Kicking off the SNAP Challenge: 7 Days on a Food Stamp Budget

September is National Hunger Action Month, a Feeding America initiative to raise awareness and mobilize communities to end hunger in our country.  For the last full week of September, I will be taking part in the SNAP Challenge.  For the next seven days, I will live on a meager $33.79, the average SNAP benefit for individuals in Washington D.C. (SNAP stands for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as Food Stamps).  This breaks down to $4.83 a day, $1.61 a meal.

Before I even start, I want to make it very clear that I don’t even pretend to believe that this challenge will make me understand what it’s like to rely on Food Stamps.  It is impossible to mimic the difficult realities of food insecurity, and I have no illusions that these seven days will make me understand what it’s like to go to bed hungry on a regular basis or to not know if you will have enough money to feed your kids at the end of the month.

What I am trying to do is raise awareness of the this essential federal program and highlight how devastating additional cuts would be for those who rely on already limited benefits.  In addition to my own experiences with the SNAP challenge, each post will include facts about the program, as I believe it is often misunderstood.  Personally, I am hoping to better understand the difficult choices recipients must make when shopping for food and to begin to develop strategies to create meals within this limited budget that are not just filling but also nutritious.

Everyone creates slightly different rules, but these are the ones I will be following:

1. My food budget for the week is $33.97.  This breaks down to $4.83 a day and $1.61 a meal, but I can budget it as I like throughout the week.  If I want a filet mignon on day 1, it just means a hungry next six days.
2. Coupons are permitted, but stores with membership fees are not.
3. The budget can only be spent at places that accept EBT.  This means no restaurants or coffee shops, although some farmers markets are permitted.
4. Do not eat food that you purchased prior to starting the challenge.  While most versions I’ve seen allow you to use spices and condiments from your cupboards, I will be following stricter rules and limiting this to salt and pepper.  Spices are expensive, and it has taken me years to accumulate the extensive spice cabinet I have.  Most SNAP recipients do not have the means to invest in spices.  The only exception I will allow is fats for cooking; the amount you use for cooking is too negligible to justify the purchase of a bulk container.  However, fats for purposes other to grease a pan must come out of the weekly budget.
5. Free food is permitted only if it is accessible to the general public.  This means that I cannot eat off a friend’s plate at happy hour, enjoy baked goods my coworker brought in, or do a hop of the the evening’s Congressional receptions.
6. For every dollar I go over my budget, I will donate a dollar to the Capitol Area Food Bank.

My challenge starts Monday morning and will go through lunch on Sunday.  I hope you’ll follow along, or even join me!

Johanna