At first I was hesitant to go to the campus cupboard as I didn’t know what to expect. I roped my friend to go with me, telling her she’d get free food if she went. When we went there, we were unexpectedly lured to the $1 lunches they had in the church. We didn’t have a dollar, but none-the-less were immediately handed plates of meatball sandwiches and chips. We even got brownie bites. I felt so relieved as all I had for lunch was two boiled eggs in my backpack.
After the amazing lunch we were directed to the campus cupboard. We were lucky as no one was there, and the paperwork was extremely simple. We got to go through the ideas as I picked up ingredients for spaghetti, several potatoes, rice, oil, flour, ramen, juice, cookies, onions, diced tomatoes, chili peppers in a can, and canned soup. My grocery trip ended weighing 25 pounds. I started to feel guilty and embarrassed as I didn’t want to appear greedy until I realized that going that day awarded me three different meals. Well… actually four. On my way out I grabbed a brown lunch sack from the fridge upstairs supplied by the campus kitchen. For dinner I opened the bag and was surprised at how much I got. I got half of a cinnamon roll, a cup of soup, chicken fettuccine alfredo, a baked potato, and cheddar biscuits. I began to feel encouraged, as I felt comfort that at least on Tuesday’s I’ll for sure have food.
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Before when I went grocery shopping I would often buy whatever I wanted from snack goods to various different meats to ingredients for foods. Typically, my grocery bill would average from $30-$50 a week as I also fed my girlfriend when she visited me during the weekends. I had to reduce this cost vastly as I am only allowed to spend $25 a week on food. Before we could even go to Walmart and buy food, we had to make a plan. We wrote a plan of what we’re going to eat on what days, as I thought to myself about what I could buy to sustain myself for the rest of the week. We had to write a detailed list, as I wrote projected costs next to each to make sure we could afford our list. At last, we were finally ready to go shopping. My girlfriend suggested we start in the back as the chips, snacks, pops, and reason for my belly were located near the back by the milk. With her strength I was able to pass the obesity aisles without jumping at a bag of Cheetos like a wild mammoth. Every time, I put an item in the cart I had to write down the price. We had to opt for everything off brand from the cereal to the meat and cheeses- everything had to be off brand. Honey nut bunches of oats? Nope! We can’t afford that luxury. Crunchy honey oats? Ohhhh yes, come to mama. After we collected everything we needed, we had to calculate everything in the cart, leaving about a dollar for tax. The first trip, I ended up spending $16.46. Walmart unfortunately did not sell eggs, forcing us to venture to Aldi's. However with leftover money, I was able to buy additional items. I spent about $8.53, spending $24.99 overall with a penny to spare. We were able to make chili pasta mac and bacon and egg sandwiches for the weekend. I was able to get chicken, cereal bars, milk, hotdogs, and frozen veggies to feed myself for the rest of the week. Although I saved money during this grocery trip, I definitely did not save time. We were in the grocery store for almost 45 minutes as we had to calculate and compare prices of items on the shelves to make sure we didn’t go over budget. We also had to add an extra 20 minutes of drive time and going to Aldi's. It took us almost our whole afternoon. This annoyed me, as I preferred when I didn’t have to worry about money when grocery shopping. I just bought what I wanted. However, I never realized how much money you can save if you go off brand. Great value bacon tastes pretty good. How much groceries I was able to buy for $25
Part of the experience of being on food stamps is the application process. I am not eligible for SNAP as you have to have a job where you work 20 hours a week in order to apply. However, I decided to go through the process anyways.
There are three ways that a person can sign up for SNAP- online, through a phone call, or in person. I searched online to see who to contact and was met with the number for the office. As a college student, and like people my age, I did not feel comfortable making a phone call so I searched for the online application. The online application link on the MN Department of Human Services was a four page informational packet, but the application was nowhere to be seen. I scoured the internet to look for an online application, but could not find any. I decided to go the in-person route and made a journey to the Blue Earth County Office. At first, upon arriving at the county office, I was unsure of where to go. The building was under construction, so I took my chances and followed the signs that led me to the human services office. When I entered the building I was completely overwhelmed. The person at the window in human services was on the phone, and the other worker besides her was helping another person. I stupidly waited and after ten minutes realized the table of information behind me. The SNAP application was hidden behind a slew of other applications and I had to sort through them before finding what I needed. The application consisted of nine full pages with questions evaluating living costs, information about people who live in your household, expenses, assets, etc. Along with the filled out application, you have to provide proof for eligibility. I had to provide proof that I owned a vehicle, I had to provide proof about my rent and utility bill, I had to provide proof about my income, I had to provide proof of my employment, and I had to provide proof that I was a citizen. Filling out the application and getting proof, took me over the span of the week as I was too busy to go find and print my proofs. My girlfriend, who actually applied for SNAP struggled to provide proof about her rent as she doesn’t get a normal paper bill for her rent as it automatically takes it out of her bank account. She had to rummage and search for her lease, which took a good day or two. It is not listed on the application that you have to provide proof that you are a student, but she got a phone call that she had to get proof and was sent an additional form to prove she was a student. She had to go to her financial aid office in her college and have them fax over her school information to the county office. Her roommate did not bring her mail to her, and she had less than three days to get this information from her school. She applied over a month ago, had one phone interview to determine her eligibility, had to get additional proof, and is now waiting to see if she is able to receive benefits. Filling out my own application and witnessing her do it, was an extreme headache, but it was something we had to do. My birthday was three days ago, and now it is the beginning of the SNAP challenge. I’ve decided not to go grocery shopping at all this week and see if I could live off of what I had leftover; a couple of eggs, a thing of bacon, cereal, ice cream cake, frozen fruit, milk, bananas, and bread. On the third day after eating ice cream cake for breakfast, I wanted to give up.
In the previous month, I spent $601.72 (about $150 a week) alone on food to now being reduced to $110 a month (about $25 a week). Usually, in between classes, studying, and work at the newspaper I would go to the university’s food court and buy myself something to eat. I did this almost every day. With this challenge, that is not a possibility as people who live off of SNAP and food benefits aren’t allowed to purchase hot and ready foods. No matter how badly I wanted some chicken tenders in that moment, I could not have them. I soon found out that time would also be an issue when it came to feeding myself, and not being able to purchase already made foods would be a struggle I would have this week. I sat hungry in class wondering if I would have time to eat as my singular boiled egg and two peanut butter sandwiches sat waiting in my backpack. I had a job to go do, editing and laying out the weekly newspaper, that took most of my time. I had better food at home, but I didn’t have time to get it. Instead, I had no choice but to eat my boiled egg and peanut butter sandwiches for the remainder of the day. When I got home, I was too tired to make anything as the thought of doing dishes was not a thing I wanted to do at 1 a.m. I would find myself doing this routine every day for the rest of the week. And when it came to the fourth day, I ran out of bread and eggs. If it wasn’t for friends and events at school, I don’t think I would’ve had food to eat for the remainder of this week. I have never been this excited before in my life to be able to go grocery shopping. However, I’m scared about how much food I can actually buy with $25. |
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