This week, several members of The Women’s Foundation staff are participating in the Food Stamp Challenge, an exercise organized by D.C. Hunger Solutions that educates the public and raises awareness of the benefits of food stamps and the challenges recipients face while eating on a very limited budget. The staff will be sharing their experiences on this blog.

Today is officially the last day of the Food Stamp Challenge, but for me this challenge unofficially ended over the weekend when I essentially ran out of food, and in general, felt really, really crappy.

As a colleague of mine wrote last week, this wasn’t so much of a challenge as it was a game, and we all looked for ways to interpret the rules of the game to allow us certain items that we knew in fact were forbidden. Whether it was a cup of coffee, a piece of candy from the office candy bowl, or that cold beer at a Nationals play-off game (yes, that was me!), each of us made choices about items that we added back into our diet. And we made those decisions because we could.

All in all, I was fortunate in that I never really felt hungry during the five days that I participated in the challenge; however, I just didn’t feel all that great. My system was out of whack, and I was growing weary of my daily lunch of lettuce and chickpeas. Some of my food was beginning to spoil, as I was trying to ration it to last the full seven days. By Saturday afternoon my lettuce and green beans weren’t looking all that great, and neither was I. After re-injuring my shoulder, I was taking an anti-inflammatory that was labeled “Do not eat on an empty stomach. Take with food.” My stomach wasn’t empty, but it certainly wasn’t full enough to handle the medicine, as I discovered several hours later… and so my challenge came to an end.

I learned a lot about myself over the five days that I participated in the challenge, and I had a bird’s eye glimpse into what it would be like to struggle with food insecurity. I actually changed the way in which I shopped for groceries for my family this weekend, and opted to make meals that would utilize any leftovers before buying new food. The four hamburger buns left over from my husband and daughter’s shopping last week turned into sloppy joe’s last night. Small steps, maybe, but I know that I will never take for granted a good, nutritious home-cooked meal again.

Jennifer is vice president of The Women’s Foundation.

This week, several members of The Women’s Foundation staff are participating in the Food Stamp Challenge, an exercise organized by D.C. Hunger Solutions that educates the public and raises awareness of the benefits of food stamps and the challenges recipients face while eating on a very limited budget. The staff will be sharing their experiences on this blog.

As I head into day five of the food stamp challenge, I have quickly come to the conclusion that subsisting on $30 a week for all food and drink has had a big impact on my day-to-day life, and is really not sustainable given my active lifestyle and the need for me to be professionally at my best.

My biggest challenge the first two-and-a-half days was the lack of sufficient caffeine.   My head was pounding, I felt physically ill, and all I wanted to do was sleep (I went to sleep at 9:30pm both of the first two nights).  I felt unfocused and weak (in part due to the low caloric intake) and I had trouble reading.  My family was shocked by my “crabbiness” as they put it, and if that was not enough, I was making mistakes in my work, and even left the roof of my car open all night.  Luckily it did not rain.

By day three, it was clear that I had a mistake in not using some of my $30 to buy strong coffee – and I knew that I was not functioning.  That’s when I caved, and have resumed my morning coffee with breakfast even though it’s not part of the plan.  And I have to say I feel a lot better.

The coffee has not, however, curbed the frequent hunger pangs, and the fact that I feel like I’m thinking about food all the time.  And I felt the change in my diet most acutely when I went to my regular workout at Crossfit on Saturday and could barely make it through the class due to the lightheadedness I was feeling.  No question that the class is tough on a good day, and that I am always tired at the end, but I have never felt weak and light-headed like I did on Saturday.

Other than the coffee, I’m committed to staying on the food-stamps plan for a week.  It’s a struggle to get by on such a small allocation for food and drink, luxuries – like coffee – are hard to justify, and it is hard to be at your best on such a regime, which makes it only harder to imagine overcoming all the other challenges so many of our citizens face.

I feel very fortunate that I have a choice and wish that everyone did.

Nicky is president of Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

As a long-time user of the internet, I know better than to read the comments section of news websites. While these sections can sometimes provide interesting insight, they also bring out some pretty insensitive people who say things they probably wouldn’t if the internet weren’t anonymous. I’m well-armed with this knowledge, and so I have no idea what possessed me to glance at the comments below a recent news story about a woman with a toddler and a newborn baby who’d been sleeping in a Metro station after being evicted from their home.

This family’s predicament is a sign that something in our community is deeply amiss; but the outcome is testament that the residents of this region are capable of incredible things.  Someone stepped forward to put the family up in a hotel room and helped the mother begin to navigate the complicated process of applying for benefits like food stamps. To most people, that would be the start of a happy ending. Not for people like “Neil64,” who weighed in in the comments section with this gem: “I have witnessed food stamp recipients having parties with their stamps while eating out every night.”

