A glimpse of life with food insecurity
I have never gone hungry.
On the contrary, I generally spend around $80 per week on groceries, supplemented by more-than-occasional $9.50 take-out falafel platters from Mediterra Grill.
Like many students at St. Joe’s, I am what is known as “food secure.” That means I “have physical, social and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food”, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute and United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security.
By comparison, according to the Philabundance ‘About hunger’ web page, “one in every three children live in poverty.” Hundreds of thousands of individuals in Philadelphia participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program. “In 2012, there were 259,741 households in the Delaware Valley receiving SNAP benefits,” one Philabundance blog post said.
SNAP is a federal program, which provides benefits to some consumers at grocery stores, convenient stores, and certain farmer’s markets.
Emma Kornetsky, government relations associate for Philabundance, said that SNAP is a valid and necessary resource, especially for children. SNAP, she explained, is crucial for child development and a child’s ability to be self-sufficient when they’re older.
But getting that message across is tough, according to Kornestky.
“I don’t think people understand,” she said. “They think that SNAP is cushy or that SNAP isn’t important. SNAP is important if you don’t have any other source of income. If we want people to be self-sufficient and we want them to get jobs and an education, they need to be fed.”
In order to better understand the physical and mental challenges of hunger, I decided to partake in a SNAP challenge. I limited myself to $4.40 worth of food each day for five days, modeled approximately after the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2017 SNAP data per person average monthly benefit. SNAP challenges are one way that religious organizations, food pantries or other hunger advocacy groups raise awareness about poverty.
I generally purchase my food from the ACME near campus, but for the purpose of the challenge, I bought my groceries at a convenience store called the Economic Food Mart on Bryn Mawr Avenue. This market is known for discounted food.
In order to make the most of my $4.40 a day, I collected tips from individuals who had participated in SNAP challenges before. I got the hint pretty quickly: I needed food that was cheap and filling, such as spaghetti or food with a lot of carbs.
At the Economic Food Market, I bought a canister of Quaker’s Oats, soups, a can of whole potatoes, a can of sauerkraut, a can of store-brand tomato sauce, mixed veggies, spaghetti, two bananas and a box of applesauce. The total came to $20.86.
I was hungry at times during the challenge and eating the same thing became monotonous. There was also a lack of nutritional content in the food I was eating. But I also recognized that unlike many people on SNAP, I was doing the challenge by choice and for a small portion of time. I am not only privileged, but I have no prior knowledge of what true hunger is really like.
I wondered, are SNAP challenges really a good way to raise awareness?
Kornetsky seemed to think so.
“It’s not the sexiest issue, but there’s a lot of people who want to get involved and make people understand that SNAP is the biggest support for people living in poverty,” she said.
Kornetsky said that people who oppose food stamps dislike what it takes from the federal budget—but at the same time, they don’t want to include the elderly, the disabled or children in budget cuts.
The reality is that approximately 66 percent of those in SNAP fit this category, according to SNAP’s frequently asked questions page.
What SNAP challenges do is give you a glimpse of what it’s like to live without food security. Developing empathy, is key, according to Sara Williamson, Ph.D., assistant professor of food marketing at St. Joe’s.
“In order not to have kids continue in the cycle, we need to help them, and our empathy and compassion is incredibly important to help,” Williamson said.
While completing the challenge, I was inclined to imagine the faces behind those who benefits from SNAP. Were they children? Were they disabled? Elderly?
And then it struck me. I don’t need to know the faces behind food stamps. I don’t need to know who SNAP helps or why.
They are human and that should be enough.
