I must admit that accepting this challenge is a bit daunting to me. My reason for participating in this experience is to better understand the daily frustrations of our clients who visit the Old Saybrook Pantry. In sharing Patty's blog as she travels through Michigan with Emmet, it takes me back to my Michigan heritage.
In the 1940's when I was growing up on a 40 acre southern Michigan farm, we also would have lived below the median income (although we didn't have these terms for our style of living then.) We did have access to a large garden, berry bushes, cows that gave us fresh milk and that we slaughtered once a year for meat, chickens that gave us fresh eggs and we cooked on Sunday, many fish from the streams, and squirrel and rabbit in the woods which my father hunted to subsidize the food budget. Much of our summer work was "putting by for the winter". We would "can" vast amounts of fruits and vegetables, which was our way of preserving them for the off-growing season.
As the next to the oldest in a family of eight children, I had a part in gathering food for the table. I grew up liking the challenge of deciding what we would have for dinner, what needed to be added to the weekly grocery list (that wasn't on the basement shelves). I remember the wide-eyed pleasure of visiting my best friend from the city and seeing all kinds of treats on her table that never were a choice in our house.
Part of this challenge, now, 60 years later, if that my husband Marshall and I, have included many of these "treats" in our weekly diet. Because he is diabetic and I struggle with rhumatoid arthritis, our favorite foods are fresh fruits and vegetables. Somehow over the next week, I will need to figure this into our daily $3.30 x 2 and try to carve out a little piece of our $6.60.a day for fresh produce. Since our Pantry gives out fruits and veggies, besides the allotted canned goods that we can include in our week's planning, we will begin the week with 2 bananas, a package of green spinich, a tomato, an onion and three potatoes. Our cupboard is stocked for the week with the other allotted canned goods and we are ready to begin on Tuesday.
Realizations that have hit me already are:
This challenge is for one week...how different to know there is an ending to this week.
I come to the challenge with thought put into planning for it...most poverty is unplanned for.
I have the experience of growing up with parents who have taught me about healthy "food stretchers" and how to make almost everything from "scratch".
I have the time and energy to bake my own bread. How many families today need to work two or three jobs and are sapped of time and energy to cope with hunger.
My question is...where does money for medications fit into this budget? Where does toilet paper, toothpaste, deodorant fit in? Reflecting on these necessities, it makes me realize how important it is that we as managers include these personal items wherever possible in families weekly choices.
Typically we spend an average of $130./week on food, so it will be a week of reawakening with our $44.10. which is set aside to cover our weekly groceries. I will write some daily notes of this experience.
Tuesday June 3, 2008
My first purchase of the morning was a gallon of milk for the week. Traveling an extra mile to Cumberland Farms saved $1.00. I paid $2.99. which was almost half of our daily allotment. Five bananas was another $1.48. Marshall and I shared one on our morning cereal.
Tuesdays are my Deep River Rotary luncheon days. Rotary lunch is $11.00. Since I am in charge of our annual fundraiser Antique Car Show on Sunday, I had to go to make final plans for the show. I was indecisive about what to do? Do I pack my lunch? I opted for going, but paying out of pocket seperate from the challange. It made me reflect how folks on food stamps do not have the option of being philanthropic by joining civic clubs.
In planning ahead for a Friday night Pantry Potluck Party, I had agreed three weeks ago to make baked stuffed clams. I stopped by Stop & Shop to pick up the clams, ritz crackers and parsley this afternoon (while I was in Old Saybrook). I ended up spending another $10. out of my weekly $44. budget...so after just one day, I have spent 1/4 of my weekly money!! Will I be able to make it through the week?
At the Pantry today, I felt more on the same footing as our clients, than I ever had before in my four years as Pantry manager.
Coming home very tired at 5:30, I would typically have a cold glass of Pinot. Not so tonight...a glass of ice water had to suffice. For dinner we had chicken thighs which is one of the foods that we gave out today in the pantry. I sprinkled with olive oil (one of my two condiments) salt & pepper and grilled it. We also had rice a roni (one of my start up choices) and 1/3 bag of fresh spinich (I found for $1.50 last week), but it needs to last another two meals.
Wednesday June 4, 2008
The past two days has provided the gift of appreciating the simplest pleasures...today it was parsley! Parsley seemed an extravagance yesterday, and I debated spending the 99 cents for such a frivolous item. I justified buying it because of it's vitamin c in addition to the need for something green in the frig. Today, I was so happy to find that it dressed up my egg salad at lunchtime and added character to the whole wheat pasta with sauce at dinner...a bit of Parmesan would have really tasted good too, but oh well...
