Thursday, September 24: Day 4

   The CalFresh Challenge is nearly over and I noticed that I have been estimating how much I spend on food each day. I did not purchase groceries for the week in the amount of $30.67 - I have been planning by day. I began to ask myself whether individuals on CalFresh know that to stretch their monthly allowance they would need to only spend $4.38 a day. Those of us taking the challenge we were given this information, and we were also supplied with a grocery list and recipe tips. Needless to say this made it a lot easier for me, and I am sure it also helped those that took advantage of these reinforcement materials. There are numerous real life stories from CalFresh recipients indicating that they run out of food towards the end of the month. Aside from only being given a bare minimum to live off of - do these individuals know how to effectively budget their money? If they do, then are they given recipe tips and tricks?

    We were prepared for this challenge. Are CalFresh recipients prepared for theirs?

   Financial and nutrition education is vital for these recipients. Supplemental income for food isn't enough - recipients need to be taught how to maintain a healthy lifestyle on such a low budget. Housing on Merit understands this reality and in order to combat it provides its residents with financial literacy workshops and nutrition education courses. HOM opens up learning opportunities for its residents, but these opportunities need to be made available to all CalFresh recipients. 

   The San Diego Financial Literacy Center and the Wells Fargo Hands on Banking program are free resources that provide essential tools to help combat financial illiteracy. The University of California system has also created a wonderful program called the UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Program. They offer classes for adults and children and have a wealth of knowledge on how to maximize their use of certain foods in order to avoid running out of food towards the end of the month. Bringing this education to CalFresh recipients allows them to have the tools to maintain a healthy lifestyle. 

Wednesday, September 23: Day 3

      It finally happened on day 3: I had to resort to eating fast food! We all know why fast food is a menace - the combination of it being fast, easily accessible, and cheap is a recipe for health disasters. So what are some of the health issues fast food leads to? This illustration from healthline.com sums it up pretty well:

    This isn't new information for many of us who have access to healthy food alternatives. But access to these healthy foods also depends on our social location. Those of us who live in neighborhoods that cater to the upper middle to higher socioeconomic classes will have at our disposal a Sprouts, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, True Foods, Tender Greens, and many more. Why? Simply because we can afford to be healthy. The unfortunate reality for those families who don't live in such areas, is that fast food restaurants outnumber grocery stores 5 to 1! Given this reality, it becomes evident that families who only have access to fast food suffer from all the health issues shown above. 

Tuesday, September 22: Day 2

       Day 2 of the CalFresh Challenge has proven to be just as difficult as Day 1. My meals today were for the most part similar to Day 1. I realized that for individuals on CalFresh there is no variety in meals. They are restricted to eating the same thing almost on a daily basis. Whereas most of us have the luxury of trying something new once in a while, households on CalFresh are limited to what they can afford in a day.

      I started to think about all the dietary restrictions that my family has and the lifestyle changes we have had to make because of it. For example, we cannot have peanut butter in our home because my wife is deathly allergic to peanuts. As an alternative we buy almond butter - which is almost quadruple the price of a jar of peanut butter! Other than that we also do not consume soy and avoid dairy products. If you read the ingredients in most processed foods they contain a very high level of soy. These foods are almost always inexpensive, and so are a go to for people on a budget. But what happens when inexpensive foods trigger allergic reactions? Families on a $4.38 a day budget cannot even fathom finding an alternative to peanut butter which further limits the variety of food products they can consume. Food variety equals alternative sources of protein, calcium, vitamin C, etc. if these families cannot afford these, it inevitably means they lack vital nutritional intake for a healthy lifestyle.

Monday, September 21: Day 1

   Yesterday was the first day of the CalFresh Challenge, and before I started the challenge I didn’t think it would be too difficult. I believe that I manage my money pretty well – but just from the first day of this challenge I realized, living on a budget of $4.38 a day has nothing to do with managing money. I didn’t plan my meals for the first day, and I thought I should be okay as long as I tracked how much I spent. The biggest lesson I learned from day 1 was: on a budget so tight all your meals have to be planned because there is no room to slip. Normally if I forget to pack lunch I will spend an average of $8 just on that one meal! Packing your lunch isn’t just about putting a bunch of items in your lunch pale and heading off to work – you need to prepare what you plan to eat. 

     I got home pretty late on Monday night which resulted in me not preparing my lunch for the next day. If we imagine the life of those that are actually on this budget on a daily basis, we can’t ignore the fact that they also work late but don’t have the privilege to just go to sleep when they get home. 

     Once I got home I realized I had spent most of my daily budget – which meant I wasn’t eating the rest of the night.

Day 1 Meals and Estimated Costs:             

Breakfast: 1 egg & ½ avocado = $1.17                                 

Lunch: Chicken & Broccoli = $1.35                          

Snack: Banana = $0.19                                                          

Dinner: Chicken & Broccoli= $1.35              

__________________________________

                                       Total = $4.06

Day 1 was definitely difficult and I have 5 more days left - but individuals on CalFresh benefits have months of this struggle ahead of them. These individuals include Housing on Merit's residents, a vast majority of whom have families with an average of 2 children. Budgeting $4.38 a day on meals for one person is difficult and these households have the challenge of doing that for each member of the family. Children grow fast and require nutritional sustenance to maintain a healthy level of growth - 

Do you think this is possible on $4.38 a day?

What is CalFresh?

The CalFresh Program, federally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), can add to the food budget of eligible individuals and families to help them fight food insecurity. The CalFresh Program helps improve the health and well-being of qualified households and individuals by providing them a means to meet their nutritional needs.

Learn the facts vs. myths about CalFresh by watching the video below:

So what's the CalFresh Challenge?

Could you live on a food budget of just $4.38/day? During Hunger Action Month, we encourage you to try feeding yourself for a week on a CalFresh budget. The goal is to continue raising awareness and understanding around the challenges faced by millions of Americans receiving CalFresh benefits. To learn more visit http://www.sdhunger.org/cfc

Housing on Merit accepted the challenge - will you?