Give Me Fruitful Error Full of Seeds

The Season of Hope:  A Community Day Center Blog on Food, Gardening and the Human Spirit

GIVE ME FRUITFUL ERROR FULL OF SEEDS

May 22, 2012

Over the last few weeks, many seeds in our garden have started to sprout.  First it was the radishes, standing in a tight row and jostling each other under the sun.  Then, come the pea shoots, swaying in the breeze, looking so gangly that we thought they might topple over.  Newly sprouted spinach make lame attempt to masquerade as fat blades of grass, while the collard greens and Swiss chard competed for our attention.  Even the potatoes are stirring in their most unnatural habitat of 2 synthetic bags.  We can spend all day marveling at the infinite possibilities these seedlings represent:  the promise of long, warm summer days; visits by butterflies and bees, the sharp crunch of that first bite into a radish; the sweetness of freshly steamed peas; spinach salad with plenty of beacon bits still warm.  Then, we read about two brothers in China who buy fresh vegetables from the market and turn them into musical instruments – carrot panpipes held together by leeks, Bok choy harmonica, yam ocarina, etc. – with which they perform concerts of traditional songs and modern pop tunes.  (To watch:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17340348).  We realized instantly that we have utterly misconstrued the potentials of vegetables and the purpose of seeds.

radishes and carrots in tight rows

pea tendrils

 

spinach

potatoes

Ask any one where does a plant’s potential lie and you are likely to hear the usual adage:  that the entire fruit is already present in the seed; or that from an acorn a mighty forest will grow; or that all the flowers of tomorrow are seeds of yesterday.  We are told to Judge each day not by the harvest we reap but by the seeds we plant.  So what is a seed?  A Botanist will say that a seed is the union of male and female genetic material from flower(s) and has three parts:  the rudiment of future roots, stem and leave; an energy reserve (which is why we find seeds so nutritious) that will enable growth; and an outer coating that protects the seed before it is ready to germinate.   A geneticist will say that a seed is the message that one generation of plants pass on to the next in a game of “broken telephone.” Overtime, that message --that is, the manifested characteristics of the plant -- is no longer the same as the original one.    Because of this tendency towards genetic variation over time, an ecologist will say that a seed is the plant’s ticket to travel.  Diversity is the plant’s investment in the future and its preparation for a changing world.  Through genetic diversity, it is possible for some dispersed seeds to establish themselves under new environmental conditions.  This is how flowering plants conquered the world. 

edible pansies

The sentimentalists in us would say a seed – like a person -- is a paradox.  To reach maturity and bear fruit, a seed requires light and dark, day and night, genesis and destruction.  It must break its protective outer layer, before it can begin a new live.  The poet Mary Sarton (http://www.languageisavirus.com/may-sarton/writer_interview_with_may_sarton.php  wrote:  “… to be ever faithful gardeners of the spirit, [we must] know that without darkness nothing comes to birth, and without light nothing flowers.”  Each day, the guests at the Community Day Center live with light and darkness:  the darkness of living with little or no resources; the darkness of disability and addiction; and, the darkness of being relegated to the margin of our society.  But, there is also light:  the light of a warm and safe place that serves a satisfying meal; the light of acceptance and friendship; and the light of the Center staff who understands that life challenges more than it accommodates, so works to foster new life from destruction, self-sufficiency from crisis.

 In darkness, Richie confesses,“ I found it easier to cope by drinking and using substances to get me through the day…my military experiences…my divorce,”. Angel wants to work, but people are not hiring.  The economy is pretty bad so it is hard to get a job. “I am an alcoholic.  Sometimes I put myself in bad shape and depression doesn’t help.”   Jay has been through detox and rehab, but said they weren’t what he needed.” That is why I come here (Day Center) all the time because I feel like this is family. I am not alone when I am here.  You did it.  You put that lump in my throat.  That is why I love this place. I keep that happy face when I am here.  As hard as this is for me, well this is my medicine too,” said Jay.

Even as our guests are taking one step in front of another to escape homelessness, they are shedding light to others.  Not with money because they don't have much, but more importantly of themselves. When a man was left at the bus stop, Patrick brought him to the Day Center and showed him where to go for food and services. Once in a while Steven would purchase deli meat and tomatoes from this food stamps to add to our grilled cheese sandwiches. Ron, Bernard, Oswaldo help us with planting and watering the plants in our garden. Others like Jay, Angel, Walter would unload my groceries, clean the kitchen or bring out the trash.  Each of our guests do this without complaints (my children, are you reading this?) because they believe and appreciate what we are doing at the Center.

