Get Ready For Hunger Awareness Week
By: Sheri Wetherell
Published: March 19, 2011

For the third year, Foodista will be joining the Hunger Challenge.  This  challenge is an exercise of empathy—to live in someone else's   shoes for  one week and learn how you can help fight hunger in our   community.   Remember every household that receives food stamps has a   different  situation—some are able to purchase additional food, others   use food  banks or receive meals from friends or family, some people   have time to  cook meals while others don’t have a place to cook at all.    Living on $7  a day is one scenario—sign up to take the Hunger   Challenge and be a  part of this week-long movement.
Consider this shocking national statistic: one out of every six adults and nearly one out of four children struggle with hunger.  Here in Seattle’s King County, record numbers of people don’t have   enough to eat. People have to choose between paying rent and buying   groceries, and children are going to bed hungry.
Will You Join Us?
Can  you feed yourself for only $7 a day for five days? This is the  maximum  food stamp benefit (known as the Basic Food Program in  Washington) for  an individual. The average monthly benefit families  received in February 2010 was about $245.  Beginning March 21, you can  take the Hunger Challenge. Visit the Foodista Blog March 21-25 to follow us in the Challenge.

Hunger Challenge rules:

Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner spending only $7 per day.
Salt and pepper don't count but all other seasonings, cooking oils, condiments, snacks, drinks, and everything else do.
Don't use food you already own.
Don't accept food from family, friends, coworkers and others. Not even the free samples from Costco!
Try to include fresh produce and healthy protein each day.
Keep track of expenses, food choices, and recipes and share your experiences on United Way of King County's blog. They’ll have a prize for the best recipe.

You can choose to do the challenge with your partner or family.

   


Household Size
Hunger Challenge Budget For Five Days


1
$7/day


2
$12/day


3
$18/day


4
$22/day


5
$26/day


6
$32/day


7
$35/day


8
$45/day



Consider the following:

Can you feed yourself for only $7 a day?
If you had to make a choice between buying groceries and paying your rent, how would you choose?
What compromises will you need to make?
Will you be able to provide much variety or will you need to eat the same thing all week?
If you don't know how to cook or don’t have much time too cook, does this make the challenge more difficult?
What if you don’t have access to a kitchen?  What types of meals could you have?
Hunger  Challenge food budgets are an estimate based  on the maximum monthly  Basic Food benefits for the family size. Please  note that actual Basic  Food benefits are based on a number of factors.  Get more information  about the Basic Food program here.

Register now and get involved in ending hunger for good. Or, blog for the cause!
Other ways you can help: volunteer, learn more about the Hunger Relief Now! Plan, encourage your friends and family and make your voice heard, donate to your local food bank. If you're participating in the Hunger Challenge, consider donating what you save this week on food.

Comments:
Sheila
March 20, 2011

I spend about $50 a week for our family of 3 (though the baby's only half on solid food).  Hard?  Sometimes.  Mainly, we just don't eat much fancy food and we make things from scratch instead of buying cans and packaged mixes.
I wrote a post on this last year: http://agiftuniverse.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-to-be-snob-on-7-day.html  I was in a grumpy mood because I was pregnant, working full-time, and not able to make food from scratch like I wanted to.  This year I'm not offended by the food-stamp challenge, per se, but I think it's a little silly.  What's the point?  Are people going to give the money they save to feed the poor?  THAT might be worthwhile.  Otherwise, I feel like it's just making a game of something that's very serious for those of us on a limited budget.
Sheri Wetherell

Thanks, Sheila! The purpose of the challenge is to raise awareness. It's our hope, and that of the United Way, that it will inspire people to do what they can in their communities to help end hunger: donate $ or food to food banks, volunteer, provide nutritious recipes, etc. If we don't talk about the issue people forget that there are people who go without. 
I personally donate to my local food bank, but I also think it's important to try and create nutritious meals and share those recipes. In my community we have a very diverse cultural mix. Someone from Mexico may not know what to do with the fresh beets found at the food bank. Educating on how to eat is important. Again, it's all about raising awareness, which I hope others don't find silly.