Sexy Coffee

Saturday 6:00 AM

I woke up early this morning to the sound of singing…..an ethereal female voice keening something soft and inscrutable, but urgent.  It seemed to be coming from the front part of my apartment, so I stumbled curiously out of bed and to where my breakfast bar separates the living room and the kitchen.  The music became louder, more insistent.  I turned the corner and spied on my counter the most alluring kitchen appliance I have ever seen.  Her curvaceous pot, the proud jut of her water receptacle, and an inviting warmth emanating from her heating element all sent electric waves of desire through me.   My coffee pot was singing its siren song of forbidden and deadly pleasures.  Could I resist?

 

 

No, I couldn’t.

When I started SNAPfast I said I would not brew coffee at home, since I could not afford to buy it on my $28 budget.  Up to now I haven’t, but was always able to grab a cup first thing at work or at church.   Dear reader, I hope you will forgive, but I could not face this morning without a cup.

Today is day seven of SNAPfast.  I’m getting better at planning meals, so breakfast and lunch will be simple affairs of toast, the last of the bologna, and a half a browning banana that has somehow survived the week.  My final dinner will be a feast of the last of the chicken (I’ll have gotten three meals out of one package), some rice, the last potato, and the last of the carrots.   Unfortunately there is nothing green to be had at all, canned or otherwise. 

While I’ll save the retrospective of the week for tomorrow, one of the things I know has been underscored for me this week is the challenge of nutrition.  My belly has not been painfully empty  but it is clear that what I have put into it has not been all that healthy.   Yes, I’ve avoided cheese doodles and soda, but have listed heavily into the land of carbohydrates and starches.  I’ve done okay on fats….maybe slightly under where I should be, despite the bologna.  Sodium is a lost battle, blown beyond all reason, but you probably know that many foods have a lot of sodium lurking in them.   

Where I’ve really missed the boat is vitamins and minerals.   I’m way under where I should be on fruits and vegetables.  The jingle “4-4-3-2” from the Mulligan Stew gang in the 70’s (don’t remember it?  Look it up on You Tube) comes into my head, reminding me of what I learned in the fourth grade….that you need 4 servings of fruits and veggies a day.  I think today that number is up to five per day.  No way I’ve made that this week.   I did put fresh produce on my shopping list, and I purchased some, but they’re expensive.  As we have established the canned varieties have much less nutritive value. 

 If I were to not qualify for SNAP (to do so means a family of two cannot make more than 21K per year!) I would be eating out of food pantries, where there is a woeful lack of produce available.  While it is true that the persistent and innovative efforts of some here in Bucks County are changing that by collaborating with local farmers, we still have a long way to go.  In urban centers the problem is much worse.

Long story short:  People who have to subsist on food stamps or food assistance from pantries face a huge challenge in eating healthy.   This vulnerable population, often already with health problems, has an uphill battle to improve or maintain their health.  An inability to do so contributes to their being trapped in a cycle of poverty.    Let’s talk solutions tomorrow!