I'm
actually enjoying this. Before I did it, I got a little intimidated by
it. I was afraid it would be hard. The first day it really took a lot of
planning and juggling to come up with something that filled my caloric
needs, was reasonably balanced, and
stayed within my budget. However, it's getting easier by the day and
each day I think of something new that I could make that would fit well
within my budget, satisfy my nutritional needs, and be tasty and fun to
eat.
I'm
reminded a lot of The Farm folks who were missionaries for a vegan diet
and living simply. They insisted it could be fun, tasty, satisfying,
and graceful. I agree. This challenge has put me back in touch with
that.
Peter,
I want to thank you for putting up that article. It's had quite an
impact on me in a very positive way. Who would have guessed that your
posting that article would shift my life a bit? Not me. Although I'm
looking forward to Sunday when I can cut loose, (hint: chocolate!) I
think the effect of this will continue. Thank you.
Here's
Day #4's menu. I've already got ideas for some other good, cheap, vegan
dishes to add to my diet. Thanks for being a catalyst for getting my
creative juices flowing again.
************
I'm getting better at this.
On one hand, I get these (so far
manageable) cravings for chocolate, ice cream . . . mostly desserts. I
see things that definitely don't fit into the $3/day budget and I want
to eat them and have to say no. It's not bad, it's just there. Today, I
felt like I just could not have another day of black beans and chili.
So, I thought, I need something a little different.
The
desire for something different that would fit into my budget got my
creative juices flowing. I decided to make some garlic pasta to go with
the chili tonight. And then I got what I thought was a brilliant idea to
satisfy my craving for chocolate and for dessert: chocolate pudding!
When I got home from work I looked up a recipe for cornstarch pudding in
Joy of Cooking and modified it for my purposes. It was delicious!
Meanwhile, I still had some smashed potatoes in the refrigerator and
they were really good, too.
I also broke into the cantalope and ate another peach. They were both very tasty.
I
came in at $2.76 today. I'm a little light on the calories but I don't
feel hungry. If I wake up hungry during the night, I can always grab a
tortilla. Still coming up short on the calcium. If I keep eating like
this, I may be well advised to take a supplement.
Today's menu:
Wednesday, Day #4
Breakfast:
The usual bran flakes, soy milk, and banana: $.30
Lunch:
Black beans &rice: $.39
Tea .01
Peach .46
Kale .15
Total 1.01
Dinner:
Chili 1/2 c .13
Pasta, 1.5 oz. .10
Garlic oil ½ oz. .07
Tomato 8 oz. .35
Total .65
Snacks:
PB & Celery .19
Cantalope .17
Carrots 4 oz. .15
Chocolate pudding .21
Smashed potatoes .15
Total .87
Total:
Breakfast .30
Lunch 1.01
Dinner .65
Snacks .70
Total 2.76
Nutritional content:
Calories: 1394
Protein: 56 g.
Fat: 43 g.
Carbs: 223 g.
Calcium: 37% RDA
Monday, September 28, 2015
Eating Vegan on $3/Day: Day 4 (part 1)
FB post:
I've been craving dessert. And chocolate. And I've resisted.
Tonight, driving home, I got the idea to make chocolate pudding.
It needs to cool down but licking out the pot has got me pretty excited. It's pretty darned good. In fact, it's good enough that I think I could serve it, not tell anyone it's vegan, and they probably wouldn't know it.
We'll see how it is later tonight after it has cooled. I made two servings, I'll put one in the freezer and try it as a frozen dessert.
Cost for two servings:
1/4 cup (50 g) sugar: $.05
1/4 cup (28 g) cocoa: $.28
1 cup home made soy milk: $.04
1 1/2 Tbsp. corn starch: not sure, will have to check
So, it will cost $.37 + the cost of some corn starch for 2 servings. Maybe around $.20/serving.
Preparation time: @ 20 minutes (mostly waiting for the milk to heat up, stirring pretty constantly).
Per serving:
Calories: 120
Fat: 4 g
Total carbs: 20 g
Protein: 8 g
I think this will totally fit into my $3/day budget.
I've been craving dessert. And chocolate. And I've resisted.
Tonight, driving home, I got the idea to make chocolate pudding.
It needs to cool down but licking out the pot has got me pretty excited. It's pretty darned good. In fact, it's good enough that I think I could serve it, not tell anyone it's vegan, and they probably wouldn't know it.
