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.