Author: nisha

Food Stamp Challenge: Final reflections…

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I did it! I made it through all seven full days of the Food Stamp Challenge without breaking!

Day 4, Thursday, was okay.  Breakfast was the standard yogurt and Special K Bar.  Lunch was my $1 pizza, which felt like such a treat even if it wasn’t the best tasting thing I’ve ever eaten. I ate my dinner of a Boca burger with cheese on whole wheat before heading to my Bread for the City board meeting.  I resisted eating the usual pizza and salad provided at our Board meetings, and just had a glass of water. Several other board members and staff were participating in the challenge, so there were many of us who weren’t eating.  We spent some time at the meeting reflecting on our experiences, and the solidarity was helpful in reminding me why I agreed to take on this challenge in the first place and why an organization like Bread is so necessary.

Day 5, Friday, was the toughest of all for me throughout the challenge. Lately, I’ve been hitting the gym five days a week and I tried to stick with it during the challenge, which was tough. After my workout on Friday, the rest of the day was a struggle. After four and half days of eating so few calories, burning quite a lot (although not as much as usual, as I had zero energy left to do any weights), and then enduring the Code Orange air and 90 percent humidity, memories of heat exhaustion in Delhi came flooding back. But, alas, no access to Limca Cola to perk me up.

I could barely focus at the morning workshop I attended, and I was so cranky and hungry and numb as I slugged back to my office throughout the downtown heat, loathing the smell of the city in the summer. I ate my last remaining tuna and cheese sandwiches. I somehow managed to stay alert by constantly drinking water through my afternoon meetings and the graduation of WAWIT’s inaugural class (even my weariness from the Food Stamp Challenge could not keep me away!).

I was too exhausted afterwards to do anything but go home and go to bed.

Day 6, Saturday, was tolerable. Having purchased just enough yogurt and Special K Bars for my weekday breakfasts, I had been counting on eating toast for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, I had miscalculated how much bread I had, so I had to skip breakfast on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, I slept in and then hit the gym. I staved off my hunger with leftover pasta and beans throughout the day.  I got pretty creative with tossing pasta with a little olive oil and spices to try and fool the palate into thinking I was eating something different. I didn’t have a choice, as I was out of pretty much everything else.

Saturday evening, I met some friends for movie, which was good since eating wasn’t involved. Afterwards, we decided to enjoy the pleasant weather and catch up over drinks at a place with an outdoor patio, which meant tap water for me and beers and munchies for everyone else. It actually felt good to be able to exercise some will power, but then I was starving by the time I got home. As it was after midnight, I decided it was too late to eat and went straight to bed and tried to forget about being hungry.

Day 7, Sunday, could not pass fast enough. By the end of the day, I had eaten almost all of my remaining pasta. I have maybe a couple of ounces of dry pasta left, but other than that, I have eaten every scrap of food I purchased for the challenge.

I weighed myself before and after the challenge. I lost four pounds.  I think I ended up skipping a total of three meals during the seven days. Reflecting on the past seven days, I am reminded of my experience bungy jumping in New Zealand:

a)  I did it on a whim.
b)  It was horrifying.
c)  I’m glad I did it.
d)  I proved to myself that I could do it without chickening out.
e)  I don’t feel the need to ever do it again.
f)  Now, that it’s over, I have a feeling of sweet relief.

Food Stamp Challenge: Nisha's reflections on day three…

Posted on by nisha

Today is day three of my seven days on the Food Stamp Challenge.  So far, so good.

Monday was pretty easy-breezy.  I decided to stagger my allotted food for the day.  Yogurt for breakfast, a cheese sandwich for lunch, a Special K bar for an afternoon snack to tide me over, and then a Boca burger with grilled onions and cheese on whole wheat bread for dinner.

Tuesday (National Hunger Awareness Day) was a bit more of challenge, mostly because of the temptation of “free” food (but there’s no such thing as a free lunch, right?).  At our staff retreat on Tuesday, lunch was provided.  The rules of the challenge state that one “should try to avoid accepting food at receptions, parties, friends’ homes, or your place of work.”  So, I came prepared my yogurt breakfast and multi-grain penne pasta lunch. I actually felt pretty good because it meant I avoided eating the donuts provided for breakfast and the potato chips and cookies served with lunch (Hmmm, maybe we need to think about having healthier foods at our staff meetings!).

Later that night, I had my book club meeting—which, as folks who know me know, features the absolute best meal I eat every month.  I’m fortunate to be in a book club with some excellent cooks and foodies.  Generally, the hostess makes the entrée and the other participants sign up to bring beverages, appetizers, salads, bread, side dishes, and desserts.  It’s always a delectable smorgasbord and last night was no exception.

