First trip to the grocery store!

I chose to be a part of the SNAP program because I wanted insight into what this program is really about by experiencing it firsthand. I wanted to learn the rules and regulations for participants, what they can and cannot eat, and what their diet is really like.

I come from a farm on the Eastern End of Long Island where we have a retail trade. Our retail market often works with customers who are on a program similar to SNAP called WIC (Women, Infants and Children). As fresh produce is typically more expensive, New York State has set up a Farmers’ Market Nutrition program in accordance with WIC. This program provides fresh, nutritional food items to people on the program while also supporting local farmers by allotting funds to WIC participants that can only be used at local farmers markets. In my opinion this is a great initiative because it supports fresh, local produce while also providing increased nutritional benefits to participants. Since, I work with customers on this program on a daily basis all summer I was interested in learning more about the diet and nutrition of participants on such programs. Surviving on only $2 a day is a startling statistic, so I wanted to experience what such limited, regulated eating habits really feels like.

My first trip to the grocery store put things into perspective. We were given just over $30 to last us 10 days and I typically only spend $12-$15 per week on groceries anyway, so to be quite honest I shopped just as I usually do as a college student with limited funds. I chose generic over name brand and looked for sales and deals. I bought basically the essentials of pasta, sauce, rice, cheese, frozen vegetables, meat, bread, milk, and butter. These items would allow for me to mix and match different things all week to maintain a variety. After purchasing so many items (and still having money left over!), my initial reaction was that living on only $2 a day is easy… then I got to thinking about all of the ‘extra’ things we would use that we already had in our cupboards, so obviously didn’t need to buy. Items such as salt, pepper, bread crumbs, ketchup, mustard, flour, sugar, etc. are all items that add flavor to food. These were items we already had, so we didn’t need to buy them, but someone on the SNAP program who lives month by month on only these funds, but doesn’t already have these items in their cupboard would not be able to buy them, therefore they’d be left with very bland, generic food.

As the first few days of the program progressed I started to look at the nutritional value of the food I was eating. I was basically eating meals as I usually do. They were all relatively balanced with a meat (chicken or ground beef), a carbohydrate (pasta or rice) and a vegetable (canned or frozen). So for the most part I was happy with my diet. But at the same time there were some luxuries missing from my typical diet (which some of those items may actually be healthier for me!) such as coffee, soda, juice, cold cut meat, lettuce for salad and a variety of other fresh produce. When I went shopping I completely avoided the ‘fresh’ section of the supermarket, which includes the deli and produce, because those are the items that are typically more expensive. So while I do feel my diet on SNAP is relatively normal, it is lacking some of the usual nutritional value because the items I am eating are higher in sodium and not as full of nutrition (at least in regards to the vegetables) because they are not fresh. Maybe that’s just me as the farmer speaking, but generally fresh produce is a key component of my diet that I cannot currently indulge in with limited funds, which of course brought me back to the WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition supplement and made me realize how valuable that program is.

So overall, my first week with SNAP hasn't been too bad. I am by no means starving, I am just craving all of the indulgences I am typically able to purchase (Quiznos sandwich from the commons? Dunkin' Donuts coffee?!). So with a only a few days left we will see if I can resist the temptation!