Only 2 days to go – how is your food budget stretching? Have you had to turn down any food along the way, invitations to eat out, joining in a potluck, or that coffee on the go? What are the social consequences you’re seeing this week as you make these choices? What would it be like to make these tough choices all the time?
What You Can Do: Many Vermonters still do not see the “hidden hunger” in our state. Tell a friend about the issue; share these hunger facts. Use social networking to inform people – invite your friends to be fans of the Campaign and the Foodbank on Facebook.
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I'm in solitary confinement today. Looks like it's officially a cold, but I don't think it has anything to do with the food rationing. Had a very nice spaghetti dinner last night with garlic bread (my stale baguettes that I baked over the weekend) and salad. Otie pointed out that the allowance for free school lunches this week made the difference between tomato sauce and meat sauce. Susan Bartlett said when she was campaigning for governor that she thought all school meals ought to be free. Makes perfect sense to me. The cost of vetting and keeping people out of the program is probably about the same as feeding everyone. And if every kid got two balanced meals a day, that would probably save a fortune in healthcare costs down the line.
ReplyDeleteI think today will actually be my first peanut butter sandwich of the week and it kind of sounds good right now.
Note to self: Articles about food are a bad idea today.
ReplyDeleteHardest part of the week so far has been the $40 food budget hit from the cross-country banquet. Ouch! On the other hand, got to bring home some leftover samosas from our Annual Meeting. That's legit, right?
ReplyDeleteOur initial food planning for the week required shopping in multiple stores -- either bargain shopping, knowing which store had the best veg/fruit/package goods or convenience. Coupons as well -- though by price shopping some coupons were not necessary or used (Shaw's butter 2/$5, Land O'Lakes $4.99 less $1.00 for coupon). Shaw's also had some special $1 coupons to be matched with other $1 coupons -- I used one of four.
ReplyDeleteWe will finish our week under budget, even with the $40 hit for the XC Banquet. Ran out of milk and only bought a half gallon, to keep a cushion. Bought 4 bagels for lunch today. We have been able to eat fairly normally for us -- lots of homemade food, fresh veg, etc. but did so with the knowledge that there wouldn't be as many leftovers to use the next day for lunches.
I have to say that the $38 number per person ($190 for family of 5) is probably too high. We kept our big shop to $130 with some meat and other staples as instructed, didn't buy wine, beer or alcohol. Knowing that if we were using 3Squares would get us free or reduced lunch only helped a bit in the planning.
Having had to go through periods of adhering to a strict budget, I know that the compromises you make include going from King Arthur Flour to Gold Medal (unless buying from Costco) or store brand, and Domino sugar to store brand, and so on. I already do for some items when on sale (pasta) but never for others (cereal). If I HAD to be on this budget ALL THE TIME, the perceived quality of the brand would take a back seat to the upfront cost, which would change the flavor or texture of the food (yes, it's different...).
Because we make so much of our own food, including bread and cookies, we didn't miss out as much. And fruits and vegetables were not at their most expensive. But adding beer/wine/liquor or multiple meat purchases, even on sale, would have limited quantities purchased, cooked and eaten.
This has been a good exercise and I know we are lucky to have already been in a budget groove similar to what we were allowed. But knowing the pressures and stress of food insecurity, I also know our diets would change significantly over time for the worst, if for no other reason than we would rely on the school to provide at least one meal a day.
@ Erik: My default lunch was PB. Three days of it and I hope I'm done for awhile.
Our initial food planning for the week required shopping in multiple stores -- either bargain shopping, knowing which store had the best veg/fruit/package goods or convenience. Coupons as well -- though by price shopping some coupons were not necessary or used (Shaw's butter 2/$5, Land O'Lakes $4.99 less $1.00 for coupon). Shaw's also had some special $1 coupons to be matched with other $1 coupons -- I used one of four.
ReplyDeleteWe will finish our week under budget, even with the $40 hit for the XC Banquet. Ran out of milk and only bought a half gallon, to keep a cushion. Bought 4 bagels for lunch today. We have been able to eat fairly normally for us -- lots of homemade food, fresh veg, etc. but did so with the knowledge that there wouldn't be as many leftovers to use the next day for lunches.
