SNAP Challenge

Could You Eat All Your Meals for Just $4.50 a Day?

“Take the SNAP Challenge and get a sense of what life is like for millions of low-income, food insecure Americans. While the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formals known as food stamps) provides monthly benefits to supplement the food budgets of families in need, in many cases the benefits are inadequate and families still struggle to put food on the table. While it is impossible to fully comprehend the difficult decisions low-income families face, taking the SNAP Challenge will help raise awareness about the issue of hunger.” (Feeding South Florida)

         The above quote was provided to me by my sociology professor who has enlisted my class to take part of the SNAP challenge. In essence, the goal of the project is to gain a better understanding of what life is like for low-income Americans. We are required to spend one week spending only $31.50 on food. To put this in perspective, that means only spending $4.50 on meals per day!!!!

Just the other night, I spent over $20 on a single meal at the Cheesecake Factory!!!!

When you think about it, people like me really take for granted the amount of options that I have to create a well-balanced and nutritional diet. I think that this challenge will really be an eye-opener as to the struggles that a huge portion of the American population face on a daily basis.

I don’t know what the next week will entail, but I am excited and nervous to gain this new experience.

To really understand the purpose of the challenge, my sociology professor provided the class with rules that we must follow over the next week.

They are:

“1. You can use coupons

2. You cannot team up with anyone to grocery shop or cook

3. You must record all of your food purchases and meals

4. Do not eat food you have purchased prior to the start of the challenge (leftovers in the fridge, roommate’s food, condiments)

5. No use of membership clubs for food (Sam’s, Costco)

6. NO FREE FOOD from friends, family, coworkers, work, etc

7. NO USE OF CAMPUS MEAL PLANS (with the exception of flex dollars (our campus cash))”

Every day I will be updating this blog as a means to record my experiences as well as document my food intake.

I can’t wait to share my journey with you all.

Remember that while I am a college student doing this experiment for a class, there are thousands of individuals in our own country that struggle with this every single day. They have to make difficult decisions that I never even considered (like; do I use this money to get nutritional food or to keep my electric running?). I can never truly understand what these individuals go through but I hope that my experience will inspire others to help the fight against hunger: it’s not just occurring abroad, it thrives within our own communities. 

To learn more about the SNAP challenge and how you can bring it to your community, 

visit the  Food Research and Action Center Website. 

Together, we can fight hunger.