Sunday, Day 7 – A good conclusion to a meaningful week

Our Invocation:  Can we truly gain something from hunger?  Perhaps we gain an appreciation or an understanding of the situation of those who do not get enough to eat.  Perhaps we acquire sensitivity to those who live at or below the poverty level.  Perhaps we learn how best to relate to our impoverished neighbors and fellow human beings.  May our gains be for good!

Today we held our wrap up discussion on everyone’s Food Stamp Challenge.  With ten participants attending, we shared stories about our experiences of the week, our lessons learned, and our anticipation for future empathic responses to the issue of hunger in America.

We watched a few excerpts from “Food Stamped,” a documentary made a few years ago that depicts the week of a couple in Berkeley CA who took the challenge.

Most impressive to me was the segment that focused on a man who received about $176 per month of food aid.  He took an 80-mile round trip drive to buy his groceries once per month, and he purchased flats of ramen noodles to go along with his fruit, vegetable, and meat purchases.  With his extensive drive to find the best prices he sure spent a lot of energy to eat.

The group today talked about ways to educate people about best ways to prepare food, to encourage people to find time to prepare what they can and not take the easiest way out, which is to buy quickly preparable and unhealthy foodstuffs.

By the way, by the end of our challenge, we had left over the following: 12 eggs, a banana, a pear, two bags of lentils, one pound rice, half a box (six ounces) of whole wheat pasta, four potatoes, a can of tuna, a can of chilies, and eight ounces of milk.

So one conclusion I can make is that people can make proper food choices to live on $29.07 per week.  However, there are conditions that prohibit many people from doing this:

Time: Most people don’t take the time, and actually don’t have the time, to prepare meals as I do.  A second job, seizing opportunities to get overtime, leads to unstable schedules.

Transportation: Living in food deserts causes one to go to convenience stores with their severely limited inventory and selection.  No wonder the nutritional health of those in poverty is lacking.

Education: People need to understand the ramifications of their nutritional choices, the ways to combine foods to get the most nutrition out of them, and how to find time to make the right kinds of meals for them and their families.

There is surely a lot of work to do, and now is our time to find ways to do it!

Saturday, Day 6 – A busy Shabbat and engaging in Temple activities

Our Invocation:  Can we truly gain something from hunger?  Perhaps we gain an appreciation or an understanding of the situation of those who do not get enough to eat.  Perhaps we acquire sensitivity to those who live at or below the poverty level.  Perhaps we learn how best to relate to our impoverished neighbors and fellow human beings.  May our gains be for good!

I exercised this morning, and found that my energy level was lower, though I am not sure there is an easy explanation for this.  I have had small aches and pains, as I said, during the past week, and I attribute them, perhaps, to a diminution of my protein intake and fewer nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables than I am accustomed to eating.  But I still was able to get in my hour on the elliptical machine.  And still no weight loss even with the Challenge overall reduced food intake.

For breakfast again I relied on a potato-based breakfast, including the final portion of the yogurt and some chili still left over.  I received a kind invitation to the Bar Mitzvah luncheon, but I decided to remain on the Challenge despite my Temple duties; I returned home after teaching a future Bar Mitzvah student, and fixed some of the tuna (which we had not eaten yet) with celery and onions, over a couple of baked potatoes.  At dinner time, I was engaged in Temple activities in Rockford, IL, at the 100th anniversary party of Tempe Beth El.  I traveled to Rockford with a wonderful delegation of congregants and we ate dinner at an Italian restaurant.  I ate a lettuce salad, plus a sliced egg, and a slice of Italian bread.  We shunned the dessert, thinking that there would be some kind of reception after the 100th anniversary concert we attended (which was great – a reunion of Danny Friedlander and Jeffrey Klepper), but there was no dessert there.  So I had a banana with some peanut butter when I returned home.

I think that I was more tired yesterday than I had been before, yet the evening was fun and always a good time with my congregants.  My level of patience did not wane any more than I reported earlier in the week.  So I think I received adequate calories, but the quality of the calories was not usual for me.

Friday, Day 5 – Feeling better, and a lot of food left…

Our Invocation:  Can we truly gain something from hunger?  Perhaps we gain an appreciation or an understanding of the situation of those who do not get enough to eat.  Perhaps we acquire sensitivity to those who live at or below the poverty level.  Perhaps we learn how best to relate to our impoverished neighbors and fellow human beings.  May our gains be for good!

