Optimal Nutrition on a Limited Budget
Is it possible to eat healthily on a frugal budget? According to the latest
dietary guidelines, absolutely! The latest research suggests that we need
far less of the two most expensive parts of the American diet—meat and
dairy—than has been recommended in the past. You now have the
scientific community nodding with approval when you leave the $4.99/lb
pork chops in the meat case and grab a bag of $0.69/lb black beans. Still,
I have to admit that the above pyramid can be intimidating at first glance. It
has so many categories! How can we possibly eat that much?
The first step is to evaluate exactly what your family is actually eating. Let’s
look at what my family's diet today:
Breakfast: Eggs scrambled in canola oil with chopped tomatoes, onions,
and garlic, whole wheat toast with butter
AM snack: Apple juice, homemade cheddar chive muffins
Lunch: Wheat thins (the dollar store generic brand, of course) with peanut
butter, carrot sticks, water. The USDA’s serving size for crackers is 4-6
crackers and for peanut butter 1 Tbsp, so the kids had two servings of
each.
PM snack: Plums, more muffins (we had to finish them off)
Dinner: Black bean tacos with green, red, yellow, and purple bell peppers,
cherry tomatoes, onions, lettuce, cheese, and sour cream. Plus,
cantaloupe on the side. The tortillas were cooked in canola oil. Each
person will probably have two tacos.
So here is our food group tally:
2 dairy servings
1 Animal-based protein
1 serving legumes
2 servings nuts and seeds
7 servings of grains
2 servings of plant-based oil
1 serving of butter
5 servings of vegetables
3 servings of fruit
Here is our cost tally:
Breakfast—
Six eggs: 50 cents
Half a tomato in season: 15 cents
Half of an onion and one clove of garlic: 15 cents
Tbsp of Canola oil: 5 cents
Half a loaf of homemade bread: 15 cents
Half a stick of butter: 20 cents
Total for seven people: $1.20
AM Snack—
Apple juice: half a dollar store container 50 cents
Seven homemade cheddar chive muffins: 20 cents
Total for seven people: $0.80 cents
Lunch—
One box of dollar store wheat thins: 50 cents
Half of a small container of peanut butter: 75 cents
One pound of carrots: 50 cents
Water: free
Total for seven people: $1.75
PM snack—
Plums: free from the tree behind my house
Seven more muffins: 20 cents
Total for seven people: $0.20
Dinner—
16 corn tortillas (we buy 6 dozen for $1.99 at a local Mexican market): 45
cents
Black beans: 69 cents
Not quite all of a large cantaloupe at sale price of 68 cents each: 55 cents
Red, yellow, purple bell peppers from farmer’s market at 3/$1: $1.00
Green bell pepper at 5/$1: 20 cents
¼ head of lettuce: 20 cents
¼ lb of tomatoes at $0.89/lb: 22 cents
Half an onion: 10 cents
¼ container of sour cream: 25 cents
1 decent bowl shredded cheese—1/2 lb at $1.50/lb: 75 cents
Total for eight people: $4.39
Day’s total: $8.34
Projected monthly grocery bill for a huge family: $250.20, or a little under
$60 a week for four and a quarter weeks per month.
If you receive WIC—most middle class families qualify, especially if you
have a larger family—the beans, milk, cheese, eggs, peanut butter, and
juice from today’s meals would be free, reducing the daily total by $2.55 to
$5.79.
How do you get there? Improving your diet is a lot like improving your
budget. First you need to keep stringent track of what your family is
consuming. Remember that the serving size on the back of the box is not
necessarily an optimal amount; the serving sizes recommended are
shockingly small for large American appetites. Once you know what you
are eating and what you are not eating, you can begin to adjust. Slowly
whittle down the areas in which you are consuming too much and add
servings of the groups you need to increase.
Humans, and primates in general, are programmed to prefer fats and
simple sugars because they are high calorie and easily converted from fat
in our tummies to fat on our tummies. This was crucial when we roamed
the earth hunting and gathering. Our ancestors needed to enter winter
with a substantial fat layer or they weren’t going to see next spring. The
Western diet has continued to accommodate this preference even as
humans developed food distribution systems that allow for year-round
nourishment and our constant strenuous activity declined to occasional
trips to the gym. If we follow our programming, we are destined to lead
overweight and infirm lives ended too soon by cardiovascular disease. It
will take time and experimentation for most families to develop healthier
diets, but doing so will give very real benefits to both the checkbook and
the waistline.
