SNAP Challenge Review

This is a follow up post to the SNAP challenge that we undertook throughout October. My original intention was to provide a weekly update on our progress, however over the past couple of weeks my schedule would not allow it. So this is a final note on our experience.

Looking back through October I am filled with grief over the congressional decision to go through with the cut to SNAP. I am grieved because millions of families will now have to make their food budgets work with 5.5% less than they had before. For the plan we were working off of, $267 a month for a household of two, would mean a reduction of $14.68 to a total of $252.32 per month. While $14.68 does not seem like a significant amount, when your food budget is so stretched that every dollar is pre-planned, analyzed and coveted, $14.68 means something will have to go. Maybe how that plays out is that the milk has to last a little longer than it already does, or there is yet another night of macaroni and cheese, but what it ultimately translates to is sacrifice in scarcity.

What I learned from participating in the challenge was that I hated being on it. Every day was filled with more stress, worrying about every meal, how much money was left, and what we could or could not buy. Surviving off of this amount of money is not a luxury, it is a burden. It is certainly a burden more preferable than having no supplemental support, but what it did not produce in us was a sense of security or comfort. Rather, every day was filled with anxiety over food.

At no point did we feel like this was a level of food income we would be comfortable maintaining.

Perhaps the biggest oversight in our challenge was that we did not truly experience what 76% of SNAP households do: a dependent. Whether that be a child, an elderly parent, or someone with a work prohibitive disability, we did not have to worry about a mouth to feed that could not provide a source of income. It breaks my heart to think of parents who have to worry about how much food their child(ren) will be able to have on their plate.
Maybe we could have cut $14.68 out of our budget, made it work, squeezed through it. Maybe I could have gone to bed with a little less food one night. But if I had a child I do not know how I would make that adjustment. How could I take food off of their plate?
This was also our greatest insight over the past month. When thinking about how these cuts would effect families with children, I wondered if we would have even tried this challenge if we had a child. The answer is no, we would not have taken this challenge on willingly. So now, more than ever, I am abundantly aware of the privilege I have in being able to make that choice. To say that this would not be right for my child when we can afford more. Which is why it also hurts me to know that those who control how much SNAP money is contributed to each family's food budget find themselves in the same privileged position that I am and yet find it so easy to make cuts.

For all the families that are having to make cuts to their food budgets this month I pray that God would help them find a way to be fed.
For all of those who are in positions of power over our budget I pray that their hearts be warmed and that God's Spirit would work in them so that all people might have access to the food they need and that none would go hungry.

SNAP Week 1

Ezekiel 18:5,7
"People are declared innocent when they act justly and responsibly. They don’t cheat anyone, but fulfill their obligations. They don’t rob others, but give food to the hungry and clothes to the naked."

We're now a little over a week into our month of SNAP challenge and what we have noticed the most is the constraint placed on our eating habits. Many of our meal choices haven't deviated too much (after all I just graduated from Seminary and my wife is just starting her graduate level education so we're used to eating cheap foods) but it's the choice that's really missing.

There have been many moments in this first week where I've been working on a sermon, preparing for a meeting, or even relaxing when it hits me. I want food. Typically we eat a small breakfast, usually nothing more than a bowl of oatmeal or cereal with coffee. Lunch consists of a sandwich or a quickly prepared pasta dish. Dinner is a slightly larger affair, usually some side dish included and a small dessert. All of these meals are less than normal and all of them contain far fewer fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats. This I expected, but what I did not anticipate was how difficult it is to not have a choice.

Before we started this challenge, when we wanted something extra, or something healthy, or even a specific item, we would go get it (within reason). Now every meal has to be carefully thought out and there is always the concern as to what will happen when we run out. This is a common problem for those who need supplemental assistance like SNAP. Yahoo News ran an article this week with some of the stories of those who are actually on SNAP, and what their grocery/food allowance looks like. Below is an excerpt from that article:

"Warrick, one of several food-stamp recipients who shared stories with Yahoo News this week, knows how pricey that food is. Her budget for her family of three is stretched. “Have you noticed food prices lately?” she asks rhetorically. “I mean, really noticed?”She says preparing a fresh, healthy dinner for her family of three costs $20, four times more than a pizza. So they live on macaroni and cheese, sandwiches, spaghetti and canned vegetables — cheaper but less healthy meals that run about $2 to $3 each. (Her homemade enchilada recipe, at about $15 a meal, is often out of the question.)"

