Day#1

Well, the Food Stamp Program officially started yesterday and, let me tell you, I can foresee that this is going to be a very interesting month! The thought in my head today is that I am fortunate that I am participating by choice. The people who live in poverty don't have a choice of being hungry when there is not enough food and no more money for the week to buy food.

I also am thinking about the assumptions we make about those living in poverty and the excuses we make for why it's "not our problem." Case in point, somebody said to me, "Don't forget...the food stamps are a supplement to help them buy the basics. They have other money to buy food with." This is a huuuuuge assumption; how do we know that there is more money within their budget? In my own personal life, with fuel prices being what they are, my budget at home is pretty tight with not much wiggle room.

I am living the next month as if I have $21.00 for food and that is IT. And I can tell you...it's not a lot.

The Main Purpose of this Blog

The primary reason for starting this blog is to chronicle my experience with the Food Stamp Project. Just what is the Food Stamp Project?

This will describe it for you:

http://www.charteroakcenter.org/food_stamp_registration.pdf

As I live through the process I will use this blog as my journal; I thought it would be a better way to make this a growth-enhancing one not only for myself but perhaps for others as well. Who knows? Maybe somebody will want to join me in participation of the Food Stamp Project!

Under my roof I will be participating alone...my family will continue with the usual meals. I would like to see what it is like to feed an entire family under strict guidelines; maybe next year!

Today I will officially register (using the same form you saw when you clicked on the above link) and I will have a few days to prepare for the kick-off of the event. My first "to do" on my list is to get my shopping list ready for Week #1; when I started it I had four (4) items on it (milk, egss, bread and boneless chicken) and just those 4 items will use up half of my $21 allotment for the week. Yikes!

This will be more difficult than I had imagined! Once I have a shopping list set up I will post it, and feel free to give me suggestions. I think the meal I will miss the most is my #1 Extra Value Meal at McD's...but to use $6.00 for a Bic Mac, medium fries & medium soda equals two days of meals. When you put it in that light it makes you think very carefully about "wants" and true "needs". Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby...that equals another day's worth of meals. Ahhhhhh...I am pretty fortunate to be able to enjoy those kind of things...did I think that as I was eating them?

How does Connecticut rate?

Connecticut, average 1998-2000

	Total	Food Insecure	Food Insecure with Hunger
Percent of Households (%)	100.0	8.17	2.90
Number of Households (thousands)	1,299	105	38
Number of People in Households (thousands)	3,355	280	96
Rank (out of 51)	--	43t*	29

Food Security Definitions

Extensive research has led to the following definitions, which are foundational to the food security measurement paradigm used in the CPS Food Security Supplements.²

• Food security refers to access to enough food at all times for an active and healthy life. At a minimum, food security includes: the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies, for example).

• Food insecurity occurs whenever the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or the ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways, is limited or uncertain.

• Hunger is the uneasy or painful sensation caused by a recurrent or involuntary lack of food and is a potential, although not necessary consequence of food insecurity. Over time, hunger may result in malnutrition.

* Tied ranking

Source: A. Sullivan and E. Choi (August 2002). Hunger and Food Insecurity in the Fifty States: 1998-2000. Waltham, MA: Food Security, Center on Hunger and Poverty.

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See complete report at: http://www.centeronhunger.org/pdf/statedata98-00.pdf

Retrieved 2/22/2008 from http://www.centeronhunger.org/states/ct.html

30 Hour Famine

I just heard on the radio about an international youth movement to end hunger...here is the link:

http://www.30hourfamine.org/

The next famine runs from April 25-26th; I will pass this info along to Jay...maybe it's something in which our high school members will want to participate! Also pass it on to family members and friends!

Starting up

Our first Fill the Truck Ministry Team meeting was last night, and I said I would have my blog up and running by Sunday, so here it is! I am hoping that it will be informative, thought-provoking and interactive for all who check it out.

I look forward to serving on this Ministry Team and working with the other members; it will be exciting to be part of such an important ministry and to watch it grow. I am confident that we can all work together in the community to eradicate hunger and keep the shelves in our local food pantries over-flowing throughout the entire year.

Thanks for checking the new blog out and check back often!