Poverty Food budget

SNAP Challenge Assignment for SOWK 304

Many families in America struggle with food insecurity and poor nutrition due to lack of adequate funds.

The purpose of this assignment is to help you as a future social worker understand that struggle from a

personal vantage point and to identify ways to advocate for these families. Many of you may have faced

poverty at one time or may be currently on food assistance. If that is the case, you can choose Option 1.

For this assignment, you will have two options. Both are listed below. Please pick either Option 1

(Living on Food Stamps Challenge) or Option 2 (The Budget Challenge). For both options use the

table below to determine the maximum monthly benefit. Also, you will use the worksheet that is on the

Week 7 Discussion Board, entitled “The SNAP Challenge Worksheet,” that allows you to list grocery items

and menu for the week.

http://www.cbpp.org/research/a-quick-guide-to-snap-eligibility-and-benefits

HELPFUL RESOURCES

Here are some resources that might be helpful with Option 1 and 2:

● Food Research and Action Center: http://frac.org/

● Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: http://www.cbpp.org/research/a-quick-guide-to-snap-

eligibility-and-benefits

● Coalition Against Hunger: https://www.hungercoalition.org/snap

● Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger: http://mazon.org/

● Feeding America http://www.feedingamerica.org/

OPTION 1: ONE WEEK LIVING ON FOOD STAMP CHALLENGE

For Option 1 you will agree to live on a food stamp budget for one week. You may do this as a single

person or for an entire family. Even if you have a family you can still choose to do the assignment based

on a single person if you wish.

Here are the rules of the challenge:

Using the SNAP benefits chart above, determine the maximum amount of money you will have to spend

on food for a week.

● You must remain within the budget for the week so you will need to keep track of the money spent

on food each day, including the sizes and prices of food you use. If you make a mistake one day or

can’t complete it just try again for the next day. If you have many infractions, make sure to write

about the difficulties in the paper.

● All food eaten during the week must be included in your weekly budget, including eating out. Even

though eating out isn’t permitted with most food stamp cards it is allowed for this challenge.

However, that money must included in your total expenditures.

● You can only cook with food that you purchased for this project. This means that household staples

like oil, salt and condiments are not freebies. You must pay for those condiments with your

allowance.

● You can accept free food if offered at work or from a friend or family member. You cannot solicit

help though. It must be offered not in relation to this assignment. If you do receive any free food,

you must make note of it.

● Keep a record (like a diary) of all meals and money spent. This will be needed for the paper. Use

the SNAP Challenge Worksheet for this purpose.

Write a paper using the following outline. Make sure to respond to each step. This paper should be written

in essay format. Do not answer these questions using bullets. All citations should be listed in text AND

in a reference list at the end of the paper.

Introduction to Hunger (1-2 pages)

● Who is going hungry or has food insecurity in America?

● How many people are affected by hunger?

● What are some of the short-term and long-term effects of hunger?

● Use data and information from at least 3 sources. Sources may be peer-reviewed academic

journals, news websites (New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal are good

examples), a news website (60 minutes, PBS Frontline, etc) or from a hunger-related nonprofit

organization.

Challenge Details (1 page)

● Present your weekly budget and food diary on the SNAP Challenge Worksheet that is posted on the

Discussion Board in Week 7. In this section of your paper, summarize your data from that

Worksheet. What did you buy, eat and budget each day? Include a shopping list with sizes and

prices for items.

● Were you able to stay on budget?

o If you stayed on budget, what were some of the challenges and what were some of the secrets

to staying on budget?

o If you were over budget, what were the challenges and how did you resolve them? It is ok if you

“cheated” somehow. Just explain it here.

Challenge Insights (1-2 pages)

● Why did you choose Option 1?

● What were your feelings each day?

● What was your level of hunger?

● How did your hunger and budgeting impact your day?

● Was your diet nutritious? If not, what was lacking?

● How difficult was this challenge? What in particular was difficult?

Advocacy (1 page)

● How do the concepts of social, economic, and environmental justice relate to hunger and food

insecurity? Be specific and address the three types of justice mentioned.

● What policies exist that could or should be changed to decrease hunger?

● Write about 5 actions you could take as a social worker to address an aspect of hunger or food

insecurity in America. Explain how these actions would be helpful and what change you hope would

occur from that action. At least one action should be on an individual level, one on a community

level and one on larger-scale macro level. Be specific about your actions. Feel free to use existing

resources as an example.

OPTION 2: ONE WEEK BUDGET CHALLENGE

Using the guidelines for the weekly spending allowance, plan a weekly menu that would not go over the amount allowed. You will need to go “shopping” to price every single item on your menu. Remember you may NOT count anything that you already have on hand. Everything that is needed to cook the menu must be budgeted. Make sure that there are 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches and 7 dinners listed on your menu. You can use leftovers but enough food must have been previously cooked to justify enough for leftovers. In addition, you will need to choose one other way to “experience” poverty during the week for one 24-hour period, such as

● Fasting for a day ● Unplugging from ALL technology, including your cell phone, computer, iPad, etc. ● Sleeping on a hard floor ● Taking the bus, riding a bike, or walking wherever you need to go ● Living without electricity or water

You can be creative with this piece, but it must be meaningful! If you want to run an idea by your instructor feel free. Write a paper using the following outline. Make sure to respond to each step. This paper should be written in essay format. Do not answer these questions using bullets. All citations should be listed in text AND in a reference list at the end of the paper. Introduction to Hunger (1-2 pages)

● Who is going hungry or has food insecurity in America? ● How many people are affected by hunger? ● What are some of the short-term and long-term effects of hunger? ● Use data and information from at least 3 sources. Sources may be peer-reviewed academic

journals, news websites (New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal are good examples), a news website (60 minutes, PBS Frontline, etc) or from a hunger-related nonprofit organization.

Challenge Details (1 page)

● Present your weekly budget and menu using the SNAP Challenge Worksheet that is posted on the Discussion Board in Week 7. In this section of your paper, summarize your data from that Worksheet. Include a shopping list with sizes and prices for items.

● Were you able to stay on budget? ○ If you stayed on budget, what were some of the challenges and what were some of the

secrets to staying on budget? ○ If you were over budget, what were the challenges? It is ok if you “cheated” somehow. Just

explain it here. ● In what way did you choose to experience poverty during the week? Provide details as needed. ●

Challenge Insights (1-2 pages) ● Why did you choose Option 2? ● What were your feelings about this challenge? ● How satisfied would you be eating the menu you created for a week? Was it nutritious? ● How did it feel to experience poverty in the way you choose? ● How did this assignment impact you? Include thoughts about what you gave up for 24 hours. How

difficult was it to give something up? Advocacy (1 page)

● How do the concepts of social, economic, and environmental justice relate to hunger and food insecurity in America? Be specific.

● What policies exist that could or should be changed to decrease hunger? ● Write about 5 actions you could take as a social worker to address an aspect of hunger or food

insecurity in America. Explain how these actions would be helpful and what change you hope would occur from that action. At least one action should be on an individual level, one on a community level and one on larger-scale macro level. Be specific about your actions. Feel free to use existing resources as an example.

EPAS 2015

PLO 3/ Competency 3: Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice Practice Behavior 9: Apply their understanding of social, economic, and environmental justice to advocate for human rights at the individual and system levels

Practice Behavior 10: Engage in practices that advance social, economic, and environmental justice.