Remains of the Day

Sunday Noon

So I find I am having mixed feelings here as I finish SNAPfast.  It's been an unexpectedly intense experience, a holiday from the normal, and little bit of a quest.  Part of me doesn't want to go home to my normal routine.   Another part of me is equally happy that this over.  Its been a lot of work and a mental drain.  Luckily for me I have a choice.

The leftovers?  Two slices of bologna, most of the quart of milk, maybe half of the tomato sauce, and  2 cups of cooked beans.  All things equal, it was pretty close.

What am I going to take from this?  No single insight has been astounding, no one aspect has been life altering, and yet it does feel significant.  I'm really glad to have taken part and I certainly learned some things. 

 I do believe that it is possible to live off $28 per week, but not well.  I'm not talking living high on the hog, I'm talking basic nutrition.  I did get enough calories to sustain me, I didn't suffer deep hunger pains, I didn't have to skip a single meal.   Would I be getting a good, healthy balance of nutrients, to ensure I stayed healthy?   I doubt it.  I will admit that I think it is possible, but not practical.

If this were my budget I would not be able to cook dinner for a few friends.  Maybe I could offer them a bologna sandwich.  I would not be baking cakes.  I would not be preparing the Thanksgiving meal that most of us enjoy.  Not possible.  In fact, all the fellowship and celebrations that we enjoy that include sharing food would probably be darkened knowing that if I did use my budget for birthday candles, pumpkin pie, etc that I might not have anything left by the end of the week.

I have never intended this SNAPfast and the accompanying blog that emerged to be poltical.  I have been going for the experiential.   I hoped to open a window for myself into the daily lives of several million Pennsylvanians for whom food insecurity and nutrition are a struggle, and then I invited you to see what I was seeing.   It was illuminating fore me.

I learned that I like carrots.  I missed diet Coke.  I learned rice and beans could go a long way...a long and boring way.  I learned there are more people around me than I realized that care about these issues, and I am heartened by that.   Thanks all for your comments, your support, and your consideration of what this might mean in the bigger picture.  I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions, if any.

Someone asked me if I was going to have a big brunch today to celebrate.   I decided on yogurt and some berries, and I felt really blessed.