By this second day, my husband Marshall is picking and choosing how much he wants to participate in this challenge, but being the spouse, I have allowed him that leeway. It's tricky when he sits down at 5:00 with his glass of red wine and my food stamp money cannot be stretched that far. Tonight after our pasta, he announced that he would love a chocolate peanut butter blizzard from Dairy Queen. Poor guy has recently suffered a stroke and has had to give up many things he enjoys in life, so a blizzard that he bought out of his "own money", didn't seem too harsh. That surely looked just as good as the wine did earlier.
I can only imagine how hard it must be for a child whose family subsists on food stamps, to pass by the Dairy Queen and sees his best friends enjoying blizzards. Sometimes life is just not fair!
Thursday June 5, 2008
Bulk buying has got to be a struggle for those on food stamps, I concluded today. To save money, you must first have money for the BJ's or Sam's Club membership, gas to get there and then the danger of impulse buying. I do a quarterly trek to BJ's in Waterford to buy our paper, personal and laundry supplies. Today was the day. Never have I come out of BJ's with such a small order. Unfortunately the only food stamp money that I could spend today was for 10 bananas for $1.39.
For lunch we had leftover chicken with some mayo and of course parsley added. I bought wraps for 2.99 for the chicken salad and for bean burritos for tonight. I had previously found cheddar on sale for $2.00 a bar for the burritos, so today's total expenditures are $6.38.
I agree with Shirley...this calculating is much harder than my typical, overindulgent food buying habits.
One observation this week is that my compost pile is smaller than my can recycling bin.
Friday June 6, 2008
Here we are at "hump day"...half way there with the week long challenge. Our little cache of food stamp money is showing $22. left for three more days, so it looks like we can make it through to Tuesday. Again, how lucky we are to know there is a point where we know we can once again eat fresh fruits, vegetables and fish...so unlike many of our neighbors.
Certainly this week will leave an impression that will last far beyond seven days!
Choices has been on my mind today as I set the breakfast table with only one box of cereal that we started out the week with. How different from our usual three or four choices of cereal that are set out on the counter for a typical breakfast. This thought took me back to four years ago in the Pantry when there were few choices to make, and bags were packed for clients to pick up, with no idea as to whether the recipient liked chick peas or kidney beans. Choice is empowering once you've become used to making choices, and how much happier our shoppers in the Food Pantry are these days to have a choice of breakfast cereals. Even when you choose your own cereal it gets a bit tiresome after three days in a row.
Saturday June 7, 2008
I never guessed that I would check out at Colonial Market for less than $12.00, but it happened today, as I gathered the final two days worth of groceries for the Challenge. Believe it or not, I found a pound of organic carrots, 5 pounds of potatoes, a cantalope, a head of lettuce, a can of saur kraut, a bag of brown rice for $11.19! With a senior discount it came to $10.64. Along with pork chops that I found on sale last week for $1.00 each, we had a Saturday night feast with leftovers for tomorrow night. We will just slide in under the wire on Tuesday as we have just one more milk stop to make.
Tomorrow is the Rotary Car Show, so I have just packed my egg salad sandwich to take the place of a hot dog ($3.00)..which would be a total day's allotment on food stamps.
Last Saturday Night, Marshall and I went to Liv's Oyster Bar for dinner and spent $94. for the two of us.
This week has been an eye opener!
Sunday June 8, 2008
I felt so "holy" and hot today by just eating leftovers all day, that I splurged and used my whole $3.00 allotment to have an ice cold beer... Ummm! devine!
Monday June 9, 2008
Well, here we are on the last day of the challenge.
Tonight we celebrated by taking our chicken thighs, rice and salad to the Boat Club to cool off by the River.
Looking back over the week, I'm glad that we accepted this challenge. It opened our eyes and rekindled our hearts to the plight of so many of our neighbors...
Who knows by this time next year it could be us living day to day; everyday wondering if the peanut butter would last until our next Pantry visit.
It gave validation to what we do as Pantry managers and how important it is that we be able to continue to access the Food Banks and that Second Harvest continues to exist and prosper, as so many people depend on us for their food.
When we shopped at the Food Bank today and brought home 2,500 pounds of food for tomorrow's distribution, I could taste exactly what the mac & cheese, spaghetti sauce and pasta sides tastes like and how much it helped us to get through the week.
My thanks to the Shoreline Soup Kitchens and Pantries for making this possible this experience of walking in our neighbor's moccasins for a week.
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