Sept. 4-10, 2007, A Project of the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice

Six people comprise our household. Two of us are consciously participating in the challenge; one is specifically NOT participating and the others are sort of passive participants. We’ve had to modify the “Rules” a bit to fit our household.

My partner and I are the enthusiastic participants. We’ve always been rather frugal but I’m especially curious if we can really live within the limitations set by the food stamp program. I’m over six foot tall and over 300 pounds and I work a job that isn’t entirely done sitting at a desk. I also know that I eat when I’m tired or when I’m lonely. The phrase “comfort food” to me is redundant. So it’ll be a real test. Normally at this time of year, we’d be eating mostly out of our garden: basil for pesto, tomatoes for sauce and salad, eggplant for mousaka and babaganoush and parmesana, summer squash for pan sauteeing, hot peppers to add life to everything, etc. We consider our “kitchen garden” to be a political-spiritual practice that reminds us that food is not essentially merchandise. We have decided to eat from our garden during challenge week but to keep a tally of what we consume.

The three “passive participants” are our daughter, our son and his fiancé who share daily meals with us but who haven’t specifically agreed to participate. Their participation in the challenge is that the meals we serve will fit within the $1/meal guidelines, but if they’re still hungry or aren’t interested in what’s served, they will have free access to a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread, or for that matter any of the items in our cupboard or pantry. Seems fair. These are the ground rules of our dinner table already because my partner and I tend to eat a slightly more radical diet than what our children prefer. (Our attempts to convert to pure vegetarianism, for instance, have been greeted with near mutiny.) Accounting for this kind of participation during the Challenge is a trouble, though. We need to budget as if they are full participants, that is, to spend $1 for each of their meals, but if they choose not to eat what we’ve made, we’ll either end up with leftovers or portions that don’t truly reflect the restrictions imposed by food stamps. It’s another thing we’ll have to keep an eye on.

The one member of our household who is specifically NOT participating is our grand-daughter. She is on formula and though we use as many coupons as we can scavenge, there is no way that she can eat for $1/ meal and we feel it would be immoral to try. I also realize that if our household actually did qualify for food stamps, that our grand daughter would likely qualify for WIC coverage, but that program isn’t in jeopardy at this point.

A week isn’t TOO long. We shouldn’t have much of a mutiny.

It seemed like such a long time away, when Chuck asked people to participate in the Michigan Food Stamp Challenge. It was easy to say yes then, but now that the day is nearer, I have to admit I’m dreading it. Not because I’ll need to figure out what to eat so I don’t go over budget, but because I just realized that it will seriously cramp my social life and affect how I conduct my job. Just today, my daughter invited me for dinner at her new apartment for Tuesday, and I had to turn her down- getting a free meal would be cheating. And as the director of a small nonprofit, I often get together for coffee or lunch with colleagues from collaborating agencies- those food/drink related appointments are an informal way to make connections and get things done. Presumably not many people living on food stamps have the kind of job where this is standard practice, or do they? I’ll have to think about that.

Why take on the food stamp challenge? My daughter just asked me “why are you doing this?” as I called her to tell her that dinner was off. I’ve been thinking about it a great deal. Usually I’m not one to jump on to the bandwagon – particularly because in a way this challenge seems gimicky. I’ve even thought that it could be perceived as offensive, as if it’s some kind of game, to eat only $21 worth of food for just one week. After that one week we all will sigh a breath of relief and happily buy what ever we want. So why did I say yes? When my daughter asked me, the answer popped into my head. Solidarity. Just a tiny bit of solidarity. It isn’t so much that I want to spend a week living off $21 to see how hard it is — I readily admit it’s hard, I see the signs of that in my job every month. But to say “no” would have felt wrong– like an insistence on privilege. I felt it would have been disrespectful to the clients the agency I work for serves — the clients for whom this is their every day struggle.

I e-mailed a lot of people to see if they’d participate in the Food Stamp challenge too. One of the most remarkable responses came from a staunch democrat, who told me he was trying to loose weight, and there was no way he could do that if he only spent $21 on food for a week. What does that mean? The connection between obesity and poverty has been established before — and I love it that we often heartily endorse (and fund, and schedule) “healthy lifestyles” classes/workshops/programs for under-resourced people (my new favorite term)- and ignore that all the education in the world is meaningless if they don’t have the money & resources to purchase healthier foods.

Someone else joked that she would have to give up her new favorite expensive drink (I can’t remember what it is) — an addiction, she called it. Those little luxuries that most of us allow ourselves, are indeed just that. But aren’t they what make us feel just a bit better, what help us get through the day -those little luxuries? We do so often equate well being with special food or drink related treats… so living off $21 means not just struggling to maintain a healthy diet, but also depriving yourself of some of those small self indulgences….

Our family has taken in an exchange student – something I also didn’t know when I said “yes”. I told Wasim, from Pakistan, about my plan. He’s been in our country for three weeks. He laughed. “No way” — he said, “you can’t do it”. Now, in Pakistan, yes. Two dollars could last you a week. Every day he compares prices — a hair cut there costs the equivalent of $1 (after he heard how much it costs here, he considered growing his hair long until he returns home)- the bus fares, houses. In this global economy it seems so hard to imagine that the price of food flutuates so much, how is this possible?

