SNAP Challenge – Day 6: Trying to find a balance

Editor’s Note: Deb Heinrich, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s liaison to the state’s nonprofit community, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge this month and live on $4 a day for food for a week. We are posting her experience in this blog over the next few days.

I am sitting here, staring at the computer with a raging headache, trying to concentrate on what it is I might want to write in today’s journal entry. I’ve had this headache on and off for two days. I’m on the sixth day of the Challenge. I am finding that even when I eat enough so that I don’t feel hungry, I am still not feeling well. I can’t help but think it has to do with a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. Today’s menu is much like the past few days: oatmeal with brown sugar for breakfast, lentils and rice for lunch, snack of peanut butter and celery, lentils and rice for supper. I’m going to eat another snack (peanut butter and celery) and see if it helps.

It helped some. Perhaps I am having trouble recognizing it when I’m hungry now. I am learning first hand how my stomach can be “full”, but I can still be “hungry.” I tried to think of a different combination of groceries that might have given me more nutrients and vitamins, but every combination I’ve come up with so far lacks either vitamins or minerals or lacks protein. I can’t seem to find a balance that gives me enough calories, protein and vitamins on $4 a day.

Speaking of balance, I want to acknowledge how much time it takes to learn the ins and outs of what foods contain what nutrients and vitamins, analyze a diet, find recipes for inexpensive foods, plan a menu, buy the food, make the food, and make sure the food is with you when you need it. Balance that with working full time, raising kids, helping out family, participating in your community and more and you really come to see how it might be hard to find the time to eat healthy when your resources are limited.

I feel so incredibly sad that there are some people in my own community and state that feel this way all of the time, especially children who are growing and trying to learn.

Well, balance or not, I have another two meetings to attend this evening. So off I go.

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SNAP Challenge – Day 4: Analysis and a Visit

Editor’s Note: Deb Heinrich, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s liaison to the state’s nonprofit community, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge this month and live on $4 a day for food for a week. We are posting her experience in this blog over the next few days.

Analysis

Again, I started the day with oatmeal with brown sugar. I like oatmeal a lot, but I am having a harder and harder time putting the spoon in my mouth. Eating like this does lack a bit of variety. I know that eating a variety of foods gives you a better chance of getting the nutrients you need. I was feeling very hungry and tired yesterday so I did a little analysis of what kind of nutrition I was getting.

First of all, I want to say that it is not as easy as one might think to figure out what you are and are not getting in your food. The labels only go so far and I found the Internet only marginally helpful. I compared what I could find out to the 2010 Nutritional Recommendations from the federal government. What I found was a bit of a surprise to me.

I tried to pick foods that I thought were protein rich and very healthy. Despite that, I found that I got just over half as much protein as I should have over a two day period. I got almost as much carbohydrates as I should have, and half as much fat. It was much harder to analyze the vitamins and minerals, but it looks like there are two that are either too low to count or lacking altogether: B12 and vitamin C. The real culprit, though seems to be just plainly and simply the amount of food. For a 2,000 calorie diet, I was getting less than half of the calories I needed. I simply need to eat more food, preferably in the form of protein.

I find that particularly interesting because I am definitely full when I finish a meal. Therefore, I will need to eat more often. So today, I will add another mini-meal. I will have lentil soup for lunch, carrots and peanut butter for an afternoon snack and rice, refried beans and salsa in two soft tacos for dinner. We’ll see how that goes.

A Visit

I had the pleasure of an unexpected visit from my mother this evening. In the spirit of the challenge, she will be eating with me. We will both dine on the refried beans, rice and salsa in soft taco shells tonight.

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SNAP Challenge – Day 3: Hunger

Editor’s Note: Deb Heinrich, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s liaison to the state’s nonprofit community, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge this month and live on $4 a day for food for a week. We are posting her experience in this blog over the next few days.

Today is the first day that I have really felt very, very hungry.

I started the day with my obligatory bowl of oatmeal with a tablespoon of brown sugar. At about 11a.m., I started longing for lunch and feeling a bit tired. For lunch, I had an apple dipped in about three tablespoons of peanut butter. I chose a red delicious apple because I recently read an article that said the skin in a red delicious apple has more vitamins in it than any other apple variety. It filled me up at the time, but at about 3:00 pm, I got really, really hungry.