Yet, if we think of light more broadly, we will see how our guests at the Center also shed light on our world.  (Just as we now see vegetables as food as well as musical instruments.) Reflecting on Emily’s blogs from the week of May 14th, we see that our guests taught us a great deal about how we make decisions under the condition of extreme resource limitation.  Our food choice is driven by a multiplicity of factors among which consideration of health must compete with the exigencies of hunger, cost, availability of free food, and accessibility to ready-made food.  Emily’s interviews with our guests revealed that how we prioritize is often a function of how we must manage our immediate circumstances; and this affects our ability to balance short-term satisfaction against long-term benefits. Importantly, Emily’s blog also points out that, absent knowledge, our good intentions may not translate into the best charitable actions we can take – e.g., donating sweet, high caloric food to shelters and soup kitchens.  With this understanding, we can begin to chart a way forward to advocate for and provide healthy food for our guests.  In a larger arena, such understanding can guide the development of policy and social safety network that has at its heart the actual experience and perception of the people to be served.   Vilfredo Pareto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_efficiency), whose development of the concept of economic efficiency is revered by generations of economists, declared:   Give me the fruitful error any time, full of seeds, bursting with its own corrections. You can keep your sterile truth for yourself.  This time, the economist is right.

Healthy Food Project: Methodology

Here Emily Mead, our intern, is setting the stage and context of the experiment to eat healthy on limited resources- so that her readers will understand the importance of her experiment, why it needs to be done and how her methodology fits in to what she is trying to find out.  We thought it was important to show you her interviews with our guests. Although it is a small sampling of guests, these interviews reveal that their food choices are made based on numerous factors.

Healthy Food Project: Interviews by Emily Mead

In embarking on the next few days where I will be experiencing the way in which an average guest at the Waltham Community Day Center eats everyday, I thought I would interview some guests to find out their perspective and facts on their eating lifestyles. Their lifestyles usually involve food stamps. People can apply for food stamps and depending on their income and living situations they are given a certain amount of money per month on a card, called a food stamp, which they can use at certain grocery stores for food that is not pre-made/hot, expect for some prepared sandwiches at particular places. Along with questions pertaining to food stamps and their daily meals, I asked questions regarding their lives in general. David was whom I interviewed first…

DAVID:

            David is living alone in elderly housing and drives his Mom’s car. Because of his arthritis and other health conditions including being bipolar and schizophrenic, he is eligible for public housing. He receives thirty-two dollars on every 8^th of the month on his food stamp. He shared that this thirty-two dollars “is gone in a couple of days.” He has not been going to the Salvation Army lately for breakfast. But, he will sometimes have a bowl of cereal in the mornings at his home. He mostly “lives off meals at the Day Center” where he is getting snacks and lunch. Today at the Day Center, he had three slices of cheese pizza and a piece of cake and some coffee. The Day Center is open from 1:30-4:30 and lunch is served at 1:30. So, David says that he usually gets hungry around noon since he has a “small breakfast and late lunch.” After being at the Center, David usually goes to the Bristol Lodge Soup Kitchen for dinner, which is about a two-minute walk from the Center.

            As for David’s grocery shopping he usually will go out shopping each month and buys a large amount of food because he has a place where he can store it. He will also go to the grocery store for snacks such as, coke and a cupcake, or a soda and a banana. He buys snacks at least twice a day and spending about 15 dollars everyday on these snacks. All of his grocery shopping will usually cost him 100 dollars per month. He receives 800 dollars per month from SSDI (Social Security Disability Income), which allows him to be able to pay for the rest of his groceries. He has been on SSDI for about 20 years and says, “If you are an alcoholic or drug addict, you should be on it.” What he means by this is that alcoholics and drug addicts should have a place where they can go to get help; if not SSDI than another sort of program.

            Besides food, it costs David $1.25 per wash at the laundry mat in the elderly housing. And he does not want to get a job because then his rent will go up and he will not receive as much money from the SSDI.

            Although David says he is usually “thinking and worrying a lot about money and food,” he was conscious that I had not had any pizza and asked if I wanted some.