Balking at the prices I quoted? Check out The Six Stages of Grocery
Shopping.
dietary guidelines, absolutely! The latest research suggests that we need
far less of the two most expensive parts of the American diet—meat and
dairy—than has been recommended in the past. You now have the
scientific community nodding with approval when you leave the $4.99/lb
pork chops in the meat case and grab a bag of $0.69/lb black beans. Still,
I have to admit that the above pyramid can be intimidating at first glance. It
has so many categories! How can we possibly eat that much?
The first step is to evaluate exactly what your family is actually eating. Let’s
look at what my family's diet today:
Breakfast: Eggs scrambled in canola oil with chopped tomatoes, onions,
and garlic, whole wheat toast with butter
AM snack: Apple juice, homemade cheddar chive muffins
Lunch: Wheat thins (the dollar store generic brand, of course) with peanut
butter, carrot sticks, water. The USDA’s serving size for crackers is 4-6
crackers and for peanut butter 1 Tbsp, so the kids had two servings of
each.
PM snack: Plums, more muffins (we had to finish them off)
Dinner: Black bean tacos with green, red, yellow, and purple bell peppers,
cherry tomatoes, onions, lettuce, cheese, and sour cream. Plus,
cantaloupe on the side. The tortillas were cooked in canola oil. Each
person will probably have two tacos.
So here is our food group tally:
2 dairy servings
1 Animal-based protein
1 serving legumes
2 servings nuts and seeds
7 servings of grains
2 servings of plant-based oil
1 serving of butter
5 servings of vegetables
3 servings of fruit
Here is our cost tally:
Breakfast—
Six eggs: 50 cents
Half a tomato in season: 15 cents
Half of an onion and one clove of garlic: 15 cents
Tbsp of Canola oil: 5 cents
Half a loaf of homemade bread: 15 cents
Half a stick of butter: 20 cents
Total for seven people: $1.20
AM Snack—
Apple juice: half a dollar store container 50 cents
Seven homemade cheddar chive muffins: 20 cents
Total for seven people: $0.80 cents
Lunch—
One box of dollar store wheat thins: 50 cents
Half of a small container of peanut butter: 75 cents
One pound of carrots: 50 cents
Water: free
Total for seven people: $1.75
PM snack—
Plums: free from the tree behind my house
Seven more muffins: 20 cents
Total for seven people: $0.20
Dinner—
16 corn tortillas (we buy 6 dozen for $1.99 at a local Mexican market): 45
cents
Black beans: 69 cents
Not quite all of a large cantaloupe at sale price of 68 cents each: 55 cents
Red, yellow, purple bell peppers from farmer’s market at 3/$1: $1.00
Green bell pepper at 5/$1: 20 cents
¼ head of lettuce: 20 cents
¼ lb of tomatoes at $0.89/lb: 22 cents
Half an onion: 10 cents
¼ container of sour cream: 25 cents
1 decent bowl shredded cheese—1/2 lb at $1.50/lb: 75 cents
Total for eight people: $4.39
Day’s total: $8.34
Projected monthly grocery bill for a huge family: $250.20, or a little under
$60 a week for four and a quarter weeks per month.
If you receive WIC—most middle class families qualify, especially if you
have a larger family—the beans, milk, cheese, eggs, peanut butter, and
juice from today’s meals would be free, reducing the daily total by $2.55 to
$5.79.
How do you get there? Improving your diet is a lot like improving your
budget. First you need to keep stringent track of what your family is
consuming. Remember that the serving size on the back of the box is not
necessarily an optimal amount; the serving sizes recommended are
shockingly small for large American appetites. Once you know what you
are eating and what you are not eating, you can begin to adjust. Slowly
whittle down the areas in which you are consuming too much and add
servings of the groups you need to increase.
Humans, and primates in general, are programmed to prefer fats and
simple sugars because they are high calorie and easily converted from fat
in our tummies to fat on our tummies. This was crucial when we roamed
the earth hunting and gathering. Our ancestors needed to enter winter
with a substantial fat layer or they weren’t going to see next spring. The
Western diet has continued to accommodate this preference even as
humans developed food distribution systems that allow for year-round
nourishment and our constant strenuous activity declined to occasional
trips to the gym. If we follow our programming, we are destined to lead
overweight and infirm lives ended too soon by cardiovascular disease. It
will take time and experimentation for most families to develop healthier
diets, but doing so will give very real benefits to both the checkbook and
the waistline.
Balking at the prices I quoted? Check out The Six Stages of Grocery
Shopping.
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