One thing that both my wife and I noticed was that, at least as far as the two of us are concerned, there seems to be an adequate amount of food.  Again, this is in consideration of the fact that – with the exception of the canned ingredients for the chili – we purchased mostly raw ingredients, and we had few, if any, packaged or prepared foods.  I am pretty certain this is not what people in poverty do, due to lack of time, access to an adequate grocery store, or knowledge of good nutrition guidelines.

On Friday morning I exercised, which increased my need and desire for calories, and I sated myself on some leftover salad, baked potato, and chili, plus yogurt, for breakfast and lunch.  It was a long-ish meal, stretching over a few hours.  For dinner, we had the leftover whole wheat spaghetti, with its TVP-infused sauce that we had made the evening before.

I have noticed that I am more thirsty than I have been, and I guess that’s from the exercise and dry rooms: the weather has grown colder over the last few days, and with the increased heating needs the inside humidity goes down.  (Our home humidifier is off due to my son’s allergies.)

At our service this evening, I did have some wine and a cookie that our Sisterhood put out at the Oneg Shabbat.  There are many occasions when free food is available for everyone, and anyone at our worship is invited to partake.  The trick will be tomorrow, when the Bar Mitzvah family has graciously invited any worshiper to join them at lunch, when I will politely decline to eat.  (And the caterer is a great cook, who prepares great meals…sigh!)

Thursday, Day 4 – Better on the hunger, and a filling dinner

Our Invocation:  Can we truly gain something from hunger?  Perhaps we gain an appreciation or an understanding of the situation of those who do not get enough to eat.  Perhaps we acquire sensitivity to those who live at or below the poverty level.  Perhaps we learn how best to relate to our impoverished neighbors and fellow human beings.  May our gains be for good!

Today was a pretty full day at the Temple Beth El office, with meetings, sound system set up, counseling, etc.  Hungerwise, the day passed well.  For breakfast I ate a baked potato with yogurt and some leftover chili (It’s still going well.) and a banana.  Lunch included an egg salad sandwich and soup from a meeting that was held the night before, and our staff believed that I could certainly take advantage of food that was present in the workplace.  For dinner, we made the whole wheat spaghetti, canned marinara sauce with added onions and celery, a lettuce salad with cucumber and carrots, and an apple.  No other dessert, but I am accustomed to eating some dark chocolate in the evenings (cardiovascular benefit), but I did not buy them with my grocery allotment.

From what I hear from my friends and congregants, there is a lot of success going on.  There is also a lot of preparation time in these meals, time that someone in poverty would not have.  I am going to keep track of my time in meal preparation, and then consider whether that mirrors the life of someone who has two kids and no partner to help out in the home.

Wednesday, Day 3 – The Challenge, along with a workout...

Our Invocation:  Can we truly gain something from hunger?  Perhaps we gain an appreciation or an understanding of the situation of those who do not get enough to eat.  Perhaps we acquire sensitivity to those who live at or below the poverty level.  Perhaps we learn how best to relate to our impoverished neighbors and fellow human beings.  May our gains be for good!

This morning I was not as rushed as as I was yesterday, and I decided to go off to the gym to have my usual one hour aerobic workout.  I drank a lot of water before, during, and after the workout: I had more beforehand than I usually do, and I drank a lot more during my workout, more than I normally do.  When I returned home, I had a regular breakfast (usually I would have an abundance of protein to make up for what I had lost during the workou6 and did not have today), made my lunch, and got to the Temple office for my day.

It was a long day in terms of hunger, though I did not feel more hungry than yesterday.  I thought that I might feel even hungrier due to the workout, but so far so good.  It is now 6:45 PM, and I decided to have dinner when I get home at around 8:45 or so.  It’s a long wait…

I noticed yesterday a bit of a shortened patience, more so than usual, and today I notice – physiologically – a few minor aches and pains.  My sleep patterns are not much different from usual, and I feel pretty rested in the mornings.

A debate arose in my office today regarding whether I could have a cup of coffee from our staff-supported coffee maker.  My secretary was very generous, and said I could.  So did our other assistant.  And the coffee was just warm, and did not feed my hunger very much.

Tuesday, Day 2 (update) - At the end of the day...

Our Invocation:  Can we truly gain something from hunger?  Perhaps we gain an appreciation or an understanding of the situation of those who do not get enough to eat.  Perhaps we acquire sensitivity to those who live at or below the poverty level.  Perhaps we learn how best to relate to our impoverished neighbors and fellow human beings.  May our gains be for good!

