One Dollar A Day Diet/Food Stamp Diet

[DianeB]

Lately, I have been following some blogs that focus on eating on $1 a day or only eat what you can buy on food stamps - which is about $3 a day. Ironically, the USDA established that you need at least $5 a day to meet the minimum nutrional requirements.

I calculated the costs of my meals. It is about $1.50 to $2 a day. There has been periods in my life that I have had to live on much less. $3-5 a day seems generous enough that you can eat healthy and have a few extra calories. On less then $2 dollars you either eat crappy fast food with alot of calories and no nutrition or healthy whole foods with the bare minimum of calories.

Looking at some of these people's food diaries they seem to be eating only 1000 -1500 calories a day. So, what do you think? Could you realistically make it on $5 or $3 or $1 a day of food and still be nutritionally balanced with enough calories? Mind you their cost of food included everything even food staples.

These social experiements really make you think. The last figure I saw was that one in ten Americans are now on food stamps. That was back in April. So, the proportion is probably smaller now like one in eight. I do see quite a few more people use WIC and food stamps and shopping more at Winco and Grocery Outlet. Many times they don't have enough to cover in basic groceries.

 

[Dace]

I would have to look it up to get a feel for what foods you can live on for that amount. Seems like it would be extremely difficult.

As I recall there was a Senator or some political figure who decided to live on food stamp type allowance. I don't think I ever caught the end of that story...gotta go look it up.

Edited to add: http://foodstampchallenge.typepad.com/

 

[noobiechickenlady]

I'd really like to know where that $3 figure comes from. Most of the people I know who receive food stamps get a ton more than $90-100 a month per person. I've seen that figure before and it never jived with my personal experience.

I'd eat like a king for the dollar amounts that friends get in food stamps monthly. My grocery bill averages $250-$350 a month for 4, one particular family receives $700 a month for groceries for 5. Heck, when I was getting them, we still got $400 or more for the 3 of us (before we had DD)

Still, back on topic. That is a very slim diet IMO. You'd have to work very hard to get your needed nutrition. Meats would definately have to be flavorings and not main dishes. You can stretch out ground meats with mung beans, lentils & other legumes. Rice is cheap, of course. And if you have a garden, which most food stamp recipients (That I know personally) don't grow a single tomato plant, much less a full out garden. Hunting & raising your own meat animals, having chickens/ducks/whatever for eggs, but again, most of the people I know who get stamps don't do any of those things.

Thought provoking to say the least And I know from experience you can live a long time on crackers, mustard and multi-vitamins. Its not fun, but being a broke college student rarely is.

ETA: Ok, national average, got it. Just not around here... whoo boy people get tons of money for food in my area.

 

[miss_thenorth]

At my house, we really eat cheap, but honestly it would be too difficult to figure out how much something were to cost. I raise most of my own meat, canned or froze local produce picked at local PYO farms, or received free from a friend. Plus we hunt etc.

eg breakfast this morning for me-2 slices of homemade bread,(don't know how much the bread costs me-a 10# bag of ww flour cost $7.97 and I use 3 1/2 cups to make two loaves)
one egg-from my own chicken ( a bag of feed costs $13, is shared by6 ducks, 20 chickens and lasts about three weeks)
3 slices of cheese ( a bar of cheese costs $5.97 and I used about a 30th of it.

Lunch
leftover meatloaf made from venison (free but cost of deer tag was $36, for a whole deer) (last years)
a potatoe (a 50# bag costs $15, mine weighed about 1/2 lb.)
three red beets small--(free from neighbours garden)

Supper will be for 4 people--6 quail(raised by myself, a bag of feed cost $20, used to feed between 50 and 100 quail, lasts about three weeks)
2 lbs potatoes,
butternut squash $0.70
corn (bought this summer for $2/dozen and frozen by me)


This is typical of most of our meals around here--substitute quail for chicken or for rabbit (all raised by me) or venison (shot by hubby or myself)

I do think it would be more of a challenge for people who have to buy all of their food at a grocery store.
For me, most of my grocery dollars are spent on staples and toiletries, and animal feed.