We'll see how it is later tonight after it has cooled. I made two servings, I'll put one in the freezer and try it as a frozen dessert.
Cost for two servings:
1/4 cup (50 g) sugar: $.05
1/4 cup (28 g) cocoa: $.28
1 cup home made soy milk: $.04
1 1/2 Tbsp. corn starch: not sure, will have to check
So, it will cost $.37 + the cost of some corn starch for 2 servings. Maybe around $.20/serving.
Preparation time: @ 20 minutes (mostly waiting for the milk to heat up, stirring pretty constantly).
Per serving:
Calories: 120
Fat: 4 g
Total carbs: 20 g
Protein: 8 g
I think this will totally fit into my $3/day budget.
Eating Vegan on $3/Day: Day 3
Day
#3. I'm getting better at this. Came in at $2.63 today & got in 7
servings of fruits & vegetables (well, if you count a few sticks of
celery as a serving) - not counting potatoes as a vegetable. Cut back on
the beans today and had dal for lunch and extra soy milk today. Much easier on the digestive tract.
Although it's hard sometimes to resist stuff that won't fit into the budget, I'm actually enjoying this. I'm eating very healthy & very consciously.
The hard part: voluntarily saying "no" to stuff that definitely is not going to fit into the budget. However, Aldi's had kiwis at $.99 for 6 in a package. Hot dog! I also bought a cantalope for $.99. I can get at least six servings out of that. In other news, I boiled some red potatoes tonight and of 14 oz., only 10 oz. was usable because of bad spots. Still, they were cheap and really good with a little olive oil drizzled on them. I cut back on the beans today and had dal for lunch. It was a little easier on my digestive tract. This evening I realized I was coming in way under budget so I had salad - 8 oz. of tomato + tung-ho, a green leafy vegetable I get at Jay's International. At $1.69/lb. it's not as cheap as the kale, which was marked down, but still a good deal.
When I go into groceries now it's weird. It feels like an alien place. Everything suddenly looks very expensive, even the good deals. I am always looking for inexpensive dark green vegetables. I am managing to include fresh fruits and vegetables but when it gets tight, they are the first to go.
If it looks like I snack a lot, it's because I actually had more like four small meals and two snacks so one of the meals just got put into the snacks category. As it turns out, I really like the soy milk and drank a glass straight. I've never been a milk drinker of any kind except when I lived with dairy animals (a cow and later goats) because it was so good.
I'm getting better at this. Today's meals added up to $2.63. Here's the menu and the nutritional analysis. You'll notice I'm still coming up short on calcium. This is not unusual when I am not eating dairy products.
Tuesday Day #3
Breakfast
Same as yesterday: $.30
(Bran flakes, soy milk, banana, tea)
Lunch
Dal & rice .42
Kale 70 g. .15
Tea .01
Total .58
Dinner
Black beans &rice: $.39
Tomato 8 oz. .35
Tung-ho .18
Olive oil 1 ½ tsp .05
Cider vinegar 2tsp .02
Total .99
Snacks
3/4 cup soy milk .03
Kiwi .17
Smashed potatoes .15
PB & Celery .19
Carrots 4 oz. .15
½ cup brown rice .07
Total .76
Total for the day: $2.63
Calories: 1719
Protein: 69 g.
Total fat: 55 g.
Carbs: 306 g.
Calcium: 44% RDA
Although it's hard sometimes to resist stuff that won't fit into the budget, I'm actually enjoying this. I'm eating very healthy & very consciously.
The hard part: voluntarily saying "no" to stuff that definitely is not going to fit into the budget. However, Aldi's had kiwis at $.99 for 6 in a package. Hot dog! I also bought a cantalope for $.99. I can get at least six servings out of that. In other news, I boiled some red potatoes tonight and of 14 oz., only 10 oz. was usable because of bad spots. Still, they were cheap and really good with a little olive oil drizzled on them. I cut back on the beans today and had dal for lunch. It was a little easier on my digestive tract. This evening I realized I was coming in way under budget so I had salad - 8 oz. of tomato + tung-ho, a green leafy vegetable I get at Jay's International. At $1.69/lb. it's not as cheap as the kale, which was marked down, but still a good deal.
When I go into groceries now it's weird. It feels like an alien place. Everything suddenly looks very expensive, even the good deals. I am always looking for inexpensive dark green vegetables. I am managing to include fresh fruits and vegetables but when it gets tight, they are the first to go.
