Monday, November 18, 2013

Tom Torti's Guest Blog: Taking the 3SquaresVT Challenge

(Photo from 10/25/2011 article in the Burlington Free Press)


Towards the end of last week, I realized that the Challenge was rapidly approaching and that I better plan out the coming week. I drafted some ideas, checked the health quotient, and went to a couple of stores and comparison shopped. I bought what I needed and what kept within my daily budget. The amount allowed per meal is, in all candor, artificially low since 3SquaresVT is a supplement to one’s food budget and is not meant to carry the full cost but living on poverty’s edge for this week will be instructive. Given my body type (6’6”; 225-230 lbs) I figure that I’ll be consuming plenty of fluids between my meals.


One interesting fact struck me in the run-up to the Challenge... the fact that I had the time and financial wherewithal to ‘plan’; to ‘comparison shop’; to check the health content of my meals and finally purchase products places me squarely outside the realm for most recipients reality. These are luxuries that most folks on assistance don’t have. Single moms are rushing between jobs, appointments, taking care of kid duties and truly living on the edge to take such an academic and clearly middle class approach. For them it isn't a one week “Challenge"... it is life and a life that a week of role playing will only give me a glimmer of.

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