Keeping Hunger Away on $4.50 a day? Getting Ready to Take the SNAP Hunger Challenge

I'm taking what's known as the SNAP Hunger Challenge.

Unlike those who rely on food stamps, I am volunteering to eat on just $4.50 a day ($31.50) for seven days.  Four dollars and 50 cents a day for food  is about what SNAP provides for in Illinois.

The SNAP challenge is a coordinated effort by  Feeding Illinois (formerly known as the Illinois Food Bank Association).  Their purpose is to provide food for hungry people in Illinois, to advocate for policies that reduce hunger, and to educate the public about the vital role food banks play in addressing hunger.

I am solidly middle class ( I am one of the lucky ones who has a  job that I enjoy).
I am physically, mentally and emotional healthy (on most days).
I live a 10-minute's walk from a decent grocery store.
I own my 1996 Geo Prism which takes me anywhere I need to go to get what I need or want.

I rarely think about money when I go grocery shopping.  I will think about it now. 

I will be taking this challenge with many others in Illinois.  My local foodbank, the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, one of eight foodbanks in the state, is inviting people to take the SNAP Hunger Challenge as part of September's Hunger Action Month.  The official challenge week is September 19-25.  SNAP, by the way, is the official name for the foodstamp program in Illinois.

I am starting tomorrow (8/30) so I can have some direct experience before I host a radio program about hunger on September 21 from 10:06-10:50am CSTon WILL.   Today I am planning what I will eat tomorrow and I am paying close attention to nutrition and cost.  I will post my meals and the cost for those meals each day on this blog as well as the official blog of the SNAP Hunger Challenge.

I have only ever been hungry one day in my adult life.  I was truly hungry after not eating for 36 hours.  The only way I could get food was to go up to strangers and say, "I am hungry.  Will you feed me now?"  Asking total strangers for help was very humbling to my middle class values as those values taught me to believe that I am supposed to be self-sufficient. The hunger made me ask for help and I was given food and my hunger went away.

Of course, I'd love for you to join me in this challenge and to share your experiences here and on the official blog.  Let me know if you do!  Thank you.

This is the first post in a nine-part series on my experiences with eating on $4.50 a day as part of September's Hunger Action Month.