Hunger Challenge
A few days ago, a representative of United Way of King County contacted me about a challenge they are organizing for the Hunger Action Week (4/20-4/24). The challenge is to live off of $7’s worth of food a day (more for families, see below) for an entire week.
Why $7? Because it is the maximum food assistance benefit available for an individual in Washington. United Way is trying to involve local food bloggers in the challenge to raise awareness about hunger in the local community. Because of the economic downturn, many people do not get enough to eat. Food banks and meal programs are being pushed beyond their limits and Basic Food applications (Washington’s name for food stamps) are on the rise. The Hunger Challenge is really an exercise in empathy – to live in someone else’s shoes for one week and
learn how you can help fight hunger in our community.
What Are The Rules For The Hunger Challenge?
- Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner spending only $X a day (see below)
- Salt and pepper don’t count but all other seasonings, cooking oils, condiments, snacks, drinks, and everything else do.
- Don’t use food you already own.
- Don’t accept food from family, friends, coworkers and others. Not even the free samples from Costco!
- Try to include fresh produce and healthy protein each day.
When I signed up for the challenge, I didn’t really do the math. For my household of 2 members, that will be $12 per day. $60 for the 5 day challenge. That is $2 per meal per person!! Planning ahead is the key here. I am really bad at meal planning and optimized grocery shopping. So this is going to be a huge challenge for me, I don’t want to use the word impossible. I want to come up with a healthy and nutritious and also a fun meal plan. Eating cheap doesn’t have to equate to eating junk food. I’d really appreciate any tips or pointers for planning my Hunger Weak.
More Information and Links
If you are interested to learn more, sign up or to donate for the cause, here are some links.
- Hunger Action Week Landing Page – http://www.uwkc.org/hunger
- Hunger Challenge Signup Page -http://www.uwkc.org/newsevents/events/haw/hungerchallenge.asp
- Hunger Challenge Blog – http://uwkc.wordpress.com
- Twitter – http://twitter.com/VolunteerKC
- UWKC’s Hunger Challenge Facebook Page – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Seattle-WA/Im-taking-the-Hunger-Challenge/60489442934?sid=66a988d797c41e3f952f62c521f669a4&ref=s
How Much Can I Spend Per Day?
This table shows how much allowance you’re allowed depending on family size:
Household Size Hunger Challenge Budget
1 $7 / day
2 $12 / day
3 $18 / day
4 $22 / day
5 $26 / day
6 $32 / day
7 $35 / day
8 $45 / day
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I can send the twins over and increase your budget by 10 $ a day. They don’t eat much.
I know you are a big meat fan but perhaps trying a mostly veggie diet for the week might help?
dhal/rice/subji is not that expensive so having a couple of varients of those for dinner?
Buying local produce at ballard market or UW market that have year round farmers market? Not everything is cheap but I have found some stuff?
Hit the asian stores! I heard the new Mayuri in Bothell had some indian veggie sale recently?
I am tempted to do the same. Maybe our curry leaf plants will arrive in time?
In India, $12 can feed us for a week maybe? amazing, isn’t it?
Sorry I can’t be of any help here. I’m clueless about costs
i am hoping to get tips from you on eating low budget…i spend waay too much on everything…not the go-to person on living economical
..wish you the best…u will figure it out for sure
I agree with Archana, vegeatarian diet would definitely be cheaper. Beans are inexpensive, a pound of lentils/beans costs no more than $3 in regular grocery stores, even less in ethnic grocery stores. Make hearty soups with them. Frozen veggies and berries are cheaper than fresh ones. If you eat a lot of yoghurt, try making it at home. Even coming up with ideas is tougher than I imagined. Good luck Sig.
Sig, all the very best! U are on a SBD..are u expecting pointers with that in mind? (Read last post where u mentioned you wish to continue…if not..idli batter-2 days brkfast, lentil dosa..two days brkfast, quinoa / any UPMA, sago khichdi, chapatis – for lunch or dinner, all the grocery to be checked for not purchasing from out..hence dry subzi/gravies from that, use the cheapest of veggies available there..pulao from frozen veggies..etc) guess I got u right..and strictly avoid eating out! That saves many bucks, doesn’t it! Take care..all the very best n u will emerge winner for sure in this challenge.
Sig, yes it is definitely harder when you put the feet to fire. I read, for families that really have to live on that budget it is a lot harder. They have no means to do comparision shopping, look for the best deals or buy in bulk.
