Mr. Shaich agreed to try to get by on the average amount allocated to individuals in the federalĀ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance ProgramĀ (SNAP) as part of a hunger awareness campaign in which a number of corporate executives and politicians are taking part ā September isĀ Hunger Action MonthĀ ā and to bring attention to a Congressional proposal to cut funding for the program.
Spending just $31.50 per week on food has turned out to be a lot harder than Mr. Shaich thought.
āIāve been eating a lot of carbs and drinking a lot of water,ā says Mr. Shaich, who started his SNAP diet last Thursday. āI drive by these restaurants I go to all the time and I canāt go in. I canāt even go into a Panera.ā
One Panera sandwich alone canĀ blow the entire daily budget.
āWeāve been involved in hunger issues for a long time and I realized I donāt really know what itās about. One in six Americans didnāt know where their next meal was coming from at some point in the last week and I wanted to understand at a very personal level what that feels like,ā he says.
In an effort to help provide an answer to the hunger problem, Panera has opened five Panera Cares Community Cafes across the country where people canĀ pay whatever they can affordĀ for a meal.
For breakfast this morning, Mr. Shaich had dry cereal and water and made chickpea soup for both lunch and dinner. āThe only veggies Iāve had are the canned tomatoes in my soup,ā he says. āItās very hard to eat well. Money really provides choices.ā