Today we finished up our grocery shopping for this week's SNAP Challenge. Our food budget for the week for our family of five is less than $130.00. We experienced a significant amount of stress at the store, making sure that the items on our list fit within the budget. Living within this budget is definitely do-able, but it requires a great deal of planning. What ingredients will we need for each meal? Where can we substitute cheaper items? How can we make sure we are receiving the nutrition we need? We had to forego brands we were used to. Snacks that, last week, were standard - this week, are a luxury we can't afford. Our selection of fresh produce has been severely limited. And this budget will not allow us to pick up a pizza and salad on our way home from work if we are feeling too tired to cook one night.
Having said all of that, there were no complaints around the table during dinner tonight. Everyone understood that what we are choosing to do for one week, in order to raise awareness and grow in empathy, millions in this country (not to mention around the world) are forced to do each day. We hope that this exercise helps us to implant within our hearts a greater sense of compassion for all those who struggle with food insecurity and hunger, and that that compassion will, in turn, lead us to work with a greater sense of urgency to help alleviate hunger here and abroad.
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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