This is Day 5 of a month long food stamp challenge. If this is your first visit, please check out this link to see all of the posts and get a better understanding of what is going on.
I had a dream when I was a kid. In it, I was a raindrop. I wasn’t the only one though, we were all raindrops that would fall from the same sky. Some of us landed on the foreheads of sun-weary farmers, giving them relief and making it easier for them to work. Others landed on the highway and got mixed up with oil and chemicals, creating a messy surface that was slick and difficult to navigate. Still others found their way to the parched soil of the garden where they helped to nourish the plants that would later nourish others.
On its own, a raindrop doesn’t amount to much. Depending on how hot it is, it might even evaporate and be forgotten before it has the chance to do anything at all. When enough raindrops come together at the same time and the same place though, miracles can happen. The grass grows green, the reservoirs refill, vital ecosystems repair and replenish themselves.
Today I remembered that dream when I was struck with the understanding that this challenge and the important dialogue it is opening is so much bigger than I am. When this idea first came to me I felt like a lone raindrop in a drought. Then there were more drops. And more still.
The number of people visiting the site has more than tripled in the short 5 days of this challenge so far. The raindrops are coming and they’re bringing more with them. The dry ground is glad for the relief but this drought is still so much bigger than we are. Hundreds of raindrops are beautiful to see, but thousands are needed.
This challenge is not about food stamps. It is about a drought of food, knowledge, understanding, care, concern and of people helping each other when they lack any of those.
Today I remembered that childhood dream because that dream is coming true right in front of me. We are all raindrops and the rain that’s coming will not soon be forgotten.
SHOPPING
We were out of bread after making John’s lunch and my breakfast so he stopped by the store that was near work and picked up a loaf.
Forgive me for not taking a photo of a loaf of bread but I’m pretty sure you know what one looks like. Instead have a look at this receipt, it is pretty exciting as far as receipts go.
PURCHASES
| ITEM | SIZE | PRICE | UNIT | PRICE/ UNIT |
| bread | loaf | 1.07 | slice | .04 |
MEALS
BREAKFAST: $0.44
1 slice of toast
1 scrambled egg
coffee (starting pantry)
creamer
John was running late for work and did not have time for breakfast.
BREAKFAST NOTES: Used the last slice of bread from the loaf purchased on Day 1.
JOHN’S LUNCH: $0.34
2 chicken salad sandwiches
2 oz carrot sticks
MICHAEL’S LUNCH: $0.00
red beans & rice
LUNCH NOTES: Chicken salad was made of leftover chicken from Day 1 dinner. Red beans & rice were left over from Day 2 dinner.
(photo shows seven of ten 2 cup portions)
DINNER: $5.43
chili
rice
sweet tea
chili was made with:
- 4 cups kidney beans (3 cups beans, 1 cup reserved liquid) cooked on Day 2
- 4 cups pinto beans
- 24 oz tomato sauce
- 1 jalapeno (given to John by a friend at work)
- diced tomatoes (2 cans)
- 1 onion
- garlic powder
- chili powder
- salt & pepper
DINNER NOTES: The starting pantry contained 1.5 lbs of onion (.75 lbs remaining) and basic spices including garlic powder and chili powder. Once depleted, these items will be purchased as necessary.
This is the most expensive dinner meal so far, but it is important to note that for $5.12 we made enough chili for 5 full meals (10 servings). That brings the per serving cost to .51. If we are able to find grou
nd meat at a decent price we may add it to later servings.
I opened the large can of tomato sauce purchased yesterday for this meal. The remaining 9 cups of sauce were cooked with some basic spices (salt, garlic powder, sugar, oregano) and canned for a total of 5 pints.
DAILY TOTAL: $6.35 (+$1.83 for the day, +22.17 for the week)
Total Spent to Date: $72.39
Total Remaining: $206.79
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Have you ever donated time, money or goods to a food bank, shelter or a person in need? Share your story.
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
I donate every year to a homeless shelter for veterans and built their first web site for them and maintained it up until a few months ago when I passed it onto a friend. Up until a few months ago I was also donating monthly to another local county-oriented food bank that feeds people, homeless or not, but needed to cut back a bit so will try to pick that up again soon.
I have really enjoyed your write-ups about this challenge. I have had to really cut back on spending several times in my life and the grocery bill is one of the obvious ones to attack, which is why I started my web site. I enjoyed the challenge of exploring new (cheap) foods but don’t think I was ever down to the food stamp level. I think one of the other challenges for folks is knowing how to cook things, having a place to cook and having TIME to cook if they’re working full time plus. I’ve been lucky to work at home and that makes a huge difference. I can start some bread or beans or whatever at lunch because I’m here. I also have a large lot and can grow a lot of fruits and vegetables and recently added laying chickens so have eggs as well. I buy very little produce during the summer and this summer got serious about trying to grow extra and freeze and can some for winter.
