Hunger: the Elephant in the Room

Posted by Genevieve

So it came and it went: the Experience. Did you feel it to your core? Or maybe just for a few days. At least it was on your mind and that’s a great start. So what was our not-so-hidden agenda in facilitating this experience? We want to tackle that big word, HUNGER, and the subsequent silent killer, obesity, that is lurking in our community (we like to call these together “heartbreaking hunger”). They both usually come hand in hand and have the same root cause, which is lack of access to good, healthy food.

Many acknowledged there were parts of the Experience that weren’t like the real thing. Everyone’s situation is different and we did our best to mimic and experience. Still, in the end, we got some insight into trying to eat well around here without convenient luxuries that more money will afford. Did it show that access to this good, healthy food is definitely a problem in our community?

Following is a cloud of words and bits that were part of the hearth of our discussion for the week:

"feared, took a closer look, sacrifices, cutting out, expensive, budget, straining, planning, stretching (dollar, mind, patience, creativity), I don’t’ like this feeling, non-variety, cravings, missing, not satisfying, in reality, crap!, on sale, necessity, plan our meals, grin and square it!, scarcity is taking a toll, luckily, limited, weren’t able to purchase, I hung in there, pay attention, fill up, thinking about food, would have, stressful, getting tired, factored into, I miss bread, I didn’t buy, I was craving something sweet, I soooo wanted to cheat, a more substantial lunch, a longing, craving, and thirst in my body, empty spot, threw down a blueberry muffin, pretty scarce, least expensive, generic, more freedom in my choices, always look forward to the next meal, eat out or splurge, more healthy choices, wish I had something other than, it’s so hard sticking to, had planned on, I had to eliminate, I’m saving them, leftover, in hopes that, I couldn’t imagine, wanting more to eat, concerned, I was so hungry, slap on the hand for me"

Clearly, many felt some discomfort. We got some tips, recipes, resources. We learned to plan and to be let down; planning meals and juggling life is easier said than done.  While we were struggling to stay full, the “should” of the food plate was a whisper of a thought in comparison to our grumbling stomachs and overpowering thoughts to shove comforting, substantial meals down our hatches (well maybe not everyone’s experience… what a week, right? It was only a week, so quit your whining.) We thought about food a lot, even when we weren’t hungry. People are told they should do this and that, but it becomes straining after a while. There has to be a better way; we’re not robots and we need backup plans. It’s hard to have one with low budgets.

This is where communities step in. We’re all human and we’re all in this together. Our food system is more connected that one would think! Healthy foods should be cheaper and easier to access. Our emergency food nets could be better. It shouldn’t be so hard to throw together a healthy meal (and what does healthy mean anyway?!) We should support one another and our community’s farmers. It’s a huge tangled up ball and we need to start picking at it.

So we could easily go on with our lives as normal from here, but let’s make the most of this Experience shall we? Let us grow as a community and learn from our experiences. Let’s start a discussion and support the programs and initiatives that are trying to pick at all of these problems.

Here’s how you can help:

• Hold a food drive.
• Thanksgiving is coming up: Charter Oak Credit Union is holding a turkey drive. So is Liberty Bank.
• Call 211 to find your local food pantry and donate time, money, or food.
• Give your local farmers business.
• Teach your kids about eating healthy.
• Create an account on the Council’s website to get updates on New London County initiatives, the upcoming farm bill, or anything we might need support with.
• With every dollar you spend, you make a statement. Eat healthy so that businesses know that's what our community wants!

I can guarantee that someone in New London County is going to bed heartbreakingly hungry tonight. We have to change that. We are better than that. We can be better than that. Won't you help? 

Harvesting From a Crop of New Ideas: Culinary Skills Event Held on October 29th

This past Saturday, our New London County Food Policy Council held an event titled "Women Leaders: Havesting from a Crop of New Ideas" in conjunction with the Women's Initiative of United Way. As the SNAP Experience brings awareness to the status of our community's safety net, we found that it also shed some light on more personal matters in the kitchen. The need to use one's food budget wisely cut out pricier convenience foods from many participants' grocery lists. This event emerged as a need to interact and develop new skills to complement lessons learned once the Experience came to a close.

Chef Tim Paquette, the Director of Food Services for the Stonington Food System, led this demonstration that aimed to hone one's guerilla kitchen skills to tackle nourishing and inexpensive items . He offered knife skill advice, roasting tips for root vegetables and squash, chili recipes that incorporated dried beans and turnips, and enticing flavor combinations to spice up your family's plate.  The menu lineup included hearty breakfast bars, everyday root vegetable chili, and weeknight pizza topped with roasted butternut squash and kale.

