Gwyneth Paltrow Will Live On A $29 weekly Food Stamp Budget

[lxskllr]

The problem is, I don't know anyone in that situation who buys healthy food like that. I have several friends on food stamps & they buy what is cheap, what tastes good, and what their kids will eat - basically junk food laced with corn syrup. But it's filling & it gets them by, although a lot of them have ended up overweight & with blood sugar issues. Part of the problem is access to quality food (economically) & part of the problem is education - a celebrity who has to be skinny for TV is obviously going to make healthier choices, as evidenced by the well-photographed food items selected in the picture above.

I think it was the documentary "Food Inc." that followed a Mexican family around for a day to see what they ate - 2 parents, 2 kids, $10 nightly budget for dinner. They showed how they could basically spend $10 on a bag of apples, or $10 on the dollar menu at McDonalds & feed everybody in their family. Not the healthiest choice night after night, but it didn't require any prepwork after an exhausting work day & the kids would actually eat it without fussing.

There was another good documentary called "A Place at the Table" about food insecurity that introduced me to the concept of "food deserts", where fresh produce & healthy items like in the picture above simply weren't readily accessible to people living on food stamps, with no car, who were too far away from the supermarket to make shopping for fresh food feasible.

People don't realize how bad it is in some parts of the country, especially if you have it good & things around you are decent - it warps your perspective & makes you think that everyone else has it okay too. I lived in Michigan for awhile in a not-great neighborhood & people had it pretty rough in that area...if they had to survive on $29 a week, then it'd be the dollar menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner because that would fill their bellies with zero effort.

But, I can appreciate this project bringing the issue to light. I'm not sure what the ultimate goal is - the article says it's to "raise awareness", but does that mean lobbying the government to increase the weekly amount or what? How much SHOULD it be, then? Does it involve giving people in difficult financial situations the training they need on how to make easy, tasty, and healthy food on a budget? Is it okay to even do that & remove people's ability to choose what they want to eat, despite their situation?

Plus, there's more to the situation than just food. I had a friend who had to heat her apartment with her oven because her section housing didn't have working heat for awhile during the harsh winter (at least electricity was included for free). And with no car and an 8-hour job, her workday was more like 12 hours a day with the long combination walking/bus commute. So while the cause is noble, it seems a tad bit silly to post a high-definition picture of healthy ingredients that require cooking for people who probably already have poor eating habits with limited resources on a tight schedule with low energy, with no clear objective in mind for actually changing anything permanently.

No one with an ounce of sense should buy what she got. Sure, it's "healthy", but you're looking at a day or two of food there, aside from the beans and rice. The stuff she got is rigid, and doesn't lend itself to multiple styles of meal. It's also very perishable. There's nothing wrong with canned vegetables. They're cheap and nutritious.

Your point about shitty urban stores stands. That's an issue for local government. Instead of subsidies for the local toolball franchise that mainly benefits millionaires, they should make opening a serious market an attractive proposition. A small amount of money can make that happen.

 

[Kaido]

I don't think it is that stellar. $29 a week is pretty easy. Frozen fruits and veggies, dried beans, brown rice, dried/powdered spices (doesn't have to be bland!) and occasionally some chicken breast ($1.99lbs on sale quite a bit).

$29 a week is pretty easy for food for an individual.

Yeah, and if you don't mind breaking up the same meal every day, it can be pretty easy - a couple chicken breasts can be used for a breakfast burrito, chicken salad for lunch, and chicken cutlet for dinner. I got pretty good at low-effort cooking using a George Foreman grill & bulk frozen meats & veggies (a la Costco) back in college. Throw in some spices & sauces and you can make some pretty tasty food on a budget for sure!

 

[Strk]

No one with an ounce of sense should buy what she got. Sure, it's "healthy", but you're looking at a day or two of food there, aside from the beans and rice. The stuff she got is rigid, and doesn't lend itself to multiple styles of meal. It's also very perishable. There's nothing wrong with canned vegetables. They're cheap and nutritious.

Your point about shitty urban stores stands. That's an issue for local government. Instead of subsidies for the local toolball franchise that mainly benefits millionaires, they should make opening a serious market an attractive proposition. A small amount of money can make that happen.

I wouldn't say there's nothing wrong with canned vegetables. They are typically loaded with sodium and heated destroying some of the nutrition. Frozen is a much better choice. It is usually just as cheap as canned, but nothing is added to the vegetables to preserve them.

 

[Kaido]

No one with an ounce of sense should buy what she got. Sure, it's "healthy", but you're looking at a day or two of food there, aside from the beans and rice. The stuff she got is rigid, and doesn't lend itself to multiple styles of meal. It's also very perishable. There's nothing wrong with canned vegetables. They're cheap and nutritious.

If they really wanted to solve the problem, they would just distribute Soylent. It's a higher cost at the most basic level ($4.05 per meal), but it gives you 100% nutrition, which solves both the issue of being hungry & the health issues of not eating nutritious foods. Sell it in Mountain Dew & Dorito flavors and everyone would drink it

 

[Ken g6]

THose on Food stamps get $29/person per week.

That's pretty low! According to [thread=2427574]this thread in P&N[/thread]:

Max SNAP benefits for a single person are $194/mo.

In a 31-day month, that's 7/31*194 = $43.80/week! But that's in Maine. I guess New York is supposed to have cheaper food?

Edit: No, that's national. So why the lower estimate here?

