He we go!

Some Qualifiers

I'm attempting this challenge for two reasons. One, because Becky Reichart, our Development Director here at Food Outreach is smarter than me and essentially got me to paint myself into a corner by convincing me to invite Registered Dietitians I know to participate. To clarify: there is no way I couldn't participate after that. Second, I learn best by doing and this experience is going to make me a much better educator/RD, relative to the population I have the privilege to serve.

I am competitive to a fault, so I hear "challenge" and the internal flames ignite and the gears start turning and I'm looking for any advantage I can to secure victory. However, what I'm going to have to remind myself of during this "challenge" is there are no winners. This is not a game and even if I was able to complete the challenge with minimal discomfort and 100% of my RDAs , this is not something to brag about. Big deal if I can do it for a whopping, whole week. I'm a professional when it comes to nutrition, I have my own, reliable, transportation, and access to online sources that make the process much easier. I don't have any chronic diseases which leave me exhausted. I'm not trying to budget and plan after enduring chemotherapy or taking HAART that gives me chronic diarrhea. Most importantly, it's only a week. There IS an end in sight for me. I am by no means under any illusions that I'm "living the life" for a week.

Shopping Experience

I chose to do my shopping at Wal-Mart Supercenter. I live very close to one and that's where I usually shop. It took me an hour and seven minutes from the time I left the car to the time I got back in. This was sad, considering I'm a pro and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted going in. During my shopping I had a few surprises, some pleasant and some not so much..

The Good
Mustard greens are chee-eep and with 52.5% of your calcium per can, they are a nice alternative to those expensive dairy selections that remain oh-so-elusive in many of our clients' carts.

Canned beans, while not as affordable as bagged beans are still a steal and a great stop-gap for those unable to afford meat. I was willing to spend the extra on canned vs. bagged because of the huge difference in prep-time.

While I knew lentils were a nutritional powerhouse and I have liked the lentil soup I've tried in the past, I didn't know they were so easy to prepare. I lumped them in with the same category as beans but was rather giddy when I read the back and found I could make them in 15-20 min!

Light yogurt was probably the biggest shocker of the night for me. It was only 40 cents/container. It was only 1 cent higher/oz than the bulk yogurt and the bulk was not available in light. I might just hit my calcium goals yet!

Eggs: I found 12 for 96 cents and was all over that!

The Bad

I lived off of tuna and rice in undergrad during the times when my mealplan was off (Christmas and summer break). I was very disappointed to see that tuna in water had jumped up to 83 cents/can! And to be clear: that is for the cheapest one! In college it was 47-50 cents/can most weeks! Becky found some for 53 cents/can in oil but the 83 cents was the cheapest of any kind at Wal-Mart and I'd have to say I felt a little let down.

I've read a couple of people's entries on here and after talking to some folks, the bags of chicken where I shopped were clearly not the best price in town. I was actually going to try and work in a bag but 6.98 or roughly 25% of my budget, just wasn't feasible.

I forgot my calculator and my phone just irritates me in calculator-mode so I used the scanner on the pole. I made a couple of trips back and forth to the scanner and got some funny looks from folks, probably due to me scanning my entire cart.

The Ugly

Condiment prices are just freakin' reee-diculous! I was looking for hot sauce, mayo, and relish, and possibly some seasonings for the pasta and bean dish I'm going to make. I left with relish which I thought wasn't bad for a buck. I'm going to swipe the rest from a gas station hot dog bar. I drive 100 miles a day so they get plenty of business out of me, so I'm entitled..ooohhhh there's a charged word!

Canned chicken was almost as high as the bagged chicken once you did the math......what!!!!

I'm somewhat lactose intolerant and without getting into a semantics showdown with those clinical nutrition wizards out there; the bottom line is I can't drink milk. Soy milk was sky high, even with house brands and even if I could drink milk, the powdered skim milk, which is the canned answer many RD's spit out to address the high cost of dairy, only came in some bulk container, so large that it was something like 10 bucks or 30% of my budget.

