Food Stamp Challenge Day 31: The End

by Michael Nolan on 6 November 2011 · 15 comments

in Food

This is Day 31, the final day 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.

DraftWell folks, it’s over. We have survived a tumultuous 31 days on a food stamp budget of $4.50 per person per day and have reached the other side. I know I should feel a sense of accomplishment and relief now that the task is complete, but the truth is I’m more than a little melancholy that it has come to an end.

For most of the month I’ve presented you with a question of the day but today I don’t want to do that. Today I am asking questions of myself. Did we really accomplish anything?  Was this month-long live demonstration of any real benefit to the readers? To us?

The answers will take a while for me to process, I’m afraid. I only hope that we provided food for thought and that you will not leave this challenge unchanged. If nothing else, perhaps you will be more aware of the daily challenge faced by thousands upon thousands of people all around you.

Moving forward, My Earth Garden will not forget the lessons learned in these 31 days. As the creator and owner of this website I make a promise to every reader past, present and future to continue my efforts to bring attention to food scarcity while teaching people how to make better food choices including growing and preserving their own food.

Stay tuned in the coming days for some great giveaways that are hand-picked for people on fixed incomes.

MEALS

BREAKFAST: $.97
coffee
sugar
creamer
cereal

LUNCH: $0.00
leftovers

day31dinner

DINNER: $2.16
smoked sausage
rice
sautéed cabbage carrots & onions

That means it is time for the final figures for the October Food Stamp Challenge, and they are as follows:

Bar Graph

 

  • Consumed Day 31 : $3.13
  • Total Consumed: $138.93
  • Total Spent: $235.15
  • Total Remaining Cash: $44.03
  • Total Remaining Pantry Items On-Hand: $96.22

I have just one last announcement before officially closing the challenge. It was previously stated that the remaining balance would, at the end of this month be donated to an organization that feeds the hungry 365 days a year. That is still true, but not entirely accurate.

teresaMother Teresa once said “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.” and while I love the quote, I know that I can do more.

The organization mentioned above provides Thanksgiving Meals to the less fortunate at a cost of $1.95 per person, which means that as soon as I am able to set the money aside, our donation in the amount of $279.18 (the full amount of our food stamp budget for this challenge) will feed more than 140 people.

Thank you to every person who has read, commented, tweeted and shared our posts this month. You each have earned a special place in my heart.

With Love,
sig

{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }

Dawn November 6, 2011 at 7:32 pm

Beautiful!

Deborah Aldridge November 6, 2011 at 7:36 pm

Wow! That is awesome! You should be very proud of yourself, and anyone who walks away from this learning nothing is dense.

I’m very proud of you, Michael. You have done a lot of good here. I think you give people hope who are now on food stamps and have never had to budget their food this severely before. You’ve proved that the only reason you can’t survive on a food stamp budget is because you are buying the wrong foods or overeating. If you are wise and work with what you have and eat sensibly, you have shown that not only can it be done, but be done well.

Things like this are why I love you, sweetie.

Norma Chang November 6, 2011 at 7:57 pm

Hello Michael,
Congratulations!
Looking forward to reading your articles on teaching people how to make better food choices including growing and preserving their own food.

Lee November 8, 2011 at 12:26 pm

I can sort of how you would feel now that this is all over with.I am glad to see that you will be donating more than you originally planned.

If there are lessons to be learned,yeah it may take a while to process.But on the surface,you’ve made yourselves more aware of how difficult it can be to create a menu of balanced,healthy meals if you don’t already have a full pantry to start with.That may be one lesson,keeping a well stocked pantry,you can slowly build the inventory until you’re comfortable with what you’re got without braking the bank.

Just some food for thought.I’m glad you made it through,and I hope that you do find more lessons to this challenge.

CeeCee November 8, 2011 at 6:26 pm

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU DID IT!!! Trials, tribulations and all! Well, for me as a reader, one change i can tell you is i started making biscuits again after a pretty long hiatus. i didn’t have a working oven for about three years…i finally bought a little toaster oven a few months back, so thanks to your encouragement here i have started making biscuits again fairly regularly. i can’t make actual bread until we turn the heat on for the winter, because it will not raise in a 50-degree house. we did make bread a few times this summer, and it does work in the toaster oven…sad to say, pies do not work so well in it.
Other than that, i was happy to know that there were people trying to empathize with the poor (me). It’s a lot harder than people think, and a lot of people think people are poor because they’re stupid, too. I have a college degree, but there’s a lot of circumstances that go into poverty, and in today’s economy, more and more people are finding that out first-hand. I’ve had decades of experience living poor myself (it amuses me to see all those tips aimed at people tightening their belts, such as “cut down on Starbucks,” etc. As if!!!) But i still think you should take $5 out of what you have left and buy yourselves a bottle of wine to celebrate!
I did not understand what you are donating to, when you said, “the organization mentioned above.” Do you mean Mother Theresa’s charity?
I love that you have a signature there…how did you DO that?!!
I truly hope you don’t over-analyze (or over-process) and end up thinking “did we really accomplish anything?” Of course you did! you started changes in your own lives, and that is an accomplishment. You opened a few people’s eyes to some things, and that is an accomplishment! and you got me baking more again, and that is an accomplishment too! :-)
Love to you…

CeeCee November 8, 2011 at 6:34 pm

BTW, your day 30 is the exact same…i think something happened and for some reason it didn’t post. I will check back in a couple days, so if you put something in for day 30 that is not THIS, please re-label it so we can know and read that too.
Thanks again for your committment.

