I begin my Hunger Challenge tomorrow, and I unintentionally had my “last supper” all day today. At every meal I couldn’t help but think about whether or not what I was eating would be feasible on food stamps. Most of the time, the answer was no. No Kaldi’s coffee. No Lara bars. No Local Harvest brunch. No frozen yogurt at Chill. Today I realized that I live a very luxurious food life compared to many people in my community. But that’s why I volunteered to participate in this challenge- to give myself and whoever is reading this a wake-up call.
I am a college student at SLU- you’re probably thinking “that’s not fair, college students already know how to eat cheap.” But I’m not just any college student, I am a Nutrition and Dietetics student. Translation: I love food, I love healthy food, I love specialty grocery stores, I love cooking with all my cookbooks and kitchen gadgets, and I love trying new restaurants. I cut costs in other areas of my life to allow myself a rather hefty (for a college student) food budget. This week will definitely be a challenge.
I grocery shopped for the week today. I decided on two stops, Trader Joe’s and Schnucks, and I did some heavy meal planning before leaving the house. I realize that I already have an incredible advantage because I have the time, desire, and nutrition knowledge to sit down and plan my meals for the week- fully utilizing every item. I also have a car and I’m not dealing with the symptoms of HIV/AIDS or cancer. The process of calculating prices and hunting for the cheapest items was exhausting. My grand total for the week is $27.48.
It’s not even day one and I’m already counting my blessings.
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