Thank you to Joe DeCiccio, Res Life Faculty, for writing today's blog.
Growing up, I remember shopping with my mom.
I really
enjoyed shopping with her. We would inevitably go down the cookie or chip
aisle, and I would easily be able to coax some goodie out of her. We would go
aisle to aisle, and I could see her deciding what she wanted. We may have had a
conversation while shopping about what we wanted for dinner. We would roam the
store for an hour or so and then make our way to the registers with a heaping
shopping cart full of food. I don’t remember ever seeing anything like a meal
plan for the week or a comprehensive shopping list. I do remember Mom making
multiple dinners to cater to our varied taste buds or nothing at all; we would
pick our own dinners. I also remember extra trips to the store during the week
to pick up things we needed and may have forgotten or run out of.
The next story I want to tell you about is a bit
different. This story takes place in central Oregon, where I lived for a couple
years. My wife, son, and I happened to live about an hour and forty-five
minutes from town. Trips to town included grocery shopping, doctor visits,
dinner, bank trips, and anything else we needed in town at the time. The day
turned into a nine or ten hour expedition. Therefore, we would do our best to
make the trip as efficient and infrequent as possible. We would generally go
every two weeks if we could hold out that long. As far as grocery shopping was
involved, we would plan ahead: we would make a monthly meal plan and a
comprehensive grocery list which had to include toiletries (forgetting the
toilet paper would be unthinkable!), cleaners, and clothes. We had a strict
budget, as we were living on a small salary. We would walk into the store,
divide, and conquer, adhering strictly to the grocery list of course.
I have had the benefit in my life to see two different
perspectives on how to manage the daily living skills that accompany food. As a
Daily Living Skills teacher, I now have the opportunity to teach the benefit
and pitfalls of both. I am very passionate about the success of my students and
have seen the problems that arise if they do not master the areas of menu
planning and grocery shopping. Therefore, we have spent a good deal of time
teaching these valuable skills in class and training during the week when we are
actually planning meals and grocery shopping for residential life.
The first thing the students learn is how to select a
healthy meal. They learn about the food groups and how to create or pick a balanced
meal that includes all of the food groups. They next learn how to take an
inventory of the kitchen. They use a worksheet that has all of the typical
items kept, and they count each item to figure out how many will be needed.
After creating a meal plan and taking inventory, a student is taught how to
make a grocery list. They are presented a template that includes the item,
cost, aisle of the item, brand and quantity. Some of those categories are
irrelevant for the item, but the students are able to read and use them
nonetheless.
After the planning side is accomplished, the students learn
how to navigate a grocery store. They learn where to locate items and ask for
help if they cannot find something. They pick up etiquette pointers such as not
blocking the aisles or talking on the cell phone at the register. Our goal for
the students is to get through the store without driving other customers
bonkers, and to find everything they need at the best price. How amazing
is it that a college-age man/woman is able to look for the best
price-per-ounce?
As the year goes on, the hands-on practice grows. By second
semester, they are taking over the meal planning for the dorms and gaining more
independence at the grocery store. By second year, the students are doing all
of the work themselves, with guidance. By third year, an element of budgeting
has been added and the students are learning to plan and shop together with
little to no help at all with a $50 budget for two people!
Needless to say, independence means something different for
each individual, and the expectations and goals for each student are different.
But the hope would be that everyone who graduates would have the ability to
plan healthy meals, take inventory, create a comprehensive grocery list and
shop independently on a budget. For some parents and students, this may seem
like an impossible goal, a hope that will never be fulfilled. But time and time
again, we have seen that it is possible and should be expected.
Remember the two stories at the beginning? Which
of the two shoppers do I want my students to be like? I want my students to be
disciplined, organized, effective shoppers - like I had to be when I lived in
Oregon.
Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at
www.shepherdscollege.edu.
“I was made on purpose by God. He created me for a reason and for a special
purpose in mind.”