I have to say that the $38 number per person ($190 for family of 5) is probably too high. We kept our big shop to $130 with some meat and other staples as instructed, didn't buy wine, beer or alcohol. Knowing that if we were using 3Squares would get us free or reduced lunch only helped a bit in the planning.
Having had to go through periods of adhering to a strict budget, I know that the compromises you make include going from King Arthur Flour to Gold Medal (unless buying from Costco) or store brand, and Domino sugar to store brand, and so on. I already do for some items when on sale (pasta) but never for others (cereal). If I HAD to be on this budget ALL THE TIME, the perceived quality of the brand would take a back seat to the upfront cost, which would change the flavor or texture of the food (yes, it's different...).
Because we make so much of our own food, including bread and cookies, we didn't miss out as much. And fruits and vegetables were not at their most expensive. But adding beer/wine/liquor or multiple meat purchases, even on sale, would have limited quantities purchased, cooked and eaten.
This has been a good exercise and I know we are lucky to have already been in a budget groove similar to what we were allowed. But knowing the pressures and stress of food insecurity, I also know our diets would change significantly over time for the worst, if for no other reason than we would rely on the school to provide at least one meal a day.
@ Erik: My default lunch was PB. Three days of it and I hope I'm done for awhile.
For the record, the $38 food budget figure came from the fact that the average monthly benefit for a household of one in Vermont was $162 for the month of August (month used when developing the Challenge). Divide by 4.3 to get approx. $38 per week.
ReplyDeleteIt is not actually accurate to simply take $38 and multiply by the number of additional people in the household to get a week's budget. The averages vary a bit by household size as well as from month to month depending on who's currently participating in the program. The fact is some households get much less and others much more, depending on their size, income and expenses.
However, for the purpose of the Challenge, we wanted to keep it simple, and so we went with one dollar figure for people to work from, despite its limitations.
If we offer the Challenge as an awareness-raising opportunity again in the future, I might consider asking the State for additional averages for 2, 3, and 4 person households, so we could indeed be a little more "realistic" in the experience.
..."Tired of rice and beans? Craving a little Ben and Jerry's?"... In my opinion this kind of rhetoric is counter-productive. As several people have pointed out, it's NOT necessary to live on "rice and beans". I ate meat 4 out of the last 6 nights (with omelets one night and yes, a bean and corn casserole another. As far as the Ben and Jerry's goes...it is true that a 3Squares budget doesn't really allow purchase of the most expensive ice cream in the store (or filet mignon either) but does this really represent deprivation? My family purchases perhaps two pints of B and J per year (and NEVER fiilet mignon) but we seem to be doing fine..there are plenty of less expensive sweets out there. Get a grip! Also, I would hope that those who support people recieving 3Squares benefits would not hold out such negative messages ('beans and rice"). While a good measure of empathy is certainly in order, encouraging a "poor me/ain't it awful" attitude is not helpful. Wouldn't it be better to help people figure out how to plan and shop carefully and cook creatively to make it work?
ReplyDeleteI concur with several of the experiences shared above. With no changes from our "normal" meal planning, my partner and I came in under budget ($8.13 to spare)for the week and enjoyed nutritious, satisfying meals of soups, quiches, omlettes and whole wheat pastas with no sense of deprivation. All of our shopping occured at either City Market or Shaws and included some organic produce and grains. We knew we lived modestly but it was a genuine surprise to analyze our food consumption and realize that we'd already been been subsisting on <$10/day. This was an excellent self-inventory and we realized our economical lifestyle relies on several key factors: 1) with very few exceptions, we make all of our own food, 2) we are both lacto-ovo vegetarians, and 3) we depend heavily on the bulk food section of City Market for inexpensive beans, grains,and spices in whatever quantities we need. One of the primary reasons I adopted a vegetarian diet 30 years ago was pure economics -I could not afford meat on my low, hourly salary and it forced me to consider a lower-cost diet. While a vegetarian diet may not be for everyone, it is a cost saver and I would encourage the 3 Squares program to promote more meatless meal recipes and also work with City Market or Healthy Living to promote awareness (and dispel misperceptions)of the bulk food bins. Overall, this was a great exercise and prompted some very meaningful discussions within my friends and coworkers about food insecurity and hunger awareness. Thank you to VT Campaign to End Childhood Hunger for the work you are doing.
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