Your Chilie looks great! Thanks for posting the recipe.
Answer to your question is Yes. Before I retired I gave to three local food banks, and one national homeless organization every month via pay roll deduction for almost 30 years . We also had holiday fund drives at work where hundreds of pounds of food would be collected and everyone would donate to that and also donate extra money. I have also taken extra eggs from my chickens and extra apples from our tree down to the Loaves and Fishes organization. I am unable to contribute monetarily to the organizations since retiring due to my own financial challenges, however I hope some day that my garden will be big enough so that I can share excess with the food bank. This years garden was pitiful due to a late summer and if I had to live on what I grew this year I would have starved. And some day hope to have time to volunteer time there as well.
I donate to the food bank. If I know there’s a good coupon deal, I special order the item from the store in advance. Since I have to drive ALL the way to the store to get stuff for myself, might as well “go big, or go home” ;0)
(tiny note: I never clear shelves, always preorder, this also gives the manager a heads up on items that are going to be “hot” which gives more people a chance to get in on the deal”
Whenever I can afford too I get extra jars of peanut butter when they are on sale or a case of Ramon noodles. The kids and I drop them off at the community center to be taken to the food bank. When the kids were in preschool they asked why. I told them some kids didn’t have any noodles or any other food. They ask when we go shopping if we can get noodles for the kids without any knowing that I’m saying no to things they are asking for themselves because money is so tight.
When my kids were diagnosed with food sensitivities we took all the things in the cupboard they couldn’t eat and donated them so they wouldn’t go to waist. The open staples went to some college students we know scrapping by.
PS Leftover corn, chickpeas, chicken is also good in chili to change it up a bit. I often make a big pot of chili, ratatouille or spaghetti sauce and just keep adding something each night to stretch it out and still get something a little different.
I have actually used the local food banks. I donate household misc stuff and clothes to the local thrift stores and a lot of books to the local library. I believe strongly in giving what you can to the local community, particularly living in a small rural area.
We sponsor several children and give as often as possible to our food pantry. We help at the community garden and donate a lot of our produce. Berries were in abundance this year and our apple crop was enormous so we were able to give more than usual . Because of our location, we are able to donate venison during hunting season. My daughter, who just had her 13th birthday, will be donating her deer to the local food bank. She’s a sharp shooter so she may be able to fill both of her tags this year. :)
We are a single income family and my husband works in construction and is often without work for the entire winter…We never forget that if we didn’t have the gardens,our little orchard and the ability and knowledge to put up a lot of what we use during the year, it could be our family in need.
I just realized that I am never around someone who doesn’t help others. I know that I KNOW people that don’t, like old classmates on Facebook.. but my inner circle is comprised of family and people that HELP and GIVE. And as I sit and think of how that happened, I realize it was the pebble. The raindrop. I let her (and then him) come off meth on my couch for a summer.. I dragged them next door to my food bank and they helped. They are off meth now, but they are still helping the food bank. She helps others come off meth. People she knows. People God has stuck in her Path.
Your raindrops story.. my goodness you have such a gift.
I was thinking.. have you noticed any change in your emotions yet? Not handling things as well as you might have before, kind of cranky, etc.? Headaches? :)
My husband and I have signed up this fall to help rescue harvests that would otherwise be wasted,all food goes to the food bank and is then distributed to the various food bank agencies and shelters in the area.I think it’s a wonderful thing to do,and on the plus side,we get to work in the fresh fall air,get some great exercise,and help feed people in need all at the same time.
John & I have both become more emotional in the past 5 1/2 days but aside from one day we haven’t been more cranky or handling things poorly. The only physical difference we have noticed thus far has been that we have both had trouble sleeping at least twice in the 5 days. As for headaches I have had a near constant headache for two months and it wasn’t until you asked this question that I realized I haven’t had one in 4 days.
So you inadvertently cut something out of your diet that was causing it, maybe. I asked b/c my friend is really short on food and has a headache from lack of protein. I figured some physical symptoms would show themselves sooner or later.
1 cup of pintos is nearly 15g of protein. We’ve had enough protein for sure. I never had protein deficiency issues even when I was a raw food vegan for nearly 3 years.
Why did you stop? Being a raw food vegan. You had to feel so good!
Because I started working with teen suicide prevention and it was so demanding on my time that I began eating cooked food again out of convenience. Cut to 10 years later and I moved south and began to eat meat again.
