I believe it’s safe to say, on behalf of everyone working at FRN, that we are invested in fighting hunger and food waste to the best of our ability. It’s a continual process trying to understand the extent of these issues, and there’s always more we can do to learn. After hearing about the SNAP challenge– one week of subsisting only on the average allotment of food stamps- we thought partaking might give us more insight into the problems we are trying to tackle.
After some research, here were our rules:
- Based on the average SNAP allotment for a Washington, D.C. resident, food and beverage purchases could not surpass $30 for the week (or $4.28 per day).
- All food and drinks purchased and consumed in this time must be counted in total spending, including dining out.
- Do not eat anything purchased prior to the start of the challenge.
- Whenever possible, avoid accepting free food from family, friends, and coworkers.
- Eat as healthy as possible, keeping in mind that this is how many people eat every day, whereas you can make up for lost nutrients next week.
Upon looking into further details of the challenge, I had a few hesitations. First, one must be in a place of privilege to even choose to participate or not. The capacity to willingly decide to “live off of food stamps” would make my experience inherently different than someone with no other choice. Second, the SNAP challenge is not an accurate representation of utilizing SNAP, nor of being continually hungry. I imagine other circumstances in my life such as work, family, and health would also be greatly altered if I were food insecure. Third, having a finite end to the challenge negates significant stress. The anxiety of limited access to food everyday is augmented when there is no guarantee of escaping that circumstance.
Nonetheless, I hoped that there was something meaningful I could learn from partaking. I couldn’t put myself in another’s shoes, could never equate my experience during the challenge to another’s reality, but maybe I could take a tiny step closer.
Though I’d lived on what I had thought was a tight food budget before, I couldn’t say that grocery shopping had ever been as agonizing. I spent over an hour in Trader Joe’s, debating nervously what food would best get me through the week and recalculating the total cost many times over. I was left wondering- who has the luxury of that much time? In 2013, ⅔ of households that utilized SNAP had a child, an elderly person, or a nonelderly disabled adult. If I was taking care of another human being, I wouldn’t want to waste precious minutes adding up every last item. Additionally, despite my best efforts, I was still 38 cents over budget. What would it have been like to have to ask the cashier to take an item back, or come up with extra change?
Throughout the first three days, I didn’t feel much like myself. My state of being was either hungry or bloated, never satiated. The absence of coffee I could no longer afford left me sleepier and more distracted than usual. I was sick of rice by the end of day one, and I felt both guilty and preemptively relieved to know I could avoid it after the challenge. At its lowest points, my daily intention to do my best was reduced to simply trying to get through the day.
My discomfort and stress created a strange dichotomy. On one hand, I had to admit that I could be far too sensitive. The challenge wasn’t pleasant or easy (the very reason it’s called a challenge), but I was getting by. I’d have to toughen up, and eat less, and purchase even cheaper products to continue to eat on such a restricted budget, but it was possible. On the other hand, didn’t people deserve better than just trying to get by? I wouldn’t want anyone to feel like I did over the past few days. So why are there 49 million Americans who have to worry about having enough food to eat every single day?
I was also struck by how my eating limitations set me apart from the people I typically interacted with- namely, those who didn’t have to consider every penny when purchasing food. I had never realized how freely they were able to give it away until I found myself continually refusing it. I was surrounded by the fortunate. And as I turned down their food, I swallowed offers to reciprocate, bathed in fear of giving up any of my own food. There was an unsettling element of isolation in suddenly keeping my meals separate from everyone else. This, the inability to share and be shared with, was the most discouraging part of the challenge. Though that particular rule may not translate when living on SNAP benefits, I wondered what my current relationships would look like if this was my permanent reality. Would I be able to maintain these friendships? Would I (falsely) come off as selfish? I may never be able to afford dinner, drinks, or coffee out. Would any sort of outing mean a sacrifice of a different need? Why did I spend so much time and money on food?
All of these questions made me realize, over and over and over again, that I knew absolutely nothing about what it was like to be an average SNAP recipient. Even before I began, I didn’t believe that this challenge would give me a complete, multi-faceted insight into this issue. But now I understood that its true purpose was not to give me a comparable experience; it was to show me how much I still needed to learn.
In the remaining days of the challenge, I decided to save the rest of the rice for another time and put my energy into finding out as much as about SNAP as possible. I learned how SNAP benefits are calculated and the answers to many common questions surrounding the program. I read testimonials from average Americans and stories of those who had enough to eat because of SNAP. I also found some concrete reasons why the SNAP challenge wasn’t necessarily accurate (rather than my own conjectures), and why someone refused to take the SNAP challenge. I could go on and on, but I think the point is clear. If you truly want to see what it’s like to live on SNAP, you have to ask the people who know.
To those who have the privilege to partake: if you are curious to see if you can learn anything about yourself, or your own eating and spending habits, I encourage you to take the SNAP challenge. More importantly, I encourage you to read further and to listen even closer. As with most things, gaining a full understanding without firsthand experience is impossible. Consciously working to dig deeper, though, is far from it. I urge you to take a different kind of SNAP challenge- the challenge of seeking out others’ perspectives in hopes that your own may widen.
Written by Nicole Lesnett. Send her your thoughts on the SNAP challenge at nlesnett@foodrecoverynetwork.org.
