My SNAP Diet Challenge
Dates: Sunday, November 5 - November 11, 2017 (7 days)
Budget: $4.15 per person per day
A brief history of my typical eating habits
I grew up with a lot of fast food, TV dinners, unhealthy snacks, and sugar-sweetened juices. My parents opted for the cheapest, fastest options to feed my brother and me. Except for my grandpa, none of us seriously cooked on a regular basis. But even when he cooked, I kept away from most vegetable dishes and filled myself with meat and white carbs (rice, pasta). Side note: He has also been using SNAP for about 7 years now, receiving up to $150 per month.
I started being more conscious about what I ate when I took my first nutrition course in my first semester at Cal. Only then did I start eating salad, but I still didn't care much about the quality of my food. I continued to prioritize cheapness and convenience. I was okay with eating "healthy" versions of processed foods, shopping at cheap Taiwanese bakeries, and treating myself to a lot of sweets (I have a strong sweet tooth). I never gained the confidence to cook, and I am still not a huge fan of salads. Up through my second year of college, I would often depend on some kind of snack to keep me going through the day.
My boyfriend Matthew changed my diet much more drastically. He has been loyal to organic foods and products for the past five years, and he enjoys making balanced meals as fresh as possible (including tortillas, bread, coffee, gelato, etc). About 9 months ago, he converted to a whole-foods plant-based diet -- another topic for another day. Long story short, we now eat much more fruits, veggies, whole grains, and almost no meat.
My current food environment
Matthew and I live a minute's walk away from Berkeley Bowl, a full-service supermarket known for its organic and local produce. Our pantry is filled with bulk and bargain produce. On a typical weekday, we have breakfast together at home with oatmeal and coffee; sometimes I may prepare yogurt for myself if I'm in a rush. We both get lunch provided at work through catering or food deliveries, so the value would be around $15. For dinner, we either eat leftovers from lunch or prepare food together at home. Disclaimer: He does most of the cooking.
Matthew also eats a lot more than I do, but he eats healthier too. For the past 2 months, he has been obsessed with snacking on organic grapes (supposedly taste better than conventional ones), while I treat myself to some chocolate or ice cream.
I recruited him to join me on the Challenge because we live together, he cooks a lot with/for me, and he is resourceful. We approached the week hoping to challenge ourselves to see what healthy foods we could make for less than $8.30 for the two of us by utilizing bulk and bargain products.
Getting ready for the Challenge
On the first few days, we bought a bunch of bargain bags (59 to 99 cent bags of overstock produce) of mushrooms, orange sweet potatoes, purple potatoes, apples, bananas, oranges, mangoes, grapes, limes, avocados, spinach, green onions, white onions, and garlic. For our sweet potato curry, the only regular price items we used were the red curry paste and broccoli; the coconut milk was on sale. Bulk produce from Berkeley Bowl included popcorn, rice, beans, rolled oats, nuts, seeds, and spices. We were also able to utilize bulk products that we had already bought from Amazon, such as coffee beans and certain spices. Note: Amazon and online grocers will soon accept SNAP benefits, but only in certain states.
This budget meant that we could no longer buy organic grapes (which we normally buy at $2.39-$2.99 per pound) and other regular price fruits, regular price organic vegetables, high quality meat (we occasionally get certain fish options), my favorite yogurt brands, or fancy chocolates. Instead of buying cashew milk (~$5.99) for our oatmeal, Matthew made our own cashew milk by blending cashews with water: it came out to $3.72 for 40 ounces worth, or 9 cents per ounce.
We watched a few videos and read a few posts about how people did the Challenge. A common theme was to prioritize calories while sacrificing some flavor and nutrition. Some people were able to utilize coupons to stay within budget, but would acknowledge choosing sodium-packed foods. However, some people have been able to successfully plan healthy, plant-based meals on the budget.
We "planned" our meals based on the bargain produce available and what our appetite told us. Some ideas we had included banana nut bread or muffins using oat flour, but we got too lazy. We had successfully stretched out our curry to feed us for about five dinners the week prior, so we hoped to replicate something similar and felt ready to tackle the Challenge.
