The San Francisco Food Bank Hunger Challenge

Empty_jars

According to an article this week in the Washington Post, food banks are stretched thin with an influx of new users who have recently lost their jobs due to the recession. A record number of people are also requesting food stamps and being added to the rolls. More than 35 million people in America now receive food stamps. That’s 1 in 9 Americans. And consider this: many more people who earn slightly more than the income requirement to receive food stamps are struggling even harder to put food on the table. In San Francisco, $22,880 a year is the income cutoff for Food Stamps for a family of three. Think about living on that.

What does it actually feel like to live so lean?

I aim to find out by taking the San Francisco Food Bank’s Hunger Challenge. The challenge asks participants to live on $4 a day for one week, which is the average amount a California resident receives in food stamps. This is a new threshold. The amount was temporarily increased due to stimulus money. Last year it was only $3 a day. In addition to the $4 per day per person, Hunger Challenge participants are allowed to include in their weekly food budget a list of food items commonly available at the San Francisco Food Bank’s many food pantries.

Join me in my errr…adventure in eating for little. It will definitely be a challenge. Read about it here starting Sunday, September 20th.

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2 Comments

  1. Posted September 17, 2009 at 1:24 pm | Permalink

    This would be much easier if you can count the food you grow in your garden….I’m guessing not.

    Jean

  2. Vanessa
    Posted September 18, 2009 at 9:27 am | Permalink

    Hey Jean. Well, in real life that would be great, but for the challenge, it wouldn’t be much of a challenge for prolific gardeners. I guess I’ll be giving some produce away to avoid wasting it. Discarding home-grown produce (or any produce) because you weren’t allowed to eat it on the hunger challenge would be criminal.

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