Welcome back, Experiencers,

I’ve been thinking about the rhetorical use of “challenge” in context of what I’ve been writing this week. Rhetoric, here, is used to describe how language informs and persuades the audience. What does the language used to describe this exercise say about what it’s meant to do? A rule that I have been using from the start has been to “never treat the exercise as an adventure into another lifestyle or use language that promotes the idea of poverty tourism.” Challenge, however, implies an invitation to a contest or competition, something through which one can take on others or win. This is not what I wish to gain from the week, and further, goes against my rule to avoid language promoting the concept of poverty as adventure. For many years, wealthy individuals have used impoverished areas for voyeristic sightseeing and entertainment. In 2013, for example, “Real Bronx Tours” opened as a guide through “a real NYC ‘ghetto’… notorious for drugs, gangs, crime, and murders” (Iaboni, 2013). Does the language embedded within the name necessarily constitute the exercise as an act of poverty tourism?

I will continue to eat on the SNAP budget this week. However, in an effort to eliminate language that makes the exercise an “adventure into poverty”, I will be referring to my efforts as an “exercise” rather than a “challenge”. I welcome a dialogue about this new word choice and other potentially better-fitting replacements.

The term “SNAP challenge” was first coined by the Food Resource and Action Center (FRAC) in 2006 as a means to “educate the public and opinion leaders about the important role SNAP plays in mitigating hunger and poverty… and the need to strengthen the program” (“Take FRAC’s SNAP Challenge”, n.d.). It later gained national attention when four Members of Congress, Representatives James McGovern (D-Mass.), Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), publicly blogged about their experience with the exercise (“Take FRAC’s SNAP Challenge”, n.d.). Since then, many public figures and thousands of other individuals have tried the SNAP exercise. It has even appeared in the documentary Food Stamped, where a couple attempt to live on the average SNAP budget for a month (Potash, 2011). Where does the appeal to watch this exercise as an audience member come from? If it were purely to gain understanding for the lives of others, why do we not seek those who must live from SNAP benefits each day of their lives?

Although it was begun to raise awareness for why the SNAP program must be strengthened, it has been harnessed by conservatives to “prove” just the opposite. Donny Ferguson, the communications director for Rep. Steve Stockman, attempted to counter the popular opinion that food stamp funds were not enough to survive on (Resnikoff, 2013). He spent $27.68 for a week’s worth of food, and argued that at such rates, the government could afford cuts to the SNAP program as deep as 12% (Resnikoff, 2013).

Through my experience with the SNAP exercise, however, I have observed that while the food may be enough to “survive on” for the week, the lack of variety, seasonings, and fresh produce hardly a satisfying meal make. It’s very difficult to stick to the same pork that I’ve had the past five days, and to not reach for my roommate’s sushi dinner. Again, I am reminded of how my experience so vastly differs from those who don’t have this option.

SOURCES

Iaboni, R. (May 2013). ‘Ghetto’ tours of Bronx ended after outrage. Cable News Network. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/new-york-bronx-ghetto-tours/index.html

Take FRAC’s SNAP Challenge. Food Research and Action Center. Retrieved from https://frac.org/programs/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/take-fracs-snap-challenge

Potash, S. (2011). Movie to Movement: Creating Social Change with the Documentary Film ‘Food Stamped’. Retrieved from https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/educ_hess_etds/62

Resnikoff, N. (2013). Republican staffer ‘beats’ food stamp challenge. MSNBC. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/republican-staffer-beats-food-stamp-challen