The Do's and Don'ts of the SNAP Challenge

Image via Gwyneth Paltrow

Though the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Challenge often raises awareness about food insecurity, in the wrong hands it can perpetuate stereotypes and overshadow the voices of actual food-insecure people.

Is there any way at all to ethically participate in the SNAP Challenge?

The SNAP Challenge is like a fast, during which you deny your selves the food you take for granted in order to reflect on your privileges and ignite the commitment to building a just world. If you include the SNAP Challenge in your broader work for social justice, remember to follow these guidelines.

The Do’s and Don’ts of the SNAP Challenge

DON’T assume the SNAP Challenge will show you exactly what it’s like to be poor.
Subsisting on $1.40 per meal is just one aspect of poverty. Your fast has an end date, while SNAP recipients continuously live with the uncertainty of where the next meal is coming from. Recognize the privileges that mitigate your discomfort during the SNAP Challenge (employment, transportation, free time, etc.).

DO remember to include advocacy.
Tell your legislators to support SNAP funding. Write letters to the editor and social media posts about the importance of the food safety net. Share links about hunger facts. Educate your social circles about what you have learned. See advocacy in action.

DON'T go into the SNAP Challenge expecting to prove food-insecure people wrong.
They are experts on their own experience. There is nothing the SNAP Challenge will teach you that a hungry person has not already tried to tell the world. You are participating in the SNAP Challenge not to verify their claims, but to walk with them in empathy, if only for a short time.

DO share your experience.
You may notice things about yourself and the world that you’d taken for granted before. You may confront your own assumptions about hunger and poverty. Pay attention to how hunger affects your emotions and thoughts; imagine living with those effects for months, or years. Share these realizations and encourage others to challenge their assumptions, too.

DON’T treat it like a game or an adventure.
Nobody wins the SNAP Challenge. Making it to the end of the week is not a victory. Treat it as an exercise in compassion. Treat it as a reminder to pay more attention to the struggles of people living in food-insecurity, and advocate for them. Cultivate admiration for their resourcefulness and strength in extraordinary circumstances.

DO your research.
While you’re sharing your experience, remember to share the words of hungry people, too. Read articles by people who rely on food banks and SNAP. Listen to the stories of families suffering from food insecurity, and share those stories on social media.

DO consider donating the money you saved.
Take all the money you didn’t spend on food during your SNAP Challenge week, and consider donating it.

DO continue your advocacy when the SNAP Challenge is over.
When the week is over, you may be able to go back to your regular eating habits, but hungry people all over America must still rely on SNAP. Keep advocating for policies that better serve them. Keep listening to their stories and supporting them.

CLICK HERE for more information on the SNAP Challenge.











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

NY and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

One-fourth of New Yorkers 60 and older who live independently face the threat of hunger, with many forced to choose between paying for medicine or food. Yet only about half of eligible New Yorkers receive help through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP.

Individuals with a monthly income of $1,862 or less and couples below $2,522 are eligible.

Unlike the old food stamps, SNAP benefits are issued on a debit style card that can be used at participating grocery stores, convenience stores, and some farmers markets.

The application form is six pages long and requires additional documentation to prove your identity, income, and expenses. For many older New Yorkers, particularly those with cognitive and physical difficulties, this is a problem.

AARP and other consumer groups are urging New York to simplify the application, as Alabama did several years ago, when it introduced a two-page form for older households.

Other changes are: removing the finger-print requirement (Has been dropped as a requirement); translating the application to more then the current seven languages; getting New York agencies to share information so those already getting other benefits, like home heating assistance, can get SNAP benefits.

The average eligible New Yorker gets about $150 per month.

CLICK HERE for information about hunger solutions for New Yorkers.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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End Childhood Hunger in America

It’s time to make your voice heard.

This week, Congress is working on the Farm Bill, legislation that includes funding for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly food stamps). Half of all SNAP participants are kids, making it our nation’s most powerful and effective anti-hunger program for children. Some members of Congress are looking to slash funding for SNAP, which will have a devastating effect. These cuts will mean more kids will face hunger in America.

SNAP is proven to reduce poverty among kids and has important economic benefits for communities. And SNAP Ed which is also facing cuts helps low-income families use their SNAP dollars more efficiently and make healthy food choices.

Here’s what at stake with the proposed cuts:

-Millions of families could lose access to the program entirely
-Hundreds of thousands of kids to lose access to free school meals
-Programs that help low-income families make healthy food choices would be gutted

We cannot afford the increase in health care costs, declining test scores, and lower graduation rates that come with taking healthy food away from our children.

CLICK HERE to tell your state representatives in Congress to support SNAP.

Thanks in advance for adding your voice to the No Kid Hungry campaign at a time when our children need you more than ever.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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