Day 3

Day 3 is now under way and we are still all doing pretty well. Our food supply seems to be holding up well mainly because we are trying to maintain disciplined portion control. That way, what might normally be two meals can be stretched into three and so on.

Yesterday was a slightly unusual day for me in that I was out of the office for most of it. I was at the courthouse in Annapolis for a mediation, so I made sure to make my lunch ahead of time and take it with me. So when all of the attorneys and parties left to have lunch at some of the area restaurants and I stayed in the conference room and ate my peanut butter sandwich. I am starting to feel as though that is my "go to" meal now! Quick, easy and inexpensive makes for a good combination on a food stamp budget.

To be honest, not much of note has happened so far, except I am excited to report that we have now officially raised over $2000, in large measure based on our ability to reach out to a greater number of people through this blog and my newspaper articles. The increased awareness of and support for this cause is very gratifying for Stacie and me. In fact, if we have one regret at all, it is that Hailey is too young to appreciate what we are doing since it would be a very valuable lesson for her. Still, whether she knows it or not, she is helping in her own way.

I wanted to again take a moment to address some of the questions that we have been receiving. One of the more frequent questions I have received over the last day or so is why we chose to undertake this challenge during the holiday season as opposed to some other time of the year.

When I first raised the challenge with Stacie back in November (before Thanksgiving), we had to look at our calendar to find a week where we didn't have anything on our schedule that would have impeded our ability to complete the challenge successfully. Because of the fact that the rules preclude taking advantage of free food options, it proved to be more difficult than we thought mainly because of the number of holiday parties and events this time of year. And it turned out that the first available week where we had nothing on our schedule was this week.

We definitely understood that it was in the middle of the holiday season, but decided to go ahead and do it anyway for two reasons. First, since we are Jewish, the proximity of the challenge week to Christmas was not relevant and Chanukkah has already ended. And second, since our goal was to try and replicate the challenge faced by actual food stamp recipients, avoiding certain weeks because they were inconvenient would undermine the purpose of the undertaking. Food stamp recipients don't get to opt out of their situation at Christmas or any other time and we felt as though we shouldn't either. That said, if I'm being honest, doing the challenge this week hasn't really been any more of an imposition or difficulty than it would be any other week even though we are in the midst of the holiday season.

Another question (or more accurately, a comment) I have heard is whether those receiving food stamps are the beneficiaries of a government handout which acts as a disincentive for them to try and extricate themselves from a bad situation. This is obviously an issue on which people have very different - and strongly held - opinions. Personally, I think that Ms. Glover's comment to yesterday's post did a better job than I could ever do of explaining the plight of many of those who receive SNAP benefits. However, I do have some thoughts I wanted to share.

First, food stamp recipients are not monolithic. Within that very large group, there are many different kinds of people. Some (I would argue a small minority) presumably avail themselves of the benefits without trying to lift themselves up. Some have been in poverty for a long time (perhaps from birth) and don't have the means (educationally) or opportunity, to lift themselves out despite having a genuine desire to do so. And then there are others, like Ms. Glover, who because of our recent economic downturn and recession, went from being employed members of the middle-class to unemployed food stamp recipients. And, as the economy improves and employment opportunities increase, the hope is that they will no longer require SNAP assistance.

However, despite the fact that food stamp recipients fall into different categories (certainly more than the three I have delineated), the common thread that connects them is the need for assistance with some of life's basic needs. Basically, I would argue that whether or not the benefit is considered a handout misses the point. The fundamental question is whether we as a society benefit from providing this assistance (handout or not) to our fellow citizens. And, for a number of reasons, I would argue that we do.

First, I believe we have a moral obligation to help the less fortunate among us especially when we are talking about something as basic as ensuring that they have sufficient food to feed themselves and their families. Second, even assuming one disagrees with the moral argument, SNAP assistance provides practical benefits as well. Putting aside the fact that these funds are injected back into our economy thereby directly stimulating commerce, the medical and health benefits of assisting recipients in eating more nutritional diets is significant. Without it, health care costs for a group of people who are largely uninsured or receiving Medicaid would skyrocket. And the corollary of this economic benefit is also true - that the prevention of adverse health conditions is always preferable and less expensive than the future treatment of those conditions once present.

I know this probably won't change too many people's minds on the issue. If you agreed with my perspective beforehand, I suspect this will reinforce that opinion and if you disagree with me, I don't imagine my ramblings will persuade you. But I think that simply having the discussion is meaningful and, for that alone, I am grateful that you have taken the time to read this.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's update. Until then, thanks again to you all for your support and encouragement.

Neil, Stacie and Hailey