I felt quite sleepy in a meeting this afternoon and my stomach hurt.

My kids called to ask me if they could have friends over this evening and I felt so tired that I just had to say no.

I had to break down and have a bowl of beans and rice with salsa at 3:30 p.m. I am glad that I cooked it in advance so that all I had to do was heat it up. I’m not sure I could have waited much longer to actually get home and cook something from scratch.

I felt a lot better afterward, more focused, not as grumpy. I’ll have to see how eating this extra meal will fit into the weekly plan. I know I’ll need to eat again this evening. I have to give a keynote address tonight at 6:30 p.m. After that, I’ll have a bowl of leftover lentil soup.

I think I need to analyze the nutrients that I’m taking in. Perhaps there is something specific that I am missing. Once I figure out what it is, I hope I can meet that need for under $2.58. That is all I had left after my grocery trip at the beginning of the week.

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SNAP Challenge – Day 2: Craving Eggs

Editor’s Note: Deb Heinrich, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s liaison to the state’s nonprofit community, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge this month and live on $4 a day for food for a week. We are posting her experience in this blog over the next few days.

Day 2: It is hard to concentrate when you are hungry.

I woke up craving eggs this morning. I had oatmeal with brown sugar. One serving today. For lunch, I wrapped leftover black beans and rice in two soft taco shells with salsa and packed it away to bring with me to work. It traveled better than I thought it would. My colleagues went out to lunch together today. I did not. For dinner, I made lentil soup with onion, celery, carrot and the diced tomatoes. I missed putting potatoes and zucchini in it. I put in extra salt in place of the pepper, thyme and other spices I usually use. It is pretty good. Not great. My family had french fries with their dinner tonight. The smell was almost too much to bear. It was interesting to me that their three orders of french fries equaled what is almost a third of my week’s budget.

This morning when I was making lunches for the kids, my son, who is 11 years old, asked me if I could make him two sandwiches tomorrow for school. He was hungry after eating his lunch of a cheese sandwich with mayonnaise, tomatoes and spinach accompanied by a small packet of smart food (a puffed corn snack), a large cucumber from our garden, some ginger snap cookies and a cereal bar. This wasn’t just a sandwich with a slice of cheese, it had large chunks of mozzarella cheese in it. It seems that each day, he eats his weight in food. He is growing so fast. He told me it was hard to concentrate after lunch. It is clear to me that he would not do well on this challenge. Tonight, I’m thinking about the children in Connecticut his age that have no choice.

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SNAP Challenge – Day 1: Planning Is Essential

Editor’s Note: Deb Heinrich, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s liaison to the state’s nonprofit community, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge this month and live on $4 a day for food for a week. We are posting her experience in this blog over the next few days. In this entry, Deb recounted the social isolation of people who are food insecure.

Morning Ritual

Looking at my schedule today, I realized that I was going to have to make the bulk of my food this morning since I would be gone most of the day (church, kids’ soccer, 9/11 Memorials, etc,). We would have to go right from church to soccer so I’d need to bring a lunch.

So I set the alarm an hour earlier and got to work in the kitchen. First I made some oatmeal for breakfast. Though this was the real oats that you make on the stove, I was thinking of the portions that come in those little instant oatmeals. I figured that one of those little portions would never keep me through lunch. So I made two portions of oatmeal. Well, the real stuff makes more than those little packets and it turned out that two portions of oatmeal was WAY too much food for me this morning. I put some brown sugar on it and ate it all anyway. Live and learn.

While that was cooking, I cut up an onion and half the jalapeno, sautéed them, added some salt and started cooking them with the black beans. They needed to simmer for an hour and a half. That would be for dinner (black beans and rice with salsa). I made a big pot so that I could save what I didn’t eat for future meals. Then I made my lunch: three large celery sticks loaded with peanut butter. I’m not a huge fan of celery, but the alternative vehicles for peanut butter were not as economical. Then I hit the shower and started the day.