Chris V. November 10, 2011 at 9:23 am

I am a little tearful myself. Thanks for this. You have helped those of us who are not on food stamps and those of us who are. Your month-long blogging about the challenge deserves an award. Thank you.

Annie Haven | Authentic Haven Brand November 15, 2011 at 8:34 am

Congratulations Michael on an inspiring and eye opening look into the daily challenges of those who are trying to live on Food Stamps. None of us know when or if we could end up in this situation. I would encourage us all to get motivated and lobby for Food Stamp reform! Something as simple as providing each #FoodStamp recipient with an added allowance for the sole purpose of purchasing a “quality” Food Dehydrator which would give them an ability to purchase more fresh food and preserving it themselves, instead of having to buy canned goods loaded with chemical based perspectives! Just a simple step like this could mean a world of difference.
Thank you again, Annie

Mike the Gardener November 15, 2011 at 8:48 am

Congrats on your challenge!

I would like to see a move so that those on the Food Stamp program be required or at least encouraged to grow their own fruits and vegetables so that they are at leats putting something healthy on the table. Annie’s idea of a food dehydrator is a good idea, but also require a course on how to can your own fruits and vegetables, so that what is grown can be preserved for later consumption.

Michael Nolan November 15, 2011 at 8:50 am

Thanks for stopping by, Mike. I’m working on some how-to info for food preservation as well as a follow up to the challenge and what we learned in it.

Michael Nolan November 15, 2011 at 8:50 am

Great ideas, Annie. We’ll be talking about that soon!

SJ January 31, 2012 at 11:15 am

Regarding Food Stamp Reform I think the food hydrator and classes on preserving and growing food are an excellent ideas. In years gone by whether you lived in an urban or rural area, preserving food by canning or dehydrating was a necessity but it has become almost a lost art although I am seeing a comeback as this recession sticks around. The mason jars and rings you can use over and over as long as you take care of them. The gardening may be a bit of a challenge for those in urban areas but teaching those that already don’t know how (and there are some that never have had to; it this just depends on their situation and upbringing) to coupon, cook and preserve are definately good like skills that could be used to provide healthy meals.

I have been on food stamps and I have found that most people do really need it although we all know at least some one that abuses it. But I would like to see public aid code the junk food at the grocery and the little corner stores (chips, soda pop, candy as examples) as off limits like they do alcoholic beverages. I am sure there will still be some folks that will trade use of their card privileges for snacks like they do for alcohol and cigarettes but at least it makes it harder as you have to have a friend constantly on hand with cold hard cash willing to trade. I know a family that consumes two 2 Liter of Soda a day and that would definitely put a crimp in their consumption and probably help their teeth as well.

Likewise, basics such as toilet paper, shampoo and diapers should be allowed on the Link card as I also once had a friend that was trading card privileges so she could buy her child a pair of shoes or diapers. I think it is ridiculous that you can’t buy your child diapers but you can buy them a Pepsi Cola which is completely unhealthy!

Geralyn Obetz April 25, 2012 at 1:33 pm

I have just now found your website while searching for a homemade powder laundry detergent recipe (i’ve been making the liquid). I just read all 31 days of your food stamp challenge. It made me cry. I have been there with 2 disabled boys and a husband who left because he couldn’t take it. They were some of the hardest and loneliest times of my life. But with the support of good friends and family and my garden we made it through.
Today I am married to a wonderful man who loves my boys as much as he does me. We are not well off, but live frugally and grow a lot of our own veggies and have recently aquired a flock of 24 chicks that will be ready for the big coop (built by my wonderful neighbor for nothing out of scrap wood he had laying about) in about 4 weeks. Slowly I am aquiring things to make us as self sufficient as possible. That includes washboards for washing clothes, drying clothes outside on the line, making all meals from scratch, and canning, drying and freezing as much fruits and veggies as I can get my hands on. I also have my own herb garden that I started 2 years ago. I sew most of my own clothes and quilts for the beds. Knit and or crochet blankets and sweaters, sew or crochet tableclothes for our table. I’ve aquired numerous recipes for hand cream, shampoo, soap, candle making, cleaning supplies and the like. IMO any one who is not working towards being as self sufficient as possible is heading for trouble given the dire economic times this country is facing. People may think I am an alarmist, but after living without for so many years and looking at what’s happening in the world today, I’d rather be prepared than caught with my pants down when the lights go out, so to speak.
Thank you for trying to educate those who do not know what it’s really like to be on assistance. It’s demeaning, heartbreaking and always has solicited undeserved ridicule from those who have never had to go without or needed help. Thank you again and God bless you both.

kathryn February 25, 2013 at 12:16 am

Geralyn,
Great post.

SJ,
I agree there could be better safeguards against such crap food.

Michael,
I’m pleased to see so much pantry food unused.
If people reach this challenge with a positive attitude, they can light at the end of the tunnel.
As time goes on, people will save even more, because they would be able to take advantage of more bulk sales.
Good work..I’m very pleased with the outcome.

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