I love the idea of this challenge. When I was studying to become a dietitian, I had to make a similar menu for a project. It's a tight squeeze, but can be done.
Miss Eng obviously possesses something many people on food stamps do not- cooking skills and cooking implements, and the ability to get to stores that are not a corner market/bodega and get her healthy food home.
Many neighborhoods where the population that receives food stamps is high are also lacking in grocery stores.

I became a vegetarian—over the last three years gradually and made the complete transition last fall—not only for my health but also for this very reason. In March 2009 I was let go from my job and have been working freelance on and off since. Between finishing school and not working money is tight. I don't qualify for food stamps because of my living situation.

Whole foods bulk bins are the best for grains and legumes—a can of steel cut oats (you know that pretty one you alway show) costs $6 at Boston area grocery chains, but in the bins at whole foods its just a $1.50lb. For nuts I go to Trader Joes, they have the best prices for nuts. On 4.50 a day nuts would be a splurge. Nut butters are a great substitute. Farmers markets are cheap! (except for things like berries and heirloom tomatoes, which are still cheap compared to the supermarket) AND if you can swing the up front costs my CSA (with eggs!) has been so amazing this year it was really a steal, I am still getting watermelons!

I feed my husband and I on that amount regularly, and I purchase mostly at Whole Foods. And we eat well and are not vegetarians. A little bacon goes a loooong way. And one chicken can feed two people dinner for a week, if you know what you're doing. The more people are educated on how to maximize your grocery dollar and cook from scratch, the more people can save money on their grocery bill.

My weekly food budget is $40, and many weeks I come in under that. I could do $30 pretty easily, but it would mean eating less meat & fish than I do. There's a great blog called "$30 a week" which documents the expenses of feeding two people on $30 a week, and they do just fine.

Yes, it takes planning and careful shopping. Yes, it means probably less meat. But it's not really all that hard to do.

As a university student on a budget I have been feeding myself on $30/week for the last 2 years (since I left residence).

I eat meat, fish, cheese, and milk, 4 things that, if I went without, I could cut my budget by a significant amount.

I buy meat in bulk and freeze ($1.77/lb of lean ground beef? Yes please) I cook a lot. I make time for it, which is something I know many of my peers don't. I have a slow cooker and a dutch oven, two tools I use often. I also make stock for soup and plan, plan, plan.

I eat soups (potato/leak, "homemade" (broth, veggies, lentils, a bit of beef) among others) mostly sandwiches for lunch, just because I am at school and they're easy. Keeps me healthy and means I can afford the occasional bottle of wine (which as someone majoring in Winemaking/Grape-growing is sort of nice/necessary)

I agree with robinRD, emphasizing the additional challenges faced by many low income families. Maybe it's different in Philadelphia, but do most farmers markets accept food stamps?

My boyfriend and I lived off of $20 a week(Canadian mind you) and we never once went hungry. We didn't eat very much meat, but we were fine.

the flaw in this is that she's counting counting it at unit prices.

a low income family can't think of one tortilla as ten cents - they think of it as the one whole dollar it takes to buy the pack of 10

this is flawed from the getgo

@shawnwich: Sure, but many of us spend no more than this weekly - not as unit prices but as actual money out the door from our hand to the stores. It's totally possible.

Absolutely possible. And I live in NYC! Just the other night I had dinner from a take out Chinese restaurant that has GIGANTIC egg rolls for only $1.20 each. With a small green salad, it was a yummy meal.

ugh....i am so sick of well off people patting themselves on the back for doing something like this for like...a week. Try living it!

This is totally possible for one person -- I do it now. It does mean your diet probably looks more akin to a vegetarian's than an omnivore's, but it's easily done. Beans/legumes (especially dried), whole grains and frozen vegetables are all cheap and go a long way. It's my practice to use meat as a condiment rather than the centerpiece, which means I often turn to bones, bacon and sausage. I do make meat-centered dishes occasionally, but I look at them like a treat and not a daily necessity. I've felt better since eating this way, have lost weight and saved money. It's a win-win.

SheilaE -- JEALOUS! Why couldn't my college offer your major? :-)

@jennitee - If you'd read the comments posted before you you'd have noticed that people are "living it". And what exactly do you define as "well off"?

Most food stamp families have children. Try feeding 2 or 3 kids on this budget without a car or a Whole Foods in sight. Its not as easy as it sounds, but it is possible.

I have 6 kidlets and while we don't get food stamps, my grocery budget isn't much more than this. While its great to be able to go to Whole Foods and buy beans and grains from the bulk bin, I don't always feel like cooking from complete scratch for my small army at the end of the day.

I think the project is a good idea, but I think its overlooking other problems SNAP recipients run into. Careful shopping and cooking from scratch help a great deal, but by no means is a cure all.

Food stamps system should be replaced with actual food i.e. sacks of grain, rice, cheese, powdered milk, etc. It should be healthy an well rounded diet. Or with a meals on wheels type system that provides healthy food for people that may not be able to get to the distribution location. The costs would be able to be controlled much better and provide a more well rounded meals.

@bjw78 yeah man you're right, the logistics of shipping and distributing (and... delivering to the home? are you serious?) would be a lot cheaper and make more sense than issuing people credit at grocery stores in their state. why hasn't anyone else thought of this?!

Sarcasm aside, direct food distribution has already been done and was replaced with the food stamp program. Your idea is to go back to an inefficient system we used back in the 70's where shitty food from low bidders on government contracts rotted in warehouses or was sold to grocery stores by corrupt officials.

