Food Stamp Challenge Results

Food Stamp Challenge Results

I’m Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

Staff members of the Washington State Potato Commission spent April 6th through the 12th budgeting their personal menus for that week based on the average weekly benefit available to Washington residents that rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; incorporating potatoes into as many meals as possible. Ryan Holterhoff, Director of Marketing & Industry Affairs for the WSPC, was one of the participants in the “Food Stamp Challenge” and reports it was a nutritional success.

HOLTERHOFF: We had a nutritionist review our menus and evaluate the amount of nutrition we were able to pack in throughout our meals throughout the week and he was impressed with the amount of nutrition we were able to pack in based on the budgets we were all adhering to.

Holterhoff says staff members were quite creative when it came to including potatoes into their meal budget.

HOLTERHOFF: You know for the nearly $30 I had for the week I think my ten pound bag of potatoes cost me something around $2. So a very small percentage of the budget overall went to potatoes, and when you look at how far and how often I was able to incorporate potatoes throughout the week it really blew me away to just see that that type of value can be packed into so many meals and such a limited budget.

Holterhoff says the group had really four learning points from the challenge.

HOLTERHOFF: As long as your taking the time and you’re looking to shop smart, you’re planning ahead, you’re looking for opportunities to cook from scratch as much as possible, and then also utilizing the leftovers, it is possible to eat healthy. Incorporating the right nutritional elements also make a big difference, and potatoes were definitely a key that helped us get the nutrition we needed throughout the week.

Documentation of the Food Stamp Challenge by WSPC staff members can be found at the blog on potatoes.com

I’m Lacy Gray and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Ag Information Network.