How we did
Overview
Average cost per day: $3.63
Average cost per meal: $0.96
My average calories per day: 1,781 (vs. 2,400)
Matthew's average calories per day: 2,174 (vs. 3,000)
Reflection
We split up the delicious curry for seven meals throughout the week, sometimes switching up our entrees for lunch and dinner with casamiento (beans and rice) and poke. We often used a lot of rice because it was cheap and filling. For breakfast, we had apple oatmeal with some coffee each day. Normally, we grind up about six tablespoons of coffee beans, but we chose to share two tablespoons. With the 67% decrease, the coffee surprisingly tasted okay, but we learned it wasn’t as strong as we liked. After realizing we had some room in our budget, we started using four tablespoons of coffee beans.
Together, we consumed $50.70 worth of food, at an average of $0.96 per meal, including snacks. I consumed $24.14 worth through the whole week, with an average of $3.47 per day. Both of us accidentally went over the budget on two separate days mainly because we were simply too hungry after intense dance practices (he went slightly over budget on the fourth day and I failed on the sixth day). Normally, I spend about 5 times as much on food, or 8 times as much if I estimate the values of foods I get for free. The breakfast price is generally the same as normal because we’re used to eating oatmeal each day; however, we did have to cut down on spices and number of nuts in our morning meal.
This was the longest week I have felt this whole semester, even with school off on Friday for Veterans Day. I was irritable throughout the week and had very low energy and concentration when I was hungry. Day 2, the first weekday, was the worst for me because I didn’t pack enough food for myself at work. I stayed hungry from 3 to 8 PM because I had to stay overtime for a meeting. There was no more food left over from the lunch and I didn’t think about the vending machine, so I desperately tried to filled myself with water until I got home. My energy was highest immediately after eating, but the boost didn’t last long enough. I should have planned my meals better and made an effort to bring more snacks to keep me going through each day -- it has always been difficult for me to meal-prep and bring my own food especially now that I’m spoiled with food at work.
Other than mood and cognition, physical effects were seemingly mild. I maintained the same weight throughout the week, but that’s not a big concern for me. In some ways, I felt healthier because I had to stay away from free sweets at work or expensive pastries at restaurants or cafes. But looking back at the end of most days, I realized I couldn’t get in enough fruits or leafy vegetables. Even if I had the room in my budget, I felt obligated to reserve fruits for later days. The “diet” also affected me socially: I wasn’t able to eat out with friends, and I wasn’t able to eat lunch with coworkers.
The most challenging part about following the “diet” was in getting enough tasty calories. For example, plain beans and rice wasn’t interesting enough to eat without extra spices or other accompaniments. This week, we couldn’t really include many spices that we normally use, mainly because the cost would add up. Besides lacking in flavor, we also didn’t even meet our calorie needs. We were about 25% below the USDA’s estimated needs, perhaps because we used plant-based foods with very minimal oil and sugars. Matthew and I consumed an average of almost 2,200 Calories and 1,800 Calories, respectively, per day. An active male adult needs about 3,000 Calories per day, and an active female adult needs about 2,400 Calories daily. To optimize for calorie consumption, we would have had to sacrifice quality in our food and nutrients. Unlike us, however, most SNAP participants prioritize calories and affordability because of many factors. As a student doing the Challenge, I got to personally experience only a partial struggle of what many SNAP recipients face. For example, we had the time, equipment, and skills to prepare food, and we did not have to stress out about paying for rent, utilities, or storage. We also were able to continue participating in our regular activities, for which many low-income individuals may not have the means.
Although the Challenge is an imperfect simulation, I really enjoyed doing it. Overall, I felt we succeeded in feeding on bargain and bulk produce. We are very fortunate to have easy access to bargain produce at such a good supermarket, and I acknowledge that most SNAP participants nationwide would not have such a resource. If I had done it two years ago on my own, I would have taken a much less healthy approach with almost no vegetables. The Challenge reminded me of my first two years at Cal when I avoided buying fruits that I love because I didn’t want to spend the money. This week has surely put my life into perspective, now that I have two jobs, a good education, and shelter next to Berkeley Bowl with a reasonable rent rate. I also finally started blogging, which I’ve been meaning to do for a while. Matthew and I plan to continue our own version of the Challenge through the next week, by using twice the budget ($8.30 per person per day), to get an idea for what may be a reasonable supplement for food purchases.
