#limitedcharacters #limitedfood
…but unlimited distress. One in eight families struggle with hunger in the DC area, and, according to a population survey from 2012, every county in America exhibits some level of food insecurity (Gundersen, C., E. Engelhard, A. Satoh, & E. Waxman). Working at Miriam’s Kitchen this semester gave me a particular interest and passion for hunger and homelessness, and I was extremely excited to be able to participate in spreading awareness through the Snap Challenge. When I first began the challenge, I was surprised by how fast the first day went by. As an over-achieving GW college student, there are often many days when I either forget to eat a meal or only have time to scarf down a granola bar while running around fulfilling my various responsibilities. So Sunday went by, I had spent no more than $3.00, and I was not feeling like I had given anything up. It was slightly alarming.
So when I began to contemplate writing this blog entry, I had a much different concept in mind. After that first night, I hypothesized that I would write about how overly committed students (like myself) can also be thought of as food insecure, and how this was an issue that needs to be addressed. It was an initially compelling idea; the comparison between those who were searching for food and those who were searching for time for food. But while this is an issue, I completely underestimated the true effect of living for an extended amount of time on $4.30 a day.
Each day, my sense of smell increased exponentially. Walking by the food trucks was suddenly an extremely difficult task. I started constantly thinking about when I would next be able to eat. As someone who is avidly not a foodie and has never particularly enjoyed cuisine, food began to occupy a large part of my thoughts. For any of you Harry Potter fans, hunger is equivalent to wearing a horcrux. For sure. You don’t realize it at first, but before long you are in a terrible mood and only food can bring any sort of relief.
Once you are in this desperate state, there is not one moment when nutrition crosses your mind. Anything that qualifies as edible is desirable – and in most cases this leads to sugar crashes and headaches. This week was also tech week for a show that I involved in, so many long nights at the theater resulted in mooching off of candy that people had brought in. This highlights the “food desert” phenomenon that is so prominent in urban areas – the lack of readily available healthy food. I have also recently been very interested in dental hygiene and health, and diet is a huge component of overall oral health. So not only is your energy and your short-term health compromised from sugary diets, your long-term oral health is compromised, which can lead to much more serious issues.
After a few days, I began to figure out the best ways to embrace the challenge. I found that you can buy an entire bag of pasta at Trader Joe’s for $1.00, which provided several meals! I also bought a bunch of bananas for under $2.00; each of which was sufficient for breakfast. I am sure that over the next few months I will be much more conscious of how much I am spending on food and the nutritional quality of that food.
I highly suggest taking on the SNAP challenge. For one week, it enables you to see the reality of food stamps. For one week it makes you aware of how a large portion of the world lives. For one week it reminds you of everything you can be grateful for.