Reflecting on our second day of the challenge we are remembering some of the lessons we learned last year. While we are in no way lacking for sustenance, we have yet to feel fully satisfied after any meal of the day. Breakfast was cereal and milk. Lunch was PB&J sandwiches, some chips and a piece of fruit. We could not afford the 100% whole wheat bread we usually eat, and our 13 year old noticed that the white bread we bought for 85 cents a loaf is not filling enough for him at lunch. We are contemplating sending him with two sandwiches in his lunch sack tomorrow, but we're not sure (projecting ahead to the rest of the week) that we can spare the extra slices of bread or the extra peanut butter. Everyone had one small granola bar for an after school snack. For dinner we had 1/2 a grapefruit, broccoli, and mac 'n cheese with a scoop of ice cream for dessert. This was, by far, the best meal of the day.
After dinner I hard boiled 4 of the 12 eggs I bought for the week to give us some variety for lunch tomorrow. Unfortunately, I was careless as I put the eggs into the water and one of the eggs cracked and boiled itself outside of the shell. It was not an attractive sight. Normally I would have probably thrown the egg away, but it seemed like too big of a waste. Our 13 year old agreed and said he would be happy to eat the egg as his "second dessert." We talked for a while about how careful an individual or family living on such a limited food budget has to be when preparing food. We also talked about how lucky we are to be experiencing this challenge as a family. It is hard for any of us to imagine trying to survive for a week as one person, with less than $30 to purchase food.
At the end of Day Two, the general mood in the house is hungry, but grateful.
Can You Imagine What Hunger Feels Like?
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From Jan. 26-Feb. 1, 2014, members, staff and clergy of Congregation Shaare Emeth will take the SNAP Challenge and try to live on the average food budget of a Missouri SNAP recipient – just $29.25 per week or less than $1.40 per meal. SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps). Why are we doing this? To raise awareness about the struggles faced by millions of food-insecure households, to experience first-hand how difficult it is to afford nutritious foods, and to renew our commitment to do what we can to put an end to hunger.Please join us by attending one of our hunger events, following our blog as we document our experiences (subscribe by email in the box on the right, subscribe to the blog feed, or check back daily), joining as SNAP Challenge participant and blog author, or participating in an alternate way. Let's all learn a little more about what it's like to live solely on food stamps.
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