As I sat at the Temple Beth El Board of Trustees meeting tonight, I was somewhat hungry.  I had eaten dinner at about 6 PM, which consisted of salad left over from last night, a helping of our vegetarian chili, and some rice.  When experiencing the hunger pangs during the day, I realized that, at least for me, I can reflect back on fasting on Yom Kippur, and understood that working through the hunger was one way to avoid the feelings of emptiness.  Was I more productive today in my work?  I am not yet sure.

I had a meeting out of the office this morning, and my companion had a nice, warm latte with whipped cream.  I had water.

I returned home tonight, and had a few Cheerios, and two stalks of celery.  I think I would have bought something more substantial to snack on had I planned differently, but it needed to have fit within the price guideline.  Experience teaches well.

I think that my meals are averaging around a dollar each, with a bit more for the chili.

Tuesday, Day 2 - Rushed and hungry

Our Invocation:  Can we truly gain something from hunger?  Perhaps we gain an appreciation or an understanding of the situation of those who do not get enough to eat.  Perhaps we acquire sensitivity to those who live at or below the poverty level.  Perhaps we learn how best to relate to our impoverished neighbors and fellow human beings.  May our gains be for good!

Last evening, everything went well with dinner of chili and rice.  We added a green salad, with a third of the cucumber, one carrot, and one of the three heads of lettuce that came in the bag we purchased.  I think that the chili was not as filling as it could have been, and we did not take seconds because we wanted to ensure it lasted for us.  I also ate a baked potato; see the next paragraph.

Because I work out regularly, I think my body really misses the calories that I take in, and I was pretty hungry last night at dinner time.  That’s the reason that I added the potato.  It was a small potato (which I ate with salt and pepper), but it certainly did the trick as far as hunger goes.

On this second morning of the Challenge, I was tremendously rushed.  I was off to the surgical center to be with a congregant before surgery, and I had to leave the house at the same time as my son, 7 AM.  So my awakening at 6 AM barely left me enough time to wash and dress for the day, and then make his breakfast and lunch, and my breakfast, lunch, and dinner; I have a very full day today, and needed to pack and take everything with me.

The crowded nature of my life this month certainly means that I need to rise earlier, to accomplish all I have to do for my family and take care of my needs.  Exercise may or may not have the same intensity as before, as my calorie intake drops; I cannot provide the same amount of calories as other weeks.  And as I wrote before, many people recommend that one eats a small something before a workout, and then protein load after a workout; I am not certain that I will be able to do either of these activities.  I am now getting a sense of what someone working two jobs, with children to provide for, has to go through to make their day work!

More later today!

Monday, Day 1 - Optmistic, and frugal

Our Invocation:  Can we truly gain something from hunger?  Perhaps we gain an appreciation or an understanding of the situation of those who do not get enough to eat.  Perhaps we acquire sensitivity to those who live at or below the poverty level.  Perhaps we learn how best to relate to our impoverished neighbors and fellow human beings.  May our gains be for good!

I woke up this morning after only a few hours of sleep: I went to the gym last night to work out after a long and involved day, and I did not eat after my workout because I did not want to cut into our food supply too early.  That was probably a mistake, as I am feeling a bit weak today.

I prepared my son’s lunch early today (he’s not participating in the Challenge), and as I did so, I tried to not taste or sample his tuna salad or grapes as I normally would when I prepare the meals.  I am a taster when I cook – after all, I have to get it right – yet when I prepare for him this week, I have to refrain.

For breakfast I had two eggs scrambled and a piece of dry wheat toast, along with an apple.  I also had some water, and some old tea that we have had for about five years.  Perhaps that’s not part of the challenge, but I felt it would be all right; there are no calories in tea, at any rate.

For lunch, I might have peanut butter on bread, probably open faced, along with a piece of fruit.  I’d have the banana, but they were not ripe when I bought them, and I think they’re not quite ready.

This is my day off, and during and after breakfast I prepared a chili from the canned beans and condensed soup, and the celery, peppers, canned tomatoes, broccoli, and spices that we had on hand.  They’re in the slow cooker, and will be ready for dinner; we’ll have it with rice tonight, and it will last us four dinners, at least.  It was the same recipe that I used at the Temple’s Superbowl party, and it’s rather tasty.  No salt, too.  I used the ‘no salt added’ canned beans.  With the rice I estimate that this chili cost $10.85, over four dinners/meals for two people.

