Can a family of four eat a healthy diet on $1.50 per person a day for five days? This was the question posed for Rachel's economics project on poverty.
After reading a blog post on Forks Over Knives about a woman who took the challenge to eat a plant based diet for five days on $1.50 a day, I decided this would be a great project for Rachel as she studies poverty and wealth.
Putting it into perspective.
Recently our family stopped by Sweet Frog for one of our favorite treats. As we dipped our spoons into to the delightful creamy yogurt topped with delicious goodies, I pointed out that we had just spent half the allotted money for Rachel's project on dessert.
Where to start? Using the Forks Over Knives post as a guide, Rachel looked over grocery store receipts. Did some price checking on our last trip to Trader Joe's. Then came up with a menu plan for three squares and two snacks a day, and a shopping list.
With shopping list in hand, we first canvassed Food Loin writing down prices for everything on the list and adding a few wish items, like cheese. Next we checked prices at Dollar General. And finally the Dollar Store, where we picked up seven items on the list. We decided to return to Food Lion since the price difference between Food Lion and Dollar General was a wash. With calculator in hand, we filled the basket. We picked up a 5-lb bag of potatoes instead of ten. Bananas and celery were on the list, but left on the shelf. In their place french bread and chicken legs were added. Both were on sale. Our purchases, plus the price of a bag of apples bought previously at Trader Joe's, and a predetermined price for coffee, and salt and pepper from our cupboards hit the $30 mark.
Food Purchased:
5 lbs- potatoes 1 lb- carrots 2 lbs- broccoli
3 lb- apples 1 bunch spinach green onions
2 lbs- rice 1 lb- spaghetti spaghetti sauce
black beans 18 eggs 1/2 lb butter
5 chicken legs French bread
32 oz- chicken broth 20 oz peanut butter
5 pkg Ramen noodles
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The Menu:
Breakfast
Snacks
Lunch
Dinner
Food Thoughts:
Food Tricks:
Reflections:
Tyler was very concerned about nourishing his body and mind. When he looked over the receipts from our shopping excursion, his exclamations of WHAT?! grew louder and more incredulous as he read. The kid can put away five chicken legs in a sitting and we were going to be sharing five for the week. Tuesday morning he showed up at the breakfast table with an aching stomach and cloudy mind. After breakfast he and I compared what we had eaten the day before with what we normally eat. The difference being this week the portions were a little smaller and the snacks healthier. His recovery was just short of a miracle.
Comments during the week:
In hind sight, I wish we had weighed ourselves on Monday and Saturday to see if our weight was affected. I think this was most difficult for Rachel since she burns a bundle of calories in dance class three nights a week. She and Tyler were both in need of the snacks. Everyone was ready to eat at meal and snack times. There were no complaints of gnawing hunger pains. Just the normal questions about when were we going to eat and what was there to snack on. Tyler and I missed having variety in our diet. If we had been buying for our normal two weeks, we could have enjoyed more foods; although portioning may have been more difficult.
Rachel and Tyler were fantastic this week! No whining. No rummaging through the pantry. No late night refrigerator raids. We started the week with the attitude to be grateful for what we had and not to be concerned with what we didn't have. I hope they walked away with that message and empathy for the people in the world who are food poor.
The moment of truth: Sean was in school this week and is transitioning to a new job next week, which made it more challenging to pick a week to include him. I usually make him a lunch from leftovers. That was the plan, but not what ended up happening. He ate out. No fair, I know. I do believe we could have portioned a lunch for him from what was bought. Rachel wouldn't have had leftovers for a snack after dance. Meal portions would have been slightly smaller. And our stomachs may have complained a little more.
So, did we meet the goal? We'll let you decide.
Now we challenge you, no, we double dog dare you, to Live Below the Line. $1.50 a day per person for food for five days. We promise that it will change your perception of food and poverty. Oh, and please remember to share you experience with us. Bon appetit!
After reading a blog post on Forks Over Knives about a woman who took the challenge to eat a plant based diet for five days on $1.50 a day, I decided this would be a great project for Rachel as she studies poverty and wealth.
Putting it into perspective.
Recently our family stopped by Sweet Frog for one of our favorite treats. As we dipped our spoons into to the delightful creamy yogurt topped with delicious goodies, I pointed out that we had just spent half the allotted money for Rachel's project on dessert.
Where to start? Using the Forks Over Knives post as a guide, Rachel looked over grocery store receipts. Did some price checking on our last trip to Trader Joe's. Then came up with a menu plan for three squares and two snacks a day, and a shopping list.
With shopping list in hand, we first canvassed Food Loin writing down prices for everything on the list and adding a few wish items, like cheese. Next we checked prices at Dollar General. And finally the Dollar Store, where we picked up seven items on the list. We decided to return to Food Lion since the price difference between Food Lion and Dollar General was a wash. With calculator in hand, we filled the basket. We picked up a 5-lb bag of potatoes instead of ten. Bananas and celery were on the list, but left on the shelf. In their place french bread and chicken legs were added. Both were on sale. Our purchases, plus the price of a bag of apples bought previously at Trader Joe's, and a predetermined price for coffee, and salt and pepper from our cupboards hit the $30 mark.