Day One

Breakfast was easy because I always eat oatmeal so there was no change there. Lunch was a challenge, not from a hunger perspective but my 2 PB&J's and yogurt didn't really compare to some of my non-participating co-worker's dishes. Dinner will a bear because I'm going to have to actually make it and I can tell you after an hour's commute, cooking from scratch is not very high on my list of priorities. I AM Mr. Microwave! The plan is to make my pasta and bean dish tonight or the tuna salad. Either way, I'm going to knock out my meals for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow, all in one shot.

In closing, If you're not participating, you need to be!!!!!!!!!!!!

Josh

Hunger Action Month Kicks Off Today!

Hunger Challenge Participants at today's Press Conference:

St. Louis County Councilwoman Barbara Fraser

St. Louis Alderman President Lewis Reed

Missouri State Representative Rachel Storch

Food Outreach Executive Director Greg Lukeman

St. Louis Alderman Shane Cohn

Frank Finnegan, Executive Director of St. Louis Area Food Bank

Sunny Schaefer, Executive Director of Operation Food Search

Greg Lukeman, Executive Director of Food Outreach

Sunday at Schuncks

Although my husband and family encouraged me to visit Aldi's or Shop N Save for the $29 week challenge, I chose to go to Schnuck's because I wanted to see how I could manage my budget shopping at the store which I typically frequent because it is closest to my house. Like the other bloggers, I went to the store armed and ready with a well planned grocery list for the week(note, week, not weekend yet...too daunting).

As I shopped, I found myself being very grateful for the "price per ounce" assistance on the grocery shelves. I used this reference for almost every item comparison. I had no idea that a food like vegetable broth (which will go in my parsnip soup recipe) had such a wide range of prices when compared by the ounce. The soup recipe called for 64 ounces, so the highest broth price at 14 cents per ounce compared to the cheapest broth at 4 cents per ounce really made a difference .

Another shocker, or shall I say disappointment, was how small the apples are that came in the #3 pound bag. With 13 apples in the bag, each apple set me back 23 cents. I did feel better knowing the apples were grown in Missouri, but when eaten as a snack, the small portion left me wishing for more.

Once I got home from the store, I decided that preparing my dinner meals for the week would ensure I stuck to the meal plan. The first recipe (which I will share later) was a parsnip and carrot soup and the second meal was a lentil, pasta, and rice dish with a mint butter sauce. Both recipes turned out pretty tasty, and I was happy to be able to include my "mint on steroids" plant from backyard garden. Free herbs are coming in handy.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I am addicted to the 94% fat free Act II kettle corn. I am not for sure if it's the popcorn that I love or the relaxation of eating the popcorn while I watch "Chopped" on the Food Network. Either way, the microwave popcorn was too expensive so I grudgingly purchased the plain popcorn kernels. After two hours in the kitchen preparing my weekly dinners, I found myself hungry and decided to introduce the kernels to my air popper. For 5 cents, I popped ~6 cups of popcorn and after adding a touch of salt and sugar was pleasantly surprised with the tasty and nutritious, and most importantly -inexpensive, source of pleasure.

I do have a confession already for Day 1. After today's lunch, I received the gift of a diet coke. I didn't allocate any money to my afternoon soda habit, so I am very gracious to my caffeine angel.

Day 1

I've had very little experience with this blogging thing, so please pardon me if I don't stick to the format. We'll try to keep the stream of consciousness typing to a minimum.

So, I've decided to participate in this Hunger Challenge thing. It may sound like a good thing, in the vein of "Are you hungry enough to eat this entire tray of super hot wings?!" That would be a good challenge. I would win that challenge. But as I understand it, there is no prize for winning this challenge. Well, okay - there's the whole greater awareness of others' suffering deal. But it's not like I'm getting a t-shirt out of this. Wait - do we get a t-shirt for doing this? No? What the heck, I'll do it anyway.

For details you can check out this website: http://www.foodoutreach.org/hungeractionmonth.html. Basically, I'm going to try to see what it feels like to live off of food stamps for a week. The purpose is two-fold: First, to promote awareness of the issue of hunger during the time that the Mayor of St. Louis has proclaimed Hunger Action Month; Second, to boost local sales revenue on Sep. 8th by causing me to make up for the drop in caloric intake I will have this week. Alert the Emperors Wok on Hampton - I will be seeking their buffet table next Tuesday. When I've exhausted the possibilities there, it's on to Ted Drewes. I am totally serious.

