So its been a while now that I have been skipping meals, buying less nutritious food, eating smaller meals, and losing a bit of weight. I haven't bought meat in months it seems. I check prices and just walk to the bean section. I've decided that eating meat when I eat out makes more sense. You pay maybe a dollar extra for meat in a restaurant other eatery, as opposed to like six dollars a pound minimum for some kind of low grade meat. Now of course NYC is really expensive, the highest in the country by far. But that's I guess all part of it.
In the last month I have been forced to really address these issues. I have started looking at Food Pantries and finding ways to get food without paying for it. I have not been dumpster diving as of yet, but others I know have been. It is part of what the world is coming to it seems, even as we throw away millions of pounds of good food each year. I have been really lucky that my mother has runs a community garden that gives its food to the needy. I have been the recipient of bags of kale and other produce that have kept me healthy of late. And that is no small thing. Healthy food is expensive.
But I have gotten to the point where enough is enough, I no longer can keep trying to spend money I do not have on food. I spend my days trying to apply to jobs that don't seem even remotely interested in me, have few if any prospects at this point, and will possibly be homeless in just a couple weeks. I have no place to turn for help in my situation. Family, the government, neither really has the means to solve my income issues. It is only up to me it seems, yet, resume after resume I am getting no where.
So Friday I applied for food stamps. They were quickly approved and I picked up my card today and went and bought some meat. It's actually probably not the best impulsive decision as 200 dollars of food a month does not go very far, especially in NYC. But this is the way it is. I will be back to beans the next trip to the store. I will start trying to strategically mix home cooked meals, and food pantry stuff. This is an issue for me though as I have these allergies. If I want to be at my peek - the best position to get a job - I need to be able to get the right food in me. But hey, I'll have to take what I can. I stopped eating wheat for 3 or four days last week and started felling pretty good. Even the bike accident injuries seemed to heel a bit. But immediately, one weekend back eating wheat and I could completely see the difference, even started having issues with hypoglycemia again.
It is amazing what food insecurity does to people. The system itself is set up in a way that does not put me in the best position to succeed. If I had no dire need to find food and shelter, and could put my best foot forward, I would be able be the best I could be. But that is not where I am right now. So I have to take what I can get. I am no longer able to support and provide for myself. Hundred's of job applications in the last three plus years and little to show for it. I have tried, and anyone that says otherwise I would love to have words with.
But as of now, I am one of those many people out there on "entitlement programs". One of those many that some how don't feel like they have to work hard, that can just skate by and live off everyone else's hard work, right? Yeah, like facing death in West Africa to better your resume, trying to start businesses, non-profits, and volunteer endeavors, officiating girls lacrosse, selling shoes, applying to schools, etc. If you think I haven't tried, haven't educated myself or worked my ass off to make a place for myself then you are out of touch with the world we live in. I am not an exception, I am just another of millions - in fact billions - throughout the world that just want to work hard, and make a difference in their own and others lives through these efforts and the fulfillment of their abilities. The world is failing us, just as I am failing in my job search and ability to support myself. But hey, at least social services in New York City treated me with dignity and respect. That is a far cry from the way social workers treat you upstate in Poughkeepsie.
In the last month I have been forced to really address these issues. I have started looking at Food Pantries and finding ways to get food without paying for it. I have not been dumpster diving as of yet, but others I know have been. It is part of what the world is coming to it seems, even as we throw away millions of pounds of good food each year. I have been really lucky that my mother has runs a community garden that gives its food to the needy. I have been the recipient of bags of kale and other produce that have kept me healthy of late. And that is no small thing. Healthy food is expensive.
But I have gotten to the point where enough is enough, I no longer can keep trying to spend money I do not have on food. I spend my days trying to apply to jobs that don't seem even remotely interested in me, have few if any prospects at this point, and will possibly be homeless in just a couple weeks. I have no place to turn for help in my situation. Family, the government, neither really has the means to solve my income issues. It is only up to me it seems, yet, resume after resume I am getting no where.
So Friday I applied for food stamps. They were quickly approved and I picked up my card today and went and bought some meat. It's actually probably not the best impulsive decision as 200 dollars of food a month does not go very far, especially in NYC. But this is the way it is. I will be back to beans the next trip to the store. I will start trying to strategically mix home cooked meals, and food pantry stuff. This is an issue for me though as I have these allergies. If I want to be at my peek - the best position to get a job - I need to be able to get the right food in me. But hey, I'll have to take what I can. I stopped eating wheat for 3 or four days last week and started felling pretty good. Even the bike accident injuries seemed to heel a bit. But immediately, one weekend back eating wheat and I could completely see the difference, even started having issues with hypoglycemia again.
It is amazing what food insecurity does to people. The system itself is set up in a way that does not put me in the best position to succeed. If I had no dire need to find food and shelter, and could put my best foot forward, I would be able be the best I could be. But that is not where I am right now. So I have to take what I can get. I am no longer able to support and provide for myself. Hundred's of job applications in the last three plus years and little to show for it. I have tried, and anyone that says otherwise I would love to have words with.
But as of now, I am one of those many people out there on "entitlement programs". One of those many that some how don't feel like they have to work hard, that can just skate by and live off everyone else's hard work, right? Yeah, like facing death in West Africa to better your resume, trying to start businesses, non-profits, and volunteer endeavors, officiating girls lacrosse, selling shoes, applying to schools, etc. If you think I haven't tried, haven't educated myself or worked my ass off to make a place for myself then you are out of touch with the world we live in. I am not an exception, I am just another of millions - in fact billions - throughout the world that just want to work hard, and make a difference in their own and others lives through these efforts and the fulfillment of their abilities. The world is failing us, just as I am failing in my job search and ability to support myself. But hey, at least social services in New York City treated me with dignity and respect. That is a far cry from the way social workers treat you upstate in Poughkeepsie.
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