The Tripod

Media Credit: Dora Turjan

During the month of March, members of Trinity's chapter of ConnPIRG, Connecticut Student Public Interest Research Group, participated in a Food Stamp Program, which invited them to live on food stamps totaling $4 per day for either a week or a month. Four Trinity students took up this challenge for a week: Dora Turjan, Ian Hendry '08, Augusta Friendsmith '07, and Scott Dale '07.

"Many of us, and people on this campus in particular, have the privilege of not having to face hunger on a daily basis, or on any kind of basis at all," said Turjan, a Kellner scholarship student from Hungary. "Those of us who do not live on or below the poverty level go and get groceries or ready-made food whenever they choose to do so. We all too frequently take this ability for granted. We have to keep reminding ourselves that having the opportunity to eat a sufficient amount of good quality food is not a natural, matter-of-fact component of everyday life. Without a deep understanding of hunger, it is likely that we never think of food as something to be highly appreciated and to be grateful for."

The Food Stamp Project is organized and sponsored by the Charter Oak Cultural Center and the Center City Churches.

On Feb. 28, the volunteers gathered together for an opening event led by Rabbi Donna Berman, the director of the Center. Connecticut State Senator Jonathan Harris was also in attendance and took part in the challenge. Harris explained that the problem of hunger goes beyond morals, and also impacts our health care system, as the hungry tend to be unhealthy, which adds an unnecessary burden to the system. To mark the end of the month and the program, a closing ceremony will be held on March 31.

"On a community level, we have to be aware of the fact that far too many people go to bed hungry in this state and in this city, and that this problem has created an untenable situation," said Turjan. "The local food assistance programs need more support to meet the demand they face. Therefore, the concrete aims set forth by the organizers are to raise 20 tons of additional donated food for MANNA Basic Needs Program, a service of Center City Churches, to help relieve hunger in city neighborhoods, and to raise $25,000 for this program."

The four students kept journals, detailing their experiences with hunger and limited funds for food. "We all experienced this past week somewhat differently, but our individual experiences have a common feature: this is something that none of us had undergone before. All of us found not being able to access campus dining facilities and thus missing out on the social dimensions of eating, having to live on less food that we usually consume, and on food which is not of the highest quality and nutritional value, very challenging," said Turjan.

In her journal entry, Augusta Friendsmith talked about the challenges she faced with hunger and the effects it had on her body. "Aside from one banana that I bought at the Cave, I have not eaten any fruit," she wrote. "Nor have I had sugar all week. I have noticed that I can be pretty irritable and I can get annoyed with people for no real reason. I also feel hungry all the time. I'll eat the rice and beans at one and be starving again at four. As an athlete, I am not getting enough calories; I feel weak during practices. I weighed myself this morning and, according to the scale, I have lost four to five pounds this week. I have not weighed this little since high school."

"The biggest setback that I experienced was being hungry a lot of the time," Hendry wrote in his journal. "I am really busy during the week between classes, my job, the gym, not to mention late night study sessions and paper writing. There was also something to be desired about the quality of food I was eating. The nutritional value of my daily diet was not that great, and I could see my body starting to change a little in response to the lack of vitamins and nutrients. The point that I really wanted to make was that there is no way for someone to function on a high level without plentiful and quality food."

It is this type of realization that ConnPIRG hopes will change the views of many people, in hopes of motivating people to work towards improving the situation for the hungry part of our population. The voices of the hungry can be heard, but only through this type of compassion can real change be initiated.

The ConnPIRG Hunger and Homelessness group, which was responsible for the involvement in the Food Stamp Program, will next start a Campus Kitchen, which will cook meals on campus and deliver them to shelters, and it will hold the Hunger Clean Up, where they will do community service around Hartford. Their fundraising efforts for poverty relief efforts on the local, national, and international levels will also continue.

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