Hunger Challenge Shapes Our Thinking and Behavior

The challenges associated with the Hunger Challenge include more than acquiring food with a limited amount of money. They also include adjusting one’s behavior and thought processes. That lesson was brought home to me when I was on my way to work and suddenly realized that I had forgotten my lunch. My first reaction was to forget it and just buy something, but there wasn’t money available for that so I turned around and went home to get it. Ironically, that almost made me late for a meeting related to the United Way – the very organization that helps to support agencies that address hunger and nutrition issues.

Gary Dollar, the president and CEO of the United Way of Greater St. Louis is also taking part in the Hunger Challenge. He observed this morning how we usually “have the privilege of not having to think about food.” But that changes when your resources are limited. Now it feels like food is all we think about. My wife Susan and I have also become much more conscious of the need to ration our food to make sure that the groceries we bought will last us through the week. That means skipping snacks and being very thoughtful about how much we use for meals. In my first entry, I mentioned that we still had $6 left from the money available to us at the beginning of the challenge. Looking ahead, we’re thinking about buying another loaf of bread and maybe some Tuna helper.

For me and many others, meals have become an integral part of our work. We hold meetings over lunch and dinner. But when food isn’t as available, you come to realize that you are perhaps taking it for granted, particularly when others eat their meals while you sit and watch.

I’ve heard that desperate people will sometimes eat things with absolutely no nutritional value – even mud – just to take away for a little while the pain that comes with extreme hunger. While we’re not facing anything nearly as extreme, we have found ourselves this week finishing food that we really don’t like, and drinking a lot of water just to stay as full as we can and keep the hunger pangs away.

Our experiences so far underscore for us the important role that Food Outreach and other agencies play by helping so many people and families understand the importance of nutrition and making it possible for them not just to avoid hunger, but to eat in a way that preserves and protects their health.

Hunger Challenge: Shopping on Day 1

It is amazing how hunger and a limited budget can focus one’s mind. On our first full day of the Hunger Challenge, my wife Susan and I went to Schnuck’s to begin our shopping. Before heading out, we spent time reviewing the weekly circular and coupons to see what special deals were available to help us stretch the $58 available between us for the week’s groceries.

Choices became our watchword. Generics always won out over brand names. We opted for whole chicken and hot dogs over boneless chicken breasts or beef. We focused on staples that would make meals, but bought smaller containers of things like rice, bread, milk, peanut butter, honey and coffee.

Susan noticed how so many others in the store were checking their coupons and considering their budgets. By contrast – maybe because I violated the old rule never to go shopping on an empty stomach – I noticed how so many others, including families with children, were loading up their carts with such a wide variety of things without apparent regard to the cost. In the end, Susan and I were aware that we had moved from the latter group to the former, making hard choices to see us through the week. After putting back some ground beef we had selected in order to keep a cash cushion for any necessities that might come up in the week, we spent $52, leaving us with $6 -- just in case. We went home and had two hot dogs each for dinner.

The next morning, we had oatmeal for breakfast -- plain, not the flavored kind we usually have -- and then, for the first time in many, many years, I prepared the lunch to take with me to the office that day – a peanut butter and honey sandwich on wheat bread.

A few observations: First, Susan and I really wanted to buy more when we went shopping but we couldn’t with the money available to us. Second the sense of frugality I sometimes feel when we cook and eat at home rather than just picking something up on the way home, is really just a reflection — a shadow -- of the tough choices that so many are compelled to make because they have no alternative. And third, after eating my lunch on Monday, it occurred to me that having limited food makes you follow your mother’s advice to chew each bite 15 times so you can savor every bit. And yet, when I was done, I was still hungry, and it didn’t feel good. But there are a lot of people who can tell you that based on far more experience with daily hunger than I have and you don’t have to look in some far off continent to find them. They’re right here in our community.

Take the Hunger Challenge

September is Hunger Action Month, and we'd like you to get you involved! As you know, Food Outreach provides critical nutrition services to people living with HIV/AIDS or Cancer, and we are using this Hunger Challenge to help raise awareness about hunger issues and, in particular, the unique nutrition needs of our clients. Food Outreach can provide the equivalent of up to two meals a day, each day, to our clients at no charge, but any additional food items must be purchased by the client themselves. Many rely on the SNAP/Food Stamp program to secure these items (SNAP stands for “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program”).

Hunger Challenge Goals:

· Raise awareness about general food insecurity

· Raise funds to support Food Outreach programs

· Educate people about the specific nutrition needs facing individuals battling a life-threatening illness

PARTICIPANT EXPECTATIONS:

As a participant we ask you to do the following:

· Take the hunger challenge

· Spread the word about Hunger Action Month and the Hunger Challenge by posting on FB, twitter, sending emails and blogging

· Raise funds or host a canned drive for Food Outreach. You will find a sample message in this packet you can share with potential supporters

What is the challenge?

