I received a bunch of e-mails from moms who manage very well on meager incomes. I also got a few angry messages, and of course talk radio wound some folk up on the challenge as well.

There are some important facts that should be pointed out. The Food Stamp Program is a federally funded program that remains an entitlement. If people meet with income and expense tests, they qualify. If people are skipping meals due to food shortage they should apply. In Wisconsin the benefits are electronic—meaning more dignity at the check-out and reduced likelihood of theft or fraud. You can even initiate an application on line, or determine if you may be eligible .

There are other federal nutrition programs that can and should be accessed. The public schools provide free and reduced priced lunch, and here in Milwaukee they also offer breakfast. There are also after school snacks offered at many day care sites and clubs. And, during the summer months schools, playgrounds and club sites serving youth offer free summer meals.

Pregnant and postpartum moms along with their children younger than six may be eligible for the Women, Infants and Children’s Program. This program offers vouchers for healthy foods and nutrition education. Seniors older than 60 may be eligible for the Stockbox Program and Senior Farmer’s Market vouchers.

Pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters distribute federal surplus commodities through the Emergency Food Assistance Program. These emergency resources require a local “match” meaning that the charities are required to add additional food items to the supply of food given.

These programs represent what the state and federal government do to help alleviate hunger for low-income families. Many families meet the challenge of putting healthy food on their table by using these programs in combination with smart shopping. Coupons and in-store promotions help stretch limited buying power. Farmers markets and home grown and preserved foods make a big difference as well.

The Food Stamp Challenge was intended to create a week of deprivation for its participants. The reality is that the Food Stamp Program is a supplemental program—it is not intended to be the only resource a household relies on. We encourage people to fully enroll in the federal nutrition assistance programs they are eligible for, and we encourage them to be responsible in using the limited funds they may have for food to choose healthy foods for themselves and their children.

The Food Stamp Challenge was also timed to draw attention to the pending Farm Bill. Many people don’t realize that the Farm Bill authorizes the federal nutrition assistance programs in addition to agricultural subsidies and rule making. Agriculture and nutrition assistance are tied together because surplus commodities fund many of the nutrition assistance programs.

Finally the Food Stamp Challenge was intended to spotlight poverty. Let’s remember that we live here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Wisconsin produces and exports food. The Midwest is a region that helps feed the world. Still, last month the US Census Bureau released poverty statistics and Milwaukee Wisconsin was 8th poorest city in the nation. So, maybe one reason for the angry mail and the squawking radio was disbelief. It’s so damned easy to ignore the plight of our neighbors. The challenge was a daily reminder about how many people live and for that reason alone, I’d encourage people to take it.

Last day of the Food Stamp Challenge. I fired Madeline from the challenge this morning. She continues to complain of headaches. I gave her a regular breakfast and lunch. I left a note in her lunch telling her how proud I was of her efforts. Lots of co-workers tried the challenge and quit—she stubbornly managed and was pretty damned amazing.

Today was both the All Staff meeting and the board meeting. Both always have great food. I scrambled my remaining eggs and ate them with a tortilla—no coffee, no fresh fruit, no juice. The smell of the sausage was distracting. Gary, Cathy and Marie remain on the challenge—they toughed it out as well. We all exchanged stories of lightheadedness, difficulty concentrating, thirst, stomach and head aches.

The board meeting included apples and water. Sally and Dave also made it through the week. Dave lead the meeting and I noticed a difference in his focus and humor. Focus down, humor up—interesting. Sally’s husband and daughter also did the challenge—she is a most amazing person.

More people wrote and called. There were some great survival stories shared. There was also anger—directed at the poor for their behavior, shopping habits and priorities. A woman left me a voicemail loaded with sadness about her own situation. She is disabled and her food stamps get her through half the month. She thanked me and Madeline for bringing this to the public eye. People critical of the program should hear the anguish in her voice.

I accompanied Madeline to the doctor today. She got the usual vitals measured and while we waited I stepped on the scale. I lost 7 pounds. As Charlie Sykes reminded everyone yesterday, the Food Stamp Program is indeed a supplemental program. It is not intended to provide all the foods necessary to have a healthy and nutritious diet. Income from employment, retirement benefits or social security is supposed to help buy food as well.

People are expected to make wise choices—budget, buy what is needed, live according to their means. Yet for some reason more than 30,000 people visited a food pantry in Milwaukee last month and another 65,000 got a hot meal at a shelter or soup kitchen. Critical people blame behaviors, but perhaps a closer look reveals the reason is…the rent, the utilities, the medicine and the child care.

The one thing that charity still offers predictably is food. So wouldn’t it make sense to stay housed, keep the lights and heat on, go to work and pick your kids up from day care, take your medicine…and get some help from a church or social work agency? Get a free bag of food, eat that hot meal!

As Madeline says….Dear Reader….

Anyone of us has the ability to become involved. I suggest that you take the Food Stamp Challenge—try it for at least 4 days. It could change your thinking, it could deepen your experience, it could prove you are “right.” But you won’t know if you don’t give it a try…..

It’s rather late on Wednesday. Just back from Parent Orientation Night at school. No supper yet, but our frozen pizza with pepperoni is in the oven! Today I had rice with milk for breakfast, two hard boiled eggs and peanut butter as a snack. Things got busy at work so I never ate my ramen noodles. The Journal coverage of my participation in the challenge yielded lots of calls and e-mails from both familiar and unfamiliar folk. Some angry because they felt that either poor people should manage better or government should be administered better; some supportive, some just telling me how they make it. I offered to post them on the community blog—lots of folk agreed.

Charlie Sykes did us the huge favor of talking up the article on his show—THANKS CHARLIE!