I'd also like to agree with jennitee. You middle class apartment decorators are doing for a week to get a good feeling about yourselves what we do all of the time to stay alive, and the big circlejerk you're all having over it is actually kind of offensive.

@helsbels

I wasn't referring to the people here- I mean the people who write articles and books like this.

Also, this is just a small portion of a greater problem for people....fixing it isn't about showing how those sad unfortunate food stamp users how to really use their money at Whole Foods.

It's a much bigger thing that I don't know the answer to.

I think this challenge is a great idea especially because for many it's not a challenge it's a way of life. I had to pay my way through college and that left little cash for food. I really like everyone's points that pure, unpackaged food doesn't have to be expensive. The idea of spending less gets people to focus on the basics and to purchase foods that sustain your body. Most of the pricey foods that we think we need are all the extra "stuff"...quick sauces, dressings and packaged foods that may not be healthy and we could easily make ourselves. I used to work at a health food store and it bugged me when a family would spend 20+ food stamp dollars on sushi nori! Education is key in this situation so maybe this challenge will inspire people to think differently about the way they spend money on food and how to make our dollars go further.

So, the point of this article is...what?

To illustrate the additional ills that befall those on foodstamps, or that it can be done with some careful planning and a few dietary changes?

I for one abhor editorials masquerading as articles.

Save your political comments for voting day.

In this case--not only can you benefit from engaging in this exercise but within 1 years time I can nearly guarantee you will lose weight, and best of all with the savings you've reaped you can buy the best money saver of all...a practical refrigerator.

Best purchase ever.

Kids are especially visual and convenience based eaters...if it's buried or they can't see it...they'll let it rot and hit the dollar menu.

I had done this early this year and last year as well for the United Way of King County and it helped me learn a lot! You can see it being documented in my food blog http://www.mirchmasala.me

Wow. My husband and myself eat - really well! on $25/week/each. That's $50/week for the both of us, $200/month (which is sometimes 4 1/2 weeks).

We've been doing it for three years, no problem. When we first moved to this city, things were tight and we only had $100/month for the both of us. That was tough.

Today, I had pre-workout toast with homemade apricot freezer jam.

Afterwards at midmorning I had a ton of steel-cut oats sauteed with a bit of real butter and then cooked normally, which I transported to school with a banana, cinnamon, syrup and a pinch of salt.

I did bring more food for the afternoon but didn't end up feeling hungry (normally the midday meal is raw veggies, hummus or chicken or an egg, and some type of starch [pita, rice, etc]).

And when I got home, my hubby made ground turkey tacos with cheddar and romaine salad with fig balsamic dressing. (we ran out of spinach-arugula mix yesterday)

I was going to make (locally grown, organic) rhubarb custard cake for a snack but realized we're out of sugar... and I'll pick more up next time we go shopping.

My $25/month will serve me just fine.

That does mean I don't get to buy chunks of Parmesan or Gruyere every month, but every few months. It does mean that we don't eat out much. It does mean we only buy beer or wine once every couple months.

But it also means we live within our means, and get to entertain several times a month.

Tonight will end with Earl Grey tea with honey and milk, perhaps a bit of honey-sweetened rhubarb compote instead.... again, that's just fine with me.

Oops, $25/week :) $25/month is pretty ridiculous, but I'm sure it would still buy far better food than a lot of the world gets.

(And meat was on sale, so we have a freezer full of chicken, beef, pork, shrimp and fish... and we still have more than enough grocery budget left for the rest of the month)

I hate this kind of crap, it smacks so much of "See? They don't really have it *that* bad." UGH

I couldn't imagine anybody living in Canada getting away living on this, at least not on the West Coast.

I don't think it's silly--learning to cook tasty food on a budget seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Sticking to this budget would prevent overbuying and food wasting, and it would also help with healthy eating, because you can't buy a lot of frozen dinners or snacks on that amount of money.

I think what people forget, though, is that really sticking to a $31/week food budget means that you can't really eat out.

As far as the policy message, I think it's that providing food stamps alone doesn't solve the problem. As others have mentioned, eating well on $31/week assumes that the person has the ability and means to cook meals from scratch.

The article mentions a program, SNAP, which doubles the value of WIC at certain farmers markets. While that is fantastic and I'm glad to hear that something like that exists, it sure doesn't exist nation wide. My local farmer's markets take cash, only cash.

But like some of the others, I'm feeling cynical and sarcastic about this. How nice that you can show it can be done. Of course it can be done, because people *have* to do it or they don't eat or live indoors.

How about doing this challenge with only access to public transportation?

How about shopping only in low-income neighborhoods, food deserts, or in a poor rural community?

How about cooking as if you didn't have internet access at home for you to look up recipes and "cost saving tips". Maybe limit your internet access for recipe time at the library which you need to access by foot or public transportation.

Bonus points if you cook like didn't have access to a stove as too many homeless Americans experience.

Food stamp challenges are a good thing because it raises awareness about the hunger crisis in America. I think doing the challenge with additional constraints that are the reality of many low-income people may provide a much deeper understanding of the problem.

@LMAS I would love to hear about how you make dinner for a week on one chicken - I can make guesses as to how you do this, but I'd love to hear about it! All I can think of is chicken with rice and veggies, then chicken soup from the bones.

Aside from that, I'm confused by some of the comments, isn't Whole Foods expensive? Aside from the bargain grain bins, how are folks saving money by shopping there as opposed to a Giant or Genaurdis or Shop Rite or whatever is in your area?

