Eating on a Budget

Some of you might remember Ari and Jennifer Armstrong's Food Stamp Challenge in 2007. They ate within a tight budget of less than three dollars per day per person for a month -- and they did so largely by eating real, whole nutrient-dense foods rather than expensive, nutrient-poor processed foods. They ate things that I wouldn't eat, but overall their diet was extremely healthy -- particularly in comparison to the Standard American Diet.

Not long ago, I discovered someone who did the same for his family -- limiting them to the new food stamp allotment of just under six dollars per day per person -- but she eats the same kind of paleo-ish diet of real foods that I do. So see what she bought with a week's grocery budget of $121. It's impressive.

It's remarkably expensive to eat processed foods and restaurant foods, including fast food. I'm not on a strict food budget -- so I enjoy some luxuries like raw milk, raw cheese, and farm eggs -- but it's certainly possible to eat very, very well with strict budget constraints.