Thursday, May 3, 2012

The Food Stamp Challenge

Just prior to the event for Harlem Hospital on May 19th the NY Food Bank is issuing a challenge. Live on a food stamp budget of 1.48 per meal for 7 days.

I will be taking that challenge and living as a diabetic on a food stamp budget. My original goal was to keep my food at 5.00 per day, now I will have to bring it down to about 4.20. unlike the normal food stamp challenges I won't have rice, pasta, and bread to fall back on. How hard must it be to be poor and diabetic?

I have been very busy lately and I had an early meeting I had to run to so breakfast was the fastest I could manage. I heated a cup of chicken noodle soup, had 8 whole grain crackers and two ounces of cheese.

I did okay with 45 grams of carb.

Of course I was seriously hungry when I got home so lunch was a real breakfast with ham, two eggs, my coffee (finally) and half a banana(Tip of the day: rub cut banana with lemon juice to prevent browning.) I poached the eggs and really wanted toast to sop up that beautiful yolk...however I resisted. I added 20 more carbs to my daily total and my percentages for the day look good.

I went to the grocery store and came home with a headache. I typically buy pasta, rice, etc at the store and everything else from the farmers market. However I needed cat food. I started label reading. 'Net effective carbs' is the new marketing term for products that have fiber added. They tell you that if a product has 10 grams of carbohydrate and 7 grams of fiber then it only counts as 3 grams of carb.


Don't believe them. These foods often can lead to insulin crisis and weight gain. While the fiber foods are often better the food still counts.

Cinco de Mayo, of course...that's why all the
"Mexican" foods are on sale. Now I started a craving, this marketing was working on me. I wanted tortillas with my leftover shrimp and I knew I had some seriously hot peppers at home for a salsa...

Mission brand Carb Balance tortillas...fiber, 10 grams of carb per...ingredients: A frightening list of unidentifiable chemistry experiments. Mission is making something that resembles a tortilla but is not food. I must have read labels for 30 minutes. I discovered that many of the 'small label' tortillas with really friendly names were also lab experiments made by big companies. I finally found a small local maker who used whole wheat and oats along with a little flax for extra fiber.

Corn chips...First of all I avoided anything that was not clearly labeled as organic. Corn is a huge Monsanto GMO Frankenfood and it has become harder and harder to get real corn. The 'work' done by Monsanto should come with jail terms. Bottom shelf far left of the aisle I find some that meet my requirements, 19 grams of carb per serving.

I get home and realize a serving is 7 chips. Instead of screaming I counted out my 7 with my tablespoon of salsa and had my snack. One thing I must mention..I did appreciate every crisp salty bite.

Dinner was two of my tortillas, in each tortilla I put two tablespoons of mushed pinto beans 1 oz of Jack Cheese and 16 Shrimp, along with a splash of hot sauce. I wrapped in foil and warmed in the oven. Alongside I had a ripe avocado with a little lemon. 1 glass of wine.

After dinner I thought about my day and realized that I had not really had the vegetables I ought.

Every day I learn something, every day I try to get better. Make these awesome shrimp wraps and have them with a huge serving of something green.

My calories 1,532. I should note I take a great multi-vitamin and extra C in liquid form.



3 comments:

truthspew said...

It is nearly impossible to live on $1.48 per meal. I've done out some math on two meals I've cooked, beef and broccoli and salmon and zucchini and it averages $2.15 per meal.

RI SNAP is $200 per person. So divide 200/30.5 = $6.55 per day.

So take out $2.15 an you're left with $4.40. Breakfast non-diabetic is $1.50 leaving $2.90 for lunch

Karl said...

Truth,

I am not basing the amount on what you might get in Rhode Island but rather the amount set by NY for the challenge.

According to what I can find the MAXIMUM is 200 per person in RI. However income and assets reduce the amount one is eligible for.

In New York they take the average. Most people on food stamps work, in many cases full time. It is just that the income they make is not enough to live on so they rely on assistance. That assistance averages out to 1.48 per meal, per person.

Many assume that since they have income the food assistance is a 'supplement' but with the cost of rent and other necessities it becomes their sole source of sustenance.

Anonymous said...

I love that you are paying attention to the nuances of SNAP rules and regs.
Your search for tortillas not full of Frankenfoods reminded me of my trip to the store today...one of the "fancy" stores in my town. I wanted whole wheat pita bread...there was white and there were whole wheat ... with HONEY. Sheesh. Finally found some "mini" pitas who wheat w/o honey, and took those. So, I'll eat two or three instead of one, I guess.
Reading labels is so important, and also time-consuming for busy, hard-working folks trying to learn to eat right on a diabetic diet.
This blog is such a service;I'm going to recommend it to friends. It needs more exposure.
I wish you luck on the Food Stamp as a Diabetic challenge; you'll need it. Cheryl