For those who receive SNAP benefits, this $4.45 a day is a vital lifeline that allows individuals and families the chance to put food in their stomachs. However, this much needed assistance does not mean that people will be eating healthy foods, or have much of a choice in the variety of their meals. The lack of choice was the first thing we have experienced and its absence is felt every day.

Hungry

Isaiah 58:6-12

Isn't this the fast I choose: releasing wicked restraints, untying the ropes of a yoke, setting free the mistreated, and breaking every yoke? Isn't it sharing your bread with the hungry and bringing the homeless poor into your house, covering the naked when you see them, and not hiding from your own family? Then your light will break out like he dawn, and you will be healed quickly. Your own righteousness will walk before you, and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and God will say, “I’m here.” If you remove the yoke from among you, the finger-pointing, the wicked speech; if you open your heart to the hungry, and provide abundantly for those who are afflicted, your light will shine in the darkness, and your gloom will be like the noon. The Lord will guide you continually and provide for you, even in parched places. He will rescue your bones. You will be like a watered garden, like a spring of water that won’t run dry. They will rebuild ancient ruins on your account; the foundations of generations past you will restore. You will be called Mender of Broken Walls, Restorer of Livable Streets.

Matthew 25:44

“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn't do anything to help you?'" Then he will answer, ‘I assure you that when you haven’t done it for one of the least of these, you haven’t done it for me.’"

My brother put up a blog post earlier this week that was quite prophetic. He is a missionary serving in Albany, NY with the Albany United Methodist Society (AUMS). His post covered a growing crisis that AUMS is struggling to meet; the overwhelming number of hungry people in the U.S. Our government is currently embroiled in a budget crisis, where debt and spending are high. The argument is over what will be cut, to stem the rising debt and bring the government back to economic solvency. What was on the cutting room of the House this past week was the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP provides a maximum of $6.57 per day in food for individuals who make less than $1,211 a month (though the average for 2012 was $4.45 per day).

(For comparison one McDonald's Big Mac meal costs an average of $6.64 in the U.S.)

The House voted last week to cut $40 Billion out of the SNAP program. This change doesn't just affect the amount of SNAP benefits that are available to each individual, but also means that nearly 4 million American's who are currently benefiting from SNAP will be kicked out of the program. As my brother rightly points out, Non-profits, NGOs and religious organizations account for 1/24th of the total assistance currently provided to the hungry in the U.S. alone. As a nation we spent over $81 Billion in 2012 feeding the hungry and all non-government support accounted for only $4 Billion of that total. There are currently over 47.7 million people who benefit from SNAP nationally. 76% of SNAP households have children, elderly adults, or at least one person with a disability. Last year, SNAP accounted for less than 0.6% of the total GDP. However, for every dollar spent on SNAP, there is an estimated $1.79 return to the economy. On average people use SNAP for 9 months. This means that SNAP functions as a true safety net. People who cannot afford to eat are caught by the net and are stabilized enough so that they can make whatever change is necessary for them to live at or above subsistence.

"Over the past decade, the percentage of [SNAP] households with earned income has increased from 27 percent to 30 percent, whereas the share of households with unearned income has declined from 79 percent to 60 percent." This means that more and more SNAP recipients primary source of income is from a low paying job, where fewer and fewer are relying on unearned assistance such as child support, SSI, or unemployment. However, "the percentage of households with zero gross income has grown from 7 percent in fiscal year 1990 to 20 percent in fiscal year 2010. Similarly, the percentage of households with zero net income, after all applicable deductions, has doubled from 19 percent to 38 percent during the same time period." -USDA

Why am I writing this? Because there are very real people whose ability to survive is on the line. Last Sunday we talked about which societal practices truly scandalize God. Chief among them is neglect of the poor and the vulnerable. Our bible has a lot to say about those practices and with 79% of SNAP recipient households having children, elderly adults, or disabled persons, I think this more than qualifies.

Next month, my wife and I will be taking the SNAP challenge, one month of living off of the average equivalent SNAP food allowance for a two person household. I'll catalog our experience here. If you have any doubts about the difficulties faced by those benefiting from SNAP, I would encourage you to do the same. If you too believe that this scandalizes God, I would encourage you to talk to your congressional representatives and tell them.