Reflections on the Food Stamp challenge

It has been an eye opening experience in many ways which started even before the challenge week began.  First of all, it was been rewarding working with Rev. Melanie and Rabbi Maurice.  The next insight came in talking with my wife, Gay, about which foods to buy and in what amounts.  That exercise brought the week into much clearer focus.
The next piece was the group which met at WinCo last Sunday.  It was fun to go through the shopping lists and the store comparing and suggesting different purchases and what bargains we found.
Next, the conversations we have had with during this week with those doing the challenge and those outside it have been varied and interesting.  A number have asked, "Are you hungry?"  No one has asked me that before.
A few insights which have come to me are: The things which went away- chocolate, snacks, organic fruits and vegetables, and variety. In this, I discovered that I often like to have a handful of almonds or peanuts about 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon.  I have felt their absence this week.  The things which came my way are: thinking more about food than I usually do, a greater openness to what many people go through on a regular and continuing basis, and that it continues to be important to advocate for and with others in working against food insecurity.
It has been a learning week for me and I am glad for the company of others through it.
Tom Dodd

Food Stamp Challenge Day Five: Beginning and Ending with Gratitude

Dear friends, grateful I am to have shared the Challenge with you this week.  Whether it has worked out or not for you, whether there has been great insight or not much, knowing your intention to participate in this experience made all the different to me this week.  Knowing you are there really matters.  Thank you.  Today ends the Oommen family participation in the Challenge.  Tonight we drive up to Olympia to do a college visit tomorrow with Kiran, so we knew we would be eating other people's food this weekend as we'll be staying with family there.  Thus, we prorated our Challenge to five days, and they have been very, very fruitful days.  The conversations, the realizations, the deepened awareness, much has been gained from this experience.  Even if only from explaining my food choices and behaviors throughout the week to others!  We'll be eating a homemade quiche in the car this evening for dinner:  on the counter and in the fridge we have:  eggs, a little bit of cheese, broccoli, and some flour.  That is what is left.  I suspect we will enjoy our meal more than any restaurant meal we otherwise would have had.

 I hope to see you on Sunday evening at 5 p.m. at United Lutheran for a service of Prayer and Action.  On MLK Day eve, it feels like just the right place to be:  together.  We will pray together, sing together,share our experiences, and have an opportunity to write letters to Congress. And we will receive a non-perishable food offering for Food for Lane County.  Seems like the right thing to do.

Glad to be at the Table with you,

Pastor Melanie

Kiran Oommen chimes in on Food Stamp challenge

In response to his mom, Rev. Melanie Oommen's piece, her son, Kiran writes:



Thank you mum,
I as well must make it clear that I am not AT ALL a picky eater, Personally
I believe that being picky about what you eat is entirely a middle-class
privilege and a rather insensitive way to live.
Ever bit of food we get is a gift that so many people sorely miss, and this
week especially I hope will make that aspect all the more real to us.
I choose to eat HEALTHY (avoiding school lunch) because it is better for our
environment in so many ways, as well as my own health.
That is very different from only eating what you like the taste of, which is
what I understand the term "picky eater" to imply.

Also, I was not in the least bit "nervous" about undertaking this (only
slight) challenge.
So many people live on stamps for so long, one week certainly can't kill me.
And anyway, I was fully on board as soon as I heard of the idea, as I
appreciate the implications of this act of solidarity.
There's my rant.  I can't stand being misrepresented, especially in a way
that is directly contrary to my own personal principles.

Good luck to all of you food stampers for the week!

- Kiran Oommen

All are welcome at gathering this Sunday

For those participating in the "food stamp challenge" or who just want to hear how it went from other participants, there will be a gathering this Sunday, Jan 19, from 5 to 6 pm at United Lutheran Church, 2230 Washington St.  The gathering will included prayer, conversation, sharing stories and an invitation to write letters to our legislators.  All are welcome. 

Over 500 pageviews on this blog!

People are taking notice of the Food Stamp challenge!

I was just told, by someone who has been following the SNAP challenge in our community, that there is a fascinating blog by a mom who lives in Nevada and feeds her large family on a shoestring budget. She shares info and insight into how to stretch food dollars and feed a family. Here's the link to her blog: http://theprudenthomemakerblog.blogspot.com/

Thanks to Prof. Mary Jaeger for the tip!

Rabbi Maurice Harris checking in day 3

Food Stamp Challenge Day Three: When did sweet get so cheap?

My Mom always won the “why can’t we have sugary breakfast cereal?!”debate this way:  “Too expensive.  We can’t afford it.”  How could we argue with that?  It was true.  The sweet stuff was more expensive.  Bran flakes for another week.

Mom couldn’t win that argument now.   Not only is sweet cereal cheaper, sugary cookies are cheaper than fruit (WAY cheaper), and heavily sweetened yogurt is half the price of plain yogurt.  The least expensive EVERYTHING seems to have some sweetener, the most popular being high fructose corn syrup.  Cane sugar looks like health food in comparison.  Monday night’s dinner was spaghetti and the sauce I purchased (selected because it was the cheapest, not because of its ingredients) was considerably sweeter than the stuff I usually buy.  I have to admit, it tasted pretty good.

               Then I looked at the ingredients, and, yep, there it was:   high fructose corn syrup. 
Why is sweet so cheap?  Federal subsidies, for starters.  High fructose corn syrup, because it is made from corn, is a heavily subsidized commodity by our government making it a very cheap and strangely satisfying ingredient to include in just about everything.  Our government subsidizes our farmers, but not the ones that grow varied and nutritious fruits and vegetables (there are some apple subsidies, but only apples, and the subsidies are miniscule in comparison). 

Why is sweet so cheap?  As a society, we have accepted the food industries choices without question.  Where is the outrage, the boycotts, the lobbying of congress to change our choices, our subsidies?  Who is looking out for our children who are increasingly obese and in worsening health all the time, especially kids from low income families?

I read labels when I shop, but Sunday’s shopping trip was a different sort of experience.  I looked at prices first and that dictated whether I bought the white flour or white pasta rather than the whole grain varieties, the sugary pasta sauce rather than the sauce without added fillers.  The sweet yogurt over the plain.  I had to make my budget.

This morning my 9 year old daughter is gleeful to find that I FINALLY purchased the grape jelly she tasted two years ago when we were visiting friends in California.  She loved it, and wondered, could we buy some?  I make our jams in the summer to last the year, so, no, I’ve been saying for the past two years, “we’ll eat our homemade jam.  It’s cheaper.”  We pick the fruit from roadsides and glean from gardens of neighbors, use the expensive sweeteners sparingly (honey, organic cane sugar) so yes, our homemade jam is less expensive.   But not this week.  Not when I have to buy jam from the store.  Welch’s won.  It was definitely the cheapest.  I don’t think I need to say what the main ingredient is after grape juice. 

She lathers the purple jelly on her toast.  Yum.

Rev. Melanie Oommen of First Congregational UCC

This is a week to watch and pray.  I am trying, but it often difficult to digest what I witness.  What I witness leads me to repentance.  Today I pray for our children, for the choices we make about the food that we give them.  I repent that we have arranged our food supply not for their well-being and flourishing, but for the greatest profit margin.  God, forgive us.  We know what we do, and we do it anyway.  By your miracle, show us how to give our children our first and finest fruits.  Sweetened by you and you alone.  Amen

This article by Michael Pollan about  U.S. food subsidies is worth reading:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/12/magazine/12WWLN.html

Michael Pollan has a lot to say about food.  To keep reading:  http://michaelpollan.com/articles/

Glad to be at the table with you,
Pastor Melanie