Daily Cheapskate is taking the Mazon SNAP Challenge next week

46 million Americans are the recipients of food stamps.

That's a pretty astounding figure if you take into account that there are 314 million people in the United States.  That means that 14% of our populace, or 1 person in every 7, is in the federal food stamps program, more formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).   Truly astounding.  In January 2009, a little less than 32 million people received SNAP.  That's a staggering 44% increase of 14 million recipients in the last 3-1/2 years.  This is a very tough economy folks, and people are truly suffering.

What does this have to do with Daily Cheapskate?

Yesterday, I saw a very interesting Facebook post.  Mazon (a national Jewish organization "dedicated to preventing and alleviating hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds") invited people to step into the shoes of SNAP recipients by joining the Mazon SNAP Challenge:

Participating in the SNAP Challenge is simple: eat for one week using only the amount of money you would have if you relied solely on SNAP to pay for your food. By taking the SNAP Challenge, you will directly experience the struggle that nearly 1 in 7 Americans – including nearly 25% of all American children – face every day. You will learn first-hand how difficult it is to afford nutritious foods, avoid hunger, and stay healthy without adequate resources. 

I loved the idea of developing true empathy for food stamp recipients by virtually becoming a food stamp recipient for one week. So that's right, my dear readers, my husband and I will be eating off a food stamp budget next week, from 7/16/12-7/22/12.  How much is in that budget?  $4.50 per person per day, or $31.50 per person per week, for a total of $63 for the two of us for the entire week.  It doesn't sound like much, does it? 


Here's the surprise.  My regular food budget is about the same as that.  I generally allow for about $300 per month to buy food for my husband, myself, and our Shabbat guests.  That comes to an average of $10 per day for the two of us, or $5 a day for each of us, which is not far off from SNAP's $4.50 per day.  So we've been living on close to a food stamp budget through my normal, everyday frugality, and yet, I don't feel like we're missing anything.  Interesting, huh?  


I'm taking the SNAP Challenge as part of a team effort, together with my co-bloggers and friends, Mara Strom from Kosher On a Budget, and Chaviva Galatz from Kvetching Editor.  We thought it would be interesting to see how a family with kids (Mara) would meet this challenge, as opposed to a married couple (me), as opposed to a single (Chaviva).  Chaviva has the additional challenge of eating a vegan and gluten-free diet.  All three of us keep strictly kosher.  This should be an interesting week-long journey.


Naturally, I will be stretching that $63 budget by using coupons, paired with grocery sales, along with some very strategic meal planning.  


Here are the SNAP Challenge rules, verbatim:

1. Each person can spend a total of $31.50 on food and beverages during the Challenge week. This budget translates to $4.50 per day, or $1.50 per meal.
2. Keep all receipts and track all your food and beverage spending. Any food or beverages purchased and eaten during the Challenge week must be accounted for in your budget. For the purposes of this Challenge, you must include in your budget any amount you spend dining out.
3. During the Challenge, eat only food that you purchase specifically for the Challenge. Do not eat food that you already have in your pantry or refrigerator (excluding spices and condiments).

I did clarify with Mazon that if you would like to eat something you've already purchased, you can, but you need to know the cost and include it in your total.  That will help me out tremendously, since it will allow us to eat out of our stockpile of frugally purchased foods.


Our goals in participating in this Challenge? 

1. To build awareness and engender empathy for those among us living in poverty and receiving food stamps, who have no choice but to spend only $31.50 per person per week on food. 
2. To demonstrate that with a little effort and strategizing, one can eat well and healthily, while still being frugal.

We're going to be blogging about our SNAP Challenges all through next week.  We'd love it if you joined us in our team venture!  Please let me know (comment below) if you decide to try the Mazon SNAP Challenge too.  Join Mara, Chaviva and me next week and see if you too can live on a food stamps budget for a week. Follow along with us as we work our way through this venture.

(Actor Joshua Malina is also taking the SNAP Challenge this week.  You can follow his efforts on his Tumblr blog here.)

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