I spent about 30 seconds in the fresh vegetable section of the grocery store. I stared at the fresh, big, red apples for about 25 seconds before quickly glancing at the price and turning away. It didn't take me long to realize that fresh vegetables and fruits weren't going to be part of my diet. They're far too expensive.
Last week I participated in the $3.13 challenge put on by the Discovery Program at UNH which challenges members of the UNH community to eat as healthy as possible while only spending $3.13 a day on food, which comes to $21.91 a week. The amount of $3.13 represents the amount of money an individual is usually allotted each day as part of the Supplement Food Assistance Program (SNAP), also formerly known as food stamps.
The goal of the challenge isn't to prove the amount of money allotted for SNAP should be increased, according to Joanne Burke, a clinical assistant professor at UNH and director of the $3.13 challenge, but to show how people need to be paid workable, living wages.
Burke said Food Stamps were never designed to cover the entire food bill, but only 70 percent of it. Because of low working wages and a tough economy, many people today can't afford to pay the other 30 percent.
In an essay Burke wrote on poverty in America entitled "Poverty and Plenty: The Divided American Plate," she wrote that the number of Americans earning wages that don't cover basic living expenses is increasing, and close to 25 percent of Americans are employed in jobs that won't lift a family out of poverty. These are the problems the $3.13 challenge set out to address, said Burke.
I decided to buy $21.91 worth of food with the hope that it would last me the week. I walked around the grocery store with a calculator, adding up every single item I placed into my cart. I had put myself in the mindset I really couldn't afford to spend a penny more than the amount I was allotted to spend.
I walked over to the dairy section of the grocery store, and without hesitation, I grabbed a gallon of vanilla soy milk, my favorite, plugged the price into my calculator and frowned. $3.69. I put it back, grabbed a half-gallon of Hannaford skim milk, and placed it in my cart. To me, milk tastes exactly like what I imagine vomit in a cup tastes like (with, obviously, a slightly different consistency), but at $1.49, I had to make sacrifices.
I ended up buying tomato and vegetable soup, two cans of green beans, two cans of tuna, four cans of beans, some wheat spaghetti, some sauce (not the sauce with all the delicious spices in it, but the canned kind with absolutely zero flavor), a loaf of bread, peanut butter and a bag of mixed frozen vegetables.
Ashley Harvey, a dietetic intern who helped put together the menu for the $3.13 challenge at Holloway Commons, said it was impossible for her to get the nutritional value needed in a person's diet while staying within the $3.13 per day budget.
"Such items as fresh fruit and vegetables, meats, fish and others are nearly impossible to purchase when on a $3.00-a-day budget," said Harvey.
Throughout the week, I found the problem I had with the challenge wasn't that I was starving. I had enough to eat. The problem was what I was eating. There was little nutritional value in the foods I could afford. Not to mention there was this haunting thought in the back of my head every time I ate a meal. All I could hear was, "Are you sure you can eat that? You don't want to run out of food before the end of the week."
It's miserable constantly having to think about food. Not only did I have to make sacrifices at the grocery store. Not only was I eating things that I normally would rather not eat. Food became a burden in my life.
Burke said she's hoping the challenge opens the eyes of the participants to the struggle associated with low wages and food cost.
"Let's get the conversation started," said Burke. "It is important to realize the struggle so that we can try to do something about it."
Be the first to comment on this article!