I agree with webjockey's points. Do this without Whole Foods. There's a whooooole lot of people who aren't so fortunate enough to live near a WF -- the 2-3 times I've been to one in the LA area was when a friend drove me, and that was still a trip in itself and I felt like a tourist in there. And do this without the double-points at the farmer's market. Or heck, without the farmer's market at all.

I think it is an interesting experiment for the blogger and does not begin to deserve the nastiness here. I lived on a similar amount in college and did fine. I'd have a much harder time juggling work, a husband, and two kids.

Almost all farmer's market in California take both WIC and Food stamps but very few double them. That is really genius. And despite the bad rap gets, it is easy to shop there and live well on a budget. Yes, you have to skip the fancy crackers but they have many, many good value whole foods at good prices.

CHALLENGE IS RIGHT! this most likely cuts out dining out, but I wanna know what farmers market and whole foods these folks here go to, because w simple things like mini heirloom tomatos basket, basil, 4 avocados, and 4 plumos and 2 limes, for one person to last one week I dropped $15 and another $10 for half a free range organic chicken. THIS DID NOT complete me for a weeks worth of food. I still had to additional shopping. Im starting to suspect SD markets are ripping us off w the bountiful statements being made here.

October is right around the corner. good time to try out this challenge then.

I actually find this whole concept really offensive. What is the point? To prove that people on food stamps should just "get it right", and go to Whole Foods like you do? Or are you trying to argue that living off of $31 per week is something that we should hold up as a competition to participate in? Maybe we should instead be having real conversations about food stamps with those that survive off (or attempt to) them. There are many people living in poverty who are fortunate enough to have access to government assistance to address some of the needs they have for food. No human should have to live off of a minimum amount of food, and face it - this is a meager amount, especially when you have a family to feed, and no time to make something from scratch. Also, are we ridiculing folks on food stamps for not "getting it" and not running to an expensive, overly priced grocery food store as does the author? What an elitist, disconnected concept. "Ha, ha, let's see what it's like to go `slumming' for a day. Oooh! I can still get my precious macadamia nuts from Whole Foods!"
Let's think about the implications of what is being suggested here...

@bibi99: you make a good point. not to mention that places like whole foods, TJ and farmers markets are accessible to the very folks who most likely use food stamps. Lower income neighborhoods don't have these type of stores, but a surplus of McDs."It takes a lot of money to be poor". I didn't get that statement at first but if you think about it for a while it does. one doesn't get a chance to go for a run while your laundry machine is going on. example: you gotta trek you loads on a cart or bus to the nearest laundry mat, stay there and pay $2.50+/load. more time and $ tends to be used per item. ironic.

OOPS! @bibi99: you make a good point. not to mention that places like whole foods, TJ and farmers markets are NOT accessible to the very folks who most likely use food stamps. Lower income neighborhoods don't have these type of stores, but a surplus of McDs."It takes a lot of money to be poor". I didn't get that statement at first but if you think about it for a while it does. one doesn't get a chance to go for a run while your laundry machine is going on. example: you gotta trek you loads on a cart or bus to the nearest laundry mat, stay there and pay $2.50+/load. more time and $ tends to be used per item. ironic.

How about we all take our opinions off the web and outside...to start a community container garden program that greens some of those food desserts, take our brilliance on how how live and cook healthily and inexpensively to a soup kitchen or community center education program...and generally put our actions where our mouths are (and in this case, I mean more than eat).

@Jonesa2
In Chicago the farmer's markets accept LINK cards (food stamps).

There are also a couple farmer's markets located in 'food desert' areas of the city.

People need to start relearning the lost skills of our grandparents and great-grandparents. Processed, pre-packaged food has made us lazy, fat and unable to feed ourselves.

I think it's a shame that people feel it's too time consuming to make their children a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for their lunch and buy frozen ones. When did we get too busy to feed ourselves?

@bibi99......I totally agree with you. I work for a non-profit social services agency and see hundreds of clients a month who live on less than this every week - who often have multiple children, disease, medications, mental illness, substance abuse problems & no transportation. The majority of my clients lack the skills, motivation, or resources enough to A) know to shop at WF or farmer's markets or B) how to cook food like this. Many of them are hold down several jobs, care for their aging parents or grandkids, or are fresh out of prison. They rarely have Internet access, and some can't read at all. Many live on the street or packed 8 deep into studio apartments.

It pisses me off to see how these noble bloggers treat the notion of living like this as some "social experiment" for themselves to photograph and write about. It reeks of sanctimonious self-promotion and blindly classist elitism. My clients don't give a crap about beet tops and bulk organic barley. Take your $31/a week and give it to someone who no camera, no internet access, no writing skills, no blogger witticisms, no STOVE, and spare me your voyuerism into a world millions of people slog through every day - who don't need their plight exploited by your patronizing condescension.

Yes; I am in university.

The answer is frozen vegetables, apples, oranges, eggs, fresh spinach, brown rice, bulk quinoa, ramen (which I spiff up with veggies, eggs, and sriracha) and anything else I only buy when it's on sale. I splurge on milk though.

I was a single Mum and used to live on this little, my child was a baby so I didn't have to worry about cooking too much for him, what can I say?.... I was thinner.

Then my child grew up to be a teen... oh man, are they uninterested in beans and veg!!!