End of the Day Thoughts

I wasn’t hungry during the day today. The oatmeal was very filling and kept me to lunch just fine. Lunch was interesting, though. Our church had an after service picnic. I, of course, ate the lunch I brought. It started me thinking about our culture and the integral sociology of sharing a meal. How many times have I caught up with friends over coffee and a bagel or met someone for lunch at a local restaurant or even had a working lunch with colleagues. Close friends visit each other for dinner meals, families connecting and bonding. I realize that with limited food, there will be no invitations for friends to join me at my home to eat. I simply cannot spare the food. I also cannot make the meals I normally would make for guests. I cannot imagine feeding a guest peanut butter and celery. If my children brought home a friend from school, they would not be able to raid the refrigerator or snack cabinet. There would be no homemade cookies waiting on the counter. Food and sharing it is a fundamental part of our social interactions and bonding. I can only imagine the isolation that I would feel if this were not simply an exercise for one week and if it were to last months on end.

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SNAP Challenge: Preparation Day

Editor’s Note: Deb Heinrich, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s liaison to the state’s nonprofit community, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge this month and live on $4 a day for food for a week. We are posting her experience in this blog over the next few days.

September is Hunger Awareness Month and to help increase awareness of the thousands of people in this state who are food insecure and those that live their lives hungry, I am going to take the SNAP Challenge.

What is the SNAP Challenge?

Well SNAP used to be called Food Stamps. SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. People who qualify for SNAP receive $4 per day to spend on food.

The challenge is to try to live on those $4 per day for food. I’m going to take the challenge for one week. Therefore, I have $28 to spend on food for the week. I plan on keeping a little journal along the way. If you are interested in more information about the SNAP Challenge or if you want to join me in the Challenge, you can click here to see how.

Prep Day

I made up a grocery list of things I’d like to eat in the next week with an eye toward frugality. I went to an online grocery store site in order to get a rough estimate of food prices as I was making up the list so that I could stay under $28.

The first thing that struck me was seasonings. I love spicy, spiced flavorful food. Spices are expensive! The next thing that struck me was the up-front costs of stock items in the kitchen like salt, sugar and oil. Since the rules of the SNAP Challenge demand that no food can pass your lips unless you purchase it on the $4 per day budget, I had to incorporate things like salt, sugar and oil which will last much longer than the week, but are pretty critical for the cooking I was planning on doing.

I took the list to my local grocery store, which is not the least expensive place to buy groceries, but I wanted to be cognizant that many people who do not have enough to eat also cannot travel long distances to buy food. I felt I should stay in my community to keep in the spirit of the Challenge.

Here is the list of what I bought:

Vegetable Oil (store brand): $ 1.75
Peanut Butter (store brand): $ 1.99
Diced Tomatoes (store brand): $ 1.00
Vegetarian Refried Beans: $ 1.00
Salsa (store brand): $ 1.34
Soft Tacos (12 count): $ 1.89
Dried Black Beans (store brand): $ 0.89
Dried Lentils (store brand): $ 0.69
Long Grain Rice (store brand): $ 1.50
Old Fashioned Oats (store brand): $ 1.00
Brown Sugar (store brand): $ 1.59
Salt (store brand): $ 0.59
Onions (3): $ 3.82
Carrots (one bunch): $ 1.29
Celery (one bunch): $ 2.50
Jalapeno pepper: $ 0.31
One head garlic: $ 0.50
Red Delicious Apples (2): $ 1.77
Total $25.42

I left a little leeway in case I forgot something important. I will be able to go back to the store and get it (if it costs less than $2.58!).
My list includes mostly items that are the store brand. It is heartening for me to note that the labels on the store brand items I bought we not loaded with preservatives and chemicals and fillers like I expected. I know this can sometimes be the case, but for these items, it was minimal. As someone who normally eats organic, that was important to me.

I am vegetarian so you won’t see meat products on my list, but I was sad not to be able to include dairy either. I really love cheese, which was not in the cards for me on this budget!

Well, I’m stocked up as much as I can be. I’m soaking the black beans overnight so that I can cook them tomorrow for dinner. I’ll let you know how the day goes tomorrow.

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Can you live on $4 a day for food? Take the SNAP Challenge

Can you live on $4.00 a day for food? Be honest with your answer.

