So...maybe for a month? Maybe more?

So, as I mentioned yesterday, I had originally planned to be on the SNAP challenge for only a week.  Then I went over the amount of groceries by $6.50.  When I got home and piled the groceries on the counter, I went through what I could and couldn't live without and the cost of each item.  I fianlly decided that if I did away with the chicken breasts and one pound of rice, I would come in just under the financial limitations.  That would be easy enough.  I could actually do that--anyone can live this way for a week. Hmm...but what if I tried it for a month and wrote about my experience?  Hence, the blog.

Yesterday, I got the bright idea to talk to someone in Human Services and find out what the average time is that someone is on SNAP.  Maybe I could try this for that long.  It would be interesting to me to find out how much I can learn about who is really receiving SNAP benefits and how they make it month to month.  I want to learn from those who work in the field of Human Services and in hunger relief to find out how much of a problem exists out there.  We are such an agriculturally rich country.  How are people going hungry?

I've also learned that the $4.50 a day is a national average.  I want to be as true to my area as possible, so I researched what the average SNAP benefits in Wisconsin and got a really cool national chart. http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/18SNAPavg$PP.htm  Last year, the average monthly SNAP benefits in Wisconsin were $116.50.  That is just under $1.39 a meal.  My challenge to myself just got harder.  If a person has lost their job and needs to go on assistance for awhile to survive, how do they survive?

I will tell you that I am allowing myself to forage for food and pick wild berries and fruits.  Also, I consider rhubarb an edible backyard weed.  It is found in yards across Wisconsin and I've never met anyone who actually had to pay for it.  Rhubarb is definitely on the table for supplemental foods for me.  I'll be getting out my foraging guides and finding out what is edible in my yard.  I've always wondered what dandelions taste like...maybe I'll give them a shot.  I do know that a plain lettuce salad is not what I'm used to and I'm already willing to put weeds and grass on it to make it taste better.

I'm already feeling an emotional loss to food.  It's strange.  I miss mushrooms and red peppers and don't know if I will be able to afford them by the end of the month.

I am a fresh vegees person, so I've taken some of my SNAP money and put toward seeds and plants to feed me later; but the trade-off is that I will probably be hungry by the end of the month because I am planning for the future.  That is one of the cool things about the SNAP program that actually does make sense from a health standpoint--the recipients can use the SNAP benefits to buy seeds and plants that will produce food.  Problem is, where the devil do they plant them?  I guess that's a topic for another post...