Our Challenge's Challenges

There are some things you can figure out about the US Food Stamp Program without actually living on it - that $3 per day is a pitifully small amount, for example, or that spending so little on food leaves little room of nutritional quibbling.

On the topic of knowledge of the FSP, I'm unsure how much if any good this challenge will actually do. It is good intentioned, to be sure, but what exactly will be learned? I can tell you right now, as I start the challenge, that being on a limited government assistance program is obviously undesirable. Being hungry is obviously unpleasant, and hunger a blight on our national conscience. These things I already know, but perhaps I will learn new things, or have my opinions changed this week.

Whether or not I will be wasting my time, I headed over to Sam's Club to find the lowest unit prices for food. I took a simple approach to the challenge, and since I don't mind repetitive eating (after all, I eat Yale Dining), I mainly focused on purchasing enough food energy for the week. I bought a large box of Honey Nut Cheerios, a large box of NutriGrain bars, and some green bananas. This was about $17, though I plan to use milk from the dining halls for my cereal (either transport it back to my fridge or bring cereal to the dining halls), so I consider the remaining $4 my milk money.


Calorie calculations:
Breakfast Bars: 140 calories x 48 servings = 6720 calories
Cereal: 150 calories including milk] x 49 servings = 7350 calories

That's 14070 calories, which is just right for an average of 2000 a day. Plus there are the bananas, if they ever ripen.


My biggest question about the practicality of the challenge has to do with the social nature of eating here. Of the time I spend with my friends, a large portion of it is spent in the dining halls. Because of this, I will either have to eat in my room and then go to the dining halls with my friends, or else bring my own food to meals.

Another note on the challenge: simulating living off the FSP is both difficult and perhaps ultimately unrealistic. As a Yale student I have many opportunities for free food (study breaks, Master's Teas) and discounted food (butteries), not to mention the fact that, if I were actually in danger of starving, I have no doubt that my friends would feed me for an indefinite period. I'll try to simply ignore those factors, and stick to the food I've set out.