That’s how much some of us spend on coffee or latte during the day. For more than 380,000 people right here in Connecticut, it’s not a question. It’s a reality.

In September, designated as Hunger Action Month, we’re asking our supporters to experience that reality for one week. Called the SNAP Challenge, participants are asked to live as if they are on food stamps, now known as the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Details of the challenge are included below.

Nearly 11 percent of people living in Connecticut depend on SNAP/food stamps to put food on their tables, according to the latest report from the Food Research and Action Center.

The SNAP program helps people and families buy food. Eligible people receive a monthly benefit that they can use to buy food, non-alcoholic beverages and food-producing seeds and plants.

For one week during Hunger Action Month, take the SNAP Challenge and see how you would do. Here’s what you need to know about the SNAP Challenge Each person may spend $4.00 per day, a typical daily allotment.

- You may not consume food and beverages that you had in your refrigerator or pantry (or garden) before your SNAP week begins.

- Your daily allowance is for any food and beverage you consume. That soda from the vending machine counts. Dinner at a restaurant counts. Fast food counts.

- No free food may be accepted during this time (that means no cookies from co-workers, nothing to eat at that breakfast meeting, etc.).

- With the exception of salt and pepper, you must purchase any condiments you need or want with your monetary allotment.

- Keep track of receipts on food spending and take note of your experiences throughout the week.

- You may visit local community soup kitchens or food pantries, but if you do, please make a financial contribution in an amount that at least covers the cost of the meal or food you receive so they can continue to serve people who are really in need. Your financial contribution to that program will not be subtracted from your SNAP allocation.

If you fail to make it through the whole week (which is possible), we’d like to hear what happened. Please submit your comments (and even your menus or recipes) for possible inclusion in this blog. Send e-mail to cfb@ctfoodbank.org.

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Childhood Hunger on the Rise

New Study Details Child Food Insecurity at Local Level
Nearly 19 percent of Connecticut’s Children at Risk of Hunger

We’ve been saying one out of every six children in Connecticut is food insecure. But today’s release of data shows a much more disturbing number. It’s nearly one out of every five children in this state – which sharply contrasts with our reputation as the state with the highest per capita income. How can a state with so much wealth allow this many children to struggle with hunger?

Today, Connecticut Food Bank and the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, Feeding America, released a new study which reveals that children are struggling with hunger in every county and congressional district in Connecticut at an overall rate of 18.9 percent.

The Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity 2011 study shows the child food insecurity rate in Connecticut ranges from 16.4 percent in Middlesex County to 22.8 percent in Windham County. In Connecticut Food Bank’s service area which includes Fairfield, Litchfield, New Haven, New London, Middlesex and Windham Counties, the child food insecurity rate is 18.7 percent, or nearly one in five children.

“The study also confirms our assessment that half of the children living in food insecure households in Connecticut are not eligible for federal child nutrition programs because they live in a households with incomes over the threshold to qualify,” said Nancy L. Carrington, Connecticut Food Bank’s President and CEO. “They often rely on Connecticut Food Bank and its member programs for food assistance.” These federal programs include SNAP (food stamps), reduced-price school meals and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

The child food insecurity rates in the counties served by Connecticut Food Bank are:

Fairfield County: 38,980 children or 17.3% of all children
Litchfield County: 7,710 children or 18.2%
New Haven County: 40,100 children or 20.5%
New London County: 10,880 children or 18.2%
Middlesex County: 5,860 children or 16.4%
Windham County 6,080 children or 22.8%
Total for Connecticut Food Bank’s service area: 109,610 children or 18.7 % of all children

“The prevalence and consequences of our nation’s child food insecurity problem are well documented, but our efforts to adequately address the problem have been hindered by a lack of data at the local level,” said Vicki Escarra, President and CEO of Feeding America. “This new information addresses this need by providing first-ever data about the prevalence of child food insecurity at the county and congressional district level.”

The research is a follow up to the Map the Meal Gap 2011: Food Insecurity Estimates at the County Level, supported by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and Nielsen. This data provided the first detailed look at the food budget needed by families struggling with hunger, which in Connecticut is an estimated $199 million.

