Spreadsheets, Buses, and Automobiles: Ken Tallies What it Takes for the SNAP Challenge

My Food Stamp Challenge prep continues. Sunday comes and I begin to prepare for my second journey. This time no sunglasses, I don't want any collateral damage. Once again I was blessed with fine weather. I did the walk, the Incline, and one bus that let me off 3 blocks from the two stores. I got my goods and returned home. It was uneventful, other than spending 5 bucks on transportation to pick up 4.79 in groceries I was feeling pretty good about my chances of making it. I managed to make it outside of my food desert and nail some healthy foods at reasonable prices.

Here are my prep stats:


What I bought:
Even with my excel spreadsheets and iPhone I had some miscalculations but ended up with $1.34 left over. I was pleased with my take. It did require some preparation. I used my high-speed internet connection to race around the world trying to find the correct balance of nutrition for the price. I even made a trip in my car to get an idea of prices. I know this might be cheating since most people don't price out their food and then come back a couple of days later to buy it but I am a follower of Captain Kirk's philosophy (you know what I mean)*.

For my first night, I had a British dinner: eggs, boiled potatoes, baked beans and slices of tomatoes. Very plain. Sorry Brits.

*For those who don't know Capt. Kirk's guiding philosophy, it is as follows:
Never get into a situation you can't win.

Editor's Note: We realize it is now the last scheduled day of the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge and all of Ken's posts thus far are about preparing for the challenge rather than actually taking it. It seems figuring out how to make do with less is an undertaking in and of itself, requiring ample research and planning to mitigate the hardship.

Ken Prepares for the SNAP Challenge - Part 2

After getting my groceries I'm standing there waiting for this bus. My back, my knee, my hip are all hurting. I live with chronic pain since the motorcycle accident and take great care not to end up back in the hospital. One wrong move with this sack of goods – my food for the week — could change my life forever.
Now more people are showing up at the bus stop. There's no way I can beat them to the bus to get a seat. I didn't bring my glasses so I can't even see what bus is coming.
It finally arrives and I get a seat. People are jumping on and off the bus with their two bags in hand, proper amount of content in each bag, looking at me like I'm some kind of a rookie. I'm just hoping all my stuff doesn't spill out on this dirty floor.
I get off at Carson and Smithfield to wait for my next bus. Taking the Incline and walking was out of the question. I'm not a religious man but I did take a moment here to kneel down and thank God it wasn't raining or snowing or 20° outside.
A minute seemed like an hour. But it finally came and I got a seat in the front leaving my sack of goods in the middle of the aisle for people to trip over. Then I realized: this bus is going to blow by my street leaving me two extra blocks from my home unless we catch a light and the driver has the mercy to let me off. As luck would have it we got a red light, I jumped up and made my request. "Please let me off."
Without comment the doors opened and I made my getaway. I carried the groceries the final block, neighbors staring at me as I inched my way home. Inside I went straight for the frig with the perishables, grabbed two aspirins for pain and laid down, wondering if I caused any damage to my back.
Then my eyes popped wide open. I have to make the trip again tomorrow, to get everything else on my list. See part 3.

SNAP Challenge 2013: Food Stamp Specialist Ken M. Prepares for 5 Days, 6 Dollars

It was a warm Saturday afternoon in June. I put on my iPhone earbuds, cranked up the music, and headed to the Incline. I was on a journey to buy 30 dollars worth of food that had to last me the entire work week. And according to the challenge rules, no other food allowed: nothing from the cupboard, no sneaking from the fridge at work, and no one buying me anything. Could I hack it for five days? People on food stamps do this for months.

Armed with a spreadsheet and pen I walked along Grandview Avenue dogging tourist questions and counting skyscrapers. The ride down the Mount was great - I paid 3.50 for the ride and two transfers.  I crossed the street to the bus stop and carefully eyed up my fellow travelers.  All seemed well.

I walked along Carson St. looking at the shops and people spending more money on lunch than I could for the whole week.  Inside the store, I pulled out my spreadsheet and iPhone calculator.  It could not have gone better: I was getting my items and saving .29 cents here and there.  I loaded up my cart and headed for checkout.

I took my items out of the cart and the cashier put them back in.  I wheeled my cart to the table and started to pack my bag. This stuff ain’t fitting in my bag.  I turned to the cashier for help.  He was already inpatient with me because I asked for my quarter back that was stuck in the cart.  I interrupted the line anyway.  “I need a bag...”  “There over on the shelf “ he said.  I went to the shelf and see the bags aren't free - the only one that would work costs $1.25.

I carefully packed the bag I brought.  It was so heavy I thought for sure the straps were going to break.  I carried the bag in one hand and two loaves of bread in the other.  I made it about a half a block and had to stop.  I made it another 30 feet and had to stop.  I quickly became entertainment for the people eating lunch outside.  I gave them the stink eye.

I made it to the first bus stop and that was it.  My stuff was falling out on the sidewalk.  People started to inch away from me.  I stepped on any ants that got too close to my food.

Then a thought crossed my mind: It's over 80 degrees out and the bus may be a long time coming. What if everything spoils?! I'd be ruined. No milk, chicken, or eggs for the rest of the week. I'd be living on carbs and canned goods and even less calories. I move the bag into the shade. See part 2.

