If it were only me doing the challenge, I would be allowed to spend $21.00 for an entire week of food, so $3.00 per day. When I look over the menus that I posted, there is no way I could fix those meals for just 1 person and not go bankrupt. That leads me to thoughts of the elderly, disabled, and single individuals - how do they do it? They can't possibly be eating the proper balance of meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables...have you checked the price of apples or chicken alone? Personally, I can't eat beef due to food intolerance, so my family only consumes chicken, fish, and turkey breast and those choices are typically much more costly than ground beef. I would assume that the budget of $21.00 per week would allow for canned soup (probably the cheaper brand that is higher in sodium and lower in veggies), sandwiches, oats, grits, multiple meals of hot dogs or corn dogs, etc....none of which are too healthy when consumed alone much less in larger quantities that would be required for a week's worth of meals.
Ever hear someone comment about person on welfare being overweight and that they have plenty to eat - look at their size? I've heard it but guarantee you that it's never come out of my mouth! It's cheaper to eat unhealthy than it is to eat healthy. Notice the McDonald's sale of 20 chicken nuggets for $4.99 or something like that? When was the last time you went to WalMart and bought a meal of 3 chicken strips and a side of broccoli salad and ate on it for 3 meals? Someone I love dearly does this often - it's not healthy or even filling - and I do everything I can to help this person but our funds are limited too right now. The old story about the elderly lady who eats cat food because it is cheaper than human food - that could be you, your mother, your sister, your grandmother - it happens to people you would never guess were in that kind of predicament. The cost to live rises each year and unfortunately benefits aren't generally increased to help offset those costs. Elderly people who work all their lives find that what they've scrimped and saved through the years is not enough to provide them with the comfort of life they desire (meaning enough money to pay medical bills, buy prescriptions, and put nutritious food in their bellies) and they have to turn to government assistance programs or some are too proud to do so and their health deteriorates due to improper nutrition.
I've seen firsthand poverty, true poverty. Every day I change the diaper of a little toddler girl whose abdomen is still distended after 9 months in a home where she is fed plentifully. There are lasting effects of poverty and it is rampant in our society. No, everyone on the welfare roles shouldn't be there but so many Americans are haughty and pious enough to group all recipients together as being druggies, prostitutes, baby making machines, and lazy....that couldn't be further from the truth for many of them. Our system is broken and the purpose of this challenge is first of all to open our eyes to the reality that many Americans face with not having enough nutritious food to eat and then to start our minds thinking about what needs to be done to provide assistance and fix the system. Utopian idea that it can be fixed and that only needy recipients will remain on the role? Perhaps, but at least it's an idea and frankly, welfare and hunger are topics that I haven't liked to think about before now...at least a Utopian idea can be scaled down to reality if enough people recognize the need and push lawmakers to change the system.
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