September is Hunger Action Month. Since helping end childhood hunger is our corporate cause, this is a good time to bring awareness to this pervasive issue so no child has to worry where and when he or she will eat again.
Are you up to the Challenge?
Join us for the 3Squares Challenge. What’s it like to deal with hunger? 153,000 Vermonters (19,000 of whom are children) find themselves struggling financially due to illness, job loss, or other unexpected situations and then have to make difficult decisions, choosing between rent, fuel, medicine or food. 3Squares (known as SNAP in Texas) is a federal program that provides food assistance (formerly known as Food Stamps) to those who qualify. The average 3Squares benefit is $37 a week, $5.22 daily or $1.74 per meal.
We want you to take the challenge and let us know how you managed to eat on this budget. Take the challenge as a team or individually for one day or one week and tell us, what did you buy? How did it feel? Record your effort and share your video or text diary on NLToday.
For every entry we receive, we’ll make a donation to help feed hungry children.
The purpose of the 3Squares Challenge is to draw attention to the experience of living on a strict food budget and how that may or may not change your daily life physically and psychologically. Even if your challenge attempt doesn’t fit perfectly into the allotted budget, share with us what changes you tried to implement, what you learned, and how it made you feel.
Consider these prompts as you reflect and share your experience:
Pre Challenge Reflection:
- What are you hoping to take away from your Challenge experience?
- How do you normally buy your food? Do you go shopping weekly, bi-weekly, or daily? Do you typically budget or plan ahead of time?
- Preparing for the Challenge, where did you shop? Did you notice if the places you shopped at accepted 3SquaresVT or SNAP (TX) benefits? Did you have to travel far to get there?
- How did you choose what to buy while shopping for your Challenge? Did you have to choose between certain items to stay within your budget?
Mid Challenge Check-In:
- In what ways, if any, has your daily routine changed so far during the Challenge?
- How has your limited budget affected your food thoughts and habits through the week? Did you find you had to make changes to the quality or diversity of food you were buying and eating?
- What kinds of meals have you been preparing and how do they compare to meals you would normally eat?
- Have you chosen to eat out? Why or why not? How have your food choices impacted you socially?
Post Challenge Reflection:
- How was your experience similar or different from others you know who took the Challenge? If you spoke to people about your taking the Challenge, what were their reactions?
- How would your experience change if you had a family to support? What if you were older? Without transportation? Unemployed? Had a medical condition that required a special diet?
- What is the one thing in particular that you will take away from your Challenge?
- Based on your experience, what do you think about the strength of the nutrition safety net in Vermont or Texas? How can we improve it?