Monday, March 22, 2010

Feeding Yourself on a Dollar a Day

Two teachers in the USA set about doing an experiment to see if they could eat on less than $1.00 per day for 30 days. Then they published a book about it.

They needn't have bothered.

This is old news for anyone who lives in my peer group of income. I live like that all the time and have detailed on this blog the struggle to eat nutritional food and still stay healthy. What differentiates those in true poverty from those merely experimenting are certain assumptions:

  • that one has a car for toodling around to get the best deals, usually in bulk; 
  • that one has a fully equipped kitchen; 
  • that one has a garden or balcony or other area from which one can grow one's own food and the tools with which to do it.

In Canada, income in the lowest decile category demands no more than a $1.00 day spent on food.

Let no one suppose there is no poverty in this country. It is all around us.

8 comments:

Kim said...

Who could afford 25 lbs of rice? At least they acknowledged that it was unhealthy, even dangerous to eat that way and they live in California, I wonder how much produce costs there?

sassy said...

economicus ridiculous is such a great site as it really gives a true picture of daily life and, those constant struggles which are such a challenge on a daily basis.

It's given me an appreciation of things which I have taken for granted for a long time and is helping me to deal with the consequences of my own diminishing finances.

Thank you.

Chrystal Ocean said...

sassy, we appreciate your comment.

Dealing with the consequences of my diminishing finances was the toughest to deal with. At least a steady state of straitened circumstances can be said to provide stability. However, the fall into impoverishment is the most painful to deal with since it typically happens too fast for one to make the necessary material and psychological adjustments.

Wandering Coyote said...

I think I saw these guys on TV. They ate a lot of oatmeal, too, from what I recall.

Impossible around here for me to eat that cheaply, and I don't even have access to decent bulk bins to purchase ingredients that way. I really miss places like Bulk Barn, which I shopped at regularly when I lived in Ontario, but in this small community, I'm pretty stuck and don't have a lot of options.

Chrystal Ocean said...

WC, while I get your point, the thrust of mine is that, if all you've got left for food after paying your shelter, medical and other needful costs is $30 per month, then $30 worth of food is all you're going to get. Where one lives will determine how much nutritional or junk food that $30 buys.

Kim said...

Do you ever forage for edible plants? Miner's lettuce, dandelion greens, Huckleberries?

Daphne Moldowin said...

Yes, Kim, I have foraged for such items. I find they enhance my diet but are not something I depend upon for nutrition. These past few weeks, I have been adding fresh, tender dandelion greens to my salads.
Huckleberries, salal, oregon grape, thimble and salmon berries all grow in my wild yard. I eat these as they ripen. They are shared with the wildlife!
I pick Miner's Lettuce when I am out with a hiking group.

Kim said...

I love finding alpine strawberries and wild onions too!