In preparation for the challenge

Our Invocation:  Can we truly gain something from hunger?  Perhaps we gain an appreciation or an understanding of the situation of those who do not get enough to eat.  Perhaps we acquire sensitivity to those who live at or below the poverty level.  Perhaps we learn how best to relate to our impoverished neighbors and fellow human beings.  May our gains be for good!

On Saturday we went shopping, and Monday morning we'll begin the challenge.  And for two people, at $29.07 per person, we've just spent $57.38 for our week's worth of groceries beginning Monday morning.  So we have .76 to spare.  That's a slim margin if we run out of food before the week ends.

Here is our shopping list and the amounts we spent.

One loaf whole wheat 1.79
Five pounds of potatoes 1.19
One pound of unpeeled carrots .69
One bag of three romaine lettuces 3.99
One cucumber .69
Six apples 2.10
Seven bananas 1.50
Six oranges 1.50
Four pears 2.38
One large onion 1.00
One large green pepper .50
One cauliflower or broccoli 1.09
One stalk of celery 1.89
One jalapeno pepper .12
Two pounds non-fat plain yogurt 2.25
One-half gallon of skim milk 1.79
Two 12-oz can chunk light tuna fish 4.58
One pound bottle of ‘natural’ peanut butter 2.79
One jar jelly 2.29
Two 12-oz boxes whole-wheat pasta 2.38
Two 28 ounce cans of marinara sauce 1.78
Two pounds of brown rice 1.29
Two pounds of dried lentil beans 1.98
Two cans of black beans 1.70
Two cans red beans 1.70
One can condensed lentil bean soup 1.29
One can garbanzo beans .85
One 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes .99
One can whole kernel corn .75
One four oz can diced chilies 2.50
One box Cheerios 2.39
One 11-oz package of textured vegetable protein 2.59
18 eggs 2.21

Even though it was Saturday afternoon – and still Shabbat – we went grocery shopping then, at perhaps the most crowded time of the week.  This was a taste of how it's is to shop when there's no time, or rather when one is pressed for time, and the store was very crowded.

Before entering the store, we spent half an hour creating our shopping list; it took us an hour and fifteen minutes to shop in the store, checking off an electronic list on one device, maintaining a running total of our purchases on another, and wondering whether and how we'd make it all last.

We also realized that we happen to have a convenient and inexpensive store in which to shop (Woodmans West).  That's not a common experience.  Many people living at or below the poverty level live in so-called 'food deserts' (neighborhoods where there are no supermarkets or neighborhood stores), and the best-located merchant for them is a convenience store with little variety, no fresh fruit and vegetables, and a lot of ramen noodles, which serve the appetite – but not the nutritional needs – of a hungry human.

Regarding the food selection above:  Usually I am involved in preparing a lot of our meals, so we purchased simple ingredients.  However, we also kn ow that people on limited incomes don't always have time to prepare from scratch, so we bought a goodly number of canned goods for a chili that we'll make in a slow cooker on Monday that will last for three or four nights' consumption.  That will end up costing about $13, about one-fourth of our entire budget for the week.



We'll let you know how that goes.

$29.07 Worth of Healthy Groceries

Can we truly gain something from hunger?  Perhaps we gain an appreciation or an understanding of the situation of those who do not get enough to eat.  Perhaps we acquire sensitivity to those who live at or below the poverty level.  Perhaps we learn how best to relate to our impoverished neighbors and fellow human beings.  May our gains be for good!

In this photo above there is actually $29.12 worth of groceries.  And I hasten to add, “healthy groceries,” because this is what two people, spending an hour and a half with a calculator, thinking about healthy alternatives for $29.07, bought last week at Woodman’s supermarket on the West side of Madison.

This photo includes:
18 eggs
two pounds non-fat plain yogurt
one-half gallon skim milk
two cans chunk light tuna fish
a one pound bottle of ‘natural’ peanut butter
three pounds of potatoes
one pound of unpeeled carrots
one head of romaine lettuce
one cucumber
four apples
four oranges
a cantaloupe
a two-pound bag of store brand plain spaghetti
two 28 ounce cans of marinara sauce
two pounds of brown rice
one pound of lentil beans
one pound of black beans. 

Now, although this is a suggestion for what participants in the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge could buy for their weekly allotment of $29.07, this is really a misleading example.  And here is why:

People who receive nutrition assistance are unable to shop at a supermarket: They may not have one locally available to them.  You see, many nutrition assistance recipients live in “food deserts,” areas where the local grocery store or supermarket has closed down, and people without basic transportation are relegated to buy groceries at convenience stores which rarely have the kind of nutritious foods that the human body needs.

