There are 48 million Americans who are food insecure, which means that they don’t always know where they will get their next meal. While many Americans are aware of this, it is virtually impossible to really understand how difficult it is unless you have been on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, formerly known as food stamps. That is why Feeding America has been encouraging people to take the SNAP challenge and try to live off of $4.50 per day for food for one week.
Part of the exercise is to journal about what you eat and how you feel every day.?Feeding America is hoping to bring some real understanding into the debate about SNAP and the needs of the poor in this country. Several high profile people have taken the SNAP challenge, including ?Feeding America CEO?Bob Aiken, ?and they have had some very telling insights during their challenge week. The latest person to publicly blog about the challenge is Ron Shaich, founder, chairman, and CEO of Panera Bread and the President of the Panera Bread Foundation. He blogged about it on his LinkedIn page and has discussed what he learned with several media outlets. Here is a quote from his op-ed at CNN:
?”I thought I knew a thing or two about hunger. I’ve met thousands of people who struggle to feed themselves and their families, visited dozens of soup kitchens, food pantries, homeless shelters and food banks, and worked closely with nonprofit organizations like Feeding America in developing five “Panera Cares” community cafes with no set prices.
I really thought I understood the scope of the problem.
But let me tell you something — I had no clue. My SNAP Challenge last week taught me that merely observing someone else’s plight does not hold a candle to consciously altering your habits to better understand what it might be like to live someone else’s life.”
The reality of food insecurity is much more complex than right-wing politicians would have you believe. It isn’t as easy as just getting a job, because the majority of SNAP households have a working adult. This is where the SNAP Challenge makes a difference. When you start living on an extremely limited food budget, even when it is only for a week, you start to understand what it is like. When Bob Aiken, Feeding America CEO, took the challenge, he had this to say:
“Forgetting my lunch is just one of the obstacles I’ve faced participating in the SNAP challenge this week. I’ve also found it difficult to concentrate at work. I’m tired, hungry and have a caffeine headache — not to mention I’ve caught myself dreaming of coffee and all of my favorite foods more than once. I’ve always known food insecurity impacts your ability to work and learn — but I’ve never felt that reality in such a tangible way.
The fact that millions of kids experience this every day is particularly troubling. Not getting enough of the right types of food slows down my thinking and dampens my effectiveness at work — for kids, not getting enough to eat has even?broader consequencesas it impacts their development, ability to achieve in school and physical health throughout their life. I can’t imagine how it must feel to not be able to give your kids the food they need.”
People who are food insecure skip meals and ration food. Half of teachers report that hunger is a serious issue in their classrooms, and 73 percent report having children come to school hungry. Both teachers and principals report spending their own money on food for children in their schools. This is not a topic that can be easily demonized, but the right is sure doing everything in their power to do so. This shouldn’t be a partisan issue though, this is about people’s lives. From Ron Shaich:
“Throughout my SNAP Challenge, I kept returning to the same questions: What kind of society do we want to live in? Do we want to live in a country that turns a cold shoulder to the problem of hunger, or one in which we work together to face it head on?”
Personally, I will take the latter.
Edited/Published by: SB
