#SNAP4AWeek

“Great acts are made up of small deeds.” Lao Tzu

Ok, so here is the deal...I have talked about how I have been helping my church feed lunch to kids who are part of the reduced or free lunch at school programs. My church also has a huge food bank and does a lot of work in the community. For a lot of those kids getting breakfast and lunch at school are the only meals that they get. Did you know that: “The National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program operating in over 101,000 public and non‐profit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provided nutritionally balanced, low‐cost or free lunches to more than 31 million children each school day in 2010. In 1998, Congress expanded the National School Lunch Program to include reimbursement for snacks served to children in afterschool educational and enrichment programs to include children through 18 years of age.”  http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/

In an effort to raise more awareness and relive some of my childhood experiences I am going to take part of the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program aka Food Stamps) Challenge. The Mazon Orginization set for the challenge. To learn more about this great orginization and this challenge please visit their website, www.mazon.org . I am going to only spend $31.50 for 7 days worth of food and drink. I am then going to write about my experience. Hopefully the pastor of my church and others can use my experience to raise awareness. There has been a lessening of donations over the last couple of months. There is so much that we take for granted in this life. I hope some of you get more involved because NO CHILD SHOULD EVER GO HUNGRY!!! Like ever!

I did all of my shopping today and was lucky to be able to do it all at one store, Sharp Shopper. It came to a total of $30.23. I also get farm eggs from a friend. Normally I get these eggs for free but it didn’t seem fair to my experience so I am giving her a $1.00 for them. It was pretty emotional and I agonized over my decisions. I was in the store for over an hour going back and forth. I also have a small hitch in my giddy up just to make it more interesting. I am a Gluten Free girl. Gluten Free bread and pasta is significantly more expensive than regular breads and pastas. I could have gotten a 16oz bag of pasta for .79 cents at Sharp Shopper. They do carry a GF option but it was $2.69 (less expensive than in other stores) which was out of my price range for this week. So brown rice and potatoes it is.  

Growing up, my family did benefit from the SNAP program for a brief period. My mom was so cool and brave she made it seem like it was Monopoly money. I never really understood what it meant until later on. My Mom was creative. We would have breakfast food for dinner a lot because it was cheaper than what you would regularly buy for dinner. She made it adventure, something exotic. We drank powdered milk and ate skillet eggs & macaroni (macaroni sautéed in butter then scrambled eggs were added to the pan).

Tomorrow morning is my first meal.

Food List:

2 Mangoes
2 Cucumbers
1 Zucchini
1 Banana
1 Head of Lettuce
2 Tomatoes
1 5lb Bag of Potatoes
1 Package of Mushrooms
1 Bag of Frozen Peas
1 Bag of Frozen Corn
1 Package of Frozen Chicken
1 Large Can of Tomatoes
1 Container of Hummus
1 Large Tin of Chicken
1 Jar of Apple Sauce
1 Package of Shredded Cheese
1 Tetra Pack of Chicken Broth (not pictured)
1 Bag of Brown Rice
1 Bag of Dried Black Beans
1 Box of Oatmeal (5 individual packets)
1 Jar of Pickles (not pictured)
1 Package of Pudding (4 pack)
2 Containers of Limeade
1 Onion (not pictured)
1 Dozen Eggs (not pictured)
1 Pesto Sauce/Salad Dressing Combo
1 Bag of Chips