#snapcuse

From June 9 to June 16, 30+ Syracuse residents took part in the #SNAPcuse #SNAPchallenge. Here are my thoughts as the week, and the challenge, wind to an end.

There are two figures that stuck out to me today: $225 & $5. I started my day at the dentist to get a cavity filled. Whole thing was painless and took about 20 minutes. The bill came and it was $225. Fortunately I (my parents) have great insurance. It only cost me $45. This immediately made me think of SNAPCuse. If I only had $5 to spend on food I would imagine I'd struggle to pay a dental bill of this magnitude. I felt very fortunate. I work at the Student Sandbox in downtown Syracuse. Parking there is $5 per day; again probably a struggle to pay if you are on SNAP Benefits. Tomorrow should be interesting.

The Syracuse SNAP Challenge is a week long event hosted by my good friend, and Syracuse Common Council Candidate Dan Cowen. More info here: http://bit.ly/SNAPCuse Participants are asked to spend less than $5 per day on food and drink. This $5 represents what those on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly know as Food Stamps) have to feed themselves on each day. As I write this post I struggle to think of a time in recent memory where I spent less than $5 on a meal. I believe that this week will give me a better perspective. My friend Chris asked participants what they thought the hardest part of SNAPCuse will be. My answer was as follows: I think it's the amount of time that goes into budgeting. Truth be told, I forgot that #SNAPCuse started today so on my way into the city I had a bagel toasted with Tunafish at $4.46 (overpriced, I know). This was a purchase I made out of haste because I didn't have time to make breakfast at my house this morning. On SNAP benefits a purchase like this would be both stupid and nearly impossible. To get the most out of $5 a day you must scrutinize every purchase down to the penny; something I am ashamed I rarely do. This creates a sad paradox. To get the most out of $5 you need to clip coupons, shop around and figure out ways to stretch the dollar week after week; but many of those who receive SNAP benefits don't have the time for this.

Today was the first day of the SNAP challenge. This challenge was recently made pretty popular by Cory Booker, and the wonderful Dan Cowen decided to organize the particular challenge that I'm participating in. We'll be living off of $5 a day, which is the average that SNAP recipients get in Onondaga County, NY. I did my grocery shopping today, so my meals are a little backed up. I did pretty well for $35 worth of groceries; ShopRite had some great sales going on, and combined with a store loyalty card, I walked away with more things than I had included in my meal planning. Most notably, I was able to buy frozen tilapia filets (a 3 pack for $2.99) and eggs (18 for $1.88), which considerably expands my options for a protein. I'm fortunate enough to live in an area with plenty of reasonably priced options for groceries; I know this is not the case in areas known as food deserts... And Syracuse is absolutely considered a food desert. Following this post, I will put up a picture of my full receipt from this afternoon, but for now, I'll just give a quick rundown of what I ate today. Brunch: •Two fried eggs •Half a banana •1/2c oatmeal •Coffee with milk and sugar Dinner: Andrew's parents invited us over to grill for dinner. We accepted the offer, but I brought my own food.. •A thin sliced chicken breast seasoned with a homemade chili blend I had laying around •A salad of romaine lettuce and cucumbers •Brown rice (which took FOREVER to cook... I forgot how long rice takes to prepare!) •A little cup of diced peaches packed in a white grape juice •Huge glass of ice water My thoughts for the day... •It definitely sucked not being able to enjoy the delicious barbecue that Andrew's family prepared. They were VERY understanding and grilled my little chicken breast that I brought with me. •In terms of finances, my mother pointed out that my grocery haul was VERY similar to what she normally buys for about the same budget per person. We do not eat very expensive cuts of meat at home very often, and being Hispanic, rice and beans are a staple for my parents. •The biggest challenge for me is my dietary restrictions. I normally eat 75% paleo. No processed foods, no dairy, no grains or legumes. Lots of meat and fresh produce. My standby produce (brussels, sweet potatoes, asparagus, bok choy, etc) and cuts of beef are definitely not realistic on a food stamp budget. In order to meet my carbohydrate and protein requirements, I chose to incorporate whole grains (brown rice, whole grain pasta, oatmeal) and legumes (black beans and lentils). And I definitely could NOT afford the $4 almond milk that I normally buy... No milk or milk substitutes for me at all this week, except for some 1% milk in my coffee and oatmeal. I bought a quart for that purpose. Going forward with this week (and tonight, actually), my biggest challenge will be work. Work is an endless cycle of food ordered and brought in by surgeons, and cookies, bread, milk, juice, coffee, and peanut butter are all available to staff in our lounge. I normally don't partake since none of that is paleo, but without my normal stockpile of snacks, I think these things will start to look very tempting. And tonight? Well, we're going to the bar with our friends. I'll be the one drinking free water....