Over the past year, a number of anti-hunger and poverty groups have sparked public awareness about the inadequacy of food stamp allotments by challenging their community leaders to try feeding themselves on those allotments for a few days, a week, or a month. Many elected officials, reporters, religious leaders, and other concerned people have taken part in the Food Stamp Challenge, and this special edition of FRAC’s News Digest provides a sampling of Food Stamp Challenge news from across the country.
FRAC will continue to track media coverage and participants blogging about their experiences on our Food Stamp Challenge page. To learn more about Food Stamp Challenges and how local groups can mount them, contact Ellen Vollinger at evollinger@frac.org.
June 29, 2007
Special Edition
1. Bloggers share Food Stamp Challenge experiences
Several Food Stamp Challenge participants shared their experiences of eating on a $21 per week budget, which is the average weekly food stamp allocation for eligible Americans. Alex Ashbrook, director of D.C. Hunger Solutions, wrote on her Food Stamp Challenge Blog that she felt more tired than usual and found she was making more mistakes during the Challenge. Representatives Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), JoAnn Emerson (R-Mo.), and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) wrote about their experiences on The Congressional Food Stamp Challenge Blog as well as California Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D) also posted updates on California Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D) also posted updates on The Congressional Food Stamp Challenge Blog. Lee wrote that she "spent a long time thinking about making this food last a week... it was very stressful." Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan (D) provided his grocery receipt on his blog and said that $21 budget “doesn’t allow a person to get the balanced diet they need.” On CBS 42's blog, Texas journalist Julie Simon said the Challenge was an "eye-opening experience" that left her "fairly fatigued, gnawing very faint hunger pangs, and eating not really for enjoyment but simply for sustenance." Sara Kandler from the The Campus Kitchens Project Blog wrote that fatigue was common during the Challenge, and she had trouble focusing and sleeping.
2. Colorado officials feel hungry and tired during Food Stamp Challenge
(Rocky Mountain News, June 11, 2007)
On his second day of the Challenge, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper wrote that "[f]ood and the cost of food took up much of my time. I took no morsel for granted." Roxane White, manager for Denver Human Services, found it difficult to shop for food. "I was shocked to see how some things became luxury items, like having two bananas a day," she said. White also said that she was hungry when she went to bed and tired during most of her Challenge week. Hickenlooper said that his physical and mental energy were affected during the Challenge, and he urged lawmakers to increase the benefits in the Food Stamp Program.
3. Michigan leaders have difficulty with Challenge
(The Saginaw News, June 7, 2007)
State Rep. Andy Coulouris (D-Mich) and Randy R. Barst, director of the Saginaw, Mich. County Department of Human Service, both participated in the Food Stamp Challenge. Barst said the experience of budgeting food was something he had never thought about and that he was challenged to stay within his allocation of $5 per day. Officials with the Center for Civil Justice officials said the Food Stamp Challenge is intended to show the limits of the current benefit levels. They hope that Congress will raise the current food stamp allotments in the reauthorization of the Farm Bill, which includes the Food Stamp Program.
4. Oklahoma residents participate in Challenge
(NewsOK.com, June 24, 2007)
Food Stamp Challenge participants in Oklahoma experienced greater difficulties than they originally anticipated. Monica Eason, executive vice president of a Communications Workers of America local chapter, found that the food she ate during the Challenge lacked variety. Rodney Bivens, executive director of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, said, "[The Challenge] really raised awareness about the struggles people have to put food on their table.” He urged improving the Food Stamp Program by raising participants' benefit levels.
5. California representative calls for improvements to Food Stamp Program
(Inside Bay Area, June 25, 2007)
California Rep. Pete Stark and his wife took a Food Stamp Challenge nearly two decades ago. They had to skimp on meals to make it through the weekend, and found it very difficult to afford fresh food and vegetables. He believes it is even more challenging to eat meals with food stamps today, especially with the rising cost of food. Stark writes that it is a tragedy that the richest country in the world has millions of people who cannot afford enough to eat. "Congress should expand the food stamps program and increase the minimum benefit," he concludes.
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