I had a really great day today. The temptation to consume was honestly not that prominent throughout my day. I woke up early to finish a paper and study for an exam and contemplated a bowl of oatmeal (my breakfast of choice for the week). Instead of a bowl of oatmeal, I suddenly remembered that I left half made black bean soup in my slow cooker over night! I never thought I would ever really crave black bean soup at 8:30 in the morning as much as I did, but I was definitely excited about it. I knew it would keep my full for a long time too. After breakfast ($.89), I went through my classes and I honestly didn’t really think that much about being hungry or what I was lacking. I wonder if it’s because I know that the SNAP challenge actually ends tomorrow and I can go back to my regular eating habits. I’m curious to know if my hunger has subsided because I’ve realized and accepted that for me this lifestyle is temporary. After Friday I will have the “freedom” and the “privilege” to grab a cup of coffee and prepare meals for two for just myself.
I’ve grown to understand one of the reasons why individuals in the SNAP program might favor pre-packaged, processed foods than nutritional foods. Not only are these items cheap, but also easy to prepare. In my opinion, the last thing someone would want to do after working 8-10 hours is to prepare a meal that will take an hour knowing it wouldn’t really fill that person up anyway. It’s just easier to pop up two ramen noodles in the microwave and call it a day. With that being said, most of us are aware of the physically detrimental health effects of not having a balanced nutritional diet. Over consuming processed foods on this budget can lead to many physical deficiencies and ailments, but I’m beginning to wonder about the psychological ailments this program/budget also carries. As we live in a society that associates personal value to amount of “stuff” we own and the amount of wealth we possess, where do these individuals fall on the continuum of perceived worthiness? And how do we show that? For the individual who experiences both homelessness and food insecurity, how much do we perceive his/her worth? If we are honest with ourselves, some of us can admit that we don’t really think twice about walking past a man or a woman on the street begging for change. Some of us roll are eyes when a “homeless” individual walks up to us and asks for money while we are waiting for the crosswalk light to change. We stereotype people who experience homelessness and/or enrolled in these programs including SNAP and they notice. It’s okay to ignore the homeless man on the street or scoff at the women asking about EBT at the supermarket, but it’s not okay to ignore the couple waiting in line for the symphony. You have to ask yourself the question, how does it feel to be seen and treated as less/limited? With that being said, greater awareness about food insecurity should be fostered in our community and an even greater discussion of ways we can serve these individuals should be on the table. We are all equally worthy.
As for the rest of the meals I prepared, for lunch I made another bowl of rice with veggies (kale and sprouts) totaling to $.96) and for dinner I had a bowl of pasta (whole wheat noodles, kale, carrots, garlic, oil, salt, pepper) totaling to $2.23. Kindddddd of ready for something other than kale in my diet haha. In the beginning I felt super proud of myself for buying all healthy and nutritional foods for the week under $20, but I can’t say that I’m not ready for a little more variety after tomorrow. I’m learning so much from this challenge and overall this has been a humbling experience.
I’ve grown to understand one of the reasons why individuals in the SNAP program might favor pre-packaged, processed foods than nutritional foods. Not only are these items cheap, but also easy to prepare. In my opinion, the last thing someone would want to do after working 8-10 hours is to prepare a meal that will take an hour knowing it wouldn’t really fill that person up anyway. It’s just easier to pop up two ramen noodles in the microwave and call it a day. With that being said, most of us are aware of the physically detrimental health effects of not having a balanced nutritional diet. Over consuming processed foods on this budget can lead to many physical deficiencies and ailments, but I’m beginning to wonder about the psychological ailments this program/budget also carries. As we live in a society that associates personal value to amount of “stuff” we own and the amount of wealth we possess, where do these individuals fall on the continuum of perceived worthiness? And how do we show that? For the individual who experiences both homelessness and food insecurity, how much do we perceive his/her worth? If we are honest with ourselves, some of us can admit that we don’t really think twice about walking past a man or a woman on the street begging for change. Some of us roll are eyes when a “homeless” individual walks up to us and asks for money while we are waiting for the crosswalk light to change. We stereotype people who experience homelessness and/or enrolled in these programs including SNAP and they notice. It’s okay to ignore the homeless man on the street or scoff at the women asking about EBT at the supermarket, but it’s not okay to ignore the couple waiting in line for the symphony. You have to ask yourself the question, how does it feel to be seen and treated as less/limited? With that being said, greater awareness about food insecurity should be fostered in our community and an even greater discussion of ways we can serve these individuals should be on the table. We are all equally worthy.
As for the rest of the meals I prepared, for lunch I made another bowl of rice with veggies (kale and sprouts) totaling to $.96) and for dinner I had a bowl of pasta (whole wheat noodles, kale, carrots, garlic, oil, salt, pepper) totaling to $2.23. Kindddddd of ready for something other than kale in my diet haha. In the beginning I felt super proud of myself for buying all healthy and nutritional foods for the week under $20, but I can’t say that I’m not ready for a little more variety after tomorrow. I’m learning so much from this challenge and overall this has been a humbling experience.