My family and I do a few things throughout the ye
ar! At thanksgiving with 2 of my husbands best friends and s handful of others make 500 sandwich sack lunches to take downtown(Sacramento) for who ever we find still roaming the streets. Most shelters do huge turkey dinners, but they become over crowded.we give a sandwich, bottled water, some kind of snack item and 2 cookies. We have the bread donated to us and condiment packets. We usually bake the cookies between all of us. Everything else we buy
We do candy sales, bake sales and veggie sales throughout the year. But its
worth the extra work. In the springtime we plant
In springtime we plant 25 cherry tomato plants in buckets for some seniors in our community so the have a fresh tomato and keep on their front pourxh for easy watering. They love it. We also work the food closet every Tuesday and hand out food. In the summer we grow a row for the hungry.These are easy things to do and look forward to doing it. Christmas time we do Ruby baskets for a s mall town. We give a food box and presents for the kids in the family. We usually pick to families to help. Our gifts are usually board games in hopes they can have more family time. I wish I could do more
Last month I had a temporary roommate. He was a college student who put a desperate plea on Craigslist for a home for 2 weeks until he could get his financial aid. He had lost his job, lost his apartment and was sleeping on a friend’s couch. He had nothing. I had extra food stamps. I fed him for most of the month, and he appreciated it. I’ve done that before too. I’ve taken people shopping for food when I had extra money. I took a homeless person I’d never met to Taco Bell for lunch one day when I only had $10 extra to my name, but I found her crying in the restroom at the library and she said she hadn’t eaten all day, and her sister wouldn’t bring her any food. She is a great person, and I enjoyed our lunch and our walk to and from the restaurant. I’d do it again.
yes, i volunteered for several years at St Vincent de Paul food bank but stopped when it i got a different job and didn’t have Friday mornings off anymore. I still give money a few times a year to the food bank…just a few dollars, cuz things are more than tight for us too. and of course the kids in school collect canned goods every year for food banks, so give then too. Plus have helped out in a homeless shelter for years, but mostly as a “host,” cuz can barely ever afford to make a meal to feed 20 or more…have done it 3 or 4 times.
Michael, even if you are scraping by this month, you’ve got to eat better bread! That stuff that’s only a dollar a loaf is utter crap, and really only fit to feed the pigeons. Do you have time to make some? i spend $4 a loaf just so i know that i’m getting some nutrition from it and not just a bunch of chemicals. I only buy that stuff a couple times a year, when we’re beyond broke…or if it’s free. You can get free bread at lots of places, and sometimes it’s really good. When i volunteered @ St. Vincents we got tons of it delivered and anyone could have some. Usually at like Loaves and Fishes they have a big box of bread that anyone can take some from, even if you’re not qualified for the food basket. Every time i see that bread you are eating i just cringe!
We’ll be making bread next, I promise. Both John & I love to bake but our time has been short and as we wanted this to be somewhat realistic, most folks do buy the cheap stuff. That said, we need some real bread now :)
CeeCee, you just gave me a challenge for tomorrow…look for pics to come of loaves of fresh bread. I think paying $4 for a bag of whole wheat flour would go farther than buying what will end up being about $10 worth of bread for the month.
I worked as a baker for a year at a restaurant chain and I remember the pleasure I got from taking the raw ingredients and baking 24 loaves of french bread, making 400+ dinner rolls, and what would be enough cornbread to feed an army.
I feel the need to bake…might even throw in some hot cross buns, Michael tells me they are his favorite.
We raise turkeys,and last year we started donating a couple of food baskets and turkeys to needy families in our town. We do this because about three years ago,we were on on military incapacitation pay (my hubby was wounded in Iraq,but it took a long time for his med board). The problem was they were not consistent in when they would pay us-one month,it would be the first,then the next month one week later,then the next month almost the end of the month,so we couldn’t budget well. Our neighbors are members of the American Legion and they would bring us food baskets at the holidays or sometimes drop off a check for a hundred dollars to help (we never asked for help,they would just do it). Now my hubby is on VA 100% disability (PTSD and a TBI ) ; we are thankfully on a regular payment schedule,and are happy to give back what we can.
Donna–that’s a great point bring out. Sometimes there are entitlements that aren’t paid on a regular basis as they should be. I have been down the very road myself. I am very happy to see that once you were back on your feet you began giving to those in need. We hope to have chickens here come the first part of spring and I never considered turkies. Maybe that’s something we should look into as well.
