SNAP benefits average just $6 per person per day, and there are proposals to cut this amount even further. A few EFN staff members participated in the FRAC’s SNAP Challenge, living on this limited budget for 1 to 3 days. Here’s what they learned about the realities of food insecurity and why it’s so important to protect SNAP benefits.
Claire:
Participated in the challenge for 3 days and had a budget of $18.
Janielle:
Participated in the challenge for 3 days and had a budget of $18.
April:
Participated in the challenge for 1 day and had a budget of $6.
How did you feel while grocery shopping during the challenge?
Claire:
I was raised to be budget-conscious when grocery shopping, but I’ve never had to track my spending down to the penny like this. I kept a running tally on my phone of what I thought my bill was going to be and put food away when I thought I might be over budget. I was glad to see that there were sales on foods that were on my list, like canned beans and cottage cheese, but other items were frustratingly out of budget.
Peanut butter and whole wheat bread are standard parts of my diet, but I usually try to get items that have no added sugar and have a higher fiber content. The only peanut butter in my budget had added sugar and the whole wheat bread I bought has just as much sugar as it does fiber. It makes sense to me that chronic disease is so linked to income when more nutritious options of the same foods, like bread, are more expensive than their sugar-filled counterparts.
Janielle:
I was a bit stressed about going over budget and I did! I had to swap and get a smaller pack of chicken breast.
April:
Shopping was stressful and frustrating! I constantly had to calculate costs and do the mental gymnastics of how I could stretch my money. So many things were out of my budget. In the end, I had to sacrifice fresh and nutritious items for items that would be most filling.
Did you have to change your eating habits or meal routine?
Claire:
I would guess I ate about 75% of what I eat normally in a day. Fortunately, I was able to avoid true hunger throughout the day by snacking on cottage cheese and carrots, but I was never quite satisfied.
One thing that was on my mind during the experience was how much more difficult this would have been over the last two years. I have a 15-month old at home and was still pumping until January. Throughout my pregnancy and when he was exclusively breast fed, I was always hungry. The amount of food I was able to eat over the challenge would not have been enough. Fortunately, programs like WIC provide additional benefits to pregnant and postpartum women, but the foods allowed through WIC are not as flexible as SNAP benefits.
Janielle:
I had to push dinner later into the evening so that I would not be hungry in the middle of the night. I also like to eat a few snacks throughout the day and didn’t have the budget for those.
April:
I typically begin my day with a hearty breakfast with lots of protein, so cutting this down to two bananas meant I was hungry early on in the morning. I also have a few snacks in between meals that I had to cut out.
Were you able to get enough variety in your meals?
Claire:
There was not a lot of variety in my days. I opted to eat the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day so that I could focus on more diversity within the meals themselves. Breakfast each morning was oats, banana, and peanut butter. Lunch was one or two peanut butter sandwiches. Dinner was a soup made of onion, canned beans, canned corn, and chicken stock. I do think I got a good mix of grains, fiber, protein, vegetables, and dairy throughout my day, but I didn’t get a lot of fresh produce and my dinner was certainly not filling.
Janielle:
I did not have much variety. Luckily, I chose food I didn’t mind eating several days in a row.
April:
No, I wasn’t able to get any vegetables or a nutritious protein. My meals had a lot of carbohydrates with little nutrition.
How did you feel physically and mentally by the end of the day?
Claire:
I spent more mental energy on food during the challenge than I normally do. I noticed myself worrying at lunch time about dinner and what I would eat after dinner if I was hungry. I also just got bored with the repetitive nature of my food. I’m not a good cook myself, but I always look forward to different homemade meals throughout the week and the ability to try new recipes and return to comforting favorites. Food really ended up just being fuel over the challenge as I focused on optimizing my budget above anything else.
Janielle:
At the end of each day, I was definitely more tired and did not feel like working out beyond the first day.
April:
It felt like a very long day to me! I was hungry throughout the day which interrupted my focus and concentration. I usually exercise after work but didn’t want to do it on an empty stomach, and knowing my dinner would be a small portion size.
What did you learn from the experience?
Claire:
This experience made me think about how we talk about money and tell lower-income people they should behave. So much personal finance advice and budgeting focuses on reducing expenses like going out for coffee, but this isn’t even in many people’s budget in the first place. We don’t need to patronize people by telling them how to spend a budget they already know is limited, we need to make healthier foods more accessible. Not long after the challenge I heard someone say, “calories are cheap, nutrition is expensive.” I think that is the heart of the challenge so many of our neighbors face.
Janielle:
What I learned is there is a difference between a limited budget and a restricted budget because even though I do shop with a budget in mind, I do have food in the house to supplement my meals and have more than one card I can use. The SNAP challenge was just another reminder for me not to waste food and to be grateful that I can have a variety and plentiful amount of food.
April:
It was really eye-opening to temporarily live this experience that many people face every day. It made me think about how resilient so many people are. Despite this circumstance, they’re still carrying on, showing up for their families, their work, themselves, despite this huge stressor that’s at the end of the day, a basic need. It’s something no one should have to go through, and its alarming to think this SNAP budget could be cut even further in the future.