However, I held firm and ate the brown bag cheese sandwich I had brought while I watched my friends devour hummus and vegetables, glasses of red wine, quiche, salad, some kind of yummy-looking spinach-peppers-mushroom combo, and three kinds of crusty bread.  This was followed by homemade strawberry and rhubarb pie topped with two kinds of Ben & Jerry’s.  Luckily, not much chocolate was involved, so I was again able to restrain myself and stick to my strawberry Special K bar for dessert (Saved from breakfast—I’m getting pretty good at rationing!).

Today, Wednesday, has been much easier.  I had an early morning meeting where breakfast pastries were provided, but I was on the offensive again with my yogurt and Special K bar and managed to avoid eating a scrumptious-looking super-sized cinnamon role.  For lunch, I brought pasta (again) and a cheese sandwich (again)—I had decided I was left a bit hungry the previous day and needed to double up on lunch. Lunch was actually quite enjoyable, but that was because I met a friend in the park for a picnic lunch and it was one of those glorious spring days without too much humidity!

So far, this exercise has reminded me:

  • That there’s nothing like a challenge to motivate me.  Since this week is really a simulation, it’s more a test of my will power than anything else. I’m not a person who’s ever been motivated to participate in fad diets for the purpose of weight loss. A challenge on the other hand, is a whole different story—particularly when it’s connected to raising awareness about one of the issues I’m most passionate about—poverty—and one of the organizations I’m most devoted to—Bread for the City (For more on my ties to Bread, please click here and read under "On Poverty".)  And let’s face it, pride and shame are huge motivators. I agreed to blog about this experience, and who wants to have to admit failure publicly?
  • How much, we (as in those of us who have plenty to eat and nearly constant access to food) tend to overeat. Eating a limited, rationed diet motivates you to eat when hungry, not just because it’s “lunch time” or because food is there. Though I don’t know, maybe if you’re truly hungry, you eat whatever’s available when it’s available because you don’t know where your next meal is coming from or when it might be? (As Sherell noted earlier today).  I did have a debate with myself about whether to accept the free food offered on Tuesday, but my will power won over. A thought I had was, if I truly had limited access to food, wouldn’t I have eaten the three free meals offered and rationed my own supply to last another day?
  • Just how much free food I have access to through my job. It’s tragically ironic that those who have the least resources likely have the least access to free prepared meals to supplement their diets, while those of us with comfortable incomes probably have food a little too available to us. Them that’s got shall get, them that’s not, shall lose?
  • Just how much my social life seems to revolve around food. I’ve had to be a bit more creative about my social plans this week. Instead of going out to lunch, I made a date to meet a friend in the park. No happy hours, no dinner at a new restaurant I’ve been wanting to check out, no catching up over coffee. I have a friend I want to see this weekend and instead of dinner and a movie, it will be just a movie (I’m wondering if I qualified for food stamps, could I realistically afford the movie? Probably not.) Is this yet another way that poverty is isolating?
  • How pretty freakin’ easy my life is compared to many people’s. I hardly think it’s a hardship for someone who eats well year round to engage in one week of restraint.  Eating on a food stamp budget for one week is nothing compared to doing it year round. I ate just fine in the weeks leading up to the challenge and feel sure I’ll eat just fine afterwards. But can I even imagine what it would be like if I had limited access to food for weeks on end? If I actually had to endure hunger for long periods of time? How would this affect my health? My outlook on life?

And what if I were a single mother with children to feed and I thought they were going to bed hungry at night?

Food Stamp Challenge: My math skills prevail!

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On Sunday, I went to the grocery store to prepare for my week of participation in the Food Stamp Challenge, where I’ll be eating this week on a budget of $21, the amount the average food stamp recipient receives in federal assistance. 

Having finished up at the grocery store, I felt proud of myself for having managed to purchase pretty much all the items on my original list and then some.

My original list:

  • Oatmeal
  • Milk
  • Whole grain bread
  • Cheese
  • Spinach
  • Pasta
  • Sauce
  • Canned beans
  • Onion

While at the grocery store, I decided it was too hot to eat oatmeal and replaced it with my usual weekday summer breakfast of yogurt and a Special K Bar.

