Hey there!! I'm late again on the blogging this week, that's what I get for going home again this weekend..It's so easy to forget when I'm gone all weekend.
Anyways....
Tuesday in class we had our first guest speaker, Nick Claussen, from Jobs and Family Services. The department he works for is federally funded and helps low-income families with services like job training, child care, food assistance (SNAP), cash assistance, etc. We learned that the department is monitored by state and local governments. They check for things like errors in paperwork, abuse of benefits, etc. The main part of Nick's discussion was on SNAP and food insecurity in Athens county. I learned lots of fun little info bits that I had never known before. One, for example, being that SNAP benefits are only meant to meet 75% of the person's/family's needs for the month. I guess it makes sense ("Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program"...duh!), but I had always assumed that people just got a certain amount for the month based on household size, which they do, but they benefits should theoretically last for 3 weeks. Of course, Nick informed us that some people can be quite resourceful with their benefits and can make it stretch the whole month.
I must admit, I used to be quite judging of people on SNAP because when I used to work in a grocery store many people would pile in during the beginning of the month with loads of junk food such as chips, pop, bologna, and various sale items. Through this class, and with our talk with Nick, I've realized that people receiving SNAP benefits are at or under 130% of the poverty line. Also, now that I am here at school and do my own grocery shopping, I do see that the cheaper foods tend to be junk, and when people are trying to stretch their benefits as far as they can, it's cheaper to buy a $1 "tv dinner" than fresh fruits, vegetables, and a good cut of meat to prepare.
After Nick talked, we watched a really cool video about a "Farm to School" program in Minnesota, where a school district completely changed how their lunches were prepared. They went from conventional frozen, re-heat convenience lunches, to having fresh fruits and vegetables grown in a school garden along with other local produce and even meat! I was truly thrilled and inspired by this clip. A program such as that would absolutely be one I would love to start in my hometown, or anywhere for that matter.
I definitely left Tuesday's class with a new perspective on SNAP recipients and also with a mind full of ideas for the future!!:)
No comments:
Post a Comment