Spring Break
Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 4/3/09 Section: Commentary
Food stamp challenge opens student's eyes
Last week, from March 22 to 28, UConnPIRG sponsored an event to raise awareness of the difficulties of people who survive on food stamps. Several students went to their local grocery store to purchase only $28 worth of food to last them the entire week.
As one of those students, I thought it would be best to raise awareness by telling how my week went. Before even going to the store, I made a list of the foods I would need to survive the week and the foods I would like to have if there was leftover change. At the store I was shopping and picking out the food that was on sale - if it wasn't then I got cheapest option I could find.
Pasta, cereal, vegetables, soup, yogurt, and meat all made it into my cart along with a little extra. Finding the food was not too hard, what was difficult was actually going to the cash register. Along the way, I apparently did the math wrong and I was over my budget. It was rather embarrassing to ask the clerk to take things off my order such as the extra box of pasta and the candy bar I grabbed to ensure that I had some form of caffeine for the week; I didn't even have enough money to go to the gas station to grab some milk like I had hoped.
Speaking only of my week's worth of experience living off of a food stamp with no other form of support, arriving at the cash register had to be the worst part of the week, because, let's face it, no one wants to be told that they owe more money than they have. Through the week I realized that I did have enough food to last me; the difficulty of surviving only on this food came to me when it came to eat with my friends. I couldn't go out to eat with them, and when I joined them at the dining halls I could only watch, wishing I could just try a tiny piece of their pizza. Even watching the students around campus drink their $3 coffee, knowing that, on a food stamp diet, there was no way I could afford it. This experience is a great way of raising awareness of the hardships that people have to suffer living on food stamps with no other means for getting food to provide for their families. I was only purchasing food for just myself; I can only begin to imagine how difficult it must be for others to live like this and support their families.
Last week, from March 22 to 28, UConnPIRG sponsored an event to raise awareness of the difficulties of people who survive on food stamps. Several students went to their local grocery store to purchase only $28 worth of food to last them the entire week.
As one of those students, I thought it would be best to raise awareness by telling how my week went. Before even going to the store, I made a list of the foods I would need to survive the week and the foods I would like to have if there was leftover change. At the store I was shopping and picking out the food that was on sale - if it wasn't then I got cheapest option I could find.
Pasta, cereal, vegetables, soup, yogurt, and meat all made it into my cart along with a little extra. Finding the food was not too hard, what was difficult was actually going to the cash register. Along the way, I apparently did the math wrong and I was over my budget. It was rather embarrassing to ask the clerk to take things off my order such as the extra box of pasta and the candy bar I grabbed to ensure that I had some form of caffeine for the week; I didn't even have enough money to go to the gas station to grab some milk like I had hoped.
Speaking only of my week's worth of experience living off of a food stamp with no other form of support, arriving at the cash register had to be the worst part of the week, because, let's face it, no one wants to be told that they owe more money than they have. Through the week I realized that I did have enough food to last me; the difficulty of surviving only on this food came to me when it came to eat with my friends. I couldn't go out to eat with them, and when I joined them at the dining halls I could only watch, wishing I could just try a tiny piece of their pizza. Even watching the students around campus drink their $3 coffee, knowing that, on a food stamp diet, there was no way I could afford it. This experience is a great way of raising awareness of the hardships that people have to suffer living on food stamps with no other means for getting food to provide for their families. I was only purchasing food for just myself; I can only begin to imagine how difficult it must be for others to live like this and support their families.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 3
Sally Bacardi
posted 4/03/09 @ 9:32 AM EST
Thanks so much for writing that letter, Amanda. The DC has a habit of reporting student deaths as "bodies found dead". This is not the first time they have been so insensitive toward something so sensitive. (Continued…)
Post a Comment