What I actually bought:

5 8 oz. yogurts @ $.40 each = $2.00
Special K Bars (package of 6) = $2.50
Pint of 2% milk = $1.19
Store brand whole wheat bread = $1.50 (On sale–score!)
Sargento sliced cheese with chipotle peppers = $3.29 (My big splurge!)
Classico pasta sauce with spinach and romano and parmesan cheese already added = $1.64 (So, I crossed spinach off my list.)
Barilla Pasta Plus (multi-grain penne) = $2.29
Can of black beans = $.93
Onion = $.54
Boca Burgers (package of 4) = $3.00
Store brand canned tuna = $.66
Ellio’s frozen cheese pizza = $1.00 (There was also another brand on sale for the same price–10/$10–so I chose the brand without any trans fat.)

As the total was being rung up, I wondered if I got the math exactly right.  What if I had over spent?  Would I be embarrassed to tell the cashier I needed to put some items back because I didn’t have enough money?

The grand total came to $20.93. Phew!  I did it!

I won’t claim it’s the healthiest list of items ever assembled, but I think it’s not bad (And, to be honest, not that different from my normal weekly diet–except may be the frozen pizza).

Nisha prepares for D.C. Food Stamp Challenge…

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In preparation for the Food Stamp Challenge next week, the policy wonk in me is coming out.  I wrote a paper with some colleagues at CLASP a few years back that framed food stamps as one of several work supports that can help low-income working families.

Now, I am wondering if food stamps are one’s only source of income for food (because presumably any other income support or wages are going to pay for other basic needs), how much nutritious food can one actually afford to purchase that will help keep the mind and body energized on the job? Will my productivity decrease next week when I’m purchasing food limited to a $21 budget? 

I guess I’m about to find out.  (For more on my motivation for participating in the D.C. version of the Food Stamp Challenge, please see today’s News and View of Note post under "On Poverty.")

With the amount of money I often would spend on one meal out to serve as my weekly budget, I started to think about ways to economize. 

First, I was wondering whether I could save any money by purchasing food in D.C. versus Maryland or Virginia because of differential sales taxes on food. Then I recalled that most food stamp purchases are not taxable. I verified this on the Food and Nutrition Service Web site.  So, I am planning to purchase my food at the closest grocery store I can walk to from where I live.  While on the FNS Web site, I also discovered some interesting factoids:

Based on a study of data gathered in Fiscal Year 2005:

  • 50 percent of all participants are children (18 or younger), and 65 percent of them live in single-parent households.
  • 54 percent of food stamp households include children.
  • 8 percent of all participants are elderly (age 60 or over).
  • 77 percent of all benefits go to households with children, 16 percent go to households with disabled persons, and 9 percent go to households with elderly persons.
  • 34 percent of households with children were headed by a single parent, the overwhelming majority of whom were women.
  • The average household size is 2.3 persons.
  • The average gross monthly income per food stamp household is $648.
  • 46 percent of participants are white; 31 percent are African-American, non-Hispanic; 13 percent are Hispanic; 2 percent are Asian, 1 percent are Native American, and 7 percent are of unknown race or ethnicity.

Having taken all of this in, I then turned my attention to wondering what exactly I will and won’t be allowed to purchase, since I want to try and play by the rules. Also from the FNS Web site:  Households CAN use food stamp benefits to buy foods for the household to eat, such as: breads and cereals; fruits and vegetables; meats, fish and poultry; and, dairy products and seeds and plants which produce food for the household to eat.  Households CANNOT use food stamp benefits to buy: beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes or tobacco or any nonfood items, such as: pet foods; soaps, paper products; and, household supplies or vitamins and medicines, food that will be eaten in the store or hot foods.

Thinking back to points in my life when I’ve had a lot less income, I’ve started composing a grocery list in my head. I’m hoping to stay away from Ramen noodles and those blue boxes of macaroni and “cheese.”  I hoping to be able to buy: oatmeal, milk (probably won’t be able afford soy milk, so whatever kind is cheapest), an on-sale loaf of whole grain bread, some sort of cheese that isn’t processed, spinach (the generic frozen kind—I know I won’t be able to afford fresh), pasta, sauce, canned beans, and an onion.

I plan to report back with a list of my actual purchases next week. Stay tuned. . .

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and the realities of our region…

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As Asian Pacific American Heritage Month draws to a close, I thought it was worth revisiting a few statistics from The Portrait Project about Asian women in the Washington region.  While these data are a few years old now, they still serve to remind us of the divide that exists in our region within all racial and ethnic groups—and of the need for an organization like The Women’s Foundation, which is attempting to be a bridge across the divide.

When The Portrait Project was released in 2003. . .

