f.r.e.s.h. Board takes the SNAP Challenge
During September’s Hunger Action Month, members of the f.r.e.s.h. young professionals board (introduced below) participated in the SNAP Challenge. Participants were allowed to spend $4 a day on food, the current average SNAP budget, it was an eye-opening experience for our f.r.e.s.h. Board to see what life is like for individuals who recieve SNAP benefits in our area.
Annamarie Dober, an Apple
Corp volunteer and f.r.e.s.h.
Board member, summed up her SNAP
Challenge experience below. What did you eat
for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Tuesday: yogurt and banana, bouillon with veggies and pasta, chicken thighs and pasta Wednesday: toast and scrambled eggs, chicken thighs and pasta, bread and peanut butter Thursday: yogurt, toast, chicken and veggies Friday: toast, pasta and chicken thighs, bread and peanut butter Were you able to eat all three meals? Or did you need to snack between meals to feel full? Yes, I was able to eat 3 full meals daily. Did you find yourself thinking about food more than normal throughout the day? Yes. I realized how often food is offered or simply available when at work, hanging out with friends, and in social settings. {Note: One of the guidelines of the challenge was “You may not accept free food from friends, family, or at work, including at receptions, meetings or parties.”} What do you normally splurge on that you couldn’t have? How did that make you feel? Sweets. I like to bake cookies and cakes. The ingredients were too expensive to make anything during this challenge and I missed having little treats. Luckily I had bought some natural apple juice so that helped my sweet cravings during the week. What was most challenging? Dealing with the monotony of meal choices was pretty rough. I never realized how much variety I have in my diet until I did this challenge. All the items I bought are foods that I like. However, eating basically the same thing over and over again gets quite boring, even if you try to bring in some variety with different sauces and spices. Did you have an ‘aha!’ moment? Going into the challenge I assumed I needed to get the most food I could in order to not go hungry. This made me select less healthy items in exchange for a larger quantity (e.g large loaf of white bread instead of a smaller loaf of whole wheat, pasta and beans instead of more fruits and veggies) however, I ended up having plenty of food. I didn’t even finish the chicken, pasta, and beans I had bought! The main issue was the variety and lack of more nutritious foods. I missed not being able to eat a good salad for dinner or having a piece of fruit as a snack. What did you do in preparation for the challenge? I looked at ads for good grocery deals. I then selected items I thought would last a week and be easy to prepare in different ways. I ended up buying pasta, white bread, pinto beans, 2 bags of frozen veggies, peanut butter, 2 bananas, one can of tomato sauce, 12 eggs, 2 yogurts, PBR, and chicken thighs. On the last day I had $2 left and spent it on strawberries (which I devoured!) if I do the challenge again I will plan my shopping list even better. I will try to be healthier, perhaps purchase only one bulk item such as rice, omit the bread or beans, and ensure that I have more veggies and fruit for the week. Meet the new f.r.e.s.h. Board We're proud to announce that these individuals were selected and agreed to serve on the newly formed f.r.e.s.h. Board. Thank you for your service to the Houston Food Bank! The Board and f.r.e.s.h. members will bring awareness to the issue of hunger through fundraising, advocacy, social, and volunteer efforts. Participating f.r.e.s.h. Board Members Shaina Zucker Jacqueline
Jones André Thomas Annamarie Dober Marcia
Goodson If you’re interested in learning more about how to get involved with f.r.e.s.h. young professionals, visit www.houstonfoodbank.org/fresh or contact Carrie at cgrzelak@houstonfoodbank.org. |
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