The ConAgra Foundation funded the child food insecurity research with the goal of advancing the collective understanding of child hunger in America, so that resources at the local and national level could be better leveraged to help children and families in need.

Connecticut Food Bank serves approximately 600 community-based feeding programs in six of Connecticut’s eight counties: Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London and Windham. Connecticut Food Bank distributes more than 31 tons of food every business day. For more information about Connecticut Food Bank, visit www.ctfoodbank.org. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CTFoodBank or follow our news on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CTFoodBank. To donate and help in our fight against hunger, click here.

Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit www.feedingamerica.org. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow our news on Twitter at twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.

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There’s no summer vacation from a healthy mind and body!

Editor’s note: Today’s blog entry is submitted by Cheryl Kaiden, a Board member of Branford’s Community Dining Room.

With the sun shining and temperatures warming, summer feels like it’s arrived. At the Community Dining Room (CDR) in Branford, CT, we’re more focused than ever on helping our clients to enjoy the outdoors in mind and body!

This is the time of year, when many local farmers and neighbors share their bounty with us, dropping off vegetables and fruits that we can incorporate into our daily meals. CDR kitchen volunteers have made an increased commitment to focus on developing healthy, nutritious meals using whole grains and natural ingredients whenever possible. We’ve increased the number of vegetables and fruits we serve and decreased sugary desserts.

To help clients make life-long changes, we regularly offer nutrition and health clinics for adults during our Noon Lunch Program, and hands-on education programs for children at our Tuesday Night Family Dinner. This spring we added “Walking for Wellness” on Wednesdays. A healthy walking program aimed at getting our clients to improve their physical condition and control appetites.

At the CDR, we don’t see summer as a time to cut back on programming, we see it as a time to renew our commitment to good health: to get clients moving, and help change eating habits from bad to good with local vegetables, herbs and fruits. As we move ahead, our mission to end hunger and isolation with food, fellowship, referrals and education remains the focus of our programs.

To learn more about the CDR or to make a donation, visit our Web site at www.communitydiningroom.com, visit our blog at www.cdrbranford.wordpress.com, or Find us on Facebook.

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Connecticut Food Bank dedicates “Giving Garden” to encourage gardeners to Plant an Extra Row for the Hungry

Connecticut Food Bank recently dedicated its new “Giving Garden” to encourage home and community gardeners and farmers to plant an extra row of produce as part of its Plant a Row for the Hungry campaign. East Haven Mayor April Capone planted the garden’s last tomato plant at a dedication ceremony attended by the local businesses who donated vegetable plants, as well as volunteers who are donating their time this summer to tend the garden. You can watch the event on East Haven Patch.

The Plant a Row for the Hungry campaign’s goal is to increase the number of gardeners, farmers, schools, places of worship, youth and community groups and businesses that make a difference by adding a row of seedbeds or donating their surplus produce to Connecticut Food Bank and other local hunger-relief organizations. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law and donor receipts are provided.

“Every extra tomato, squash or watermelon goes a long way to help feed those who don’t have enough to eat,” said Nancy L. Carrington, Connecticut Food Bank’s President & CEO. “In Connecticut, one in seven families is affected by hunger and we all know the importance of providing nutritious fruits and vegetables to people in need.”

Home Depot of East Haven and Van Wilgen’s Garden Center in North Branford donated the vegetable plants for the garden. Surplus plants were given to some of Connecticut Food Bank’s member food pantries and soup kitchens that have vegetable gardens on site.

Since Connecticut Food Bank launched the Plant a Row for the Hungry campaign in 2006, the program has collected thousands of pounds of fresh produce for people struggling with hunger in Connecticut.

Clean, fresh produce can be dropped off at a local food pantry or Connecticut Food Bank’s warehouses in East Haven, Fairfield and Waterbury. Any fruit or vegetable that gardeners prefer to grow can be accepted. Suggested plantings include spinach, kale, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, peas, green beans, tomatoes, sweet peppers, eggplants, summer and winter squash, zucchini, beets and garlic.

To find a local food pantry that accepts fresh produce donations in the area, visit www.ampleharvest.org. For details about Plant a Row or to request a program speaker for your organization, call Carolyn Russell, Connecticut Food Bank’s Procurement Director at 203-469-5000.

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