You know what's going to be the worst part of this Challenge for me? Missed opportunities. This is Labor Day weekend people! A three-day weekend where one usually barbeques. And the Greek Festival at St. Nicholas is this weekend. I can't pronounce half of their dishes, but everything tastes great. So, I can totally handle eating less for a week (says the man who is only half-way through Day 1). But missing opportunities for great food is going to hurt.

Okay, so what did I buy for this week?

I went to the Schnucks that is two blocks from my house (I could have gone somewhere chea... with different check-out arrangements, but I'm a big believer in supporting local merchants). With a goal of less than $29, I started figuring out what I needed. Wait, let me back track. My wife had just gone grocery shopping, so we already had bagels, peanut butter, jelly and milk. She swears she got the bagels for $2.50, but everything else I priced in the store. $1.35 for jelly, $1.66 for PB, $2.80 for a gallon of milk. That's $8.31 so far. Then I got some bananas (4), apples (3), carrots (1 lb), and red potatoes (4). I went in to the meat section and it must have rained chicken parts in the Midwest recently, because I got a bag of 8-ish boneless chicken breasts for $4.88. Ramen Noodles is a staple of a hungry person's diet and so I got five packages. Listen, before you go all sodium-conscious on me, I have to tell you that I took the time to look for the flavors that had less than 40% of your sodium. In the meantime, a package of Schnucks Duplex Cookies fell into my cart and they simply would not leave. I went into the cereal aisle and saw that Total cereals were marked down to $3.00 each. Did you know they have Cinnamon Crunch Total now? I did not know that. What I like about Total cereal is that it claims to give you 100% of a bunch of stuff. I don't really know how they can claim that holds true for everybody. 100% for a 100-pound woman, or 100% for a guy like me who is just a little north of 210? I'm really not that far above two hundred (I weighed in this morning at 216), but I did break a chair recently that had a weight limit of 200lbs. It was a camping chair - you'd think they would allow for some rough usage there. But noooooooo. It had to wimp out on me and make me feel all self-conscious and stuff.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, Total cereal tells me it can give me 100% of what I need. I choose to believe it. My grocery bill comes to $19.09. When you add in the $8.31 from prior purchases, we are now up to $27.40. There's a buck-fifty left on my imaginary EBT card (they don't actually have food stamps anymore, y'know). I will spend it before the week is out.

With one bowl of cereal down, an apple and one PB bagel recently finished off, I feel confident. I can do this. Probably. I'll let you know.

SHOP, PLAN, PREPARE....

The Hunger Challenge begins tomorrow, and I did all of my shopping and planning on Sunday. I am a picky eater, and I try to shop frugally most days, but I did not do a good job of shopping multiple stores/farmer's markets to find good deals when finding my hunger challenge items. That is something that I should be doing EVERY time I shop, and I will do that from now on.

Sunday afternoon, list in hand, I headed out to my local grocery store. I looked for good staple items, and piled those into the cart first (oatmeal, canned vegetables, potatoes). I found a pretty good deal on "healthy" bread and boneless, skinless chicken breasts... so I added those to the mix. Canned tuna was next, but the most affordable choice was "packed in oil". I added them anyway, but was disappointed that I couldn't find a healthier option. I am not a fan of fresh veggies, but I do love fruit, so I looked for a good deal on fresh produce but couldn't find much that would fit into the budget. I walked away with a pack of cherry tomatoes, which will have to cut it for both a fruit and veggie. By the time I was ready to check out I realized I had NO condiments or spices, NO coffee, NO snacks or treats. I didn't have the budget to cover those items, so I was truly left with staples, pretty bland and basic. But, I did come in under the budget limit, so I might head back out and pick up some coffee after all.