I read some of the recipes, and the postings on the other blogs. Looks like it’s going to be quite a bit of hard work. Looks like we’ll have to give it quite a bit of thought, how to spread that $21 around. And there are some decisions to be made. Purists, like Chuck, aren’t going to eat from their gardens. At Hikone, one of the public housing sites I work at, there is a huge community vegetable garden. It costs nothing to use, in fact, every spring residents can request plants they’d like to grow. Many families are eating fresh vegetables from their gardens around now. Unfortunately I personally have only one tomato plant, but if something ripens, YES, I’ll have it. In an article I read in the New Yorker, someone who tried to live off $21 for a week went to a soup kitchen and picked up a granola bar to help him get through. That seemed wrong — not only because it was cheating, but because those granola bars were meant for those who really needed it, not someone who was just participating in an educational exercise. No, I won’t go to any soup kitchens or accept give aways meant for the truly under-resourced. Spices? I’ll be using mine. Coffee? I need to think about that one.

Two days to think about it all, two days before the food stamp challenge starts…..

This weekend folks taking the Michigan Food Stamp Challenge will be doing their shopping. What is that like? What hard choices did you have to make?

If you’re taking the challenge, please post your experiences in the comments below.

[NOTE: One of the Food Stamp Challenge participants shared this story with me about her friend's experience living on food stamps. The friend has chosen to stay anonymous, but her story is still powerful].

Back in the 1980′s my teenage son and I lived on food stamps for two years while I was trying to finish a teaching degree. I was earning below the poverty level as work-study student at the local university.

We only survived because food stamps qualified us for additional government-issue food from the neighborhood food pantry. This was how I developed a love for those big bricks of “government cheese.” They weren’t always available, but they were our main protein source. Meat is beyond a food stamps budget.

I also did volunteer work at the local food co-op where we could use our food stamps to get healthy food. We were within bicycle distance of Detroit‘s Eastern Market where we gleaned bruised and wilted fruit and vegetables left in the stalls after the market closed on Saturday afternoon.

Today I am a strong proponent of Food Gleaners and the local food banks. There is always a need to supplement what little food stamps can provide.

In Salinas, California (the vegetable garden of America) the local Gleaners association actually goes out into the fields after the commercial harvest has been picked and members glean huge carboys (cubic yard boxes) of fresh lettuce, celery, broccoli, and cauliflower to supply food kitchens around the state.

We are compelled by scripture and mitzvot to leave the corners of our fields for the gleaners. Lacking fields, our spare change given to Food Gleaners and local food banks [such as Food Gatherers] provides the supplement to food stamps critical for the health and well being of many in our community.

Take the challenge! www.michiganfoodstampchallenge.org

In addition to taking the challenge, I recommend you visit one of the local food pantries, Genesis or SOS [Community Services] or another in your area. The food pantry will give a sense of the full circle of the services the Food Gleaners and others provide. Millions of dollars of annual donations to food pantries left town when Pfizer closed.

Forty Area Residents to Live on $21 Worth of Food for One Week

For Immediate Release
August 16, 2007
Contact: Chuck Warpehoski, chuck@icpj.net
w: 734-663-1870 c: 734-972-8304      

(Ann Arbor, MI.) Over forty Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti residents have pledge to live on only $3 worth of food a day — the average Food Stamp Program benefit level — from September 4 to 10. These families are taking part in the ICPJ Michigan Food Stamp Challenge to raise awareness of how difficult it is to purchase a healthy and nutritious diet on a food stamp budget.

“This week living on an average food stamp budget won’t come close to recreating the worry and anxiety that millions of low-income people feel every day when they’re not sure where their next meal is coming from, but we do hope to shine a light on the importance of the program and the need for increased benefits,” said Chuck Warpehoski, Director of the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, the organization organizing the Challenge.

Established in 1939, the Food Stamp Program helps more than 26 million low-income people each month. Eligibility is based on income and assets depending on household size. Eligibility in the Food Stamp Program also includes work requirements, with all non-elderly adults required to be employed or to register for employment.  Many are also required to participate in work training and job search programs.

The Farm Bill, which includes funding for the Food Stamp Program, is due to be reauthorized in Congress this year.

“President Bush has called for cuts to food stamps, citing how the war in Iraq has put pressure on budget. Anyone who is considering cutting food stamps to pay for the war in Iraq should take the Food Stamp Challenge first, then let’s talk,” said Chuck Warpehoski.

“We believe we have a moral responsibility to end hunger in America,” Joan Doughty, Executive Director of Community Action Network and a Food Stamp Challenge participant, said. “The Food Stamp Program plays a vital role in providing nutrition assistance to low-income families, but the current benefit level makes it very difficult for many recipients to make ends meet.”

