Can you meet your food needs on $4 a day?
Normally I wouldn't have to find out whether I could, but this year as part of Hunger Action Month, the staff at the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma asked me to take the SNAP Challenge for two days this week. As the recently installed president of the board of directors, I was excited about the opportunity.
SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which used to be known as food stamps, and the average benefit works out to about $4 a day.
Later this week when I head to the grocery store, I will spend $8 for all the food I will consume on Thursday and Friday. I've been thinking about what I can make and how to get fruits and vegetables into those six meals.
But this really isn't about me.
It's about the more than 600,000 Oklahomans who use SNAP. SNAP benefits are meant to be supplemental, but after paying bills for rent, utilities and transportation, many of the working poor in our state rely on SNAP to fulfill their food needs.
And it's about their children. According to recent studies, one in four Oklahoma children struggles with hunger, and 233,350 children in the state are considered food insecure -- which means they don't know where their next meal is coming from.
More than 80 percent of Tulsa Public Schools students are enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program.
In a story last week, takepart.com reported that
child hunger is a serious problem in our nation's classrooms and that teachers spend $37 a month of their own money buying food for hungry students. Tulsa World columnist Ginnie Graham recently wrote a blog on
what today's kindergarteners look like according to Child Trends, a Maryland-based nonprofit research group.
Two facts that stood out to me about the kindergarten class:
• 27 are in families receiving food stamps. Ten years ago, there would have been 12. (Note: The increase is the result of expanded eligibility in 2008 and post-recession economic conditions.)
• 25 live in families with incomes below the poverty level, and an additional 22 are from “low-income” families.
The Food for Kids Backpack Program is one way the Community Food Bank is working to combat childhood hunger. The program provides a weekly bag of shelf-stable, child-friendly food to elementary, middle school, junior high and high school students who are at risk of going hungry over the weekend during the school year.
Almost 5,000 students in Tulsa County participate in the Food for Kids program, in addition to 4,000 students in another 23 counties.
I want to do my part in raising awareness of childhood hunger. Making sure children have enough to eat will result in better students and a better future for Oklahoma families.
For another glimpse of the implications hunger has on our nation, watch the documentary "A Place at the Table."
Follow my progress in the SNAP Challenge on Twitter with the hashtag #OklaSNAP.
SCENE: Visit the home to all things food, movies, TV, music and local entertainment.