If it looks like I snack a lot, it's because I actually had more like four small meals and two snacks so one of the meals just got put into the snacks category. As it turns out, I really like the soy milk and drank a glass straight. I've never been a milk drinker of any kind except when I lived with dairy animals (a cow and later goats) because it was so good.
I'm getting better at this. Today's meals added up to $2.63. Here's the menu and the nutritional analysis. You'll notice I'm still coming up short on calcium. This is not unusual when I am not eating dairy products.
Tuesday Day #3
Breakfast
Same as yesterday: $.30
(Bran flakes, soy milk, banana, tea)
Lunch
Dal & rice .42
Kale 70 g. .15
Tea .01
Total .58
Dinner
Black beans &rice: $.39
Tomato 8 oz. .35
Tung-ho .18
Olive oil 1 ½ tsp .05
Cider vinegar 2tsp .02
Total .99
Snacks
3/4 cup soy milk .03
Kiwi .17
Smashed potatoes .15
PB & Celery .19
Carrots 4 oz. .15
½ cup brown rice .07
Total .76
Total for the day: $2.63
Calories: 1719
Protein: 69 g.
Total fat: 55 g.
Carbs: 306 g.
Calcium: 44% RDA
Eating Vegan on $3/Day: Day 2
I met my caloric goal today and came in under budget. I did it by
sacrificing the tomato and broccoli for peanut butter and an extra
serving of soy milk and bran flakes. I kept the peach; it felt like a
real treat. My digestive system is protesting the sudden onslaught of so
many beans so I thought the bran flakes and soy milk might be a little
easier on it. I got adequate protein, fat, and carbs. Came up short on
calcium again. Not sure what a "serving" of a fruit or vegetable is.
I was really tempted several times today to consume things that were off budget. I've managed to resist so far.
I went investigating different sources for the nutritional content of home made soy milk. Since the bean to water ratio will vary, it's impossible to find a reliable number. I use about 100 grams of dry soybeans for a quart of soy milk. It seems like pretty rich milk to my taste.
Here's today's menu, cost, & nutritional content:
Day #2: Monday, Aug. 10
Breakfast
Bran flakes: .10
Soy milk: .04
Tea: .01
Banana: .15
Total: $.30
Lunch
Black beans & rice: .39
Kale 70 g .15
Tea .01
Total: $.55
Dinner
Chili 1 c .26
4 corn tortillas .27
Peach .46
Total $ .99
Snacks
PB & Celery .19
Carrots 4 oz. .15
Bran flakes .10
½ cup soy milk .02
PB&celery .19
Total .65
Monday total:
Breakfast: .30
Lunch: .55
Dinner .99
Snacks: .65
Total 2.49
Nutritional content:
Calories: 1739
Protein: 67 g.
Carbs: 264 g.
Total fat: 57 g.
Calcium: 53% RDA
I was really tempted several times today to consume things that were off budget. I've managed to resist so far.
I went investigating different sources for the nutritional content of home made soy milk. Since the bean to water ratio will vary, it's impossible to find a reliable number. I use about 100 grams of dry soybeans for a quart of soy milk. It seems like pretty rich milk to my taste.
Here's today's menu, cost, & nutritional content:
Day #2: Monday, Aug. 10
Breakfast
Bran flakes: .10
Soy milk: .04
Tea: .01
Banana: .15
Total: $.30
Lunch
Black beans & rice: .39
Kale 70 g .15
Tea .01
Total: $.55
Dinner
Chili 1 c .26
4 corn tortillas .27
Peach .46
Total $ .99
Snacks
PB & Celery .19
Carrots 4 oz. .15
Bran flakes .10
½ cup soy milk .02
PB&celery .19
Total .65
Monday total:
Breakfast: .30
Lunch: .55
Dinner .99
Snacks: .65
Total 2.49
Nutritional content:
Calories: 1739
Protein: 67 g.
Carbs: 264 g.
Total fat: 57 g.
Calcium: 53% RDA
Eating Vegan on $3/day: Day 1
Posted on Facebook, August 10, 2015
Modified for this blog.
Peter K. put up an article about eating vegan on $21/week. When I read what the author ate, it seemed to lack protein and adequate calories and I thought it was possible to come up with something more balanced within the parameters she was working with. I may live to eat my words. I spent a few days visiting grocery stores, comparing prices, and planning out a menu. This may be a lot harder than I thought!