PAUL:

            The next man that I interviewed was Paul. He does not have a car, and instead of the buses, he chooses to walk everywhere. He lives in an apartment and receives 57 dollars on his food stamp every month. He goes to Hannaford’s for coffee, the Salvation Army for breakfast, the Center for lunch on Mondays and Wednesday’s and the Soup Kitchen for dinner. He doesn’t do a lot of shopping, and so he does not spend much money per day on food. He says he is “sustained” by the meals that are served to him and so he doesn’t need much snacks. He does not buy much food for his apartment either. Right now, he has milk and pork chops in his fridge.

            He spends $1.25 to wash his clothes in the basement of the apartment next door. He is not worrying about food and money, because of the meals that he gets. Also, the SSDI gives him $1,367 a month. Since he has been clean and sober for 2 years and 5 months, he doesn’t spend his money on “cocaine, marijuana or alcohol.” He will have a beer occasionally, but he hasn’t had one in a long time. “Enough is enough,” he said and so he has impressively been clean and sober for a long time.

            He is unemployed, but doesn’t really mind because he says, “it’s like a big vacation.” Although he says his life does get boring sometimes, because he doesn’t have much to do. But, he is not lonely. He has a girlfriend that lives in Natick, who he sees on the weekends.

            He doesn’t feel judged and his lifestyle didn’t change what he thinks of himself or humanity. He is content with himself and goes by day instead of thinking long term.

DAVE:

            Dave was the next person that I interviewed. He lives in a rooming house in Waltham. He receives “200 dollars and something” on his food stamp each month, but doesn’t buy much food. At night, he usually goes to Tedeschi’s and buys a soda and cookies. Dave always decides to buy soda and cookies simply because he likes those things the best. He doesn’t care about healthy food because the soda and cookies “taste better.” However, he will choice some of Tedeschi’s healthy pre-made sandwiches sometimes. He doesn’t have breakfast and so he is always hungry for lunch at the Day Center. He will go to the Soup Kitchen for dinner every “once in a while.” However, he has a lot of friends including a lot of the Waltham Police officers, who will take him out for dinner very often.

            He does not have a charge for his housekeeper, who washes his clothes. He is developmentally delayed and qualifies for Medicare, MassHealth and SSDI. His family got SSDI for him and he has a social worker that manages his money. He is not worrying about the long term; he just takes his life one day at a time.

BARNARD:

            I also interviewed a man named, Barnard. He has three daughters, one son, three grandsons and nephews. He stays in touch with all of his family members and spends a lot of time with his one grandson and nephews that live in Waltham, so he doesn’t find himself feeling lonely. He has SSDI, which he says provides him with “barely” enough money. He has a car and lives in a shelter in Cambridge and receives $140 on his food stamp every month. The shelter provides breakfast, which he eats every morning. He doesn’t usually come to the Day Center for food. He usually goes to the Soup Kitchen for food (snacks and dinner). He usually spends around $10-$12 on snacks, such as subs and soda from grocery stores around the Day Center. He likes to think long term, so he “stocks up the fridge” from the food pantry where he volunteers.

            He does not feel judged in the sense that people look at him funny, but does not like all authority because they “look at you like you’re inhumane.” He finds that some people who run shelters “take advantage of their job and their power to kick you out of the shelter.” He says those that abuse their power are “evil.” But some are fine.

            He enjoys volunteering at the Day Center, Soup Kitchen, etc. He is an electrician, but because of his health he cannot do very much regarding that profession. But, he says he “needs a job.”

            After 20 years he found his son. He was an alcoholic and a drug addict and has been clean for a long time because he was “tired” and “didn’t want to be around his grandkids and children with alcohol and drugs.”

            He shares that he is “going to be alright” and said, “I’ve learned to survive with what I got.” He says that he is happy and can’t worry because since he is at his low he can “only come up.” Barnard told me to always be thankful for what I have, something that he has always kept dear to his heart.

RON: 

            I interviewed a man named, Ron, as well. Ron lives under a bridge in Waltham. He is 51 and does not worry about healthy eating. He has health insurance and MassHealth. He receives $200 a month on his food stamp. He is a war Veteran for the U.S. Navy and so he “knows how to survive.” He goes to the Day Center for lunch, but he also volunteers there. He buys coffee and tea at the convenient stores, where its cheaper. He does not get any hunger pains and so he does not buy many snacks. When he does use his food stamps he purchases juice and sandwiches. He does not go to the Soup Kitchen because he eats all the food he needs at the Day Center. He broke his hip and so he cannot do many jobs.

