Tagged: WFAEats

Day Six: “Who’s Hungry?”

On a long car trip when a fast food joint comes into view, someone will shout it.

“Who’s hungry?”

If you walk into your office with a giant pizza box in your hands, you can call out to your co-workers.

“Who’s hungry?”

When the holiday meal is ready after hours of waiting, it’s a summons to gather and share something special – or even sacred.

“Who’s hungry?”

Who IS hungry? This past week, that question has taken on a very different meaning for me.

Day Five: Rumors and Reasons

It’s not really about the food.

That’s what I’m starting to realize. People are angry, exhausted, frustrated, despondent. Resentful, worried, afraid or annoyed – but no one I’ve talked with in the last five days is blasé on the topic of food stamps and other programs that help feed the hungry.

Time for a mid-week reality check. The jug of milk has started to go sour. The fat in the leftover ground beef we cooked with last night’s spaghetti sauce has congealed into a bright orange slick. I may have just busted my budget by opening a Dollar Tree bag of Twizzlers I discovered in the pantry.

And I hate oatmeal.

“I want spaghetti for dinner,” said a young friend who was visiting me Tuesday.

“We don’t have any.”

She just looked at me and rolled her eyes. So we got in the car to spend the last $5.22 remaining from my $31.50 grocery budget for the week.

So far I’ve managed to feed myself well on the basic, staple items I bought for the SNAP* Challenge. But how do you explain to a child that tonight’s dinner will be cereal or soup again?