So, I agreed to take the Food Stamp Challenge. It has been an interesting day or so since I agreed to do this. As I do with many things, I have gone through multiple stages in my thought process about how I am going to tackle this challenge.
Stage one: I began with a smug belief that this should be interesting and not too bad. I don’t eat meat. I am a thoughtful shopper and make good choices.
Stage two: Let’s make this interesting... I will try new recipes and cooking techniques.
Stage three: Reality sets in. I realized that I don’t cook much, eat out a lot, and don’t go to the grocery store often enough to really know what the price of many ingredients are.
Stage four: A flurry of recipe searches and meal planning to identify a few affordable ingredients that are very versatile, as well as options to provide multiple meals from a single recipe.
Stage five: I realized (with great angst) that I would need to accommodate my caffeine addiction while foregoing my usual snobby taste in coffee and tea.
Stage six: Complications! As I told people that I was doing the challenge, they started raising a whole host of new issues to consider, like “can you eat healthy for that amount per day?” and “but you’re doing it alone, so you don’t get to use bulk purchasing.” And the inevitable reminders from friends and family that I don’t cook.
Stage seven: It's just setting in that this is called a challenge for a reason. I just hope I’m up to meeting it.
Clearly the purpose of the challenge is to create an opportunity to “walk a mile in someone else's moccasin,” and even before I get started, I am thinking differently about role of food and planning for meals. In fact, I have put more time and thought into shopping, meal planning, and budgeting for food in the last 24 hours than I have in the last 2-3 years. So, I am preparing to put on those moccasins and walk this path knowing that I will look at many things differently in a few short days.
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