Basin organizations help stretch food dollar further

Today we finish my take on the AmeriCorps SNAP challenge. The challenge, by Jeni Roberts, was to buy the food a person was going to eat for seven days of the average SNAP allowance of $38.83 per person in the family. A family of two would have $77.66 to spend, a family of three $116.49 and a family of four $115.32.

My approach was to use the amount for two people, such as Garnet and I, which is $77.66. The use of a slow cooker allowed me to stretch the food budget. Buying some foods on sale allowed the stretch to continue. Read on.

I wanted to buy a bag of navel oranges for $6.48, but my friend said the same eight-pound bag is on sale for $3.50. The canned vegetables on my list for 68 cents, but can be found on sale for 50 cents. A can of vegetables will serve Garnet and I for one meal, with perhaps a little left over. A can at each evening meal would cost $3.50.

In addition, a half gallon of milk would cost $2.06. A 12 ounce bear of Silverbow honey is $2.50 and 3.5 pounds of bananas is $2.07, which provides half a banana each per day.

The bag of oranges hold 10 oranges, not quite enough for one a day, so we split the fruit. A two-pound of popcorn costs $1.88. This will be used for snacks between meals. A box of hamburger helper is $1.18 and can be used for a lunch or evening meal.

Now I can afford a breakfast of part of an orange, toast and oatmeal. The oatmeal will have honey and milk or just milk or honey. The toast will be served with butter or honey or both.

After two pounds of hamburger for the slow cooker and one pound for the hamburger helper, there are still two pounds of burger remaining. One lunch or supper might be quarter-pound hamburgers served on bread slices or a hamburger steak.

This would still leave us a pound of burger. If we ground the pork and used just two pounds of it, we could make a meat loaf using a pound of pork and a pound of beef, with oats, but without an egg.

An eight-ounce piece of halibut fillet was found for $8.15, but, with a 50 percent discount, the cost was $4.08. Left in the one week food budget was $1.14.

Budgeting food for one person with $38.83 would be much more difficult than two people with $77.66. What's more, starting with an empty pantry makes the exercise even more difficult.

My friend finds canned vegetables on sale for 50 cents a can and buys a case, saving money in the long run. Saving money on meat is realized when buying during a sale and then using a freezer.

Food Bank, Senior Center Pantry, Second Harvest and commodities

We are especially blessed in the Columbia Basin to have growers who are generous. As a result we have spuds, onions, apples and other foods available at various community food storage areas.

The Moses Lake Food Bank offered the following to clients this week: one five-pound bag of shallots, one can of soup, a pound and a half of oatmeal, one can of refried beans, a jar of garlic pickles, one container of almonds, a bag of frozen lima beans, a 6-pound bag of French fries and a loaf of bread.

The food bank is open to low income households in Moses Lake and Warden.

The once-a-month commodities program is available to low income people who are 60 years or older. This month the program offered: two, two-quart jugs of fruit juice, two boxes of cereal, four cans of vegetables, two cans of fruit, one quart of milk, two bags of elbow macaroni, two cans of chicken, one jar of peanut butter and one block of processed cheese.

The Moses Lake Senior Center offers persons 18 years old or older a chance to visit their pantry twice a month. Recently the pantry offered: two bags of frozen potatoes, a container of chicken wings, five pounds of hamburger, French bread, hamburger buns, one pound of beans, one package of Jello, chicken livers, beef roast, pork chops, bacon, hot dogs, plus spuds, onions and apples.

Not all of the items above are available during each visit to each entity and sometimes only one item is available during a visit. Only one meat item may be available or only one bread item, for example.

Food is also available at Second Harvest, from Spokane, once a month. This week the food was handed out at the Moses Lake Senior Center Parking lot. An Army of volunteers made sure people had a bag of several red or yellow apples, a bag of several nectarines, two cantaloupe, a gallon of milk, a bread item, 30 small eggs, frozen hash browns and more.

The SNAP challenge, pre-planning for it or actually participating, provides an insight into the problems a family faces on a low income budget.

No doubt providing the large quantity of food available around here is a big help, but so is sensible-food purchasing. No one in the Columbia Basin should go hungry, ever.