 

[lxskllr]

I wouldn't say there's nothing wrong with canned vegetables. They are typically loaded with sodium and heated destroying some of the nutrition. Frozen is a much better choice. It is usually just as cheap as canned, but nothing is added to the vegetables to preserve them.

They have a small amount of salt, not typically loaded. Salt isn't especially bad for you anyway. Some people with specific health conditions should cut back, but otherwise, it's harmless. Most people cook their vegetables anyway aside from salad. That's a wash. Fresh vegetables in season can be had cheaply. You buy what's available, and within budget; not what you want.

 

[CZroe]

Brown rice was definitely a good call (black beans too) but cilantro and limes aren't going to give her meaningful sustenance. Substitute oranges for the limes because she is going to need vitamin C.

 

[Kaido]

Brown rice was definitely a good call (black beans too) but cilantro and limes aren't going to give her meaningful sustenance. Substitute oranges for the limes because she is going to need vitamin C.

It's not entirely a bad idea tho, because it makes the healthy stuff more palatable. If you can't get your family to eat it, it doesn't matter how healthy it is

 

[JEDI]

Also In B4 ARE POOR PEOPLE NOT ENTITLED TO A RIB EYE STEAK EVERY NOW AND THEN???!

not at $10/lb.

and especially not when bacon is $2.49/lb!
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2415867

 

[SSSnail]

Where the fuck does she shop, Whole Foods? Geez, I'm sure you can get a lot more than that if you don't buy organic craps at a normal supermarket.

 

[BUTCH1]

$29/person for a week. That's too easy. Our local supermarket sells these party size meals for $10.99 regularly. For a single person, these last a good three to four days each. The rest can be used to purchase side dishes.

Hmm, no. The numbers don't add up very well, a "party-sized" lasagna is 90oz or 5.65lbs, divide that by 4=1.4lbs/day, divide the 1.4 by three (3 meals/day) and you get .47lb per meal, less than 8oz. I don't know about yourself but less than 8oz would not be enough for a lot of people, then your stuck eating the same high-fat meal over and over for days, doable but highly undesirable.

 

[gdansk]

Eggs, beans and rice are the key to a low cost diet.

 

[CZroe]

It's not entirely a bad idea tho, because it makes the healthy stuff more palatable. If you can't get your family to eat it, it doesn't matter how healthy it is

The challenge is personal. She'd get another $29 if she were feeding someone else. Also, you wouldn't let yourself starve because it was a little less palatable,. The point is to show just how hard it is to survive and stay healthy on so little, so I think palatability must take a back seat.

 

[Fayd]

meh. I'm a young urban professional, and i get by on about $6/day.

my breakfast - homemade breakfast burrito, frozen. all told, around $1.
my lunch - lean cuisine ($1.88) + apple ($.50) + yogurt ($.90)
my dinner - fruit/leafy green/carrot smoothie ($2.00 ish?)

6*7 = 42, which is distance from 29, but it's not like i'm trying to hit a target for spending. rather, trying to limit calorie intake to lose weight.

certainly were I inclined, the lunches and dinners could be dropped and replaced with rice and beans, with some fruit/vegetable supplement. that would be cheaper and probably bring me under the $4.50 mark.

but by Ken_G6/Jhhhhn's posts, SNAP benefits are 43.80 a week..so i'm already under that.

 

[zinfamous]

limes are to prevent scurvy, obviously.

 

[echo4747]

Potatoes I feel, would be a good choice. They are not that expensive, very versatile, and keep for quite some time

 

[lxskllr]

Potatoes I feel, would be a good choice. They are not that expensive, very versatile, and keep for quite some time

Cabbage is a good cheap fresh vegetable. Cabbage soup is very cheap and easy. Half head of cabbage 50¢, two Italian sausage links $1.50, wine vinegar 10¢, tabasco 20¢, black pepper 2¢?, and salt virtually free.

 

[CZroe]

limes are to prevent scurvy, obviously.

Yep, but oranges would be better. Two birds with one stone (sustenance and vitamin C).

 

[CZroe]

I'd make dirty rice with turkey sausage or grilled chicken and rice with celery for two meals with something fresh/raw like a mandarin salad for the third.

 

[jlee]

Avocados cost $1.66 each at my regular local grocery store here in CT ($2 each at Whole Foods if you want the hippie organic ones). That's $11.62 if you only eat one a day. That's 1/3 of the budget for the entire week.

I ate 3 by myself yesterday in my guacamole with chips

They're $0.20/ea here when they go on sale.

 

[TheSlamma]

Continues to show just how far out of touch with the real world she is.

 

[Rakehellion]

I am currently living on a 30 dollar a MONTH budget. 29 dollars a week is nothing, why is her "challenge" news but my challenge isn't covered at all.

Do you want a medal?

 

[Rakehellion]

Avacado is very spendy, at least here on the east coast. Quality food, but she could do much better.

She bought one of them.

 

[Rakehellion]

Who in the hell said food stamps were meant to be LIVED off of? It is meant to supplement your ability to get off your ass and get a job as well. Plenty of people I knew in college were on food stamps for obvious reasons - in combination with SCHOOL and their non-full time employment (due to school obviously) - it's a bit harder to fully pay for everything.

Until you get a job, you still need to eat. What do you suggest, stealing?

 

[Rakehellion]

The problem is, I don't know anyone in that situation who buys healthy food like that. I have several friends on food stamps & they buy what is cheap, what tastes good, and what their kids will eat

Everything she bought tastes like crap. She could have splurged on the $1.79 for a container of salt and pepper.