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Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) – Food Stamp Challenge Blog

26 October 2011 No Comment

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT)

Food Stamp Challenge Blog 2011

(Originally posted on Rep. Courtney’s website, http://courtney.house.gov/)

On Thursday, October 20, 2011, Congressman Joe Courtney announced that he and his wife Audrey began the 7-day SNAP Challenge with the New London County Food Policy Council. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to put nutritious food within financial reach for low-income households. Many recipients in deep or prolonged poverty struggle to make their benefits last for the entire month and are forced to visit food pantries. The 7-day program will limit the amount of the Congressman and Audrey’s individual food purchases to that of a typical SNAP participant – just $32.59 a week or $1.59 per meal.

Congressman Courtney launched this blog so that he and his family could document the experience, its challenges, and lessons learned over the course of the next week.

Recent Posts:

Wrapping up the weekend

10-23-2011

Posted by: Joe

So far, so good. Things are going well. We are a little hungry, and we definitely always look forward to the next meal.

On the shopping front, yesterday we hit the jackpot. Audrey found a store in Rockville that sells fruits and vegetables at great prices. We got apples at 79 cents a pound, (half the cost of other grocery stores). For $6, we bought carrots, cucumbers, pears, apples and grapes.

Like I said, yesterday we ate very light because we really wanted to save up for today. We had a family birthday party to attend, and we wanted to make sure we didn’t feel too left out with everyone else enjoying larger meals. We bought a bag of chips ($1.19), and Audrey made bigos, which is a cabbage stew with keilbasa ($2 for cabbage and $6 for keilbasa) and brownies ($1 for the box).

We are all set for the rest of the week as we head into the home stretch.

Beakfast and lunches will be about the same: cereal and banana for breakfast, sandwiches, fruit and carrot sticks for lunch. And we have some good ideas for dinner meals to round out the challenge.

Thoughts after Day 3

10-22-2011

Posted by: Joe

I made a two-egg omelete with a little cheese that I split with Lizzy. We also had one piece of toast each. We made potato pancakes for lunch and had chicken and rice soup for dinner.

I attended the opening of the Oyster Club in Mystic today – a great new restaurant that specializes in local food. Because of the SNAP Challenge, I had to pass on mouth-watering local and fresh oysters from Noank, which was absolutely painful to do. I hung in there, though!

Preparing for the challenge

10-19-2011

Posted by: Joe

We’re getting ready for tomorrow and the beginning of the SNAP Challenge.

This weekend Audrey shopped at Aldis and Shop Rite. Both places have good prices, but she didn’t have as much time as usual to shop around.

The food we have for staples are all on the dining room table. We have generic cereal for breakfast, and we made sure to buy coffee. Audrey and our daughter Lizzy pack lunch everyday so we’re expecting there won t be much change there. We decided on egg salad for tomorrow, and we’ll have carrot sticks and an apple with that. We also have water bottles that we use every day with a little slice of lemon. We will get eight drinks out of a 50-cent lemon, so at the beginning of the week we will have lemon water.

Audrey is already starting tomorrow’s dinner now – something she does sometimes when she knows the next day could be hectic. We will have black bean enchiladas. One of the few spots we splurged was on organic black beans (99 cents) because they are lower in sodium, which is a healthy choice. Audrey bought the least-expensive tortillas she could find, also 99 cents! She is cooking the beans with onion and a chili pepper and she will serve it with a small can of tomato sauce and cheese for dinner.

We also have a popcorn popper we will use a lot this week. A pound of popcorn is 99 cents, and that will pop a good batch every night. We’re excited to get started and share our experience with you.

Meal Log:

Day 1: Thursday, October 20, 2011

Breakfast: generic cereal with small portion of banana

Lunch: egg salad, carrot, apple

Dinner: one black bean enchilada

Day 2: Friday, October 21, 2011

Breakfast: generic cereal and another small portion of bananas

Lunch: peanut butter sandwich, carrot sticks and an apple

Dinner: string bean stir fry with rice

Day 3: Saturday, October 22, 2011

Breakfast: part of a two-egg omelette with cheese

Lunch: potato pancake