Food Stamp Challenge Update
A little over a month ago, when my husband and I had decided to participate in the widely debated and discussed Food Stamp Challenge, our purpose for doing so, was to bring awareness to the alarming problem of food insecurity in this country and to take some time to reflect on what we could do within our own community, to help aid organizations that reach out to those in need. Unfortunately, our plans were put on hold when my husband was rushed to the emergency room, diagnosed with a ruptured appendix, and had to undergo surgery, just days before the challenge was scheduled. Thankfully there were no complications, he is currently doing much better, and our life is beginning to resume as normal again.
Although we had to postpone our participation in The Food Stamp Diet, it has still been weighing very heavily on our minds. Since that initial post, we have been astounded by the large number of people who have found this site by searching for quick, easy, and inexpensive recipes that could be afforded on a poverty level or food stamp budget. Due to the nature of the searches and key phrases used, we do not feel that many of these searches were done in correlation to the highly publicized Food Stamp Challenge. Instead, we truly suspect that there are a large number of people struggling to make ends meet and desperately seeking solutions for feeding their family on a shoestring budget for a number of reasons. Whether they are on food stamps or not is negligible at this point. The fact that they found this site while looking for viable solutions is enough to have further inspired us to offer what assistance we can.
It is with those thoughts in mind that my husband and I have decided to revisit some of the parameters we originally set for ourselves concerning the challenge. Because of this, our focus has slightly shifted away from the desire to incorporate as many organic items as possible. Our own observations have enlightened us to the fact that organics are often non existent or very hard to find in poverty stricken areas or economy priced no frills grocery stores. Also, for those who consistently live on $3 a day or less for meals, this is not a seven day challenge, but a way of life. Therefore, I feel compelled to leave behind something more substantial then a week long whining session about how hungry or light headed we are, while a fully stocked pantry is sitting under the very same roof…
Currently I am in the process of creating an emergency grocery list and menu that will help stretch that $1 per person each meal as far as possible while attempting to minimize the amount of empty carbohydrates and over processed foods. As before, the goal will be to include a variety of healthy meal suggestions that can be made in 15 minutes or less, be prepared in the most rudimentary of conditions, and help stave off those inevitable hunger pains as much as possible. As suggested by The Oregon Food Bank we will be assuming that the $42.00 that will be feeding the two of us for the week comes to us with an empty pantry which will need to be built from scratch. Also, taken into consideration is the apparent need for a variety of meals that can be successfully duplicated regardless of skill level or experience in the kitchen. It is my deepest hope that someone who may stumble upon my blog in hopes of finding a way to adequately feed their family on no more then $1 per meal or less each day will find at least a couple of viable options to help ease their plight.
Shopping for this diet will commence Thursday evening and we will begin the challenge on Friday. Thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and comments are welcome especially if they might one day be found helpful or encouraging to someone searching for ways to keep their own family’s hunger at bay.