I don't really understand the challenge here. Is the writer of this article proving or disproving the use of food stamps? Is the writer looking down on people who use food stamps? Is he or she trying to show how to use food stamps to their full advantage? What is the writer trying to get across?

It seems those of you criticizing this article are both making and missing the general point: That just increasing the amount of money that is given to food stamp recipients will not solve the problem of hunger, obesity, and food related disease in America, that we also need to look at increasing the availability/access of healthy grocery stores, fruits and veggies, and food education in poor neighborhoods. I think the outcome of the challenge makes this point very well: Eating healthy on $31 can be done, BUT you need these things: good grocery store, farmers market, recipes, access to a kitchen, time. The challenge brings awareness to the sets of problems facing impoverished Americans, which is one of the steps to fixing them. Berating the author and the challenge seems ultimately counter productive.

I am on the BOD of our local food pantry. We see many families a week coming in, some with SNAP (food stamps on a debit card), some without. It is a self-declared system, no proof of income is required, just a statement of need. While we can not address the larger issues of poverty, we can supply individuals with nutritous foods. We ask our donors for whole grains and minimally processed foods, and we purchase through the food bank the rest. Once a week our pantry offers a free produce market for the clients, because the farmer's market here does not take SNAP. We are working toward not only getting them a SNAP teminal, but doubling the value so they can buy local fuits and vegetables, and save $$.
Many people are afraid to ask for extra help. Do not be. If you have a large family or not, and the cash isn't there to keep you fed, please seek out a food resource such as this where you live.

Sauceykat, I live in Canada in a major city in Ontario. My siblings live on the West coast. They basically do the same thing, but buy less cheese.

webjockey - i live in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Canada, and only use public transit. But yes, we have a No Frills the neighbourhood :)

I'm sick of hearing "just because you're poor, you must be too stupid to do what better-educated people do - plan, make their own meals, and know how to save money by not buying frozen pizza." Empower people and give them skills, don't enable and encourage.

Middle-class folks can afford to be lazy and go out to eat and do convenience food... we can't. That's OK. We still eat very well.

The first site that helped me out years ago is still up -- http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/

Love it, love it, love it. It really helped me learn a lot about menu planning and budgeting. I can't thank them enough.

I still refer friends to the Emergency $45 menu to feed 4-6

@hrhprincessfiona I'm sorry France's spice menus are so expensive. I just swiped the first 5 spice canisters off the top of my spice basket and here are the prices:
Ground Black Mustard Seed -- 250 ml $0.52
Ground Cinnamon -- 250 ml $0.69
Ground Cayenne Pepper -- 250 ml $0.63
Curry (no salt) -- 250 ml $0.52
Dried Dill Weed -- 500 ml $1.56

Total -- $3.92 for enough spice to cook with for most of the season. Thank you, farmers market.

And to all those commenters out there hating on bloggers for "not getting it" at least this post is trying to bring some idea of the issue to the foreground on a blog that often focuses on loftier kitchen (budget) aspirations. C'mon now, not everyone who lacks an internet connection, car, and a Whole Foods considers themselves wretched out there. Of course, cooking everything from scratch when you're holding down a few jobs and trying to raise a family and still only spending $30/week on food....much harder proposition. It would be nice to see Monica Eng blog that.

The point of these food stamp challenges is to learn something. You'll never get the full picture through a short adventure in cultural/poverty tourism, but you may learn something that you didn't realize before. I've read many of these challenges, and for me, it's exciting to see how these challenges reminds them about their childhood, or a moment where they needed help, or removes some of the judgey-mcjudgerson ideas they had. In Austin, 13 food bloggers came together to blog about what it would be like to eat from food that they got at a food pantry for several days.

http://austinfoodbank.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/austin-food-bloggers-wrap-up-choice-–-it’s-what-unites-us/

For food banks and activist organizations that don't have the reach of major bloggers or media, these challenges provide new channels to spread the message about hunger in America.

At the end of the day, it's about raising awareness (and anger) about hunger so that people come together and demand better from their leaders, and community.

Nothin' wrong with that.

I think if you really really want to know how to eat on $21 (California SNAP) a week it should come from a person who is doing it day after day, month after month.

Propane costs have to to factored into the 'cooking cost.' The lack of money for food is the tip of the iceberg when poor. It is a full time job living in poverty, an energy drain. It is a lifestyle if you will that waits for the next shoe to drop. It occupies your thoughts daily.
Sometimes you can't sleep.

Then there is the humilation and shame. The lack of hope as you age can be devastating.

And many ageing poor are not fat and do not need to lose weight! Many are cold in the winter, chose between a hot shower or a hot meal due to the high cost of fuel.

Food bank food in my county is disgusting unhealthy food....which is not what a person living in stress needs to stay healthy.

$21 a week is being done, but with difficulty - just ask someone who actually lives it. It is being done, no question about it.

As an undergraduate, I fed 2 of us on $14 a week. Now, with a 4-person household, I spend about $4 per person per day. Not too hard, especially as vegetarians with a garden.

A big consideration not being seen here is not everyone lives near Whole Foods or cheap grocery stores...and not everyone own a car to get to the places you talk about. I'm also doubting lunch is counted in...which is another meal during the day. It is upsetting to see people being so happy they can do this for one measly week when I grew up in a family that had to go on food stamps...before patting yourself on the back, try it for a month or even a year since you'll find yourself missing those expensive foods you once bought.

I've been on both sides of this story, and boy is there a lot that people who haven't been poor just don't understand.