            He has a “game plan” for the “short term” because his fiancé is a hospice nurse in Florida, where he will be joining her in the summer. The “separation is hard,” but they are very excited to see each other.

            Because Ron was in the U.S. Navy he knows how to “sustain himself.” He says his lifestyle works for him because “he knows how to do it.” He grew up in a household that always said, “man up.”

            He does not like shelters. He did not like the Veteran shelter because he said some people there were “too needy” and that there was too much “riff raff.” He made a point that he was doing this interview out of the kindness of his heart and was not looking for any money or curious to who I was and what money I could give him, as he said some others would probably be wondering.

            He is content with his life. He goes to the library, where he reads often. He is in touch with his daughter, who is a marine biologist. He is not acclimated to the Internet and email, but he can use his phone just fine. He used to play golf and hockey. He is a big baseball fan. He is a fan of the Red Sox, but mostly of the Chicago Cubs. He says his lifestyle is “not the way a human being should live, but that he can adapt” because of his experience in the navy.

            As you can see, there are many different lifestyles of these people. I can always expect there to be food in my house, but many people have to walk a distance to get meals, or think about managing their food stamps to make sure their stomach is full. I won’t take food for granted again.

Healthy Food Project- Final Reflections

Here are Emily's  final reflections of her experience with healthy eating , the role of social service programs in subsidizing nutrition, and recommendations.  Thank you, Emily for all your hard work!

 Over the course of interviewing guests at the Community Day Center of Waltham and the experiment that I under took for two days, I have learned a lot regarding health and food pertaining to the guests at the Center.

I have learned that since guests are generally very hungry before they are given a meal and or snacks, they tend to crave the high calorie and high sugar food more than the salads or apples. Although there are always healthy foods served at meals and for snacks, there are always sweets and unhealthy foods too. So, there is that choice of healthy vs. not healthy and it is hard to take people’s rights to choose away.

Many of the foods that are donated to the Soup Kitchen and Day Center are chips/cakes/brownies/cookies and other unhealthy foods, so when people are already donating out of the kindness of their hearts, it wouldn’t be right to ask them to bring more healthy food instead. So, then it is up to the Staff and volunteers at the Day Center to make sure there is healthy food, but it wouldn’t be right if they were buying it all the time. So, some encouragement towards possible donors to bring healthy food would be best. 

 Since many guests are alcoholics or recovering alcoholics they crave and enjoy sugary foods very much. That also adds a dilemma to this health issue because you have two bad choices: drink alcohol or supplement it with sugary foods. But, healthy supplements are what have to be thought of. Marilyn Lee-Tom’s, the executive Director at the Day Center,  idea and creation of the garden is incredible. It is a great way for guests to get active outdoors, involved with their health and well being, etc. If guests immerse themselves in the garden, a love of gardening and healthy eating may evolve. Then, guests may want to supplement the piece of cake for a handful of raspberries. And even though it may be hard to pick carrots over a cupcake, everyone can!

From this experiment I also learned that if you cannot make it to the Day Center and or the Soup Kitchen each day, it is very hard to buy enough food to sustain yourself and give yourself good nutrition for not more than $6. It really goes to show one of the many reasons why the Day Center and Soup Kitchen are such wonderful places to be very grateful for. It also shows that if you have that limited about of money, food (something that can be taken for granted so easily) can be the biggest thing that you are worried about getting.

I also found that your mindset plays into your healthy eating. I found that many guests aren’t thinking long term. They are just thinking about what do they feel like eating to sustain them for that day. So, if it’s that bag of chips that they want, they aren’t thinking about how it will impact them long term, they are just thinking about if it will help them not got hungry for that day.

Healthy living is also about education. Although I found that most guests know what is healthy and what is not, many did not know the consequences of not eating healthy. So, it is important to educate people on how their decisions can impact them.

Some guests were very dedicated to eating healthy. Many of them walk a lot, and enjoy it and see how it is very beneficial for their mental and physical health.

Food and the way we eat are connected to many aspects of our lives. It’s connected to our health, our happiness, our energy, etc. So, it is vital to try to make the best healthy decision that will be filling and satisfying. And if you are purchasing food, it is possible to get healthy food that is filling, satisfying and cheap!