  • Asian women’s median annual earnings in each jurisdiction of the Washington metropolitan region exceeded the median annual earnings of $27,194 for women nationally. In the region, Asian women’s median annual earnings ranged from $29,804 to $38,370. In four out of six local jurisdictions, Asian women’s earnings outpaced the national figure for this group by at least $2,773 (Fairfax County), and upwards to $7,321 (District of Columbia).
  • Yet, Asian women had the second highest poverty rates of all women in the region at 8.9 percent.  And, elderly Asian women in Alexandria and Arlington had the highest poverty rates of all women in every jurisdiction at 42.1 percent and 37.4 percent respectively (compared to Montgomery, Prince George’s, Arlington, Fairfax and Alexandria).
  • One of the largest wage gaps existed between Asian women and men’s median annual earnings. Asian women’s earnings in the region ranged from being 68 percent of Asian men’s earnings in Fairfax County ($33,822 for women compared to $49,589 for men) to 88 percent of their earnings in the District of Columbia ($38,370 compared to $43,646 for men).
  • 56 percent of Asian women in the region had some sort of college degree. Yet, 17- 21 percent of Asian women in our region lacked a high school diploma.

Clearly, there is much work to be done in bridging the divide. It is through our existing partnerships with Grantee Partners such as ASHA, Boat People SOS and Chinatown Service Center–and through new partnerships–that we can begin to make progress.

Taking Stepping Stones on the road…to Seattle!

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I’m very excited to report that In response to popular demand from our sister funds around the U.S., we’ll be hosting a briefing on Stepping Stones at the WFN Annual Conference in Seattle.  We’ll be taking it straight from the East Coast to the West Coast—from one Washington (D.C.) to another (State) and we hope you can join us!

We’re really looking forward to sharing our learnings from (and plans for) Stepping Stones.  If you’ll be at the conference, take a look at the briefing description and send us your R.S.V.P. (seating is limited!)–we can’t wait to meet and talk with you about this exciting initiative!

See you in Seattle!

International Women's Day: Fetes and festivities.

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Lisa’s blog today got me wondering, what are people in the Washington metropolitan area and around the world doing to celebrate International Women’s Day?

In New Zealand, a DVD (created by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and the Department of Labour!) about the pay gap between men and women is being launched (Okay, they’re across the International Date Line, so it’s already been launched!). 

Women in the Czech Republic are gathering for a conference.

The Women of Color Resource Center in San Francisco is holding Speaking Fierce, an evening of art, poetry, music and dance.

Status of Women Canada (an entire government agency!) has developed some materials (en anglais et français!) to commemorate the day.

The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts is launching Imagining Ourselves, a platform for young women to create positive change in their lives, communities and the world.  

Closer to home, Executive Women in Government is holding a conference entitled, “Generations of Women Moving History Forward” in D.C.  Code Pink is holding a rally in D.C. 

And, of course, the crew at Washington Area Women’s Foundation will be celebrating this evening at Piola, which is generously donating 50 percent of the proceeds from their dessert sales to The Women’s Foundation

I also came across this Web site, which has listings of events around the world.

I hope you will find a way to celebrate, wherever you are in the world!

Breaking bread and the feel of home with CASA de Maryland

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Today I had the privilege of participating in a site visit with The Women’s Foundation’s Grantee Partner, CASA de Maryland.

As a program officer, site visits are something I do quite a bit, and they’re one of the parts of my job I love the most.  What was unique about today’s visit was that, in addition to staff, we had with us a diverse group of donors and Board members from The Women’s Foundation. From CASA’s end, an equally diverse group of staff, Board members, volunteers, and women served by their programs were in attendance.

Seeing women and men from all walks of life in the same room breaking bread together was a great example of something at which I think The Women’s Foundation excels: We bring together people who, at first blush, may seem to be unlikely allies with little in common–who it turns out are truly like-minded in their vision for social change.

Diversity was definitely a theme of the day.

Our donors and Board members had the opportunity to see evidence of the social change work that CASA is doing in the Langley Park community in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties–where citizens of the world from over 120 countries, speaking even more languages–are represented.  With support from The Women’s Foundation, CASA is helping place immigrant women on pathways to better economic opportunity.

For example, just in the last few months, CASA has assisted over 60 women in getting hired for nontraditional jobs in leaf collection—moving from $12-an-hour to $18-an-hour jobs that can help sustain their families.

But jobs are just one component of the wide range of services CASA provides—from English classes to leadership training to advocacy and organizing.  I have the sense that for so many people in our community who hail from so many different parts of the world, CASA is just what the meaning of the word is in Spanish: home—the one place where you always feel welcome.

Perhaps it is my own immigrant roots, but that is definitely the feeling I have every time I visit CASA.