Do you ever do things that you immediately regret? Sometimes, I do. For instance, a few days ago I told my friends Keith and Durran that I was going to jump over a metal gate that was about chest high, and ended up landing rear-first on the cold, hard ground. Why did I mention anything out loud? Because I knew my sense of pride would make me go through with it once I had said it. By verbalizing my ridiculous stunt, I eliminated my choice of not performing what I had decided to do, if at some point in the future I thought better of it.
That logic heavily informed my reasoning behind choosing to broadcast the Bowen family trying to eat for a month on the budget of a family on SNAP benefits (previously known as Food Stamps). As soon as Amanda signed on, with gusto I might add, I typed up the previous blog post. I'm not sure how many people read these musings, but those who do are typically people I greatly respect. You are the sort of people who would either call me out directly to ensure I was keeping up with commitments, or at least would casually ask how the project was going. The embarrassment of having to explain that I had backed out served as a good deterrent when I later faced the inconvenient realities of the coming weeks.
With all that said, Amanda and I have gotten started well. I'll have some thoughts on how it's going later in the process, but for now, I want to better explain some of the details. We're facing the task as if Amanda and I both lost our jobs, and immediately went out and got SNAP benefits. We'll be trying to stretch the funds (about $4 per person per day) over the course of the next four weeks, through the first Saturday in February. We would have started at the beginning of January with David Smith, but our trip to Abu Dhabi made that difficult. By the time we got back to the states, it was mid-week, and we were both up to our eyeballs in work and school, so we decided to start Sunday the 13th and go for four weeks.
Some friends have already been asking how group meals work. For instance, the Kaczmareks wanted to have us over for a meal to catch up, but didn't want to impede in our month of meals. We assured them that we can be guests for meals just as real families on SNAP benefits can enjoy meals at the homes of their friends and family. In fact, leaning on their communities is an important part of life for many living in poverty. And though our budget won't allow us to bring expensive food to the proverbial/real table, we are excited to help by bringing something affordable to the meal, even if it's simply some rice or beans.
Additionally, we're working under the assumption that all the food in our pantry is available for us. Leftovers and such are fair game, too. We felt like this would be the case for two people who just lost their jobs. We did not, however, stock up on food beforehand. We felt like that would be cheating, since I doubt most people know the day they're getting laid off.
So, we're three days into our month of SNAP benefits. I'm excited to share more about what I'm learning later in the month!
That logic heavily informed my reasoning behind choosing to broadcast the Bowen family trying to eat for a month on the budget of a family on SNAP benefits (previously known as Food Stamps). As soon as Amanda signed on, with gusto I might add, I typed up the previous blog post. I'm not sure how many people read these musings, but those who do are typically people I greatly respect. You are the sort of people who would either call me out directly to ensure I was keeping up with commitments, or at least would casually ask how the project was going. The embarrassment of having to explain that I had backed out served as a good deterrent when I later faced the inconvenient realities of the coming weeks.
With all that said, Amanda and I have gotten started well. I'll have some thoughts on how it's going later in the process, but for now, I want to better explain some of the details. We're facing the task as if Amanda and I both lost our jobs, and immediately went out and got SNAP benefits. We'll be trying to stretch the funds (about $4 per person per day) over the course of the next four weeks, through the first Saturday in February. We would have started at the beginning of January with David Smith, but our trip to Abu Dhabi made that difficult. By the time we got back to the states, it was mid-week, and we were both up to our eyeballs in work and school, so we decided to start Sunday the 13th and go for four weeks.
Some friends have already been asking how group meals work. For instance, the Kaczmareks wanted to have us over for a meal to catch up, but didn't want to impede in our month of meals. We assured them that we can be guests for meals just as real families on SNAP benefits can enjoy meals at the homes of their friends and family. In fact, leaning on their communities is an important part of life for many living in poverty. And though our budget won't allow us to bring expensive food to the proverbial/real table, we are excited to help by bringing something affordable to the meal, even if it's simply some rice or beans.
Additionally, we're working under the assumption that all the food in our pantry is available for us. Leftovers and such are fair game, too. We felt like this would be the case for two people who just lost their jobs. We did not, however, stock up on food beforehand. We felt like that would be cheating, since I doubt most people know the day they're getting laid off.
So, we're three days into our month of SNAP benefits. I'm excited to share more about what I'm learning later in the month!
