FOX44NOW.COM - Burlington/Plattsburgh News, Weather and SportsUVM Students Raise Hunger Awareness

UVM Students Raise Hunger Awareness

That's why senior Hannah Beal has a special shopping list this week.

"Potatoes are next on my list."

Beal and 50 other UVM students are trying to eat on a food stamp-only budget of five dollars a day.  That’s forcing Beal to weigh her options carefully, and make her realize, “Oh wow, some people spend even less than this on food.”

Hannah and her friends are only doing it four days.  But for 80,000 Vermonters, food stamps are an issue they face every day.

"I worry about running out of food stamps every single month,” says a woman who asked to be referred to as "V." She didn’t want us to reveal her identity, but she didn’t mind sharing her story.  One that is becoming increasingly common in Vermont.

According to the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger, food stamp enrollment rose 40% in the last year.  The group says one out of every 8 Vermonters receives aid. 

V says while the economy is tough, the decision to feed her daughter is tougher, saying that she has sometimes gone without food to provide for her child.

The Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger helps link people in need with aid, and shows them how to use it wisely.  Their outreach specialist, Angela Smith-Dieng, says eating healthy on a tight budget is especially hard. 

She says the organization says they offer classes for people “to learn how to cook a nutritious meal on a tight budget, to learn how to shop for healthy foods, [find] what those look like, and then how do you prepare them to serve your kids a healthy diet?”  She adds, “It's possible but it's definitely hard."

Back at the City Market, Hannah hopes the hunger she feels now will fill her with understanding of those less fortunate.

"Just making sure that I'm grateful for it."

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