 

[DianeB]

Sorry, I forgot to add some links. http://onedollardietproject.wordpress.com/ http://onedollardietproject.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/it-starts-today/ http://3.justinshearer.com/2009_01_01_archive.php http://foodstampchallenge.typepad.com/ http://www.milehimama.com/food-stamp-challenge/ http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm

This guy is my favorite. A hussler's diet in the hood eating on $5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PMSYPTMc6M

It seems to be a growing trend. I wonder if some of this is just out of necessity to pay of bills.

 

[Dace]

and the trouble is that most people on food stamps do not have access to a garden, hunting/ fishing licenses ( or even the necessary equipment) large freezers to store food and canning equipment and supplies.

It is really not enough to live on.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I'm sure alot of it has to do with the economy--letting people know that you don't HAVE to go out there and spend a fortune just to eat, and eat well. I think Dace posted a thread on here about Rachael Ray's $10 meal, and we all thought that was ridiculous. For us maybe, but for most of America (and Canada), it is the norm to spend outrageous amounts of money to eat. Heck, people who spend up to $100/mo on Starbucks or in Canada--on Tim Horton's coffee, something is wrong.

We can eat well on a modest budget. Things like this dollar a day diet are just a way to get the word out to the rest of the world. So they can spend the money saved on bills.

 

[Dace]

I agree! It is good to make people think about how incredible wasteful they are though.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I don't know anything about foodstamps--don't know if they use them here in Canada. The welfare ppl just get a check every month. Are food stamps separate from welfare? or part in parcel.

I don't want to start a debate about the welfare setup in our countries, but education for ALL is key to success. If the information gets out to the people who need it, then change can happen, if they so choose. The internet is a great way to get info out to people who are looking for it.

First you have a dollar a day diet, then you start to figure out how much you spend. If it is out of control, and you want to change it, then you start looking for ways to change it. You come to sites like this one, and find out about raising your own food, preserving it, hunting and fishing, other ways to save money. The key though is you have to be looking for it.

Dollar a day diet bring awareness, same a 100 mile diets. It's not really meant to be literal. Just to get you to thinking. JMO.

 

[DianeB]

I'd really like to know where that $3 figure comes from. Most of the people I know who receive food stamps get a ton more than $90-100 a month per person. I've seen that figure before and it never jived with my personal experience.

I'd eat like a king for the dollar amounts that friends get in food stamps monthly. My grocery bill averages $250-$350 a month for 4, one particular family receives $700 a month for groceries for 5. Heck, when I was getting them, we still got $400 or more for the 3 of us (before we had DD)

Still, back on topic. That is a very slim diet IMO. You'd have to work very hard to get your needed nutrition. Meats would definately have to be flavorings and not main dishes. You can stretch out ground meats with mung beans, lentils & other legumes. Rice is cheap, of course. And if you have a garden, which most food stamp recipients (That I know personally) don't grow a single tomato plant, much less a full out garden. Hunting & raising your own meat animals, having chickens/ducks/whatever for eggs, but again, most of the people I know who get stamps don't do any of those things.

Thought provoking to say the least And I know from experience you can live a long time on crackers, mustard and multi-vitamins. Its not fun, but being a broke college student rarely is.

ETA: Ok, national average, got it. Just not around here... whoo boy people get tons of money for food in my area.

It definately depends on your state, assests, income and amount of people in your household. In CA, the most you can get is $97 per person for a maximum of 6 people. Assests cannot be more than $3000 excluding car, house and personal items. This includes the whole household. So, if grandparents live with you and someone has a 401K forget it. You can also not buy toiletries, batteries and certain food items.

I can't tell you how many times I see families go through lines with the bare essentials and not have enough food stamps. It is really sad.

Some blogs and articles point out that the very poor don't have access to grocery stores, live in states or cities with high food prices or don't even have basic cooking utensils or stoves/ovens/microwaves (i.e. homeless or those living in motels) It would really be impossible to make it on less $3.