I can cook easily on $31 NOW, sure, because I have a full pantry, oils, spices, baking goods, a full set of cookware.

As a child on welfare, our pantry typically contained a two-year old can of government mystery meat and some dried up ketchup. That's it! Can you imagine having only two food items in your house? NOW try cooking on $31 (though, round here it's closer to $20) a week.

To do this challenge right, you get two pans - one teflon that is flaking, the other an old aluminum saucepan. You have one or two utensils, no plastic storage containers, and no disposable products of any kind (paper towels, wrap, plastic bags, etc.). You also have no clean rags or dishtowels because you can only afford to do laundry at the laundry mat once a month.

Do it that way, and then I'll be impressed.

or find a solution to what I'm currently dealing with- a 7 month preganant cousin who's homeless. Yes, she has WIC, yes, she has food stamps. But without access to a fridge, storage, or a stove.. what is she suppose to eat on a daily basis? Show me a article with solutions to that, and like superbeetle, then I'll be impressed!

http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/FMNP/FMNPfaqs.htm

WIC is accepted at farmers markets in 45 states. Our farmers markets all accept food stamps EBT too.

Oh, and the basic premise of this was decent, in that this site at least acknowledged for once that most people don't have the kind of money to do most of the stuff on this site. Still, rather than having someone do an experiment they don't need to do, why didn't the authors offer to do this along with someone who is a benefits recipient and see how it would really work in a situation where someone doesn't have a lot of time to cook, is hounded by not-very-educated grandparents who insist that you better be buying that baby REAL pampers and she ain't havin none of that unsanitary cloth business, and you better be feeding that baby REAL gerber and none of that made-it-yourself-in-the-blender nonsense.

For a lot of people living in a cycle of poverty, it's a real pride thing that their children will not be wearing any clothes or using any toys that aren't new, and they certainly won't be eating anything that isn't brand-name. Things that seem artsy or whatever to middle-class people, like homemade pizza and bulk foods and whatnot (and that might be healthier...) seem like cheap halfass DIY alternatives to a lot of people who are focused on making sure their kids have what they view as the best.

There's also the factor of being of the demographic that you can get your kids taken away in an instant -- there's no way you're going to risk having anyone hear that you're not feeding your kids meat and dairy at every meal or that you aren't feeding the baby proper baby food, including those ridiculous overpriced and overmarketed baby junkfood "puffs," or that every inch of your house isn't babyproofed with store-bought products (marked up at Babies R Us, not straight from the hardware store -- I've been told that Babies R Us knows how to only sell safe things and the other stores don't because they aren't the real Babies R Us).

The people who investigate complaints of abuse and neglect are not generally clinicians with formal training in family development or nutrition. They often haven't attended any college and have only received on-the-job training. I've seen kids get taken away because the family feeds them beans and rice and uses cloth diapers. Which looks a lot like my family, except that I'm more educated than a lot of my clients, I'm perceived as white, my apartment has books and art instead of TV and video games, and we look pretty middle-class unless you look at our income. The social services folks aren't going to think our beans and rice and minimal material possessions are neglectful, but they do think it's neglectful coming from a less articulate/educated/white family.

It's easier for people in the middle class to eschew American marketing for simpler alternatives. Much harder to do so in the lower classes.

Great posts produce great discussions - loving the commentary

I live in a rural area. no WF, no TJ. No real farmers market. The one 15 miles away that we do have doesn't take credit cards or food stamps (bridge card here) they take cash. I would be more impressed if they showed how to use the allotted 31 dollars at a regular grocery store over the course of say, 3 months. Plus, how they intend to pay for toiletries and other sundries that aren't included.

Like others have posted, it can be "easy" to subsist on $31/week or whatever for a short while, and with a pantry full of expensive olive oil, spices, seasonings, etc. and a kitchen full of gourmet cooking gear along with the time to cook leisurely and without living in fear of having your electric cut off or wasting too much energy. What about the real world, where people have to work 2 jobs, raise a bunch of kids, deal with medical issues, lack of transportation, and lack of cooking equipment?

Try camping for weeks on end with this budget and not using ANY condiments or whatever not covered in the budget (extra points if you don't use any power/heating sources that aren't also covered in that budget) and then maybe, just maybe, I'll be impressed.

It would have been a much better awareness and learning opportunity for the kind of people that would read the blog (i.e. wealthy middle-class people) to actually interview people who are doing it, living on food stamps and welfare, than to just go "look at me, I can do it, easy peasy! Aren't I great?". Because it kind of sounds like "let's play poverty for a week" and that's pretty crappy.

Fantastic comment, eeka. I may quote it elsewhere if you don't mind.

I've been on both sides of this issue.

I know from experience living this experiment is far different from doing it in a petri dish for all the reasons others have already listed.

And like many have suggested before me: I know that ignorance is not *always* part of the equation when deciding to eat more whole/healthy but that lack of access or resources like TJs and farmer's mkts that *do* accept food benefits is a factor that bears serious consideration.

I'm having a hard time, though, understanding how this experiment "raises awareness." Awareness that you can buy at Whole Foods and still eat cheap? Awareness that many family's food benefits are barely enough to sustain them? Really, people don't know that people live in such precarious situations? *shrugging* Wow...