Natalia Rudiak: Half Way Through the SNAP Challenge

Here we are, half-way through the SNAP challenge, and I can tell you that it is living up to its name. But, I do have to admit that I cheated a little bit yesterday. On Tuesday I had a lunch meeting that I was committed to, and though I ordered the cheapest item on the menu—a cup of soup that came with bread, and a glass of ice water—it put me just over $7 on the whole day. Just to put that in perspective, here is everything else I ate that day:

Breakfast: half of a banana;
Afternoon snack: two rolls;
Dinner: cereal.

I should mention that I am no stranger to “food challenges.” As an international development studies major in college I traveled on shoe-string budgets across South Asia, West Africa, Mexico and Eastern Europe, where I ate unidentifiable objects, strange fruits, and smelly vegetables. I forced myself to eat foods I did not like, and that I knew were likely not good for me, for months at a time.

But, for me, right now, there is something acutely different about this experience. It is strange to be living as an adult on this diet, struggling to get by with the tools in my own kitchen. Living on $6 a day isn’t an adventure—especially for those who have to do it every day, for weeks or months at a time.

Avert your eyes, my vegetarian and vegan friends: I went to the grocery store the night before, and I purchased some groceries that fit within my SNAP-Challenge-mandated-budget for the week. I was able to buy some eggs, rice, beans, frozen vegetables, some ramen noodles, a package of cheap processed chicken that was on sale, and some oil and seasoning. I was going to rely on some creative chicken dishes to pull me through the week, but this processed stuff has the taste and texture of a shiny, water-clogged, chicken-flavored sponge. I’m still debating whether I can force myself to chew on these leftover, processed bits from the chicken factory. Even though cereal for dinner leaves me hungry at the end of the day, at least it does not taste like moist foam.

So, what kinds of folks have to make these types of food choices and live on $6 a day? Eligible individuals include someone who lost their job or became disabled, or someone who is an independent contractors or struggling small business owner who is perpetually losing money or taking a loss. If you are under-employed—you are working but you aren’t earning enough to cover basic housing and food expenses—you also qualify for SNAP assistance, but not necessarily for the full amount of $6 a day.

But the kicker is that you cannot be receiving any other form of government mandated assistance, which means no Social Security, so Supplemental Security Income (SSI), no unemployment, no child support payments, no adoption stipends, or no other cash assistance.

[Ed. note - If you receive any of the benefits listed above, it does not necessarily disqualify you altogether from SNAP; however, your allotment under the program would be reduced.]

So if this economy has got you down, and you find yourself in any category above, SNAP is it. All you have to buy groceries—literally—is $6 a day. That’s all you get. That’s all you can legally get.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was quite surprised to learn about the paltry amount of the daily allotment for this program, and they wrote a great article about the challenge on Tuesday, you can see it here. I think they are going to write a follow up in the next few days as well, so here’s to the Trib for devoting some column-space to this important issue!

Today and Friday, in order to reflect the cuts that Congress has made, my budget is getting cut by fifty cents so the allotment is technically $6.17 a day. For this program to be cut, even if the funds are being diverted to another worthy cause, is an injustice. We must commit to restoring this vital public service, rather than robbing Peter to pay Paul and shuffling deck chairs around in our federal, state, and local budgets. We need a non-partisan commitment to make sure that, in this day and age, no one goes hungry in the United States of America. I am pleased to lend my hand to this fight.

Hungrily yours,
Natalia Rudiak

Natalia Rudiak: Taking on the SNAP Challenge

Today is my first day on the SNAP challenge with Just Harvest, and I have already had to make some tough food choices. For breakfast, I had a cup of tea and to make sure I could eat a decent dinner, I skipped lunch—a great way to start off a day of budget hearings! I’m not sure what I’m going to do for dinner yet, but I have some strict rules to follow:

• I have an allowance of $6.67 a day for the first three days, then I have $6.17 for the last two days;


• No one can buy me any food;


• I can’t eat food that I already have in my house.

I’m going to post a couple of times this week just to check in and let everyone know how I am doing, but I think its going to be a hungry week. Can you imagine a child having to sit through a math or science class with hunger pains? What kind of a student can we reasonably expect that child to be? How will we break the cycle of poverty if we are unable to give our children the opportunities they need to focus on learning and not their hungry mom, dad, brothers or sisters?

Right now in City Council we’re putting together the 2011 City budget, in which we will dedicate substantial City funds to hunger groups in Pittsburgh. Last year we gave almost a half a million dollars to hunger organizations across Pittsburgh, including the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, the Urban League Hunger Services Network, Just Harvest, and more.

These community service organizations are essential allies in the fight against hunger in Pittsburgh, but with reduced SNAP funding their efforts are going to be stretched thinner and thinner. For example, at the Brookline Christian Food Pantry in Brookline, usage of the pantry has increased by more than 15% over last year, and seen similar increases in the years before that.

The proposed cuts to the SNAP program illustrate that actions motivated by political ideology on a national level trickle down to the local level. Ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away. The underfunding of hunger programs in Washington DC puts strain on our own city and school budgets and reduces the efficacy of our own educational reform and economic development programs. Elected Officials at all levels of government are charged with protecting the health, welfare, and safety of you and your neighbors—this includes making sure that none of our neighbors go hungry.

So here’s to a week of awareness, of protest, and hopefully of action against hunger in Pittsburgh. Check back later this week!

Best,
Natalia Rudiak
City Councilwoman
Pittsburgh, District 4