In my own defense: the author in the article described what she ate but didn't give details about how much, so we don't have information on total calories, how much protein she got, etc. I am using My Fitness Pal to evaluate my menu. I'm shooting for @ 1700 calories per day and a minimum of 50 g. of protein.
Okay, this has taken an insane amount of planning & calculating. If you guys could see me with the calculator, the grocery receipts, my list of food prices (to calculate the cost of ingredients I already have based on if I were buying them today), and the way I'm writing everything down, juggling it all to try to make it work . . . well, you would think I'm off the deep end. And perhaps I am. What is obvious: fruits and vegetables are costly, even when they are cheap. I can have one cup of chili and four corn tortillas for $.53 and get 356 calories and 9 grams of protein, or 1 cup black bean soup and 1/2 cup of brown rice for $.39 and get 293 calories and 10 grams of protein. Or I can have a peach, that I found really cheap at $.69/lb., for $.46 and get 74 calories and mostly sugars. [Note: prices were valid in August, 2015, in the city of St. Louis.]
Today's menu:
Breakfast:
3/4 cup bran flakes: $.10
1 c. homemade soy milk .04
1 banana: .15
Tea: .01
Total: $.30
Lunch:
Black beans & rice $.39
Kale .15
Sliced tomato 8 oz. .35
Tea .01
Total: $.90
Dinner:
Chili 1 c. $.26
4 corn tortillas .27
1 c. broccoli .22
1 peach (190g) .46
Total: $1.21
Snacks:
2 Tb. peanut butter w/
2 sticks celery $.19
Carrots, 4 oz .15
1/2 serving black beans & rice . 13
1 tortilla .07
Total: $.54
Total for the day: $2.95 (barely made it!)
Nutritional content:
Calories: 1605
Protein: 59 g
Fat: 43 g
Carbs: [Alice note: this got overlooked, sorry, I'm not going back and recalculating]
Calcium: 49% RDA
For food items where you have to discard some of it (like the outer peel of the onion) I calculated the cost based on the gross weight before peeling but calculated the nutritional content on the usable part.. Estimated cost of spices is included in the recipe. Left out so far: cost of salt (I'll add it at the end of the week since it's too low to count) and cilantro, a bunch of which will last for a number of recipes (I'll add it at the end of the week). Clearly, though, I barely made it today. More beans, less fruit.
There were several times today I *really* wanted to have something that clearly would not fit into this. I managed to resist.
The author of the original article did not have a car and was restricted to stores within walking and bicycling distance. Although I checked the price of a few select items at Whole Foods (in some rare instances, they are actually the least expensive) I am restricting my shopping to groceries within walking or biking distance, though I am not walking or biking myself. One could potentially lower the cost on some non-perishable items by buying in bulk i.e. beans or rice in 25# sacks. (I have done this in the past.)
We've survived Day #1. Let's see how it goes on day #2.
Modified for this blog.
Peter K. put up an article about eating vegan on $21/week. When I read what the author ate, it seemed to lack protein and adequate calories and I thought it was possible to come up with something more balanced within the parameters she was working with. I may live to eat my words. I spent a few days visiting grocery stores, comparing prices, and planning out a menu. This may be a lot harder than I thought!
In my own defense: the author in the article described what she ate but didn't give details about how much, so we don't have information on total calories, how much protein she got, etc. I am using My Fitness Pal to evaluate my menu. I'm shooting for @ 1700 calories per day and a minimum of 50 g. of protein.
I made a batch of soy milk
and a batch of chili from $.50/lb pinto beans I got form Ruler. (Thanks,
Peter, for recommending them!) I think I'm going to be eating a lot of
pinto beans this week! I carefully reviewed my shopping list (I went to
Aldi's, Ruler, Schnucks, and even checked a few items at Whole Foods) to
see where I can get the most bang for my buck. I'm basing my diet on
beans, brown rice, tortillas, and kale (marked down to $.99/lb. at
Ruler).
