food stamps

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.

Well 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

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:

• 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.

Mother 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,

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The idea for this challenge came to me before I’d ever even heard that someone else had done one. It wasn’t until I started researching facts and figures that I knew it wasn’t completely original. Instead of being upset I was heartened by the knowledge that there were others out there willing to put themselves into a difficult situation to bring awareness to the important issues surrounding hunger and food scarcity.

These 31 days were never about doing things the right way, they were about creating a living illustration of what it might be like to live under food and financial restrictions that others live with 12 months out of the year. I didn’t feel that one week was enough to do the issue justice or show my commitment to it, and following the previously established pattern of month-long challenges here on My Earth Garden I opted to go that route.

I have had this blog since the spring of 2008 but it wasn’t until this past month that I have seen the level of dialogue and debate taking place that I knew it was capable of sustaining. To each and every reader and commenter, thank you.

I also thank John, who took on an integral role in the challenge itself while learning how complicated, fun and frustrating running a blog can be. We did not foresee the behind-the-scenes issues that would arise during the challenge and in retrospect I never should have mentioned his health and medical issues on a public blog. I have lived so much of my life in a public forum that I tend to forget that others aren’t accustomed to the same levels of scrutiny. Now that the challenge is over he can step away from the day-to-day aspects of MEG knowing that our original obligation is complete.

If there is one thing I hope that every reader of this blog will take away from this challenge, it is a newfound awareness of the real cost of what you eat. Several have let me know how their trips to the supermarket are different now and some have even used the grocery store as a learning tool for their children.

I applaud every effort being made to increase food scarcity awareness, every donation to a local food pantry and every person who has been encouraged to get into the kitchen and the garden to make or grow something they might not have done before. This is how change happens.

For those keeping track of the numbers along with us, the final figures for the October Food Stamp Challenge will be shared with the final post later tonight. Don’t think that this conversation is over! There are too many great recipes and money-saving tips to share in just one month, plus I’m about to have some great giveaways to help get you ready for your spring 2012 gardening!

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This is Day 28 & 29 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.

Early on Day 28 John had back surgery. For that reason he did not eat breakfast, and the remainder of his meals on that day consisted of hospital food. Michael brought coffee creamer, cinnamon rolls and a leftover lunch but nothing more as the surgeon assured us that John would most likely be ready to go home later that day.  He was not.

Complications led to an overnight stay and I (Michael) was not leaving John alone in the hospital when he was still fuzzy from anesthesia and in severe pain to boot. I had nothing else to eat and was ready to go without to make good on my promise to stay the course through the remaining days of this challenge. After debating with John for nearly three hours about me eating dinner, I asked the Facebook readers what they would suggest that I do about a meal. I provided them my options and the near-unanimous decision was that I should get a sandwich. 

I’m being completely up front when I tell you that I don’t think I have ever had a more emotional meal in my life. It took 10 minutes before I could eat the first bite and I cried through most of it. If you ever doubted my commitment to this challenge, you wouldn’t have if you’d have been there last night, that’s all I can tell you.

I was sitting in a hospital cafeteria choking down a fast food meal that I didn’t want to eat looking across the table at John who was under the knife just a few hours before. I had food to eat and the most important person in my life there with me.  Last night was the first time I understood what it was to have a real thanksgiving meal. I’ll never forget it.

To be as fair as I know how, I’ve deducted the amount of my meal from the budget.

MEALS

DAY 28 BREAKFAST: $0.20
creamer
(hospital-provided coffee)
cinnamon rolls

LUNCH: $0.00
leftover chicken & mashed potatoes

DINNER: $5.72
SUBWAY tuna sandwich

DAY 29 BREAKFAST: $0.97
coffee
sugar
creamer

cereal

LUNCH: $0.00
soup made on Day 26

DINNER: $4.55
meatballs in V8 veggie sauce
sweet peas

• Consumed Days 28 & 29 : 11.44 [+6.56 for 2 days]
• Consumed To Date (month): 131.94 [+120.15 for the month]
• Spent To Date: 235.15
• Remaining Balance: $44.03

PROLOGUE: We are very happy to be home, though John’s medical issues are not over yet. I have a new appreciation for our perpetually messy kitchen after not having one to cook in, and I will not complain again about my pillows that are never quite perfect after sleeping in a cramped and unforgiving hospital room chair last night. There are two days left of this challenge but something tells me that we’ve been through the biggest challenges we could have faced already.

No Question of the Day.  Just please, please take 5 minutes right now to be thankful for what you have. However much or little, be thankful.

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This is Day 27 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’m not asking a question of the day today, instead I’m asking you to respond to this post with the name, address and phone number of a local food bank or soup kitchen in your area. One of the things this challenge has inspired us to do is to compile a working database of food assistance programs across the country and to get started we will need your help. Don’t expect much to happen with the info right away – John’s having surgery tomorrow and we have a lot of irons in the fire. Eventually though, there will be progress.

PURCHASES

MEALS

BREAKFAST: $0.65
coffee
sugar
creamer
cinnamon rolls

CINNAMON ROLLS: $1.34
recipe link courtesy of epicurious
yields 14 rolls

LUNCH: $0.00
leftovers

DINNER: $4.77
fried chicken breast
mashed potatoes
sautéed mustard greens with onion & elephant garlic

• Consumed Today: 6.76 [+2.24 for the day]
• Consumed To Date (week): 26.55 [+27.45 for the week]
• Consumed To Date (month): 120.50 [+113.59 for the month]
• Spent To Date: 229.43
• Remaining Balance: $49.75

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