That sound you just heard was a needle scratching a vinyl record and me banging my head against my desk. As much as I want to throttle sit Neil64 down for a good talking-to, he brings up a good point (bear with me). This week, some of the staff at The Women’s Foundation, along with many others across the community, are taking part in the Food Stamp Challenge. Organized by DC Hunger Solutions (a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner), the exercise challenges participants to live on $30 worth of food for an entire week. $30 per week per person is the average food stamp benefit in DC.

Since the challenge began, I’ve become aware of just how many myths are out there about food stamps (also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP). We’ll get into how ridiculous the idea of a food stamp party is in a moment. But first, let’s talk about five food stamp myths.

1. Benefit recipients cheat the system by selling their food stamps.
   Instances of SNAP fraud have dropped over the last two decades from four cents on the dollar to one cent on the dollar. In 2010, there were 195 convictions for SNAP fraud. That’s a tiny number compared to the more than 46 million Americans who receive food stamp benefits.
2. “I was in the checkout line at the grocery store and I saw someone using food stamps to buy a whole bunch of alcohol and cigarettes.”
   I’ve heard this one so many times I can’t help but wonder how these busybodies manage to get their own groceries on the conveyer belt, since they seem to be monitoring those ahead of them so closely. SNAP benefits cannot be used to buy beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes and tobacco.
3. People use food stamps to buy junk food. Also, lobsters.
   The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 designates any food or food product for home consumption as eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits. That includes food that the people behind you in line (the ones itemizing your purchases and making note of your method of payment) might not approve of. A report from the federal government also states that there’s no evidence that food stamp recipients are more likely to choose “unhealthy” foods than people who don’t use the program.
4. SNAP costs too much and is taking money away from important federal programs.
   According to Dr. Susan Blumenthal, in 2011 SNAP cost the federal government $78 billion. That’s just 2.11 percent of the government’s $3.7 trillion budget. She also points out that for every dollar spent on SNAP, $1.84 in economic activity was generated.
5. People on food stamps are lazy/hipsters/entitled students/welfare schemers.
   People from all walks of life rely on food stamp benefits to keep from going hungry. Nearly half of the beneficiaries are children and eight percent are senior citizens, reports the USDA. More than 40 percent of food stamp recipients live in households where a family member is employed.

This brings us back to Neil64, what he’s “witnessed,” and what we’re learning from the Food Stamp Challenge. It’s really hard to eat on just $4.30 a day. It’s not a party, and there are very few options for “eating out” once during the week, much less every night. Plus, in this region, restaurants cannot accept food stamps.  By participating in efforts like the Food Stamp Challenge and educating ourselves with real facts, it’s possible to recognize the myths and participate in an honest discourse about the benefits of these programs and how they can be improved.

In a time of incredible economic uncertainty, food stamps help many families stay afloat. If they can help keep a woman, a toddler and an infant in a safe, warm home, then it’s time for us, as a community, to embrace and support the difference they can make.

Mariah is the director of communications and marketing at the Foundation.

This week, several members of The Women’s Foundation staff are participating in the Food Stamp Challenge, an exercise organized by D.C. Hunger Solutions that educates the public and raises awareness of the benefits of food stamps and the challenges recipients face while eating on a very limited budget. The staff will be sharing their experiences on this blog.

Entering day three of the Food Stamp (SNAP) Challenge, and I find myself acutely aware of two things: food and waste.

It has become clear to me that in general I buy more food than needed for my family; I cook more food than we eat; and we eat more food than we really need to. Why? Because I have the luxury to do so. On any given day, I can walk into Whole Foods (one of the most expensive organic grocery stores in the area) and without even thinking twice, I can buy whatever food items I want for my family. The result is that I often over-buy. The plums look particularly good that day, so I buy some. Were they on my list? No. Did we need them? No. Could we have done with the bunch of bananas and a few apples? Yes.

And every week before I go grocery shopping for the next week, I always check my refrigerator. Most weeks, I’m throwing something away—leftovers that sit untouched or fruit or vegetables that haven’t been eaten. Either way it’s wasteful, and I cringe to think about the amount of food that is wasted in our house on a weekly basis. Why? Because we have the luxury to do so.