This is the article that started this project:
https://www.veganmainstream.com/2010/09/02/eating-vegan-on-21-00-a-week-the-food-stamp-budget/
I started on Sunday, August 9. Here's how it went:
Day #1:This is the article that started this project:
https://www.veganmainstream.com/2010/09/02/eating-vegan-on-21-00-a-week-the-food-stamp-budget/
I started on Sunday, August 9. Here's how it went:
Okay, this has taken an insane amount of planning & calculating. If you guys could see me with the calculator, the grocery receipts, my list of food prices (to calculate the cost of ingredients I already have based on if I were buying them today), and the way I'm writing everything down, juggling it all to try to make it work . . . well, you would think I'm off the deep end. And perhaps I am. What is obvious: fruits and vegetables are costly, even when they are cheap. I can have one cup of chili and four corn tortillas for $.53 and get 356 calories and 9 grams of protein, or 1 cup black bean soup and 1/2 cup of brown rice for $.39 and get 293 calories and 10 grams of protein. Or I can have a peach, that I found really cheap at $.69/lb., for $.46 and get 74 calories and mostly sugars. [Note: prices were valid in August, 2015, in the city of St. Louis.]
Today's menu:
Breakfast:
3/4 cup bran flakes: $.10
1 c. homemade soy milk .04
1 banana: .15
Tea: .01
Total: $.30
Lunch:
Black beans & rice $.39
Kale .15
Sliced tomato 8 oz. .35
Tea .01
Total: $.90
Dinner:
Chili 1 c. $.26
4 corn tortillas .27
1 c. broccoli .22
1 peach (190g) .46
Total: $1.21
Snacks:
2 Tb. peanut butter w/
2 sticks celery $.19
Carrots, 4 oz .15
1/2 serving black beans & rice . 13
1 tortilla .07
Total: $.54
Total for the day: $2.95 (barely made it!)
Nutritional content:
Calories: 1605
Protein: 59 g
Fat: 43 g
Carbs: [Alice note: this got overlooked, sorry, I'm not going back and recalculating]
Calcium: 49% RDA
For food items where you have to discard some of it (like the outer peel of the onion) I calculated the cost based on the gross weight before peeling but calculated the nutritional content on the usable part.. Estimated cost of spices is included in the recipe. Left out so far: cost of salt (I'll add it at the end of the week since it's too low to count) and cilantro, a bunch of which will last for a number of recipes (I'll add it at the end of the week). Clearly, though, I barely made it today. More beans, less fruit.
There were several times today I *really* wanted to have something that clearly would not fit into this. I managed to resist.
The author of the original article did not have a car and was restricted to stores within walking and bicycling distance. Although I checked the price of a few select items at Whole Foods (in some rare instances, they are actually the least expensive) I am restricting my shopping to groceries within walking or biking distance, though I am not walking or biking myself. One could potentially lower the cost on some non-perishable items by buying in bulk i.e. beans or rice in 25# sacks. (I have done this in the past.)
We've survived Day #1. Let's see how it goes on day #2.
Eating Vegan on $3/Day: An Introduction
This past August a member of the St. Louis FaceBook group Arch Vegans posted an article about eating vegan on a "Food Stamp Budget" of $21/week. The point of the article was to draw attention to the difficulty of eating vegan on what was considered a Food Stamp budget. I'm not sure how that figure was determined, since food stamp benefits vary by state and are affected by whatever resources the recipient may or may not have, but that is the figure that was given. The author took up the challenge to eat vegan on $3/day and posted her food diary. I was relieved that I wasn't the first to point out that her diet for the week appeared to lack protein and on some days appeared to lack adequate calories. I
thought it was possible to come up with something more balanced within
the parameters the author was working with. In other words, I thought I could do better.
I am a proponent of putting up or shutting up. It's easy to say you can do better, but until you do it, it's just words. So, my curiosity and my conscience got the better of me and I set out to see if I could eat a balanced, healthy, tasty, interesting, sustainable vegan diet on $3/day.
This is the article that inspired this experiment:
https://www.veganmainstream.com/2010/09/02/eating-vegan-on-21-00-a-week-the-food-stamp-budget/
I want to emphasize that in no way is anything written here meant to be a personal criticism of Jessi Stafford, the author, for whatever choices she made. I think it was gutsy of her to do it and even more gutsy to put it out there for everyone to see. When you do that, you set yourself up to be a target for criticism. However, I think it is an American fallacy that one cannot live frugally and live well. Many people have demonstrated that it is possible. Besides having done it myself, one of my early heroes was Amy Dacyczyn, author of The Tightwad Gazette. Although I am not, in fact, committed to a vegan diet, I have followed a vegan diet in the past, sometimes because I lived with vegan housemates and most often because it was the cheapest way to eat well. A lot of my diet still is plant based and I think there are a number of good reasons for favoring that. I know from experience that a mostly vegan diet is the cheapest way to eat well. The real question was: could I demonstrate that it was possible, in real life, to eat a decent vegan diet on $3/day?