Food Purchased:
5 lbs- potatoes 1 lb- carrots 2 lbs- broccoli
3 lb- apples 1 bunch spinach green onions
2 lbs- rice 1 lb- spaghetti spaghetti sauce
black beans 18 eggs 1/2 lb butter
5 chicken legs French bread
32 oz- chicken broth 20 oz peanut butter
5 pkg Ramen noodles
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****************************************************************
The Menu:
Breakfast
Food Thoughts:
- Tyler likes spinach. Who knew?!
- The green onions added needed flavor to many meals.
- By Monday night we were very glad we chose bread and chicken over bananas and celery.
- By Wednesday night we were thankful for two 10 ounce jars of peanut butter instead of one. We had debated.
Food Tricks:
- Breakfast and lunch were served on smaller plates.
- Carrots and apples were thinly slice making the portion appear bigger and take a little longer to eat.
- Food was portioned and arranged to cover most of the plate.
- There was no serve yourself this week.
Reflections:
- Rachel realized that with such a small budget, buying organic would be virtually impossible. However, we felt she had come up with a healthy diet for the week with the money she had.
- If we had been buying for a longer period of time, there are programs like One Harvest that assist anyone looking to save money on groceries that we could have purchased food through.
- Rachel and I discussed the reality of our lives if we were living in extreme poverty. Sean and I would be working or looking for work. We would not be homeschooling. Instead she and Tyler would be attending public school where they would receive free breakfast and lunch. Which in turn would make a $1.50 stretch farther putting more food on our plates at home.
- We quickly become very conscientious about food waste. EVERY morsel counted!
- We felt that being intentional about portion size and when we ate were key in making the food last the week and keeping hunger pains at bay.
- Rachel noted how she felt full after a meal, not stuffed. We all agreed.
- We were offered food at Bible study, dance, soccer practice and a neighbor's house. It was a REAL treat!
- Tyler used one of his dollars to buy a soda and bag of chips at our homeschool co-op. That dollar could have bought 2 lbs of rice or a jar of peanut butter.
- We also questioned how much of our everyday eating is about pleasure and not about nourishing our bodies.
Tyler was very concerned about nourishing his body and mind. When he looked over the receipts from our shopping excursion, his exclamations of WHAT?! grew louder and more incredulous as he read. The kid can put away five chicken legs in a sitting and we were going to be sharing five for the week. Tuesday morning he showed up at the breakfast table with an aching stomach and cloudy mind. After breakfast he and I compared what we had eaten the day before with what we normally eat. The difference being this week the portions were a little smaller and the snacks healthier. His recovery was just short of a miracle.
Comments during the week:
- Tyler remarked that his skin was going to be orange by the end of the week from eating so many carrots.
- Rachel mentioned she wished for hot chocolate as she walked home from a friend's house.
- Sean observed that dinner the night before- potatoes, broccoli, carrots and half a chicken leg- was satisfying.
- The dogs kept giving me questioning looks wondering why I wasn't dropping bits and pieces of food for them while I worked in the kitchen.
- Rachel stated that it was a good thing their food wasn't coming out of the budget!
- Surprisingly, no one commented on the absence of cheese. It's a major food group for our family!
In hind sight, I wish we had weighed ourselves on Monday and Saturday to see if our weight was affected. I think this was most difficult for Rachel since she burns a bundle of calories in dance class three nights a week. She and Tyler were both in need of the snacks. Everyone was ready to eat at meal and snack times. There were no complaints of gnawing hunger pains. Just the normal questions about when were we going to eat and what was there to snack on. Tyler and I missed having variety in our diet. If we had been buying for our normal two weeks, we could have enjoyed more foods; although portioning may have been more difficult.
Rachel and Tyler were fantastic this week! No whining. No rummaging through the pantry. No late night refrigerator raids. We started the week with the attitude to be grateful for what we had and not to be concerned with what we didn't have. I hope they walked away with that message and empathy for the people in the world who are food poor.
The moment of truth: Sean was in school this week and is transitioning to a new job next week, which made it more challenging to pick a week to include him. I usually make him a lunch from leftovers. That was the plan, but not what ended up happening. He ate out. No fair, I know. I do believe we could have portioned a lunch for him from what was bought. Rachel wouldn't have had leftovers for a snack after dance. Meal portions would have been slightly smaller. And our stomachs may have complained a little more.
So, did we meet the goal? We'll let you decide.
Now we challenge you, no, we double dog dare you, to Live Below the Line. $1.50 a day per person for food for five days. We promise that it will change your perception of food and poverty. Oh, and please remember to share you experience with us. Bon appetit!
