Food Justice Month

Now that the challenge is officially done (assuming the participants have eaten their last meal for the day) – it’s time for one last check in.

Participant Prompts

• What did you eat on your last day?
• How is your energy level and productivity holding up?
• What was your total food expenditure for the week?
• What will you take away from this experience?
• How would your life be different if you had to live on this food budget for a month? 6 months? a year?

How is it going?  It’s a basic question, but there are probably a lot of different answers at this point.  Let’s check in.

Participant Prompts

• What did you eat today?
• How easy/difficult has the week been? What has made it easier/more difficult?
• Are you at all worried about finishing out the week?
• How have other people reacted to your participation in the Challenge?
• Have you been able to maintain a good level of energy and productivity this week?

We’re on the downward side of the week.  How are you doing so far?

Participant Prompts

• What were today’s meals?
• How is your food supply holding up?
• How different has your diet been this week compared to your normal diet?
• Do you have any dietary restrictions or needs that have impacted your week (i.e. an athlete, keeping kosher, etc.)?  If so, how?
• How is your mood and energy level?  How is your productivity compared to normal?

The week is halfway done.  The participants should be getting used to it by now, right?

Participant Prompts

• What did you eat today?
• How healthy have your meals been?
• How much is left in your budget?
• How easy do you think it will be to make it the rest of the week?
• Is it getting easier or more difficult to live on your budget?
• How’s your energy level and mood at this point in the week?  How’s your productivity been?

Almost halfway through the week!!!

Participant Prompts

• What was today’s menu?
• How satisfied have you been feeling with your meals?
• How have you had to adjust your lifestyle because of the Challenge?
• How is your energy/mood?  Is it being impacted by your diet at all?

Now the challenge is really getting underway.  Let’s see what folks have to say after the second day.

Participant Prompts

• What were today’s meals?
• How are you working to stretch your money?
• What sorts of conversations are you having with people about your participation in the challenge?
• How is your energy level/mood today?

The grocery shopping is done and the cooking as begun.  How big of a change will the first day be?

Day 1 Participant Prompts

• When you did your grocery shopping, what did you buy? What’s your plan for the week?
• Where did you shop? How easy was it to shop on your budget?
• How easy was it to find a store that accepted food stamps/SNAP/EBT/CalFresh?
• Do you have any initial reactions to your experience?
• What did you choose to eat today?
• How healthy do you think your menus are going to be this week?
• How is your mood/energy today?

The kickoff meeting is over, and now there are a few short days for participants to prepare for the Food Stamp Challenge (FSC).  Each day throughout the challenge I’ll post a series of prompts or questions to this site for participants.  They will respond with their experiences and thoughts from the week.  Whether or not you are participating, if you have questions please feel free to post them in the comments section or email them to gerboc (at) oxy (dot) edu and I’ll include them in the next day’s post.  Check back often as participants may share their comments at various times throughout the day/week.

As a side note, two of the houses participating in the challenge are recording some of their experiences on video.  We’ll post those as we’re able, so keep your eyes open for that.

Participant Prompts – Pre-Challenge

• Why did you choose to participate in the challenge?
• What was it like to be fingerprinted?  Did you have any reservations?  Why or why not?
• How are you planning to meet the challenge?
• How difficult do you think it will be?
• What challenges do you foresee?
• How much do you typically spend on food in a given week?  When, if ever, do you ever find yourself hungry during your typical week?

As we prepare for the Food Stamp Challenge, I have received a number of questions about fingerprinting.  Some of the participants are not comfortable being fingerprinted to participate in a program.  You see, part of the process for registering for the challenge is to go to Campus Safety and have your fingerprints taken. This is designed to mirror a part of the application process for people in the state of California (and others) who want to apply for food stamps.

Now I certainly understand the discomfort, but it’s a fact of life for so many people.  To help you understand some of the issues surrounding the fingerprinting requirement I wanted to post a short piece here with some of the resources that I’ve come across in this process.  First, there is the general feeling of criminalization that goes along with it.  This is an issue not only with the fingerprinting process, but there is also a sense that poverty has been criminalized in the U.S. in general.  In addition to the stigma and fears surrounding fingerprinting on a local level, there are also federal implications.  With the implementation of the Secure Communities program, there are new fears surrounding deportations resulting from the sharing of fingerprint information between local jurisdictions, the FBI, and ICE.

Fortunately, there is a bill that passed the California Assembly this summer that is working to remove fingerprinting from the application process.  There has also been another study helping support the cause and encouraging Governor Brown to sign the bill into law.  All of this is to say that the issue is quite contentious, and I’m glad to hear that there are conversations happening about it on campus.