I spent a week preparing for this experiment. Under normal, ongoing circumstances, were I restricted to $3/day I would be refining shopping and eating habits over time. In this case, I had to come up with with a plan with some pretty tight restrictions in a short period of time. I'd mentioned in our FaceBook group discussion in the past I'd bought beans and grains in 25# or 50# sacks to get the best possible price, storing them in 5 gallon buckets. However, the author did not have a car and had to shop at groceries within walking or bicycling distance. Transporting a 50# sack of beans would be difficult and some folks on food stamps might not have a car. So I decided to restrict myself to groceries within a 2 mile radius of my apartment though I did not, in fact, walk or bicycle to the grocery. Four groceries fell within my radius: Aldi's, Ruler (a newly opened discount grocery), Schnucks (our local mainstream grocery), and a small international grocery that is generally pretty economical. I thought about what I might eat for the week, made a list of potential grocery items, got out a sheet of ledger paper and a clipboard, and began tracking the prices of items on my list at the various stores. Ruler has an ongoing special of dry pinto beans for $.50/lb. and when I saw that, it immediately altered my meal plan for the week.
I'm in the habit of having cereal and soy milk for breakfast. Although I hadn't made soy milk in years, I bought some soybeans and made a quart of soy milk as a test. It was not that difficult and turned out well. I decided I would make my own soy milk.
The guidelines in the author's article had a couple of "rules" that I thought were arbitrary. If you used spices or condiments that you already had on hand, they expected you to deduct $3/week for spices and $3/week for condiments. Same for oil or other things on hand. I know I don't use $3/week of these items so I calculated the actual cost of the items consumed, using current prices at the grocery. If I used a teaspoon of chili powder, I would weigh it on the gram scale and calculate the cost based on the price of chili powder at the store. I probably spent more time weighing and calculating than I did cooking or eating but I wanted an accurate accounting. By the end of the week, I was really tired of all this record keeping! But it was also very interesting and I was doing it for the sake of having accurate data for the experiment. I would not normally do this.
Finally, one weekend I made a pot of chili, a pot of black beans, a pot of dal, and a quart of soy milk and set out to see if I could eat vegan for a week on $3/day. I was nervous. I announced my intentions on FaceBook on both my own wall and the vegan group. I was prepared to fail miserably in front of dozens of people.
In following posts, I'll put up my daily food diary, costs, and my thoughts for that day.
You can see the original running commentary in the FaceBook Arch Vegan group here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/367964060602/permalink/10155935617040603/
I want to thank Jessi Stafford for having the courage to engage in this experiment and for having the courage to share it with us. It was inspiring and I've continued with some of the habits I developed during that week. I also want to thank Peter in our FB group for posting the article. Both of you made a positive impact on my life.
I am a proponent of putting up or shutting up. It's easy to say you can do better, but until you do it, it's just words. So, my curiosity and my conscience got the better of me and I set out to see if I could eat a balanced, healthy, tasty, interesting, sustainable vegan diet on $3/day.
This is the article that inspired this experiment:
https://www.veganmainstream.com/2010/09/02/eating-vegan-on-21-00-a-week-the-food-stamp-budget/
I want to emphasize that in no way is anything written here meant to be a personal criticism of Jessi Stafford, the author, for whatever choices she made. I think it was gutsy of her to do it and even more gutsy to put it out there for everyone to see. When you do that, you set yourself up to be a target for criticism. However, I think it is an American fallacy that one cannot live frugally and live well. Many people have demonstrated that it is possible. Besides having done it myself, one of my early heroes was Amy Dacyczyn, author of The Tightwad Gazette. Although I am not, in fact, committed to a vegan diet, I have followed a vegan diet in the past, sometimes because I lived with vegan housemates and most often because it was the cheapest way to eat well. A lot of my diet still is plant based and I think there are a number of good reasons for favoring that. I know from experience that a mostly vegan diet is the cheapest way to eat well. The real question was: could I demonstrate that it was possible, in real life, to eat a decent vegan diet on $3/day?