If you have an oriental market that is where you should shop. You get fresh produce for a cheaper price. I have seen meat/chicken at cheap prices during certain days of the week. Don’t chuck those fliers, read them
good luck sig… have to agree with raaga, that 12$ will feed us for a week
You might find this experiment interesting:
http://www.freecolorado.com/2007/06/sixmonthchallenge.html
http://www.freecolorado.com/2007/07/prosperitychallenge.html
http://www.freecolorado.com/2007/08/challenge.html
To eat cheaper, you need to eat carbs (rice or bread) more I guess
I don’t know how a low carb diet(with more meat and fresh veggies) will work out.
Don’t think I can help but best of luck with this.
This is realy a challenge. Try rice and dal and greens. In fruits opt for only bananas, as they are the cheapest ( as cheap as even 59c/lb in Pike PLace). Let me give this a thought and see if i can do this as well! All the best!
Quiet challenging! Need to load only carb (rice/ pasta for the price)
Here my menu sample very bland!
One box of pasta :.99 C , onion one Lb 19C, tomato: is vary here so .75 C . Egg dozen: 1 $
U can get plenty of veggie for less than dollar. Suppose one or 2 per day! Already I am counting 4 + dollars, need to include oil, gas or electricity in cooking! Ok, I am not in the game!
I would advice , the grocery in Asian (chinese) store. It should be cheaper.
What do u think?
that’s an interesting challenge Sig. Sorry I will not be of help in *meal planning*. All the very best
Cheers,
Siri
Wow! There are lots of tips provided by the readers. Once I volunteered in a food bank kitchen for a week. They provided food for the homeless/low-income families. Based on that experience I guess I can add some ideas.Hope they will help (considering the SBD-friendly factor):
1. For breakfast, have omlettes/oatmeals
2. Make use of canned beans (garbanzo, black beans, kidney beans)- generic are cheaper than brand names
3. Ever thought of using Maggi Atta noodles? (healthy bhi hai!)
4. Casseroles are money-savers.
5. Use ground beef/turkey instead of steaks and primecuts.
6. Use cut-up beef or pork for stew.Also have dishes with cut-up fish rather than a fillet or whole fish for lunch.
7. Include frozen veggies like broccoli,cauliflower,spinach and peas.
8. Crock-pot/slow-cooker and one-pot meals are penny-pinching.
9. Don’t forget to look up for depression-era recipes.
10. You can have just soup/kanji as lunch/dinner – I mean the one with chowder-like consistency.
So, you have a lot of planning and preparation required for this venture. Good luck!
Hello- Thanks for passing this info along.
I have been on a low-carb & low-fat diet(for health reasons) since last year.
For the past few months my husband and I took up a similar challenge.Although,we didn’t strike it to a dollar amount per day,the challenge was not to spend more than $80-90/week on groceries(we have a toddler son,so i guess we fall in the 3 member household category).
I must say it is very doable to do this while still being on a SBD.
Some of the things that worked for me is- buying cheaper cuts of meat,like whole chicken,chuck roast,flank steak.
Things like frozen shrimp,frozen spinach,frozen broccoli,frozen artichokes give a lot of bang for your money.
Meals like pot roast,chili,stews,cassoulets can be stretched for 2-3 meals.Instead of buying precut/prewashed salads,I started buying whole lettuce-chopped it up with other veggies and braised it for a quick side or added eggs/steak/fish and veggies for a main meal.Being on a budget did not prevent us from eating healthy nor from entertaining friends.
Also,I stopped buying organic produce-I must say this worked for me and am certainly not advocating this philosophy.
You are a very creative cook and I am sure you will whip up something tasty and fancy.Looking forward to reading your posts on this topic.
Best Wishes
Amy
Wow! I have guests for the next 2 months. So, I’m guessing this is out for the time being. But surely for later, bookmarked.
And all the best to you, Sig. I’m thinking veggie food is cheaper?
Veggies & beans? I have never thought of calculating!
Thanks for the post, Sig!
The point of the Hunger Challenge is to make you realize how much someone has to plan just to survive when living on such a tight budget. Think about how hard this would be to do every week!
I’m sure you’ll do great and find creative, SBD-compliant recipes for the challenge.
Also, to everyone else, this challenge isn’t just for food bloggers! We want everyone to try it and see how difficult is it eat 3 healthy meals a day on a budget — a reality more and more families are facing today.
I’m going to be doing this challenge too. I did my first grocery shopping trip. I spent $78 already and it is already stressing me out! I’m going to add your site to the list of FoodBuzz Bloggers from Seattle who will be doing the challenge.
Sig, are you doing SBD on this challenge? Wow! I think lots of egg dishes, salads, and soups would be doable. Berries are on sale everywhere too. I am excited to see the SBD variation.
Nice one Sig..good luck!
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Thank you everyone, for the very valuable tips! Sorry I wasn’t able to reply to individual comments this time, but these were really helpful in my menu planning and shopping.
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