Jacqueline Baker, a Benefits Outreach Specialist at Benefits Data Trust, reports on Day 2 of her FSC.
“There's always seconds,” my dad would say whenever anyone asked if there was more to eat for dinner.
It's not the best catchphrase in the world, but it's astonishing considering the fact that he was feeding three hungry kids and himself with a very tight budget. Spaghetti (with or without meat sauce) was a household staple and not because we were connoisseurs of Italian fare. It's a cheap meal. Really cheap.
The weather was terrible when I went shopping for the Food Stamp Challenge, so I went to a more expensive store that was closer to home. This store didn’t have any bulk items or store brands, but when I spotted the all-too-familiar red and blue box of San Giorgio spaghetti, I snatched it up immediately. I paired it with Newman's Own Tomato and Basil sauce to add karmic flavor to the meal. Newman's Own products are fairly cheap, organic, and tasty to boot. Best of all, they donate proceeds to charities and have partnered up with Feeding America to fight hunger. I also grabbed a head of Romaine lettuce to make a salad.
Tonight, I made the meal and I realized just how far an entire box of spaghetti can go. If I add up the romaine lettuce (I poured a tablespoon or so of olive oil on it to make a “salad”) with the sauce and pasta, the grand total for this meal comes to $8.37. I estimate that I can squeeze four dinners out of what I made tonight, which averages out to $2.09 a night. As a single individual, this seems like a good deal. However, when I think about the fact that the head of lettuce, jar of sauce, and box of pasta would only last one night for my family of four, the spaghetti box looks a lot smaller.
