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.