Further, notice that this assortment of groceries includes foods that take a lot of preparation time.  Black beans require both overnight soaking and a few hours of cooking to produce edible meals.  Those in poverty often are single parents, or may have two jobs, and they would not be able to set aside this prep time for their meals.

See here both beans and rice.  Many do not know that these kinds of foods need to be eaten in specific combinations with oneother to help produce a better kind of protein.  If one is not aware of this "protein complimentarity," s/he will not consume a nutritious protein for maintaining their minds and muscles.

Finally, you see yogurt here, which contains high quality protein and good bacteria for the digestive tract.  However, many people do not enjoy the taste of yogurt, making it a less-than-appealing alternative.  People will not eat what they don’t like, even if they are hungry from an insufficient diet.

I cannot say I look forward to the Food Stamp Challenge, but I know that my experience will sensitize me to the needs of the hungry in our country.

More Preparation: The Second Harvest Food Bank: A Partner in the Food Stamp Challenge

Can we truly gain something from hunger?  Perhaps we gain an appreciation or an understanding of the situation of those who do not get enough to eat.  Perhaps we acquire sensitivity to those who live at or below the poverty level.  Perhaps we learn how best to relate to our impoverished neighbors and fellow human beings.  May our gains be for good!

This morning, my wife Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, president of the Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice; my daughter Samantha; and I visited the Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger in southwestern Wisconsin.  Through their community partnerships in 16 counties (from Dane County west to the Minnesota border and south to Illinois), they serve nearly 141,000 people each year.

We went to Second Harvest because they service the food needs of those living in poverty, and are an essential part of helping raise the dignity, not to mention the nutrition levels, of those who don't always have enough money to put food on the table.

Second Harvest is a massive beehive of activity, in a warehouse facility on the East Side of Madison.  Built in stages, its storage capacity houses and processes fresh foods, canned goods and other staples, breads and sweets, cereals, and the like, acquired through food donations by local and regional retailers, and through monetary donations from individuals and groups in the south central Wisconsin region.  There are large refrigerated areas; a gigantic deep freezer for frozen foods; a “clean room” for properly processing donations of eggs, cheeses, and meats; and an administrative suite where the activities of the food bank are managed.

A few fascinating bits of information:
1.  Second Harvest receives no government funds to acquire the food they distribute.  The entire budget for food procurement – over and above the food donations from retailers, processors and farmers – comes from private donations, large and small.
2.  Second Harvest runs an outreach program to senior adults to promote the availability of supplemental nutrition funds.  Senior adults may not be aware that they might qualify for this “Food Share Program” (that which was formerly known as food stamps), and Second Harvest helps to inform them.  This is a program for which Second Harvest receives a government grant.
3.  Second Harvest runs a “gleaning” program, where following a harvesting of food in a field, other harvesters (connected to the food) back come back through and take whatever was left over from the more mechanized harvest.
4.  Second Harvest specializes in food, though there are “personal essentials pantries” that provide non-food items, such as hygiene products, cleaning essentials, and the like.

In its drive to help eliminate hunger and to give food to all, Second Harvest acts as a wholesaler, distributing food to many food pantries over the sixteen counties of south central and southwestern Wisconsin.  There are, in our state, food pantries that might serve only 12 families, or food pantries that serve hundreds.  The Second Harvest Foodbank sends food out to pantries large and small, in order to raise the nutritional needs of everyone.

For more information about Second Harvest, you can click here!

In preparation

Can we truly gain something from hunger?  Perhaps we gain an appreciation or an understanding of the situation of those who do not get enough to eat.  Perhaps we acquire sensitivity to those who live at or below the poverty level.  Perhaps we learn how best to relate to our impoverished neighbors and fellow human beings.  May our gains be for good!

Dear friends,

Welcome to my new blog for my participation in the Food Stamp Challenge, from February 10 To 17, 2013.  Be sure to join in if you'd like.  Go to www.wisconsinfaithvoicesforjustice.org.

As I thought about living on $29.07 for the week, I was grocery shopping for my family, and my shopping led me me to wonder about each item I dumped into my basket, "Could I afford this or that item when I'm on the Challenge?  How can I get (what I consider) proper nutrition from the Challenge amount?"

I will discover that when the time comes.