Our church has Sunday lunch and Wednesday night supper every week. Any one is welcome to come and eat. We have a couple of people that come in just for the meal. On Sunday the ladies bring a couple of dishes, on Wednesday evening our pastor’s wife cooks. Discount bread stores have great deals. I get Pepperidge Farm “Ancient Grains” for $1 a loaf. No HFC and lots of whole grains. They also have bagels, english muffins, etc.
When times have been good I have always donated to the local food bank. Also as my child out grown clothing and toys I give to the local women’s shelter so that they may use the money they save on clothes for food. I also give the fruit from my apple and pear trees to anyone will to come and get them
When we are lucky enough to have extras (or find that we bought something in bulk and now are not going to eat it.. usually because I have food sensitivities and it didn’t work the first time) I package it all up. I give it to our church that used to have a food pantry but now maintains a few bags of “emergency” food for the community or if the church doesn’t have room for it I post an ad on craigslist and usually within a minute I have 20+ responses. I pick one (I like to read the stories, delete the “I want it”, “Do you still have it”, “Can I have this” and look for the stories. I pick one.. usually a struggling family with kids and tell them to come get it. I really like the personal-ness of one to one giving.. but try to support our church first. :)
glad to hear you guys are going to make bread! i can stop cringing then! :-)
i used to bake bread a lot, but now both my time and my energy are at a minimum, so i only do it occasionally…and the last time i did it, i had bought some organic yeast, and it didn’t work at all! (come to find out, it was expired…they had sold it that way cuz i had just bought it that week…but when i baked bread regularly, i used expired yeast all the time and it worked just fine, so i think it’s just that brand—which just goes to show you that organic isn’t ALWAYS best! )
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Have you ever donated time, money or goods to a food bank, shelter or a person in need? Share your story.
Yes. Three years ago I was out of work for 6 months. The break was mostly voluntary, as I needed time to heal emotionally from a ten year job that broke me. During that time, I decide to volunteer as much as I could because it was part of my healing process.
One of the places I volunteered at was the Catholic Parish Outreach. Families would come once a week and get boxes of food. There was fresh meat, vegetables, milk, bread. Even random luxuries. I mostly helped make the food boxes, but a few times even helped take the food out to people’s cars. It was a very rewarding experience. Since they do it in the mornings in the middle of the week, I haven’t been able to go back since I started working.
But I try to donate money to them. And to Second Harvest. And to the Food Bank of NC. In college, I was in an organization that focused on volunteering and we would go trick or treating for canned goods for the Food Bank.
Periodically, when we’re at Kroger, I buy the pre-boxed boxes for the food bank.
I hate the fact that there are hungry people in this country. I think it’s ridiculous and extremely sad that in this day and age, in this land of plenty, that there are people who can’t get enough. If people would share instead of throwing out leftovers, it’d be so much better.
Ever since I got that first food basket, I’ve always tried to give back when I could. Even if it was just encouraging others to do it, any effort helps. I’ve gotten help MANY times on many levels (food, clothing, etc)… so I feel the need to keep the “cycle of free” going as much as I can. Also, with my other “po folk” friends, we watch each others backs. If I have it to give, they get it… and the same goes for them. I think building a community of friends helping each other out is key to get by for some of us.
Back in 1996 we challenged our MP and ourr MPP to live on the amount a single man would have for food & necessities after he paid his rent after the Ontario Government slashed welfare by 22% That amounted to a princely $96 a month The Provincial Member’s response was’WHY would I do that? I work for a living!’ The Federal Member did accept the challenge and lasted a little over 1 week & a half He was sick had no soap, toilet paper and was down to 1 tin of beans He missed his day for the food bank (at that time it was only open certain days and there were specific rules on who could go what days and you could only go 1 day a month) Makes you wonder how those who actually had to live on Social Assistance survive at all!
Hello Michael
First I want to say Thank you to both you and John for taking this challenge on! I know that those using Food Stamps and those that will need them in the feature will be much better off because of your research. I am honored to know you and I look forward to meeting you and John in person soon.
As the keeper of the Haven Family farming and ranching legacy I so proud to see my company logo sponsoring your page, I know my Grandfather and father are smiling.
One of the ways I help support the growing fresh food movement is I start seedlings and donate those seedlings to several community garden programs throughout the year. The surplus veggies they raise are shared amongst several food banks and Senior Care Centers in my local area.
I also donate tools and equipment to the Community Gardens and one Community Garden has started a library for those that grow there, so I am now always on the look out for gardening books and magazines. There are so many ways we can help.
And of course Authentic Haven Brand Natural Brew does everything it can to support Community and School gardens. Sharing and teaching how to grow naturally is always #1 here.
{ 3 trackbacks }