SNAP (food stamp) Challenge

[Tussiemussies]

Sorry lessisbest!!!

[lessisbest]

I just saw news on BING - Gwyneth Paltrow reveals that she lasted only four days. Let Them Eat Barbeque: Gwyneth Paltrow Ends Food Stamp Challenge With $80 A Plate Meal

I've been accumulating recipes all week that would fit a SNAP challenge to use for a class at the Food Bank. It is probably much easier when you are always on a tight budget and not just for a one-week challenge. I really don't have the opportunity to be tempted by $80 A Plate Meals..... I would also say having a well-stocked pantry is essential and will pay many dividends in hard times, and why I follow the LDS Church practice and have enough stored for a year. It's the old parable of the grasshopper and the ant.

I did run into some really CRAZY ideas of what SNAP meals would look like. I saw one basket of food that included a whole white onion (yellow onions are less expensive - dried onions are even less expensive and should be a home staple), a leek, and a bunch of scallions. That's a lot of onion-related food items for one week of meals!!! One of them would have been more than enough for a week. And if you cut the root ends of the scallions off, be sure to plant them and you'll get the next batch "free"

[ApatheticNoMore]

She probably succumbed to cravings because she didn't consume sufficient calories mostly (although sufficient nutrients also help - even the poor that have better ways to successfully subsist on that, are often statically more than a little overweight, which would tend to point to the cheapest diet possible being less than ideal.)

Of course being a celebrity she probably doesn't even realize she's subsisting on no calories, as they're probably so used to being on a diet constantly (hunger what's that? Oh you mean that feeling I feel 24/7/365?).

Of course she's also a foodie right? It's no kind of foodie allowance at all in that case

[Packy]

Gwynyth or however you spell it. Rhymes with "thinnith". Well, that's nice of her to try the publicity stunt, but I'd hate to see her get any skinnyer. If she went out on a breezy day, she's liable to go airborne. Now, maybe if Kelly Clarkson or the pop-singer known as "Pink" did the SNAP Food Challenge, why--that might be very beneficial to them, because they are getting a bit on the hefty side. After all, in show biz, a womans' Attractiveness is her stock-in-trade. That's also a reason why--after seeing some o' the welfare mamas from the low-income apartment 'plexes around here, it would help them slim down so they can find a working man to subsidize them, FNO.

[lessisbest]

She probably succumbed to cravings because she didn't consume sufficient calories mostly (although sufficient nutrients also help - even the poor that have better ways to successfully subsist on that, are often statically more than a little overweight, which would tend to point to the cheapest diet possible being less than ideal.)

Of course being a celebrity she probably doesn't even realize she's subsisting on no calories, as they're probably so used to being on a diet constantly (hunger what's that? Oh you mean that feeling I feel 24/7/365?).

Of course she's also a foodie right? It's no kind of foodie allowance at all in that case

I think she is gluten-free, but I'd be more embarrassed knowing I was taking the SNAP challenge while I had a tidy $400+ million nest egg to "bring awareness". Everyone on a limited food budget is fully AWARE of the situation.

People who are truly hungry, or started to feel faint after a couple days on the challenge, may need to add more fat to their diet, limit simple carbs, increase fiber (which keeps you feeling full longer) along with protein. The cheap carbs (white bread, white rice, white pasta) burn in your body like stoking a fire with paper plates instead of wood. I noticed most of the shopping carts of sample foods for people taking the SNAP challenge neglected to add some good fat like butter or coconut oil, or even lard (if you can find the real stuff, not the hydrogenated stuff at the store). Buy tuna in oil, not water, as an example. I purchased fresh chicken thighs Wednesday and removed the skin and made schmaltz (the forgotten fat) with them. It will keep nicely in the freezer and can be used for cooking, baking, and as a bread spread. Keep the fat that congeals on the top of homemade broth and use it in cooking/baking. Knowledge is a powerful thing. In our fast-food world, we've lost the ability to be self-preserving.

[Tiam]

Has anyone ever taken the SNAP Challenge? Over the years I've read several blogs about taking the challenge, read about different people (including those in politics) who took the challenge, some have only used "real" foods on the challenge to prove it's not all about empty calories and poor food choices that's affordable, and just yesterday there was "news" that Gwyneth Paltro was taking the $29 Food Stamp Budget challenge for a week. I look for meal plans and recipes from those who take these challenges because they often fit into a food class I'm teaching, or classes given at the local Food Bank.

Anyway, I was just curious if anyone has ever taken the challenge and how did they handle it? I do it on a daily basis with a food budget of $125 per month for 2 adults. Well under the $29 per person per week SNAP amount (which would be $232 for two people).

Any thoughts?

Maybe I'm wrong (and I haven't read this entire thread) but I thought the thing Paltrow signed up for was the living below the poverty line challenge which wasn't food stamp based.? $l.50 a day per person...is that the same challenge?http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vicki-...b_7190078.html

[Tiam]

I think that people who took the challenge got "sponsors" or paid out of their own pockets and the money went to charity?

[lessisbest]

Maybe I'm wrong (and I haven't read this entire thread) but I thought the thing Paltrow signed up for was the living below the poverty line challenge which wasn't food stamp based.? $l.50 a day per person...is that the same challenge?http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vicki-...b_7190078.html

The link you provided is for something other than the SNAP Challenge. The SNAP Challenge encourages participants to experience what life is like for millions of low-income Americans. SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) was formerly known as the Food Stamp Program.

[Miss Cellane]

Paltrow took the food stamp challenge. The "live below the poverty line challenge" has been discussed here in early posts. I think that one is especially challenging here in the US, because you can't really buy small portions of food, unless you happen to be lucky and live near a bulk store that will sell tiny amounts of things. Otherwise, you are stuck buying the smallest sizes of foods, which are the most expensive per unit.

I've tried to make meal plans for the below the poverty line challenge, although I've never followed through on them. The food stamp challenge looks like an oasis stuffed to overflowing with food when you compare the two. I could buy carrots, potatoes, oatmeal, a can of tomatoes, a bag of frozen vegetables, a loaf of bread and a small jar of peanut butter--no salt, or oil or other fat to cook with, no flavorings of any kind, no meat or poultry. Not if I wanted the food to last for 5 days.

[flowerseverywhere]

I think she is gluten-free, but I'd be more embarrassed knowing I was taking the SNAP challenge while I had a tidy $400+ million nest egg to "bring awareness". Everyone on a limited food budget is fully AWARE of the situation.

People who are truly hungry, or started to feel faint after a couple days on the challenge, may need to add more fat to their diet, limit simple carbs, increase fiber (which keeps you feeling full longer) along with protein. The cheap carbs (white bread, white rice, white pasta) burn in your body like stoking a fire with paper plates instead of wood. I noticed most of the shopping carts of sample foods for people taking the SNAP challenge neglected to add some good fat like butter or coconut oil, or even lard (if you can find the real stuff, not the hydrogenated stuff at the store). Buy tuna in oil, not water, as an example. I purchased fresh chicken thighs Wednesday and removed the skin and made schmaltz (the forgotten fat) with them. It will keep nicely in the freezer and can be used for cooking, baking, and as a bread spread. Keep the fat that congeals on the top of homemade broth and use it in cooking/baking. Knowledge is a powerful thing. In our fast-food world, we've lost the ability to be self-preserving.

I love this post. Everyone used to know this stuff.