Day One: Stephanie

Our team decided to do a SNAP challenge during our ASB experience. The national average benefit for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is $4.44 per person, per day.  Using this as a budget, we learned some ideas about how to shop for healthy food with limited food dollars and planned meals for the week. The group split up into smaller groups to plan and shop for specific meals.  We used the USDA What's Cooking website, which allows users to search recipes by price per serving, and several other resources to brainstorm meal ideas.

We went to a nearby supermarket and spent about two hours comparing unit prices, looking for generic brands, buying in large volumes, calculating servings, and comparing fresh, canned, dried, and frozen versions of the foods we wanted. While finding healthful and affordable choices was time consuming, we managed to buy groceries for 12 people for the week for less than $300.  But, we had advantages of an economy of scale with such a large group and hours of planning and shopping that many families with limited resources do not have.

Our first meal was brown rice, sautéed vegetables, and chicken.  We also made kale chips for a late-evening snack. We have yet to experience much strain related to the challenge, but several people felt hungry after dinner.  It will be challenging to snack less between meals, be more flexible with types of foods, and eat less than we normally would, especially as the week carries on.