If you look back at my Day 1 post, there are healthy, cheap and filling foods that you can purchase at Tedeschi’s. I would encourage those to shop there for healthy meals and snacks rather than going to a fast food restaurant where everything is unhealthy for you. And purchase a re-usable water bottle. It will save you so much money on drinks, is better for the environment and will help you steer clear of sodas because you can fill it up with water the Day Center and Soup Kitchen for free!

And if guests find themselves worrying about food I would encourage them to take a walk. Refresh yourself and enjoy the outdoors. On Day 2 of my experiment, it really helped me clear my mind. Gardening is a great stress reliever as well.

I would encourage everyone to try to live off of $6 a day on food. Go to the Day Center and or Soup Kitchen and walk in these guest’s shoes. If you take food for granted now, I guarantee you won’t after the experiment.

I hope everyone is thankful for the food that they have and will strive to be as healthy as they can for their happiness and well being for those around you. Leading by example can be a very powerful act. Happiness and healthy living is contagious! J 

Thank you for those you read my posts!

Healthy Food Project: Experiment Day 2

Emily had an AP exam that she had schedule prior to our experiment.  Since she was not in Waltham, she couldn't depend on the Day Center or Soup Kitchen for nourishment and had to rely on purchasing the most filling and healthy food she could with her $6.00.  Stay tuned for tomorrow for Emily's synthesis of her experience and any revised advice she has for us. And, based on what she learned, it may be possible for the Day Center to develop a healthy eating/healthy snack program for the guests.

Day 2

Having to take an exam today added a degree of difficulty in Day 2 of this experiment. I have never found myself thinking this much about food. I was constantly trying to plan when to eat, to try to sustain myself for the longest amount of time. I also found myself planning for what type of food I might have to buy if I get hungry and if I would be able to afford it. All this worrying and thinking about food really put in perspective a different stress that many others have to deal with every day. It made me remember that there can be things that some of us never think twice about and some have to think about constantly. It just goes to show that we should never take anything for granted.

So, this morning I had the Cliff Bar that I purchased yesterday at around 10:00AM. That sustained me throughout the exam. I used my re-usable water bottle throughout the day, which saves a lot of money on drinks and is great for the environment!

 

(Picture from: http://keetsa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/this-is-not-plastic-sigg-water-bottle.jpg)

Since, I was finished with my exam at 5PM I did not have enough time to go to the Day Center or the Soup Kitchen. If I am being completely honest, I forgot about how this exam would affect my food intake today, so I had an unexpected dilemma. I went to Dunkin Donuts in Waltham and purchased a small hot coffee for $1.70 and a plain bagel with cream cheese for $2.25, adding up to $3.95 out of my daily $6.00. By that time it was around 5:45PM and like many of the guests do everyday I decided to talk a walk around Waltham (mainly on Main Street and Moody Street). I found this to be a pleasant walk, saying hello to people and enjoying the fresh air. During the walk I was able to free my mind on food and just enjoy my surroundings. I went back home around 6:45 and did not find myself to be that hungry. Now that it is about 10:00PM I could use a little food. So, I finished off the trail mix that I bought yesterday and instead of thinking that my stomach isn’t really full, I will head off to bed.

Tomorrow I will be attending the Day Center and the Soup Kitchen and now will plan to eat what is provided at those places and see if I am sustained enough to not have to buy any snacks!

Healthy Food Project: Experiment Day 1

In this experiment, we want to understand how individuals who are homeless and those who are poor can eat more healthy -- given the resources they have access to. In day one and two Emily Mead, our intern,  will be eating on $6.00 per day, a typical allocation from Food Stamps for a single homeless individual, and relying on the soup kitchen, Salvation Army and the Day Center in providing nutritional needs. We need to know whether it is problem with cost or lack of information or lack of access to cooking facilities or the physical set up of the urban environment in poorer neighborhoods.  Until we have some information, we don’t know what is the most cost effective way of serving them.

Healthy Food Project    

Day 1

Today I woke up at 8AM and went to Russell’s Garden Center, where I work, without having breakfast.  (The Salvation Army would not have opened for breakfast until 9AM.) At Russell’s I moved and priced plants from 9AM to noon. Since I usually have a bowl of cereal or a small breakfast before going to work, I felt myself feeling more tired at Russell’s, having not had anything to eat. I also found myself thinking frequently about food and when I would be able to eat.

