Published: March 20, 2008 05:38 pm            

Food stamps should be better utilized, correspondent says

It’s Thursday now — the fifth day of the first-ever Cherokee County Food Stamp Challenge.

So far, the five of us taking the challenge — myself, Fran Daniel, Robert Haberle, Cris Neeld and Dale Jamerson — seem to be doing pretty well.

We were challenged to eat for one week as though we were food stamp recipients. The average food stamp payment in this county is just $21 a week.

I mooched a cheeseburger off my parents one night this week, but other than that I’ve been sticking to the challenge pretty well.

Based on the number of comments and e-mails I’ve received while on the challenge, it’s been a success. It’s got people thinking about what they’d do if there just wasn’t much money for food.

Daily Progress reader [name deleted at the request of the reader] sent me this e-mail:

“While I applaud your attempts to live off the $21 average per week, there are a few things you are ‘missing,’ she wrote. “You are not the average food stamp client. You are trying to budget to make your $21 count for something. Especially, since your $21 is coming from your earnings.

“Unfortunately, this is not the case for most food stamp recipients — look at their shopping carts the next time you are in the grocery store — they are generally not purchasing items to constitute meals. They are purchasing a good deal of junk food.

“The greatest thing HOPE could do for the clients is to teach them meal planning, coupon clipping, and bargain shopping,” she continues. “A cooking class and recipes could also be helpful. I remember watching an episode of ‘Wife Swap’ and one of the wives commented that she fed her family (of 10) on a budget of less than $350 a month — now I will admit that she had her own chickens for eggs and meat, but it can be done. They just need to have the tools and the knowledge to do it.”

Bingo.

I forwarded this missive to HOPE Director Fran Daniel, who said that’s exactly the Food Stamp Challenge Campaign’s point — to create awareness of the need and to prompt people to get involved to meet that need.

“There is a national program, Share Our Strength, which has a project called Operation Frontline,” Daniel wrote. “The purpose of this project is to utilize volunteers to teach these valuable lessons, including planning nutritional meals, budget shopping, coupon clipping and other tools someone might need to lead a healthier lifestyle on a budget.

“After recruiting volunteers, these programs will be offered in our Soup Kitchen to clients requesting emergency food assistance, soup kitchen patrons, and to anyone else in the community. I’m glad (Kendra) has brought these issues forward.”

Fran and I both have had more than a few people have come up and said they or a friend or family member have to stretch even less than $21 a week. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must be like.

Tonight, when I give thanks for my humble dinner, it won’t be just lip service.

        

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