Ok, while it does seem to come off as offensive (obviously) to many.... I thought the article could have had some potential -- not as some sort of 'solution' for poverty stricken families obviously.... but maybe for someone like myself, who is single, used to have a job and a good income, still has a somewhat nicely stocked pantry, spice rack, food processor, etc. but who's income is not what it used to be and as a result, is in need of some ideas on how to drastically cut her food budget but still enjoy healthy tasty meals. I was looking for ideas and recipes, and while there were just a few, I think the overall concept of sticking to a budget and eating good is something a lot of people like myself are interested in doing. Forget the food stamp thing - I just want some tools and resources on how to get great meals with less money -- which is what I thought the idea was about.

Of course (I hope) Monica Eng wasn't trying to "show people on welfare how it's done" .... or suggest that the challenges and struggles many face are any less serious or difficult than they are...

Story of my life. As a college student i aim at spending no more than $40 a week. And most of the time I even hit the $25-30 range. I even eat meat on a regular basis. I shop around sales and make even bigger savings on these sells using coupons.

This is great. I am doing a project for 365 days where I am trying to eat fresh, whole, organic food and mostly local on $40 week (the average food budget of a New Yorker making minimum wage)
http://tipsyturnip.blogspot.com/

@ jennitee Seriously? Stop complaining. I make next to nothing, do qualify, but don't expect everything to be provided for me. If you think the government should provide ALL your food for you then you have some serious issues. It is called SUPPLEMENTAL Nutritional Assistance Program, for goodness sakes. Supplemental means something that completes or enhances- a person is not meant to live off of food stamps alone. It is meant to lend aid to and enhance what one can buy. There is a lot of ignorance when it comes to this and it drives me nuts.

@ jennitee Seriously? Stop complaining. I make next to nothing, do qualify, but don't expect everything to be provided for me. If you think the government should provide ALL your food for you then you have some serious issues. It is called SUPPLEMENTAL Nutritional Assistance Program, for goodness sakes. Supplemental means something that completes or enhances- a person is not meant to live off of food stamps alone. It is meant to lend aid to and enhance what one can buy. There is a lot of ignorance when it comes to this and it drives me nuts.

@ jennitee Seriously? It is called SUPPLEMENTAL Nutritional Assistance Program, for goodness sakes. Supplemental means something that completes or enhances- a person is not meant to live off of food stamps alone. It is meant to lend aid to and enhance what one can buy. How can you be so ignorant and criticize others? I think a lot of people suffer from ignorance on this issue.

Double your stamps at market?Hmmm.....that's a lucky break.How much a week was that worth?

I've recently challenged myself to reduce monthly food expenses from $350-$400 to $240, or $60 a week. I admire all of the posters, above, who seem to be doing a great job!

Okay, for the more curious & practical, this is advice from my great grandmother, who survived World War II and the famine in Ukraine that followed:

Do not buy 1 chicken. Always buy 2 chickens. Two chickens means this:

Chicken 1 you can roast. That will feed 4 people at least twice. Chicken 2 gets the bigger parts (breasts, thighs) removed and made into cutlets/patties. Another meal. The remaining bones and slightly meaty bits are cooked for stock. The stock is used to make soup. The meat that was cooked is removed, and combined with onions or mushrooms for pierogi filling.

So, 2 chickens = 2 roast dinners, cutlets, soup, and pierogis. 4 people are fed 4-5 times. Obviously, you can make adjustments for fewer people, children, or teenage boys, depending on your family contingent.

Give me a break! Come into the real neighborhoods, inner Jersey City for one,where people don't have cars to get anywhere. Mostly Asian markets exist,but the prices are way up there. $4.50 for a pint of black,blue, red berries??$7.00 for a jar of Hellman's mayonnaise?? People in these inner city conditions don't have access .

I wonder if fruits and vegetables in the States are much cheaper than in Canada. I have noticed many people here are saying that if you want to eat on the cheap, you have to sacrifice some meat. I have to disagree. At
least here in Canada, the most expensive food group is fruits and vegetables. So, where I live, you would need to sacrifice some fruits and veggies, but bring on the meat.

As for the general subject, I think people underestimate the food their money can get them. The problem nowadays is that so many of us pretend they don't have time to cook that many of us resort to prepared stuff, which is obviously much more expensive. If you have the will to cook and are ready to put aside some time to do it, and if you are willing to make the effort to spot the places that have good grocery deals, then, you can easily get by on a few dollars a day. But I agree that some neighbourhoods just don't cater to that need. But then, what the hell are you doing in Manhattan if you live off food stamps?!?

@ mimee25, Whole Foods is expensive compared to chain grocery, but not if you don't buy prepackaged foods. If you stick to bulk items, in-season produce, and pantry staples, and substitute cheaper cuts of meat that you can stretch over a week rather than budgeting for a steak/chicken breast/pork chop nearly every night, it's really cheap. I spend about $35/week.

After reading bjw78's comments and the comments that followed, I should let the readers know that there is such a thing as a govt food market. Well, that is, where you prove you're poor enough and you get govt cheese, govt rice, govt flour, govt butter... you get the idea. Everything comes in gov packaging. Govt cheese makes some damn good grilled cheeses. But that was as a kid.

Now as an adult, I can keep around $15 a week on food and not eat ANY ramen (!). It's tasty and keeps me creative in the kitchen! =)

Ugh! AT, why the reposted articles?

This seems like a pretty, cool idea. I may start looking at my grocery receipts to see how much I spend monthly and weekly.