At noon I drove to the Day Center and I took my backpack and started walking to find where most guests of the Day Center are going to buy food. I spotted Tedeschi’s (where many guests go) and decided to check it out. Tedeschi’s is a convenient store, a block away from the Day Center, so they had all sorts of snacks, food, drinks, magazines, lottery tickets, etc. I asked the lady at the cash register if they accepted food stamps for all food, including the pre-made sandwiches. With a smile on her face, she kindly and in a judgmental way replied, “Yes, we do.” So, I started searching for cheap, filling, healthy foods. I found that Bananas are .99 cents per pound, a small coffee is $1.39 plus tax, a cheese stick is .99 cents, a cup of peaches or a cup of tropical fruit or a cup of mandarin oranges (pineapple and mango) is $1.59, a Yoplait Yogurt is $1.19, but a Chobani Yogurt, which comes in a slightly bigger package and contains 26% of protein compared to the 10% of protein in the Yoplait Yogurt, is $1.69. All of these products are great healthy, filling and cheap snacks!

Then there are various types of sandwiches including, egg salad on country white for $3.99, chicken cheddar pesto on country white for $4.29 and bologne with American cheese for $3.99. Tedeschi’s also had New England Potato salad for $2.49, a garden salad for $3.99 and a package of three muffins for $1.49. There were various healthy cereals like, a box of Honey Bunches of Oats for $4.39, a box of Raisin Bran for $4.69 and a box of Cherrios for $4.59. Peanut butter sandwiches are also a healthy, filling and cheap snack. At Tedeschi’s there are very healthy loafs of 12 grain bread that cost $2.99 each and peanut butter for $3.59. These choices would not have been practical. I couldn’t have finished the food in one seating nor did I want to carry bread, peanut butter nor cereal box around. These purchases would also have taken a healthy chunk of my money, leaving me with little left in case I needed to buy food for dinner. Food at larger grocery stores would have been cheaper, but the nearest Hannaford's was over one mile away.

After looking around for about 30 minutes, I remembered that the Day Center was serving a meat lasagna for lunch, and since I am a vegetarian I thought that I should get a few snacks. In only being able to spend $6.00 each day on food, I looked around for some cheap, filling, healthy snacks. Besides the yogurt, fruit and cheese sticks, I found trail mix, power bars and peanut butter crackers. So, I bought Tedeschi’s Fruit and Nut Mix ($2.19). So, it’s pretty healthy! A good source of energy! I also purchased an Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Cliff Bar for $1.69, which is a healthy, filling and cheap snack.  That bar is great because it has everything! Lastly, I bought a package of Austin’s peanut butter crackers (49 cents), which contained 6 crackers.  So, I went to the cash register, paid for my snacks (the total was $4.33), asked for no bag and started on my 4 minute walk back to the Day Center while eating my peanut butter crackers. I found the peanut butter crackers to be a great snack. And they are less expensive and more healthy than a package of three cookies (79 cents)!(See below for nutritional information.)

When I returned to the Day Center it was about 1:30PM. There was a salad and some bread along with the lasagna, so I had a salad and a piece of cheese bread. 

                                                                                    

The Day Center also had woopie pies, pieces of coffee cake, packages of mini cookies and crackers, coffee, water, small pies, etc. for snacks. (All the snacks were donated.)

  

So, I realized that maybe I didn’t need to buy those snacks at Tedeschi’s. However, the trail mix, peanut butter crackers and power bar are more healthy than a piece of coffee cake, pie and a woopie pie. So, it was either spend my own money for healthier snacks that day, or save money and eat the sweeter snacks provided for me at the Day Center.

 

 (Apples, brownies, pies, candies, muffins, pretzels and cake at the Soup Kitchen).

 For dinner tonight at the Soup Kitchen, they served rice and chicken curry and leftover beef and beans. Being a vegetarian, I had some rice, so I found myself eating my bag of trail mix later.

So, today I spent $4.33 on food, which means I did not go over my limit of $6.00  per day! Excect for the morning, I did not feel hungry throughout the day. I did not feel full during the day, but I felt sustained and with enough energy to go about my day. Since I still have my power bar, I will eat that for breakfast tomorrow. Instead of buying my own snacks, tomorrow I will eat the snacks at the Center and Soup Kitchen and see how that goes!

**********************************************************************************

Fruit and Nut Mix : The nutrition facts were as follows: 110 calories, 35 calories from fat, 7% total fat, 0% saturated and trans fat, 0% cholesterol, 1% sodium, 7% carbohydrates, 10% fiber, 18g of sugars, 1g of protein, 11% Vitamin A, 2% Vitamin C, 5% Iron.

