inadequate benefits for food stamp recipients.

Operation Food Search is the largest distributor of free food in the bi-state region. Each month the organization provides more than 1 million pounds of food to 100,000 people in need.