A northwest governor recently made some news by his public "Hunger Awareness Week" campaign. Basically, the governor and his wife chose to live on the food stamp allowance for a week, to demonstrate the tough choices his state's poor face when feeding a family on food stamps. This meant they had a budget of roughly $21 per person, per week, to eat all of their meals.
"I'd hate to be an Oregonian when it's Transvestite Awareness Week."
(from Kirsten Stewart on The Onion)
Amen. :)
One article portrayed the heart-wrenching choice between Progresso soup and Noodles-in-a-cup for lunch, and the agony of having to give back a couple bananas in order to keep on budget.
Puh-leeze.
I recognize the blessing of not needing food stamps. Seeing a friend face the challenges of living with that need gave me insight on the day-by-day challenge of poverty. I am grateful for her courage and honesty, and encouraged by people who are willing to help, rather than judge, those in need. We are blessed as we bless.
Here's the thing that annoyed me in all the press about the "Hunger" week: many of the governor's sacrifices in price meant sacrifices in his nutrition. The press made it seem that keeping a lean budget requires eating poorly. Couple that with the staggering obesity among the poor, and I think Oregon's governor missed an opportunity to challenge all of his state's citizens to re-think their grocery budget.
Couldn't all of us be more judicious every week - not just in honor of Hunger Appreciation Week - but in good stewardship? $21 per person is a slender, but manageable, budget in my opinion, and one doesn't have to have noodles-in-a-cup to make it work. It takes a bit of time to get used to, but I think most people could choose to waste less, use less, and spend less when it comes to our food choices. And... we could still eat well.
In the Kenobi household, we try to help drive demand for better products, and that means choosing where we spend our money. We support sustainable agriculture and healthy living with our groceries and household purchases. Organic veggies, non-hormone-filled meats & dairy, whole grains, and plenty of sweet fruits fill our meals and snacks. Not to get legalistic, we even have room for some delicious sweets! These all tend to be better nutrition and frequently better in an ethical sense. (A great deal is made of this in The Ethical Gourmet, among other writings.)
Unfortunately, those choices often cost more. Sure, that bugs me! WHY, oh why, does a healthy option always seem to be a "premium" item? I'm hopeful for a day when my kids won't have to pay extra to have good, whole foods and safer, less-toxic environments. In the meantime, though, it is possible to eat well, support good production, and spend less.
We're thankful for what we have, we're happy to share, and we're not griping about the budget.
3 comments:
This is exactly what I'm trying to do at the moment -- keep a strict budget, yet still feed my family nutritious food.
It's been challenging, but not impossible. The challenge, for me, is in planning and prepping. Anyway, great thoughts here!
For my family of 5 that would give me 105 dollars a week! Do you KNOW what I could do with 105 dollars a week?? I would be in HEAVEN with a budget allowance that big.
I often have to go to the store with 40 or 50 for the week - including toilet paper, etc. I consider it a good week when I can take 100. Now, sure, when I have to spend less, we are probably going to have ramen noodles or mac n cheese with hot dogs in it at least twice. But we still eat. And I still buy bananas - bananas are cheap!
I appreciate what this governor was trying to prove, that it costs more to get healthier food, because to an extent it does. But I suspect that he and his wife aren't used to shopping so judiciously. It took me a while, but I have a routine now where I go through my same store each week, grabbing a lot of the same basic, cheap staples that I have learned best how to utilize.
Know what I mean?
Aaaahhhh... THANK YOU - honesty! This is what I was hoping for!! :) Definitely, when you have less, some options are out of the question. As I mentioned, we live on nearly a slender budget, I feel like it's luxurious, really. Honestly, we eat really well and there are definitely areas we could trim. That's not to say the food stamp budget is a ton of money, but it could go farther than the governor let on, I think.
The hunger challenge has made me notice how much we waste, and what we could do better as stewards of our meal money.
thanks so much for your encouragement!
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