I have noted common themes in the participants writing in—lack of energy, light-headedness, trouble concentrating. I am reminded that kids go to school like this everyday, people go to work like this all the time.

I have appreciated the offers of help, the willingness to feed me—even by complete strangers. Charity is alive and well.

At school they read the article out loud in Madeline’s class. She seemed embarrassed by this. I asked if she was ready to quit and she was. I offered to make her what she wanted for dinner. She asked for ramen noodles and got busy on her homework. Tomorrow she can quit—I will pack her a normal lunch, this is enough. Tonight she seems unwilling to write at all—she has math homework and is still at it.

Tomorrow is the last day. I have a staff meeting and a board meeting. It will be another long work day, but it signals an end to the challenge. Ouch—I burned the pizza!

Today was the Potawatomi Vendor Golf Outing at the Silver Spring Country Club. I’ve attended in the past and the Potawatomi host beautiful events with great food. My job is to sit at a golf hole and talk to foursomes as they play through about our organization. I took a big water bottle and a lunch bag with 3 hard boiled eggs, an apple, a tortilla, some watermelon and a mac n cheese microwave dinner. I forgot my peanut butter at home.

The golfers were eating and drinking throughout the day. Their empty bottles and wrappers piled up in front of me. Between golfers I ate an Apple and two hardboiled eggs. I refused offers of beer, snacks and the lunch. It was easy enough because I was outside, by myself and the teasing I took was all good natured.

Supper was a bit more difficult. The happy hour was a long hour. Lots of offers to buy me drinks and lots of people telling me it was OK to cheat. I stayed firm and did my best to educate everyone. My table included a bunch of really fun people from the Public Relations Department and a promotions company. I took out my mac n’ cheese dinner, watermelon, tortilla and last hard boiled egg. I explained the challenge and we had a lot of laughs about it. Everyone encouraged me to take help, everyone wanted to buy me a drink, no one wanted me to go without. The feeling of friendship was good—that people would buy me a meal or a drink if I needed help. But I also know that after repeated requests for help, even family and friends will eventually set limits.

The newspaper reporter came and interviewed me. The woman to my right covered her prime rib with her napkin. Some people expressed guilt over what they had while watching me. I felt a little bad for exposing them all to this when they were out for a good time. One guy seemed to clearly connect his offers to help me with a need to contribute. This was a huge lesson learned.

Madeline is totally punked out. She wants to quit and most of me wants to let her. Still she eats her ramen noodles and just whines. She asked me for a Klondike bar this morning for breakfast. This most ridiculous request was not honored, but I wanted to give it to her. So I told her I’d be late getting home and would not notice it if one was missing.

Its time for slushies now. Last night before I laid down to sleep my stomach growled. This has not occurred in any recent memory—it hit me I was going to bed hungry.

Last night Madeline told me she wanted to quit the challenge. She said she had a headache and was hungry. She wanted a before bed treat—a tradition at our house. I used 1/3 of one the frozen juice to make us slushies. They were tasty.

My oldest, Sam, came down to grab a snack and ate a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup—she told me her sister gave it to her because she couldn’t eat it due to the challenge. Madeline’s teacher offered candy as a reward in class and she had won the peanut butter cup. Had I read what Madeline wrote? Her friends had teased her at lunch time—Sam thought it mean, thought the teacher was insensitive. We both felt sorry for Madeline.

It’s the weekend and bacon and eggs would have been tasty. I put on my jeans and hit the Pick n’ Save to get Madeline her prized Brown Sugar and Maple Oatmeal. Upon return we agreed she would shift the yogurts off our “food stamp” shelf and eat oatmeal instead. Thank God it was on sale—only 6 cents more than the value of the yogurts. She seemed satisfied to proceed with Day 2 with a breakfast she could recognize. As for me--no coffee; water and a “whipped” yogurt instead. Madeline was right—they are nasty.

About an hour later I was hungry—it’s the weekend and I’m working on my house. It’s under construction so there’s lots to do. I made two cups of rice, added milk, cinnamon, vanilla. My mom made this for breakfast when we were kids. It was comfort food, and I needed some comfort. I ate a full bowl for lunch and carefully saved the rest.

Sam and I went to the farmers market. We had $8.00 left and I was hoping for fruit—just something sweet. We got a bag of apples for $2.50. They were seconds—9 total, a good deal. Another guy had smallish melons 2 for $5.00—we got one watermelon and one cantelope. We had 50 cents left and a farmer had carrots you could pick out and bag. We spent the last 50 cents on carrots. The apples and carrots will help Madeline’s lunch look more normal.

I made a frozen pizza for dinner—Madeline wanted a heat and eat entrée. I couldn’t stand anymore noodles, but ate only half the pizza and put the other three slices in the fridge. I find myself conserving food. The dogs beg but don’t get leftovers. The pizza slices will be lunch another day.

So far I feel deprived—cheated. Food seems central to our time together—especially on a weekend. I love to cook and to feed people. I know I can do this, but I’m not liking it one bit.

Today was the first day of the challenge. No coffee, only water—and I drank a lot of it all day. I ate my yogurt for breakfast. That was nothing out of the ordinary, I often have one. Lunch was roast chicken flavored ramen noodles with and egg stirred in to make “egg drop soup.” It made two cups so I ate most of it and felt full. However by mid afternoon I was very thirsty—the salt in those things is too much. Madeline wanted rotini for dinner—we spilt the one pound box—supposedly six servings and used some of our spaghetti sauce. Overall it was wholly lacking. We bagged the leftover noodles for later in the week—there was at least one serving left and we may run out of food so leftovers will be prized. I definitely brought it in under the three dollars, but there was little by way of protein, and way too much starch and salt. All of my friends went out for beer and a fish fry. I re-scheduled a business lunch until next Friday with an old friend—something to look forward to.