I began my food stamp challenge on Monday, June 4th, and it has been challenging. I would say that I’m surprised by the fact that it’s been more of a mental than physical struggle. One thing that is for sure, I realize what I had been taking for granted- the accessibility to quality, tasteful food. I will admit that I haven’t done all the rules justice- I have been eating a little bit of food that is provided at friends’ houses and at work functions. It shows the power of food, the privilege I have, and the ravenous actions one takes when they feel they are being restricted.

My first lesson was in the power of the dollar. I went grocery shopping, with a goal to spend no more than $3.00 on some type of small foods. I didn’t have a shopping list planned for the week, I just planned to spend as I go while staying within the $21/week budget. I went to Wal-Mart for my first round of shopping. This act in itself was already a testament to my financial limitations. I personally do not like shopping at Wal-Mart due to a lot of the negative news they have received over the last few years. (You can do a simple google search on Wal-Mart law suits to see a slew of articles on their gender discrimination and worker exploitation lawsuits) But, how could I opt for Giant Food or CVS over a cheaper retail store as such?

As I ventured down the food aisle, I realized things would be harder than I thought. Already, I was passing cereal sales that read $2.34 and more. This didn’t even include milk! How would I find a meal on $3.00 that was tasty and nutritious? I wouldn’t. I found some reasonably priced whole grain pasta noodles for a little over $1.00, but then I saw that the Ragu pasta sauce was not on sale. The sauce alone would have driven the $3.00 over, so I placed the pasta back on its shelf. I came across good old Ramen (sarasm) for 14 cents a pack. How could I resist? Though the sodium read over 700 mg, it was well within my budget, a bit tasty, and quick. I bought two packs of chicken flavored Ramen, and store brand peanut butter for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The cheapest bread was the white, store brand bread which I refused to buy (no need to add all that bleached sugar with the sodium from the Ramen!). I purchased the cheapest whole grain wheat bread I could fine which was $2.34.

My total came to $4.09, alas, I still went over budget! And actually, as I blogged about this and looked at my receipt, I saw that the cashier forgot to charge me for tax, so I actually owed more. It was becoming more easy to see how someone on food stamps might have a pretty bland and unhealthy food regime. The things that are affordable are usually unhealthy and not too nice on the taste palate either.

The power of the dollar…not much on $21.00 a week.