We would like to extend a thank you to the Stonington School District for offering indispensable assets used during this event, to Nancy Rossi, Leanne Masterjoseph, and Foxwoods Resort Casino/ MGM Grand for the donated raffle basket items. We would also like to thank and acknowledge Alden Holdrige for supplying a large amount of the produce that was dismembered at the demonstration. He mentioned that he is happy to support any event that gets people to eat more vegetables. He sells his bounty (including potatoes, squash, turnips, and carrots) through a roadside farm stand can be found in Ledyard at the North end of Rt. 117 and can be reached at 860-464-8610.  

Many Thanks!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the experience, including the Courtney family! We hope everyone learned something valuable along the way. Whether it be about SNAP, eating on a budget, your personal eating habits, or the availability of foods in your community, we would like to think it made the week worth it to you! Many thanks for the dedication of our participants to the blog and the resulting discussions that ensued. We hope this is a good step towards awareness of food and eating in our community and particularly the emergency food nets that it provides. We will post some more this week as we sift through all that was discussed! Does anyone have closing thoughts about the experience to contribute?

On another note, we would also like to thank all of those that came to the Women's Initiative cooking demo on saturday morning. It was a fun time! As promised, here are the correct proportions for the Pizza Dough recipe (perfect for serving up those autumn veggies!):

1 packet active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water 

1 t sugar or honey

4 ½ cups flour (with suggested mix of 3 1/2 cups all purpose and 1 cup whole wheat flour)

1 t salt

Olive oil 

In a large bowl gently mix the warm water, yeast and honey until frothy and creamy for about 1-2 minutes. Let stand for 1 minute for activation of the yeast. In a separate large mixing bowl combine the flour and salt and mix well. Slowly combine the yeast mixture to the flour mixture, mixing well until a soft dough forms. Turn the flour on a lightly floured surface and knead until very smooth and elastic adding more flour as needed. Knead for about 8-10 minutes. In a lightly oiled bowl, place dough covered with greased plastic wrap. Place bowl in a warm, draft free location for about 1 hour or until the dough doubles in size. Once the dough has risen, divide it in half and roll out two round 12 inch pizza crusts on a clean, floured countertop. Using spatulas, slide the crusts onto well floured pans and spread toppings. Bake pizzas at 425° for about 15-20 minutes, until crust is brown and crisp.

Sharing the SNAP Experience: Day 4 & 5 Getting Creative

Posted by Genevieve

I'm kind of getting sick of chickpeas, but I'm making the most of them! After cooking all the bulgur grains at once and using that and all those chickpeas to make stew and veggie loaf, I'm not too afraid of going hungry (it made quite a bit!). But I'm craving different kinds of food, like yogurt, chocolate, or a hamburger! Something I realized is that this might seem like a lot less food for a bigger guy who's really active and eats a lot more. Calories needed to live aren't factored into what an "individual" gets as a budget.

Here's what I've been eating:

Day 4

Breakfast: Rolled oats with banana, flax seeds, peanut butter, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Prep time: 5 min

Lunch: Bulgur grain topped with chickpeas, roasted acorn squash, and toasted acorn squash seeds. (also made with finely chopped raw kale, green onions, olive oil, paprika, lemon juice and garlic powder)

Dinner: Moroccan Chickpea Stew (stirfried garlic, onion, and carrots. Added water, canned crushed tomato,chopped cabbage, leftover chickpeas, leftover bulgur, leftover squash, lots of cumin, cinnamon, and paprika and simmered for 10 minutes. Topped with olive oil, green onions, and finely chopped kale.)

Day 5

Breakfast: Rolled oats with apple, flax seeds, peanut butter, nutmeg, and cinnamon. (kind of getting sick of rolled oats) Prep time: 5 min

Lunch: Leftover Moroccan Stew

Dinner: Veggie Loaf (stir fried onion, garlic, and carrots for 5 minutes. Mixed this in a large bowl with some rolled oats, tomato sauce, and leftover bulgur and chickpeas. Added 3 eggs, salt, powdered mustard, pepper, lots of italian seasoning, and topped with ketchup and tomato sauce. Baked in meatloaf pan at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes. 

In Your Words: Family Commitment

Posted by Pat

My wife and son were great to agree to share this SNAP Experience.  Our daughter away at college couldn't join in.  We've kept to our three-person food spending limit for the week and have just enough dollars left to cover a second gallon of milk and some lunch meat or more breakfast cereal.  The teenager gets to make that decision.  He opted for five days of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, knowing that his favorite sliced turkey and ham from the supermarket deli would have shot the budget.  We're enjoying five crisp, sweet Macoun apples, and would have gone back for more, but not at $1.59 per pound.  Only bought one fresh vegetable, asparagus.  Best buy of the week was frozen veggies on sale for a buck a bag.  We bought two of the Birds Eye classic blend of peas, corn, green beans and carrots.  A dozen eggs are good for at least one breakfast and a dinner with Rice-a-Roni.