Posted on 11/19/2013 12:19:47 PM PST by wbill
GREENSBORO — Cathy Coons has been passionate about fighting hunger since she was a teenager in Westchester County, N.Y.
It was there that she first joined in a fast to raise money for Save the Children, the well-known charitable organization for children in need in the United States and around the world.
Since moving to Greensboro in 2004, Coons has continued to take part in a variety of volunteer initiatives to alleviate hunger and poverty, primarily through Starmount Presbyterian Church, where — as a member of the mission committee — she is actively involved in such local ministries as senior meals, refugee resettlement, backpack feeding programs, the church’s community garden, and Family Promise, to name just a few.
But she has never again attempted to experience firsthand the pain of hunger, at least not until now.
Coons said that when Stamount’s mission committee recently approved the church’s participation in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge, Nov. 17-23 —in which families and individuals pledge to use the average food stamp benefit as their total budget for groceries for seven days—she said there were few takers.
“Since I volunteer with working poor families who live on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) funds every day,” said Coons, “I thought I would give it a try.”
She said that she had no specific expectations, except that she would be hungry.
“For the past 10 years I have been reluctant to identify with those struggling with hunger by fasting or doing without,” Coons said. “The reason I came to feel that way is because of my interactions with those who deal with food insecurity. Whenever I have spoken with them about fasts or other deprivation programs, they don't always understand why someone would do this.”
Ruth Farrell, coordinator of the national Presbyterian Hunger Program, explains that the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge is a discipline to draw attention to the gross injustice of poverty and hunger in the U.S. and to open new opportunities for education, understanding, compassion and solidarity.
“This challenge is not only a call to hunger and poverty awareness, but also a call to action,” Farrell said. “We are called by God to be in the world and to seek to make it a better place. Changing hearts and minds is the starting point of building a movement and improving policy.”
Members of the key leadership bodies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)—including Linda Valentine, executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency—will also be taking part in the challenge. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), based in Louisville, Ky., comprises more than 1.9 million members in more than 11,000 congregations, answering Christ’s call to mission and ministry throughout the United States and the world.
“By joining in the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge—and intentionally living within these allowances together—we pray that awareness will be raised, consciences stirred, and actions taken so that all people have access to life’s basic necessities,” said Valentine.
Kevin Kattmann, who chairs Starmount’s mission committee, said that hunger can be hard to understand.
“The media report how many people in the U.S. go hungry every day,” Kattmann said. “Then the next night they will report how obesity is fast becoming the number one health challenge in the country. Hunger here doesn’t look like hunger in other countries.”
As Kattmann, Coons, and other Starmount members prepare to spend only $5.49 per person per day on everything that they eat in the coming week, Kattmann said that most people don’t think it is really that hard. “No better way to know that than to try,” he said.
Starmount’s pastor, John Odom, will also be joining the challenge
Anyone ever hear of LEFTOVERS???? My niece came to visit when she was about 13....it was the first time we’d spent any time with her....I asked her about eating desires....she said...”I don’t like leftovers.” I said...”Well, I don’t like throwing money down the drain.” She learned to like leftovers!
Just have to shop carefully.”
It’s more than that. You also have to cook - from scratch. I would bet that there are many households which don’t even own a cookbook, don’t do any menu planning and wouldn’t dream of going on-line to download any recipes. See a whole lot of people at the grocery store who don’t have a list or coupons. People who make their money through suggestive selling just love them.
Those skills have been lost, sadly.
The hs kids now have to study important things like African history, climate change, the civil rights movement, and sex education.
I am not feeling a lot of pity either. I'd love to have someone else buy my food.
Perhaps they should add a requirement for eligibility for food stamps... the recipients have to take and pass a class on basic cooking and shopping skills. But, since it would be government run, it would be screwed up, I expect.
A dozen eggs, a half-gallon of milk and some bananas- I could live on that for a week
No, you are not heartless. You just see through the propaganda.
It was a really good exercise. I made some food discoveries that will save me money every week.
That was without any planning ahead. I'd think people who have that limit can plan ahead for future menus and get even further ahead.
Nope, I’m with you.
Anyone who knows how to cook and how to use basic staple ingredients could eat pretty well on that, if not living luxuriously.
My wife made sure my son could cook before he moved out... I guess that is another difference in approach to life. Of course, what prompted her to do this was not knowing much about cooking when we got married 31 years ago.
Yeah, I don’t buy much prepared food. Canned tomatoes is about it, and even then I use that to make my own chili and pasta sauce.
Can’t they learn what they need about cooking on Pinterest on their “free” Obamaphone?
Libraries are full of cookbooks. As are thrift stores.
It’s been about 2 1/2 generations of the “Great Society”.
The black family structure has been destroyed.
No politician dare even mention this as the top problem affecting urban society.
Some time ago, I watched a TV show that was done by some professional artist / victim where he and his girlfriend tried to get by on two minimum wage salaries for a month.
Set aside the fact that their "minimum wage" budget was exactly equal to my monthly budget at the time, and we were hardly starving or doing without. But I digress....
The problem was that the "artist" couldn't do it. He and his girlfriend couldn't find minimum wage jobs - plenty of jobs making MORE than that, but no minimum wage work. And....When they finally found min wage work, they were fairly clean cut, showed up ontime, etc etc etc, so their bosses kept giving them raises. Hard to claim that The Man is keeping you down when they keep shoveling money and promotions at you.
Finally, they had to resort to a bunch of contrivances to deprive themselves ..... "Let get an apartment in a really lousy section of town" "Ow! My back hurts! I need medical help and don't have any insurance! And I can't work! And I need workers' comp!" And so on.... A whole lot of problems to stuff into only a month.
The show's premise was "Isn't America a miserable place to live". However, my takeaway was: "If you show up on time, look presentable, and work hard, it's difficult NOT to succeed."
No. Food Stamps are meant to be "supplemental" -- the "S" in "SNAP".
But, just as insurance must cover everything for everyone, the attitude is increasing that the stamps must pay for all the recipient's food.
The “S” in “SNAP” is for “supplemental”, not “sole”.
Are we talking about $5.49 a day New York or $5.49 a day (Mississippi/Alabama/for example)?
I hope Cathy remembers to apply for every other government nipple that a person who joins the SNAP program is eligible to receive. Those extras would tend to help the $5.49 stretch a bit farther.
I hear ya brother! $154/week????
Mrs p6 and I can spendless than that in a month and eat well!
Even when we had three kids we could eat well and get by on less than $200 a month.
We do bake our own bread and make a lot of meals from scratch. I personally enjoy “Dollar Store Cooking.” Might put together a cookbook.
We do use pressure cookers and other appliances to help out.
We also like some prepackaged things like soups, Zataran’s and such.
One pack of Zataran’s jambalaya with little smokies or leftover chicken or pork makes at least two meals for mrs p6 and me.
However like I said most of the time we make it from scratch. The boxed stuff is for convenience.
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