Taking the SNAP Challenge, Family Style, in Bismarck
post 1 of 2

My family- my husband, teenage daughter and I- took the SNAP Challenge during Hunger Action Month, September, in order to gain a better understanding of what it’s like to live with very few resources for food. We undertook this Challenge just days before the U.S. House of Representatives voted to make $40 billion cuts to the SNAP program and split the last 50 years of eaters and farmers being linked together in the Farm Bill. We were challenged to live on the average amount that a person receiving SNAP benefits receives on average in North Dakota: $4.25 per day. Yes, you read right, the amount that some of us spend on one coffee beverage. This amount calculated out to be $63.75 for the three of us for five days.

As we got ready to start, we felt humbled and grateful for the food skills and knowledge we have already in our training to become a registered dietitian and chef. We have each other for support, reliable vehicles to get us to grocery stores and markets nearby, and a background of some scarcity and thriftiness. My husband, Duane, and his family received food stamp benefits for a time while both his parents were working full-time at low wage jobs.

If there is one thing we hope to pass along, it is to help others understand the food-related decisions many of us take for granted each day.  We have been blessed and have had the opportunity to work toward many resources like a well-stocked pantry, cooking tools, pots and pans, a great stove and refrigerator. Many in our country don't come to the table with nearly this much.

Grocery shopping takes a long time when you need to budget down to the penny. We made many comprises. We spent more than an hour planning for our purchases and shopped at least three places, fully recognizing that our choices were "small potatoes" compared to day-in, day-out really hard choices that others face when it comes to making tough choices on rent, childcare, transportation, medical expenses, etc.

My husband and I found ourselves preoccupied by thoughts of food. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep, trying to figure out what we would eat for supper. Trying to make sure there will be enough food, especially for our growing daughter for the short five days of our Challenge. Each morning I’d count the slices of bread remaining, and together my husband and I would decide together how much to eat to ensure we wouldn’t run out.

            When we convinced our 15-year old daughter to join in, we did so with agreement that we would not knowingly shortchange her of food. I can't say enough about how important adequate nutrition is to the lives of children and moms. Thank goodness for school meals programs, the people who prepare them and teachers and other school team members who give out of their own pockets to make sure children don't go hungry. We didn’t count the $2.25 for each of the five days of the challenge that is a very reasonable charge by Bismarck Public Schools for lunch, as if we were eligible for SNAP our daughter would be eligible for free meals at school. If this would have been summer, however, the Challenge would have been much more challenging.

            We did run out of milk by the end of the fourth day, and I opened up the other carton that was in the fridge. But for those other parents out there who don’t have more milk in their fridges or bread in the bread box, what do they do? Eat less? Not pay a bill? Ask a neighbor? Visit a food pantry? When the home pantry is empty, and wallets are empty, then food pantries can help fill the gap.

Food pantries are playing a large role in helping to fill those very kinds of gaps. In fact here in North Dakota, one in 10 of us accessed the Great Plains Food Bank and their charitable feeding network partners in 2012, averaging 39,300 people served each month.  36% served were children; 12% were seniors. Please remember them the next time there is a food drive. Maybe these posts will help you think differently about the types of food you donate. Miss the food drive? Send cash. Sometimes that’s even better in helping the food bank access its national or regional resources.

 And food banks could become even busier come November. There were increases made to SNAP as part of the ARRA – Recovery Act - in 2009. However, those increases are scheduled to roll back as of 11/1/13. This means a $29 cut/month in benefits for a family of 3. Or about $5 in 5 days. I can’t imagine that this Challenge could get any harder, but it will if this roll back happens. We ran out of some food in 4 days on our 5-day budget.  If you want to send a message, or learn more see http://www.stopthehungerclock.org/

            SNAP is short for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The “Supplemental” means that economists have figured that at qualifying income levels, you should be able to spend about 30% of your income on food by following the “Thrifty Food Plan.” The problem is that SNAP allotments are not enough for most families to purchase an adequate, healthy diet throughout the month. It’s not just me saying this; a committee of the Institute of Medicine made this determination earlier this year http://bit.ly/169ynXE

SNAP benefits are determined off of gross income (plus a lot of other rules) based on 130 percent of the poverty line. So for a three-person family that equals out to $2,116 a month, or about $25,400 a year. In reality, when you make that small an income, the SNAP benefits may be all that is left to spend on food after childcare, rent, car, gas, lights, heat, back-to-school expenses, etc.

Karen Ehrens, RD, LRD