Standing alone in her kitchen, St. Augustine Chapel's Becca Stevens turned a small tomato back and forth in her hand. Bright red and full of juices, the tomato took on a new significance as she carefully cut it into slices, grateful for the unexpected luxury.
"I gave thanks for that tomato," she said. "It represented richness."
This scene is a new experience for Stevens as she attempts to live on less than $100 of food for 30 days. The Food Stamp Challenge, an effort spearheaded by Stevens and other civic leaders in Nashville, seeks to help participants understand local hunger and poverty through personal experience.
They live only on the provisions of the federal food stamp program for a month, meaning no free offerings of food at social events or casual purchases such as buying a soda at the gas station.
"You are literally worrying about pennies," Stevens said.
But even those pennies can be difficult to find. The federal food stamp program offers recipients $1 per meal, or about $21 per week. Extras, such as tomatoes, are rare.
"You (are) basically eating various shades of off-white," Stevens said. "It gets to be kind of boring and depressing."
Feelings of depression have hit Stevens at several points during the challenge. At a luncheon for the Women United in Giving organization last week, Stevens was invited to deliver the invocation before the meal began.
Though she participated in the event, she did not dine with the group because of her previous commitment and instead went straight home to eat a lunch of rice and beans by herself.
"I forgot that food sometimes is what brings me into community," she said.
The challengers have created their own community in the process. In addition to Stevens, several civic and religious officials, as well as Tennessee Congressman Jim Cooper, participated in the challenge for at least a week.
The group also aims to raise awareness about a vote on the upcoming farm bill, a piece of legislation that contains amended agricultural policies and a section that will continue the provisions of the federal food stamp program. Stevens and her fellow challengers want the bill to pass so the program will remain in the federal budget as a means to fight poverty.
Poverty is a widespread issue in Tennessee, and according to Stevens, it has become a growing problem for Nashville. More than 50 percent of elementary school students in the Metropolitan Nashville Public School System are on assisted breakfast and lunch programs, she said, and that number rises every year.
Freshman Martha Ingram said she hopes the federal program will continue to serve the community, especially families with young children.
"I think part of the government's role is providing opportunity for us to meet our basic needs," Ingram said. "If they can't change the dollar amount, they need to rework the program so that it works more like the (Vanderbilt) meal plan, so that you can choose."
Having limited choices on food stamps is one of Stevens' greatest concerns. Healthy options, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, prove to be nearly impossible to afford on only $21 per week, and organic food is practically an anomaly, she said.
She said the last two weeks have opened her eyes to the level of need in Tennessee's impoverished communities and has provoked her to reconsider the role the government plays in alleviating that poverty.
"I'd like to see the food stamp program increased," Stevens said. "There is money in the budget. It's all about how you allocate it."
There are others, however, who support the idea of food stamps but do not believe the government holds the responsibility for expanding the program.
"I'm all for helping people who need it, but I don't think that food stamps or any of the welfare programs were designed to be someone's complete, underlying support," said freshman Danielle Williams. "People are always there to help you."
Stevens remains adamant that this program serves as a critical component in local and national fights against hunger.
"I'm not trying to compare my life to (the life of) someone on food stamps," Stevens said. "Maybe I can help wake people up to see that it isn't an easy life."

Listen to Becca Stevens, university chaplain at St. Augustine's Chapel, talk about her experience living on $3 a day.