Cold oatmeal is not so appetizing

I know it's not too realistic to be shopping for only one $3 day of food at a time, but I decided to see what I could get for $3. My friends suggested ramen, lunchables or easymac. As someone who has grown up on Whole Foods, I determined to find something more healthy. The food shopping was very frustrating. I could have bought a box of store brand saltines, but just crackers for a whole day? Cereal was too expensive and I couldn't even get easymac because that would require buying milk and butter as well. Being so limited was extremely frustrating, especially since it was so unlike any other time that I am food shopping. Normally if I see something that looks good, I buy it. Now, I had to carefully calculate how much I could get out of only a small amount. I settled on two bananas (after carefully weighing them to check the price) and a container of Shaw's oatmeal (quaker's was too expensive).

In the checkout line, the woman in front of me was buying a TON of ramen and also a ton of baby food. It made me think about how hard it must be to take care of children when you don't have much money. The woman behind me was buying fresh fruits and vegetables and gourmet tortellini. Whatever she was cooking for dinner looked good, but it probably cost almost as much as the cart full of bulk non-nutritious stuff that the woman in front was buying.

I really like oatmeal, but I didn't like it so much yesterday. In fact, I hated it. I don't get back to my room between classes on Monday, so I made lots of oatmeal in the morning and packed it to go. By lunch time, I was very hungry but with each bite of cold coagulated oatmeal, I got more and more tired of it and even disgusted with it. Usually, meals are enjoyable for me, but yesterday, I ate solely becasuse I was hungry. I found myself getting very excited looking forward to the banana I could have when I got back from class. I felt hungry all day and was surprised how much my food (well lack of it) affected my mood. Almost all day, I thought about what I would eat the next day. And then I got annoyed with myself for making such a big deal over one day of eating oatmeal and then I felt sorry for myself again. Argh.

While I doubt there are many people that eat oatmeal all day, it is probably true that most people do not get nearly the food variety that we do. I don't know that I've ever though of variety as a privilege before, but it definitely is. My experience probably doesn't really reflect the lives of people actually on food stamps, but I do feel like I understood a little bit of what it's like to have limited options. I am so thankful for the delicious, diverse and nutritious food that I get on a daily basis. And I doubt that I'll be eating oatmeal again for awhile.
-Kassie