The community center I work at has a community meal each Thursday, which I run. The meal is free, and open to the public. A mix of people come. Seniors who want a night out with company; young families struggling financially; and yes, food bank clients who use the food bank right that shares our building--it is open the same day as the meal.
Frequently I don't eat during the meal, though I try to at least get something to drink and sit with someone for a few moments. The meal isn't just about feeding the body; it is about building community and creating bonds between people.
Tonight's team served spaghetti. An economical meal, to be sure: Sauce at 88 cents a can at Winco, with a bit of added spice and herbs, and browned hamburger. I ate two plates of the stuff. Because I was amazingly hungry. And I really didn't realize it until dinner was served. I am guessing on the amount of sauce and meat, but if I am close to correct, dinner had over 1000 calories. And I didn't even eat the ice cream.
I came home sleepy and totally full and satisfied. And so did about 150 other people who dined with us this evening.
Here is the big problem: the cheapest, easiest meals for the poor, just like for the middle class, are high in sodium and calories. Your stomach doesn't say you are full when you have had 500 calories. It says you are full when you have a couple of cups of food in you. And it doesn't matter if the food is high calorie pasta with meat sauce and parm, or a low calorie spinach saute with mushrooms. It is about SPACE.
Today I thought a lot about the things I miss. I miss soda. I used to drink a lot of Pepsi, but gave it up a couple months ago to save money and lose weight. Oh, I occasionally had a soda (usually when driving long distances), but it was no longer my daily fix. And after the first few days it really didn't bother me. Now that I cannot have it (because if I am being true to the Food Stamp Challenge, I cannot afford it), I crave it.
And cinnamon dolce lattes.
The first couple of days I craved burgers, but the news about the horse meat in the beef in Europe has kind of put me off hamburgers. Thank you Ireland, which is apparently where that mess started.
But something else happened today. Anna came and did a cooking lesson in our kitchen. Anna is a nutritionist, and she works with food bank clients to teach them how to cook and shop for nutritious, delicious food on a budget. All the clients in the class got a cookbook of high nutrition-low cost recipes.
This got me to thinking about Daughter A. She is a great cook. Learned the basics from mom, and ran with it. But a lot of her friends never learned to cook. I have friends that never really learned how to cook. Oh, they are great at the Hamburger Helper meal, or fixing something from the freezer case, but cooking? Not much chance of it happening.
Stay with me here, because I have an actual train of thought. Back in the 1970's, when I was starting high school, my school district made an announcement: my graduating class would be the first class that did NOT require girls to take home ec (or boys to take shop). My friend Deb took shop--one of the rare girls in the class. But none of us took home ec. And I regret that, because cooking is something I really love now. I could have learned to love it about a decade sooner.
23 years ago, when I was on food stamps for real? THAT is when I learned how to cook. I figured out that if I made a meal from scratch instead of from a box or the freezer case, I would save money.
Daughter A runs a tight budget, eats mostly vegetarian (one of her room mates is totally vegetarian) and is probably better off for it.
So one of the problems confronting people living in poverty is that many of them did not learn how to cook from scratch. I have volunteered at the food bank and watched them refuse dried beans and lentils because they simply have no idea what to do with them.
Hence Anna, teaching food bank clients how to cook, nutritious and delicious meals.
Maybe home ec should be required for ALL high school students. A semester to help them learn how to cook, create a household budget, etc.
Of course, we won't see anyone in congress proposing spending money on such a concept any time soon. Instead, congress in its foolishness, is determined to allow us to take a fiscal flier, and see where we land.
The rest of what I ate today:
Breakfast: slice of cheddar, apple, three rye crisp crackers. I am out of eggs.
Snacked on three baby oranges
Forgot to eat lunch--which is part of why I was hungry.
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