A blog that participants in the ICPJ Michigan Food Stamp Challenge can use to describe their experiences while living on the food stamp diet has been created at http://blog.MichiganFoodStampChallenge.org

The Ann Arbor News ran an interview today, Sunday, August 26, about the Challenge.

If you’re coming here after reading the interview, make sure you sign up for the challenge.

I’m grateful that the News helped explain why this is an issue for the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice. Not only is there talk of cutting food stamp funding, but the funding cuts would be to help cover the cost of the war in Iraq.

That’s not peace and it’s not justice.

The ICPJ Michigan Food Stamp Challenge is a way for people of faith and people of conscious we have to open our eyes and open our hearts to the reality of poverty in America, and then to open our mouths to call for justice.

The nice thing about taking the Michigan Food Stamp Challenge as a group is that we can share recipes and other ideas for how to make it through the week.  Please post your ideas below.

When I was in Nicaragua, there was a saying about the food, “It’s beans and rice for breakfast, rice and beans for lunch, and gallo pinto for dinner.”

Gallo pinto is beans and rice.

That’s my plan for the week, though I don’t think I can find the Nicaraguan cuajada cheese here, and certainly not in my budget.

The power of the Michigan Food Stamp Challenge is the personal experiences of people taking the Challenge. By blogging about the Challenge, you help share that personal experience with others.

There are two ways you can blog about the Michigan Food Stamp Challenge:

First, you can blog about the challenge on your own personal blog. If you already write a blog, please post about your experience on that blog. If you don’t have a blog, you can set one up for free from WordPress  or Blogger.

Or, you can contribute to the Michigan Food Stamp Challenge blog. It’s a quick and easy three-step process.

Step 1: Register for the blog by visiting http://www.michiganfoodstampchallenge.org/wp-register.php. Just choose a username and enter your email and you’re up and running.

Step 2: Write your blog posts. This is the fun part. Login to the blog at: http://www.michiganfoodstampchallenge.org/wp-login.php and click on “write a post.” Then write about your food stamp grocery list, how you handle temptations at work, what it’s like cooking on a food stamp budget, or whatever. When you’re done writing your post, click “save.”

Step 3: Tell me when your post is ready to go on the site. For security reasons, we moderate all the posts that go on the site to make sure they’re not spam. So, when you’re ready for your post to be published, email me at chuck@icpj.net and I’ll add your post to the site.

It’s as easy as that!

If you have any questions, please do drop me an email at chuck@icpj.net nor call 734-663-1870.

Thank you!
-Chuck

From the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism

This summer, Congress is in the process of reauthorizing portions of the Farm Bill, which funds America’s critical nutrition programs. Food Stamp benefits have not increased since the Farm Bill was last authorized in 2002 and remain a meager $1 per person, per meal. Senator Harkin (D-IA), Chair of the Agriculture Committee, has joined with other members of the Senate in the fight against hunger and introduced the Food Stamp Fairness and Benefit Restoration Act of 2007 (S. 1529).

America’s nutrition programs must be modernized to meet the growing need for government assistance and counterbalance the stagnant wages of an economy that has left so many hard working families below the poverty level. Between 2000 and 2005, the numbers of Americans living in poverty increased by 5 million people, meaning approximately 37 million Americans currently live below the poverty level. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that over 35 million people live in homes that are food insecure and that in 2006, 26 million people utilized Food Stamps. Congress must take action to expand food stamp eligibility and increase the benefit level.

S.1529 works toward expanding eligibility and increasing the benefit level by calling for improvements to Title I, the nutrition title of the Farm Bill. Improvements to Title I include restoring Food Stamp eligibility for some legal immigrant households, raising the benefit level to keep up with inflation, streamlining the enrollment process for nutrition benefits, and allocating more money to food banks to buy commodity goods. Moreover, S.1529 calls on Congress to raise the asset limit for families receiving Food Stamps from the current value of $2,000 and to exclude the value of education savings in that calculus.

Take Action
Here in Michigan, Senator Stabenow has already signed on to this important legislation. Please tell Senator Levin to do the same. In emails, faxes, and phone calls, please urge your Senator Levin to cosponsor the Food Stamp Fairness and Benefits Restoration Act of 2007 (S.1529).

You can call (202) 224-6221 or write to him at:

The Honorable Carl Levin
269 Russell Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-2202

From the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism

he Torah and Jewish tradition are explicit in the command that we feed the hungry and help eradicate hunger from our society. Leviticus 23:22 tells us, “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger. I the Eternal am your God.” In Isaiah 58:7, God commands us to “share [our] bread with the hungry and bring the homeless into [our] house.” The Jewish tradition mandates us not just to act individually to end hunger, but as a community. The Talmud explains that each Jewish community must establish a public fund to provide food for the hungry, and our sages explain that feeding the hungry is one of our most important responsibilities on earth: “When you are asked in the world to come, ‘What was your work?’ and you answer: ‘I fed the hungry,’ you will be told: ‘This is the gate of the Lord, enter into it, you who have fed the hungry’” (Midrash to Psalm 118:17).