On Tuesday, the Washington Post ran a story about how Montgomery County plans to redistribute unused food to those in need. According to the article, “Supermarkets, restaurants and other nonresidential establishments in Montgomery County throw away 96 million pounds of food a year.” Imagine—96 million pounds of food a year, and that’s just in Montgomery County! The planned food recycling program is modeled after the Food Recovery Network, a student group at the University of Maryland that collects unused food from the university and donates it to food banks and homeless shelters. To date, they’ve recovered and donated over 30,000 meals.

So as I sat at the dinner table last night watching my nine-year-old daughter pick the crust off her bread because she “doesn’t like the crust,” I was again acutely aware of food and waste and the stark differences in the realities of our region’s families. While my daughter was picking the crust off her bread, there were thousands of kids who were hungry and would have given anything to have her grilled cheese and tomato sandwich, crust and all.

Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat is vice president of Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

This week, several members of The Women’s Foundation staff are participating in the Food Stamp Challenge, an exercise organized by D.C. Hunger Solutions that educates the public and raises awareness of the benefits of food stamps and the challenges recipients face while eating on a very limited budget. The staff will be sharing their experiences on this blog.

As I prepare to take part in DC Hunger Solutions’ Food Stamps Challenge, I have some apprehension about what lies ahead.  With $30 to buy all my food and drinks for a week, I know that 1) I need to be really strategic about how I spend that money; 2) I am preparing myself to skip meals and feel hungry; and 3) I only have to do it for a week.  Except for that last one, these are all things that families who rely on food stamps have to deal with – in addition to all the other challenges they face – day in, day out, week after week, month after month.

Why am I doing this?  I have met so many women in our region who are struggling to get by, who rely on public benefits as they work two or sometimes three jobs, commute extraordinary distances, participate in job training programs – all to put a roof over their children’s heads and food on the table.  They are resilient, strong, and 100 percent committed to making a better life for themselves and their families.   And yes, food stamps enable them to just about get by, if you can call it that.

And so I thought it was important for me and other leaders in the community to get a glimpse – and believe me I know it’s only a glimpse – into the challenges so many in our region and our country face.  By participating in the Food Stamp Challenge and eating only what I can buy with a food stamp budget for a week, I hope to shine a spotlight on the importance of programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (the official name for the food stamp program), while at the same time highlighting how supports like these are not a panacea; in spite of this assistance, the barriers that so many women and families face in our region remain very high and very challenging.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Nicky Goren is president of Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

When you look at the budget of a low-income, single woman with children, one of the first things you’ll notice is that pretty much every dollar is reserved for the most basic necessities. In Washington, DC, half of her income might go toward childcare, another third could be reserved for rent, and the rest will barely cover bills, food, transportation and the needs of her children. When women aren’t paid for the full worth of their work, the effect is often felt by children, extended family, and entire communities; and women are receiving the message that their education, training and efforts are worth less. This is especially true for low-income women and their families.

Washington Area Women’s Foundation mobilizes our community to ensure that these economically vulnerable women have the resources they need to thrive. Often, however, their financial resources are severely limited by disparities in pay. Overall, women in the United States earn 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. Here, in the Washington region, men’s annual earnings are 20 percent higher than women’s. African American women earn 45 percent less than white men, while Latinas earn 63 percent less.

Many women are concentrated in jobs that are traditionally female and typically lower-paying. A report from Washington Area Women’s Foundation found that even when women represent the majority of workers in an occupation, they’re still paid less than men. In office and administrative support occupations, for example, women’s median earnings are still nine percent lower than men’s.

Income disparities don’t just affect women during their working years. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner, the average annual income for women 65-years-old and older is $20,593 – nearly $18,000 less than men’s average annual income. Each month, older women take in thousands less in Social Security, pensions, and assets. And in addition to earning less and living longer, an increasing number of older women are caring for grandchildren.  Pew Research Center reports that one child in ten in the United States lives with a grandparent. Among those households, one-in-five has an income below the poverty line.

These are some of the reasons why Washington Area Women’s Foundation focuses its efforts on job opportunities with career pathways and family-sustaining wages, asset building, and access to affordable, high-quality early care and education, so that residents in our community have the best possible start in life.

It’s going to take all of us working together to ensure that barriers to a woman’s success are removed. This Equal Pay Day – April 17 – we encourage employers to commit to providing fair wages to workers; we ask that consumers be conscientious about the types of businesses they’re supporting; and we encourage local and federal governments to enact and enforce legislation that requires fair treatment and compensation for all workers, no matter their gender, ethnicity or economic status.

Closing the gender wage gap is part of ensuring that every woman and girl has the opportunity to reach her full potential and help her family and community thrive.

Nicky Goren is president of Washington Area Women’s Foundation.