#SNAPChallenge2013: The Dilemma of "Found Food"

Relax, kids: it hasn’t gotten this serious. Yet.

I’m learning as I continue through this challenge that loopholes could, but don’t necessarily, have to abound. I wrote earlier in the week about food being provided to me, but not bought for me. I stand by the decision I made there.

However, I realized there is another nebulous category of food: “found food”. Not out of a dumpster, at least not for me, but other sorts of found food. For example, my students will occasionally bring me food, or someone will leave something at my house and I will have to decide if I want to allow that to count in the food that I’m eating. (For the sake of full disclosure, I will say that I have eaten food that has come to me in that fashion within the last several days.)

And here’s a big one: with soon-to-expire food purchased before the challenge, what do I do there? To throw it away is patently unwise and contrary to the point of this challenge, so I won’t do that. The same would apply for letting it go bad. But I’ve devised a third option, one that will help the fundraiser. A lot of these items can be baked with!

So I’m having a good old fashioned bake sale. In the coming week, I plan to bake several items to (a) use up pre-challenge items prior to my upcoming move, and (b) give me something to do to calm down while waiting for this apartment business to come to a resolution. The proceeds that I make will go toward the SNAP Challenge donation for the Greater Boston Food Bank. Lessening waste and stress while helping those in need? Sounds like a win to me 🙂