Month 2 day 5, the Diabetes Food Stamp Project

What are the health care costs associated with poor diet?

How much do we spend on diabetics in crisis, congestive heart failure patients in crisis, and other critical health problems due to diet?

Why do we continue to pump money into health care?

Why do we advertise plates of fresh vegetables to those on SNAP but make them unaffordable to eat on a regular basis?

Why do we treat our sick and our poor so badly in this country?

Today I am feeling the direct connection between diet and health. The meat I used to eat was only organic from farmers I know and I ate little, now I eat much more, if only to get the calories to sustain, yet every day my energy is more depleted.

Why if the quality of our food matters so much to our health do we even approach the processed junk.

Money...money is what separates the rich and the poor and sick and the well. We treat our sick and poor, not like second class citizens but as chattel to be pushed aside.

Money rules.

That is the Naked Truth.

The more I live this the more angry I become that so many who can do so much, do so little.

...and now back to our regularly scheduled food update.

This morning I just had fruit and coffee. For whatever reason I had no stomach for anything more.

1/2 cup pomegranate .50
1/2 cup blueberry .25 (from yesterday's dollar find)
Black Coffee .10
Total .85
Carbs 24 grams

I had to get moving so I took my gym break early. I came home famished so I had spaghetti and meatballs for lunch.

I had used the rest of the beef I'd ground yesterday to make 24 meatballs it was 1.31 for the remaining beef, I used .20 worth of cream (the last of it)making each meatball 6 cents.

I used one can of tomatoes at .97 and 1/3 of an onion making the sauce cost for two ample servings 1.00

Pasta .12 (1.5 ounces)
Sauce .50
Meatballs (6) .36
Cheese .20
Iced tea .03
Total 1.21
Carbs 46 grams

The basil came from my undying windowsill plant. Trust me, it tasted much better than it looked.

Yet I still had room for dinner a scant 3 hours later, not only room but an appetite. I finished off the Gai Lan, if you recall I paid 1.43 for it and have used .94 worth leaving me .49.

I used chicken backs, not a lot of meat but a lot of flavor that had marinated in hot sauce and soy, once those were crisp cooked in the wok I added the greens and that was dinner.

Chicken .50
Gai Lan .49
Total .99
Carbs 4

Day Total 3.05

While I did fine with spending less you will see that I failed miserably to get appropriate nutrition, fiber and calories.

At the beginning of last month I did so much better, I am just so worn by this.

Imagine living this way for 8 months (the average amount of time a person is on food assistance)

It is a pretty horrible thought.

I could have spent up to 6.64 so I carry 3.59 into tomorrow.

Calories 1,211