MANY of my family members all have food stamps. In particular, one of my cousin's has food stamps for her, her two boys-age 5 and 1, and the baby daddy. She gets over $500+ a month (she also lives at her parents home which is a 2 bedroom house--- so its tight) and they have like the entire soda aisle in their kitchen. No joke. Her 5 year old constantly nags for Soda (for the past 2 1/2 years) and I swear he has hearing like a dog if he hears someone open a soda can. I really wish there was some kind of electronic transmission that could be sent to the gov't to monitor how some spend our money. I know many people who sell their food stamps. I'll give you $100 worth of groceries if you pay me $50 right now. No joke.

Some people do need food stamps, yes. BUT so many (especially in my area of southern Texas) abuse it. My mom came from a family of 11 growing up in the 60s/70s her dad worked every job he could find and my grandmother could only work part time since there was so many children and they had NO help at all. They didn't have a whole lot but they had their health. I feel really bad for the people that apply for food stamps honestly and get rejected. A friend who works for CMS says she literally hears people in the lobby exchanging ways to get quicker medicaid, food stamps, and housing... all while driving in a 2011 vehicle. But since its not in their name just "given to them" they can't do anything... they know every way to get around the rules. :\

Okay, I'm on food stamps. $30/week is near the low end of my grocery budget; $15/week is about as low as I can go, $50/week is pretty damned luxurious.

Could not live without my local food bank - I get most of my pantry staples, lots of veggies, and a few extras there. Proteins are the biggest problem: for meat & cheese, I scour the newspaper ads for sales and coupons and stock up on loss-leaders whenever I can. I can almost always find yogurt on sale somewhere, and I eat a lot of sunflower-seed butter on day-old multigrain bread. (I'd go in for beans and legumes in a very serious way if I weren't violently allergic to almost all of them.)

The real problems are time, energy and resources. I'm disabled, and there are plenty of days when putting together a meatloaf or a chicken casserole is just more than I can do. That's when the sunflower-seed butter comes in. And when I run out of that, there's oatmeal. Not sure what I'll do if I ever run out of oatmeal.

And I'm one of the lucky ones. I've got a car. I've got online access. I've got a decently stocked and equipped kitchen. (And I've got a Master's degree - in an unrelated subject, but it taught me a bit about problem-solving & project-planning type stuff.) Many of my neighbors have none of those, and I don't really know how they make it.

Should this reporter be doing this exercise? IMO, it's better than her not doing it. She's not going to be able to experience or report what it's actually like, but she'll come closer this way than she would sitting at her desk and ordering out for Chinese.

Yes, I'm now dining on just under $3.25 a day and eating Very well. If this sort of article spurs discussion, great, if you think you can help the local nutritionist connected with your food pantry improve their shoppers experience - call them up - they love volunteers. If you have contract negotiation skills - pitch in at your local food pantry to negotiate donations - I did and was able to get regular bean and quinoa donations from a local company that the pantry hadn't tapped yet.

When I was laid-off, I really had to get what I called 'my delusional grocery and entertaining budget' under control immediately, the things that worked for me:
* I gave up meat, fish & fowl years ago but I still dine on butter and eggs and milk so now I buy in bulk and make my own luxury items like soft goat cheese, mozzarella, burrata, yogurt, ice cream, sorbet. I learned how in classes, from library books, and YouTube has a billion videos too. If you eat meat, one chicken can last nearly a week, I also used to double-roast the chicken bones in order to make a richer stock.
* I stocked up on pantry basics, in a big way, things like: lentils, beans, rice, quinoa, spelt, flour, sugar, honey (got most of that for nearly free with sale + coupon). When my car died, I had the groceries delivered, my neighbors noticed and now we have bi-monthly deliveries (one delivery charge of $4.95) and only one of us needs to be home - the other two leave coolers for fridge/freezer items to stay cold for a few hours. Saves us time and money in part because we're not tempted by in-store impulse buys.
* I garden organically and biodynamically, meaning that I feed the soil and the soil cares for the plants, and so I really have a productive garden but I actually don't garden much except 4x a year (tending the soil, pruning). I don't have to worry about bugs, I don't have to spray, the garden is that robust because the soil is healthy ---> this style of gardening is cheap AND less time consuming. I get everything except corn & mushrooms from my garden and I have plenty to share with a neighbor and the food pantry. You can share your garden excess or obtain some if you're in need through resources such as:
www.ampleharvest.org/
www.thefarmersgarden.com/
* I used extreme couponing tips to stock up on everything from my favorite root beer to shampoo to laundry detergent. I don't have the patience for newspaper coupon clipping, so I buy them off eBay or I write the manufacturer praising the product, my latest was buying 12 'free product' coupons off eBay for my favorite brand of laundry detergent - but - it cost me less than the price of 1 box at full retail (and now I have enough laundry detergent for 18-24 months).
* I also went back to bartering so I just committed to making a wedding cake, for a winemaker's daughter, in return for 6 mixed cases of his wines (which I used to buy full retail).

My mother had taught me how to make do and how to barter, so I knew how to do this and had just chosen not to, I can't believe I spent SO many years being a consumer-without-a-limit! Truly, that must be the definition of insanity, so now my grocery bill is over 70% less than it used to be and I hope this is one lesson I remain committed to.

People who are saying this "experiment" is offensive need to get a clue. No single socio-economic group has the market on eating on a tight budget. I'm not sure how all the sourpusses accusing the poster of being political or fake came to their conclusions.

There are those of us who grew up dirt poor, eating crap because that's all our parents knew and bothered to learn, but who made the decision to eat nutritiously despite the fact that we remain poor.