We ask hunger challenge participants to limit their Challenge Week Food Intake to the items that can be purchased based on the guidelines provided below. You will not be issued Food Stamps, but will be asked to limit your food purchases based on the dollar equivalent of a 7-day weekly allotment of stamps (roughly $29). We base the Hunger Challenge on the guidelines provided by the USDA Food Stamp/SNAP program. This is how we determine what dollar total to use for the challenge week. Based on the most recent Missouri SNAP guidelines, we ask you to limit your food purchases to the equivalent of $29 for the seven day duration of the challenge. This is the Missouri statewide average per person. As a participant, you can buy any food item except alcohol, pet food, or heated foods. Additional prohibited items include soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, tobacco, or anything else that is not food.

I hope you'll help us spread the word about hunger this September!

Don't forget to visit the awesome new site created by Spoke Marketing pro bono: http://hungerchallengestl.org/

The Joy of Eating

One reason I chose to become a dietitian was my passion for food. Some people enjoy learning about politics, marketing, or style...I want to learn everything I can about food.
I consider my place of "zen" when I have the opportunity to spend time in my kitchen creating nourishing dishes. I find comfort in grocery stores. I spend hours researching where my husband and I should go for dinner.
I find "joy" in eating. It is one of the pleasures of life.
Although I ate "nutritiously" throughout this hunger challenge and proved to myself that I could eat healthy on an extremely low budget, I can't say I found the "joy" of eating that I am accustomed to. I take for granted that every single day, I can walk into a food store and "splurge." I take for granted that I can savor a food and not feel guilt. This week, I had a very strict plan that I could not afford to stray away from and it felt constraining. I turned down going out to eat with friends. I turned down easily accessible food when I was hungry. I turned down going in for coffee with my running group because I didn't think I could handle smell of fresh brewed coffee.
Living on this budget separated me socially from friends, reduced my ability to immediately nourish myself when I was hungry, and in the end, stole some of the "joy" out of eating. Participating in this challenge for the second year did not make thing necessarily easier. $28 is $28 and it's restricting, it's challenging, and it's scary to feel hunger. I am blessed that it ends tomorrow. I think that this challenge goes beyond calling us to take action by helping to provide resources for the food insecure, but just as importantly, to give them moments of "joy" in eating.

Late...and Eating Snobby

Last Monday as I was almost about to savor the last bite of my cake batter flavored frozen yogurt from "Chill," my spoon stopped short and I realized...Oh no! this was the week I had decided to participate in the FO challenge! And there I was so proud of myself that my frozen yogurt treat weighed in at just under $4, when in reality, if I was living off of food stamps, this $4 ice cream treat would have had to last me all day. I decided to start next Monday the 20th.

From participating in this event last year, I knew how much planning it would take to eat "well" feel "full" on $28/week. So, for 1 1/2 hours I slaved over an excel spread sheet calculating what I could and could not afford. At one point, not knowing what I was working on, my husband passed by my computer and commented that I seemed to be tackling, "quite the project."

After using Schnuck's on-line grocery store for price checks, and searching for new recipes, I had finally calculated out all meals and snacks for seven days. I headed off to the store with my detailed list and small budget.

In my original FO blog, I mentioned I had grown tired of lentils from the first challenge. Well, they are back, but they've had a makeover. They have lost that drab brown color and have re-appeared in red. This inspiration came from a cooking demo that my student's performed last year. In this demo, they demonstrated how to make a vegetarian version of sloppy joe's called "Snobby Joes." It was fantastic, and I knew it would be affordable. Protein tends to be one of the most expensive items on one's grocery list, and legumes such as lentils are a satiating and healthy way to fill up on cents.

Snobby Joe Ingredients:

And here is a picture of the finished product, along with my other two items I could afford.

It's day 2 of eating this meal, and I am hoping it not only lasts 5 days more, but that I don't get tired of my new and improved legumes. I look forward to the awareness of hunger this week might bring.

1 in 7

Recent news reports have announced that 1 out of every 7 Americans live in poverty-the highest proportion of the population since 1994. At Food Outreach, we are increasingly enrolling individuals who never dreamed they would have to go to a food agency. Many of these clients used to donate to food pantries, but now find themselves in need. Year to date, we have provided 21% more meals than in the same time period in 2009.

Lessons Learned

I’ve had a few days to look back on my Hunger Challenge experience and wow, what an experience it was! Being on such a tight food budget is hard. Really hard. It takes an enormous amount of planning and food knowledge to create balanced meals. Satisfaction and variety are hard to achieve and when you can only spend $28 a week, sometimes you go to bed hungry. I want to thank Food Outreach for this enlightening opportunity. The Hunger Challenge made me appreciate my own blessings and raised my awareness of the reality of food insecurity. This was a valuable experience that I will carry with me into my future as a dietitian.