Day 4

Lenna Tasley-Broome

Meals for 2day: 11/14/12 4:43 p.m.

smoothie of apple/banana - a.m.

tuna stuffed potato with chopped apple - p.m.

snack p.m. - apple/pbutter

Good eating - and moral support

Hungry, tired and crabby

Michelle Shanker

I have spent much of the week wondering how people on food stamps survive. I am hungry, tired, and crabby. I think about food and miss the “noshing’ all day. Mostly, I can’t figure out how hungry people can be expected to work – or how hungry people are able to look for work? 

This has been a great education in morality for me. Doing good and charitable work is a very important thing, but a hungry person has no energy to do tikkun olam. How  often could you afford to do charitable work if you are on food stamps? And for me, that would be the worst part of it – having to take without being able to give back. To never have the satisfaction of being able to take care of someone else.  

Hungry

Janet Rodgers

Tuesday - 3 pm:  Hungry, go for a walk at 3 pm to take my mind off it

4:30 pm - only short term benefits from walk regarding hunger.  Note to self - get the Halloween candy out of the house.

6 pm - Using dried black beans because they are cheap, but 2 hours to cook!  This is a lot of work.

Wednesday:  I can't believe it's only Wednesday.

Coffee muß ich haben

Will Soll

The cheap produce at Aldi's emboldened me to spring for coffee. $3.99 gets you 12 oz. of their Donut Shop Blend. This meant spending 13% of my food budget on an item with zero nutritional value.

It was a smart choice. I would have been miserable otherwise. And it’s a reminder that all of us—rich and poor alike—use food for other reasons beside nutrition.

Here's a link to an aria from J.S. Bach's "Coffee Cantata", actually a mini comic opera about a father trying to get his daughter to give up drinking coffee (he thinks it's not seemly for a woman). She outwits him. English text of aria below. 

My, isn't coffee delicious?

Sweeter than thousands of kisses,

Milder than muscatel wine.

Coffee, coffee, that's what I require.

To fulfill my heart's desire

Just, just pour me out some coffee

Pour me my coffee so fine.

Living Without

Andrea Kaiser

How perfect to title this week in just two words: Living Without. 

(Ironically, it is the name of an online magazine for Celiac Disease, and Gluten Intolerance!! It showed up today to remind me of the foods I miss; bananas, berries, chicken, fish, gluten free goodies: bread, muffins.)

I look at what others are eating. My diet is too healthy. Brian, find me a Jolly Rancher. No, forget that, I would rather have a Reese's Peanut Butter cup! I am craving them!...Where's my peanut butter? 

It was tough to pass by a fast food place when I was hungry tonight, and knew I had to head home. It's okay, being unemployed through this hunger project is another eye opener! Wiser for the budget. But I am noticing my mind is less sharp without the right foods! And my digestive system is lazy. 

Day 3: Less Is More

Michael DiPlacido

My single meal of the day becomes special by virtue of its uniqueness. A modicum of food served daily at 7:00 PM. Compared to my usual diet of continuous “foraging” from awakening to retiring, my Food Stamp Challenge meal is a mere pittance. Yet, it has so much more character than my normal fare. In the Jewish tradition, the Rabbis liken the dinner table to the altar in the Temple, and the food we eat to the offerings made to G-d. The singular nature of my meal has turned the act of eating into a well-defined moment in time, and, as such, elevates it from the level of the mundane to something special. I experience heightened awareness, appreciation, and fulfillment. I can’t help but be reminded of the Torah’s injunction: You shall eat, be satisfied, and bless G-d for the good earth.

Focusing on keeping busy

Andrea Kaiser

Breakfast is getting boring: cereal and milk, oatmeal or eggs. I normally have a balanced variety. This week, it is mostly cereal --Trader Joe's version of Cheerios (but no wheat).

I noticed today it's no longer about the food that I concentrate on; it's about staying busy! so I don't think about what I will eat, or how hungry I am feeling. I was in class tonight, and my stomach was reminding me it's feeding time, but it would be at least another 45 minutes or so before I would be home. When I got out of class in a hotel, there was fresh FREE popcorn in the lobby which I couldn't refuse. It's my favorite food and I had planned to give it up this week! It not only called to me, but it seemed to have had a 'cord attached' which would not let me leave the building unless I indulged! :) It was the worst popcorn I ever had, short of the burnt stuff! I was not meant to eat popcorn this week! I tossed it out!
I went home and ate a steamed potato au naturel. My stomach shut up.

Yesterday, I was at a friend's house and she offered me anything that was in her fridge. I politely declined. She had noticed I was losing weight already, and felt sorry for me. 

Four days to go! I am rationing my food!