I spent a week preparing for this experiment. Under normal, ongoing circumstances, were I restricted to $3/day I would be refining shopping and eating habits over time. In this case, I had to come up with with a plan with some pretty tight restrictions in a short period of time. I'd mentioned in our FaceBook group discussion in the past I'd bought beans and grains in 25# or 50# sacks to get the best possible price, storing them in 5 gallon buckets. However, the author did not have a car and had to shop at groceries within walking or bicycling distance. Transporting a 50# sack of beans would be difficult and some folks on food stamps might not have a car. So I decided to restrict myself to groceries within a 2 mile radius of my apartment though I did not, in fact, walk or bicycle to the grocery. Four groceries fell within my radius: Aldi's, Ruler (a newly opened discount grocery), Schnucks (our local mainstream grocery), and a small international grocery that is generally pretty economical. I thought about what I might eat for the week, made a list of potential grocery items, got out a sheet of ledger paper and a clipboard, and began tracking the prices of items on my list at the various stores. Ruler has an ongoing special of dry pinto beans for $.50/lb. and when I saw that, it immediately altered my meal plan for the week.
I'm in the habit of having cereal and soy milk for breakfast. Although I hadn't made soy milk in years, I bought some soybeans and made a quart of soy milk as a test. It was not that difficult and turned out well. I decided I would make my own soy milk.
The guidelines in the author's article had a couple of "rules" that I thought were arbitrary. If you used spices or condiments that you already had on hand, they expected you to deduct $3/week for spices and $3/week for condiments. Same for oil or other things on hand. I know I don't use $3/week of these items so I calculated the actual cost of the items consumed, using current prices at the grocery. If I used a teaspoon of chili powder, I would weigh it on the gram scale and calculate the cost based on the price of chili powder at the store. I probably spent more time weighing and calculating than I did cooking or eating but I wanted an accurate accounting. By the end of the week, I was really tired of all this record keeping! But it was also very interesting and I was doing it for the sake of having accurate data for the experiment. I would not normally do this.
Finally, one weekend I made a pot of chili, a pot of black beans, a pot of dal, and a quart of soy milk and set out to see if I could eat vegan for a week on $3/day. I was nervous. I announced my intentions on FaceBook on both my own wall and the vegan group. I was prepared to fail miserably in front of dozens of people.
In following posts, I'll put up my daily food diary, costs, and my thoughts for that day.
You can see the original running commentary in the FaceBook Arch Vegan group here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/367964060602/permalink/10155935617040603/
I want to thank Jessi Stafford for having the courage to engage in this experiment and for having the courage to share it with us. It was inspiring and I've continued with some of the habits I developed during that week. I also want to thank Peter in our FB group for posting the article. Both of you made a positive impact on my life.
12 x down, 13 x up: A formula for survival with style
The title is taken from the Berrigan brothers. I don't know where they wrote it, but I read it in high school:
Formula for survival with style: 12 x down, 13 x up.
I'm starting this blog because I want a place outside of FaceBook to put up articles that could stay permanently accessible. I've thought about this for some time but the most recent impetus was the Eating Vegan on $3/Day experiment I engage in that is now documented here. The article which inspired this experiment invited others to share their experiences. I posted about it on FaceBook but not everyone is on FaceBook. This will give me a place to share that and anything else I feel like writing and putting out to the world.
I had a blog here once before ("Ask The Massage Therapist) and it's still up but inactive. I moved its contents to my website where I continue to blog about massage therapy, pain, and other things related to my profession. I can't remember how to do anything so I'll probably stumble around a bit. This may start out a little messy It's okay. I'll figure it out. For now, I'll be happy if I get the material from the $3/day experiment online.
Don't know how this will evolve. We'll see.
Formula for survival with style: 12 x down, 13 x up.
I'm starting this blog because I want a place outside of FaceBook to put up articles that could stay permanently accessible. I've thought about this for some time but the most recent impetus was the Eating Vegan on $3/Day experiment I engage in that is now documented here. The article which inspired this experiment invited others to share their experiences. I posted about it on FaceBook but not everyone is on FaceBook. This will give me a place to share that and anything else I feel like writing and putting out to the world.
I had a blog here once before ("Ask The Massage Therapist) and it's still up but inactive. I moved its contents to my website where I continue to blog about massage therapy, pain, and other things related to my profession. I can't remember how to do anything so I'll probably stumble around a bit. This may start out a little messy It's okay. I'll figure it out. For now, I'll be happy if I get the material from the $3/day experiment online.
Don't know how this will evolve. We'll see.
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