Posts like these (and the corresponding meal plans/recipes) are great. If you're offended by the fact that a bunch of apartment-decorating-wannabes are as poor as you are but will work hard for a cheap, nutritious meal, then you're obviously on the wrong blog. The idea is for Americans to adjust their perspective on what's necessary to consume/spend in relation to what's actually available, environmentally and in relation to the rest of the world. 31 bucks/week is a great place to start for plenty of people who wouldn't have known how to dive in, otherwise. <3

I was on SNAP for a year while I was an AmeriCorps member, and it really wasn't that hard. I got $200/month benefits, with an income of $1000/month. People who are getting $31/month have higher incomes and enough money to spend a little on food. That's why it's "supplemental."

I didn't have any debt to pay, but I paid for rent, car insurance, utilities, etc. I had some money in savings, but I managed to spend no more than my income every month except the month I moved (moving is expensive!). I probably overspent my SNAP benefits by $15-50 each month. I chose to spend a little extra on food so I could buy more organic and local products.

I don't advocate for a really tight food budgets by people who can afford it, because you are just contributing to others' poverty. I appreciate that the author is shopping at the farmer's market for that reason. My local farmer's markets accept SNAP, but they don't double them--I think that's a great program, and it would even be worth reducing benefits some and devoting money to it, where farmer's markets are ubiquitous. What a great way to encourage healthier eating while supporting local farmers.

I wonder if Eng's meals, though they sound quite tasty, would meet a growing child's nutritional requirements or provide sufficient calories for an adult doing a more physically active job (I presume the writer is desk-bound).

our food budget for a middle class younger couple was always about $400/month. after starting to use coupons (not like the crazy people on tv, but for things i need and use often), combined with careful menu planning, i've gotten our budget down to about $200/month or $50/week. keep in mind this is for a lot of meat/fish (my husband loves the stuff), all fresh produce and beans/grains. the majority of our food budget goes to cereal, but it's nice to know that even at our significantly lower grocery budget, there's still room for improvement if we ever needed to.

Quote:
I hate this kind of crap, it smacks so much of "See? They don't really have it *that* bad." UGH
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I don't think that's the purpose of the challenge, but many of the comments do smack of that, imo. I'm also guessing the demographic of the kitchn commenter is female, and we have to remember that men and growing children are also on this stipend. My husband and very young daughter (who is growing like crazy and eats like a lumberjack--no joke) would be very hungry on this budget.

I agree that's impossible to recreate the daily struggles of low income and families below the poverty line. A good thing I've seen come from such "challenges" as the one in the article is that some people donate the money they don't spend to food programs. Check out the non-consumer advocate food stamp challenge.

I'd like to see a poll on how many of the *whiners* are contributing personally to their respective communities, be it money, donations or time. Awareness in any format is still awareness. Yes? If we all contributed, there would be no need for gov't assitance (always a disaster when the gov't is involved).

I'm challenging every poster here to put your money where your mouth is.(or your time if $ is not an option). So, you find fault with this post/poster. Ok. Share what YOU are doing to make things better for those in need.

I dare you.

Wow, the comments thread is so very interesting. If nothing else, this is inspiring me to try to lower our food budget, and be very grateful. Who in this day and age can't use some belt tightening literally and figuratively? Then it will free up some cash for helping others and perhaps getting us some treats?--from thrift stores and yard sales of course :-)

As a person who worked for Whole Foods for many years in SF, I feel like I needed to chime in..in a few different ways. Firstly, many working families frequently live on a similar dollar amount in the U.S., so while I applaud the person who conducted this study, I do have to add that this shouldn't be news. At least not now, it should be old news and we should be working to do something about it.

Secondly, while working at the WF in San Francisco I was shocked to find out that foodstamps (at least in SF?) were not able to be used for purchasing items from the fairly healthy salad bar, as no prepared foods can be bought with foodstamps. This comment is directed towards the person who said that people who receive foodstamps have no common sense when it comes to buying and eating. Perhaps the commenter did not consider the fact many people and families on foodstamps have no access to a stove (single occupancy hotels rarely have kitchens)..and without the ability to purchase pre-made food, some real ingenuity has to be used on the part of the purchaser.

I am on unemployment and my monthly food budget is $100. I usually go a little over. I'm almost-vegan, and have the luxury of time to spend walking back and forth in the grocery store calculating per oz prices of various formats of soy milk. :P

I'm eating more pasta than I used to (hey, it's not just cheap filler, its a high protein grain...), and wasting less. The only 'takeout' or 'fast food' I eat is from coffee shops, which is also a big 'treat' item for me on this budget.

@LMAS, I second the request for the eat-one-chicken-for-a-week plan. I will roast a whole chicken occasionally with high hopes for making it last, but I usually max it out at about 3 meals (not counting the broth, which I guess could count). I could get a lot more out of it before I was married, but that man does eat a lot! (Maybe that's an issue for another blog...)

To the people complaining, I did this for a few years for about 25-30 dollars a week, toiletries included. And I usually shopped at the local hispanic market, which had better prices. I lived in a cheap apartment with roommates and usually had to ride a bike because the bus was too expensive for every day. I had no car. It was a little stressful, but also some of the best years of my life. Poor people have a lot of struggles, but often what people complain about in the media is ridiculous. It often comes down to things like Maleah "not wanting to cook for a small army every day" or I have read else where about "poor people not having enough time to use cloth diapers". People have been doing it for thousands of years. Why can't they still?