Oatmeal Raison Walnut Cliff Bar:  containing 240 calories, 8% totally fat, 3% saturated fat, 7% sodium, 7% potassium, 14% carbohydrates, 20% fiber, 22g of sugar and 20% of protein.

Peanut Butter Crackers:  including 190 calories, 14% total fat, 8% saturated fat, 13% sodium, 8% carbohydrates, 5% fiber, 5g sugars and 5% protein. (Percents for each food are all based on a daily value).

Healthy Food Project

This is the first in a series of 4 posts by Emily Mead, a student at Weston High School, interning at the Community Day Center of Waltham, a day shelter for the homeless in the Waltham/MetroWest region. In her post (#1), Emily noted the unhealthy food choices by our guests, even though there were healthier choices. In posts (2 & 3 ) over the next two days, Emily will be documenting making healthy choices while eating at the Salvation Army, Community Day Center of Waltham, Soup Kitchen and/or spending $6.00 per day, the average amount of money for individuals on Food Stamps. She will purchase food from places that are within reasonable walking distance of the Day Center, and store food without refrigeration or cooking facilities. And post (4) will be a synthesis of her experience and any revised advice she has for us.  And, based on what she learned, it may be possible for the Day Center to develop a healthy eating/healthy snack program for the guests. 

These posts are based on Emily’s observations and experiences and not the position of the Day Center.  Part of our work at the Day Center is to further educate our public, so please read all 4 posts to see how it all unfolds at:  http://cdcwseasonofhope.blogspot.com/ 

Post 1:  by Emily Mead

When some Community Day Center guests use their foods stamps they tend to gravitate towards the foods that will give them “instant gratification,” for the cheapest amount, foods that will take away their hunger and sustain them for the longest amount of time. They are aware of what is healthy and what’s not, but many aren’t thinking about the long term, they are thinking about the short term. And so they aren’t buying a bag of carrots, they are buying a more filling box of donuts.

( Picture from https://www2.nau.edu/wordpress-mu/plaid/files/2012/03/healthy_living-12rnho3.gif)

Some guests of the Day Center shared that your food choices also depend on if you have an apartment and stove where you can cook. Many would be willing to buy the healthier choice, if they could cook it. And since you may not purchase any processed/already made food (expect for sandwiches at some stores) or hot food, a guest might buy “a pack of mini sandwiches at Tedeschi’s, some cookies, and a 99-cent liter of soda” for a snack. Guests also find themselves buying a lot of candy, junk food and other high calorie food because it is cheap and will keep them full for a long duration of time. This is especially true when a lot of them don’t know when and where their next meal will be coming from or if they are going to have to skip a day of using their foods stamps.

 (Picture from http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4rIBN-moKWg/Tb-e03rgKII/AAAAAAAAB2Y/d63jAyGIzlk/s400/live-positive.blogspot.com+%25287%2529.jpg)

 Guests are shopping at Hannaford’s, Shaw’s and Stop and Shop, but not Whole Foods. So, when it comes to the more expensive organic foods that the guests know are healthier, they either can’t afford it, don’t have the proper facilities to cook it with, or choose to buy the junk food that will fill their stomachs right away, or all of the above.

(Picture from http://everydayfoodblog.marthastewart.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Justins-nut-butter-shots-400x303.jpg)

So, how can you eat healthy and stay full when you have a limited about of facilities and food stamps? Here are some great choices:

• Cheese and bread. (A substantial amount of calories to sustain you and a good source of your daily protein and carbohydrates)
• Yogurt. (For an instant healthy snack)
• Make a sandwich. Buy a loaf of bread (whole wheat or whole grain) and some cold cuts for a filling snack or meal. Add a side of low-fat organic milk or another healthy drink, not soda.
• Mixed nuts and dried fruit, such as trail mix, is a great snack to give you some protein and give you instant gratification.
• Almond butter is great for you and tastes great on whole wheat bread or crackers.
• Peanut butter is also a filling good source of protein. Make a peanut butter sandwich, or put peanut butter on an apple or banana.
• These mini packages are great to carry around, with an apple or crackers, if you are ever hungry for a snack:

(Picture from http://www.nhsggc.org.uk/content/mediaassets/images/food_circle_400x405.jpg)

You don’t have to think long term, just focus on eating healthy each day!