It is very difficult to stick this very limited budget, find healthful selections, and add flavorful variety to meal choices. But millions of people have to do this every week. They prepare their limited lists, do their homework about which stores have the best deals that week, and head out to shop. They face hunger challenges each and every day. but do their best to make the most of the opportunities out there. The challenge begins tomorrow, and I will do all I can to make the most of my opportunities.

Planning and Shopping

I have to admit that the thought of "planning" for the Hunger Challenge overwhelmed me more than living on $29 of food for a week. So many thoughts and questions were swirling in my head. I had never really stopped to think about the food stamp system, how they work, that they are not stamps anymore, but a swipe card. I didn't know the new name since 2008 is SNAP - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The acronym "SNAP" is a little ironic since living on this small amount is not a SNAP for many people. Then a sense of guilt surfaces for not taking time to seriously contemplate a way of life that so many people struggle with daily. I have always been involved in charities that help the less fortunate, but I never tried to walk in their shoes - not that a week of living on $29 comes near to what some have to shoulder every day.

I need to outline things before I embark on them and the nutritionist at Food Outreach, Josh, was nice enough to share an overview of how to approach this Challenge. He had food options, how to work nutrition into the menu, etc. I then grabbed my notepad, calculator and pencil and found an Aldi's in Maplewood. I have never been to Aldi's and I have to say it was a great resource. I first walked down the aisles just taking everything in and then started loading my cart with oatmeal, peanut butter, jelly, canned veggies, a bag of apples, bananas (50% off) white rice (brown rice wasn't offered...hmmm), canned tuna, crackers, frozen chicken breast, pasta and spaghetti sauce. I wanted to buy more fruit, but it looked like it would of gone bad in another day or so. I also had to put back the oatmeal cream cookies twice -- soo tempting. My total was just over $28 and I used empty boxes for the food since I forgot to bring my own bags and Aldi's charges for bags.

My five year old son wants to know why he can't have any of the food I bought. When I explained what I was doing and it was a "special project" he told me I wasn't sharing and that wasn't nice. I will keep trying to turn this in to a meaningful lesson for him too.

Gearing up for the Hunger Challenge!

This morning, I woke up with a hungry tummy growling and contemplated my grocery list for the week on a budget of $29. As I gear up for the Hunger Challenge, I wonder – will this amount be enough to cover my list? Will my food intake for the week be too redundant?

I also thought of all the things I’m running low on that are not covered by food stamps – floss, antiperspirant, moisturizer, dog treats… - yes, my dog is an important part of my family, and looks forward to his daily treats when he comes in from his walk.

As I make my week’s list: oatmeal, soy milk, spinach, 2 sweet potatoes, broccoli, fresh berries (reminiscing, when at their summer’s peak, blackberries were just $1 per 6 oz. container) and other fresh fruit (shoot – just one peach can weigh a pound!), lentils, black beans, eggs, tuna, walnuts and cheese, I’m wondering if this will cost more than $29. I also wonder if I can come up with enough different dishes to make using these items. Oh, I left out yogurt – but I’m pretty particular – no yogurt with high fructose corn syrup for me – only organic, and preferably the super yummy, creamy Greek kind.

On the other side of the paper, I put my dream list: Edy’s frozen fruit bars, soy bacon, soy coffee creamer, lox, cream cheese, whole grain bagels, heirloom tomato, pineapple, strawberries…

I perused the ads of three different grocery stores today and found certain foods on sale at each, and thought I’d look up more online at work. Then I realized, it will cost me more in gas to run all over town to different stores, and made me feel empathy for those who rely on public transportation – how it’s not easy to lug bags groceries and kids around on the bus.

Actually, my brother’s family relies on public transportation, and I know how difficult it must be for them to brave the elements every time they go somewhere – I mean, not every day is as glorious as it was yesterday. I tell my nephews all the time how ecologically cool they are and how much better what they are doing is for the environment – to mentally soften some of the hardship they sometimes endure….I digress….

Thinking about my free cup of coffee at work tomorrow morning, and wondering if I can use those squeeze packets of mayo in the fridge– it wouldn’t be as if I were scamming someone else’s lunch or anything – those packets are up for grabs, aren’t they? Psyching up for tomorrow……