Can somebody feed a family of 4 for $100 a week at WF?

Hi- An Evanston mother who has a blog, was approached by Whole Foods to see if her family would be willing to do al of their grocery shopping at Whole Foods,, limiting themselves to only spending $200 a week? What they eat must be healthy too. The family just started the challenge a week ago, and the mother has already lost a pound. Here is the link.

http://evanstonnewbie.blogspot.com/2012 ... e-100.html

BTW-On her blog, the mother is looking for menu ideas that cost less than $1 a person.

I wish them luck, but they may be biting off more than they can chew. Although the headline is to eat on $100/week, their ultimate goals are to eat healthier and to consume less. Budget aside, it seems tough to simultaneously change both the type and quantity of food their family is consuming. I am about 65 pounds lighter than I was a few years ago and can say I wouldn't have accomplished it going about it the way they are. I first had to learn portion control before I incorporated healthier foods into my diet.

Hi- Apparently WF approached them, asking them if they would be interested in doing the challenge. Apparently there are some other bloggers that have taken up the challenge too, and succeeded. The only way they are going to succeed at WF is if they eat a lot less meat, and mostly vegetarian. If you know where to look also, on occasion WF has some very good sales, and sometimes you can find coupons to match the item, and get it for practically free. Last Christmas they had Cedar's hummus on sale for $.99, and Cedar's had a coupon on facebook for $.75 off.

This last week, I spent $23 at the grocery store, and I mostly eat healthy, because I still had a ton of veggies left over from the farmer's market. I did not go to WF this last week though. I only went to CVS and Dominick's. At Dominick's I saved 50% on my grocery bill, between cutting out three coupons, and using my card, along with the J4U program.

Apparently if you visit her blog, you have a chance of winning a $100 gift certificate from Whole Foods. I might offer her some eating suggestions on her blog. Thanks, Nancy

I think it could be done. Beans, rice, ground beef, chicken, turkey, fruits and vegetables, potatoes, pasta, oatmeal, etc and making almost everything from scratch instead of buying prepared foods. Like we used to eat. Like we are supposed to eat. Except most of us do not have the time anymore.

This experiment might be good for people who can afford to do it, that is, people who do not know just how much they really spend on food. It might also be useful, as suggested upthread, to clarify the matter of portion control. However, I am skeptical about the premise, which seems to serve to manage the Whole Foods image as Whole Paycheck. That is not, however, my principal objection to the enterprise.

I am concerned that peppy conclusions of dubious validity will be drawn from this exercise, with a negative impact on those who can least afford to be subjected to them. It is one thing to try this experiment for a limited time and another to implement this budget on an ongoing basis. Why?

First, even looking at the meal as if it takes place in an isolated laboratory, economies of scale figure prominently in the cost of a meal for a few people. You will never convince me that a meal for three people costs 25% less than a meal for four, for instance.

Second, in these types of experiments, people don't realize how much they draw from the stores of staples and incidentals (salt and pepper, oil, flour etc.) they have on hand. (MHays' excellent Food Desert thread handles this problem carefully, and may be a good reference for this blogger, though the "healthy" focus is set aside.) Also the blogger has made a number of exceptions to the budget, such as coffee. Who will seriously argue that coffee is not an item that an American with average expectations would find in his or her household?

And, since I bring up the matter of average expectations, consider that Americans' average expectations for sustenance have risen over the years. As an example, I recall that Cathy2 encountered some disagreement over the menu and portions served at the Midwest Foodways Depression-Era dinner, which was based on a government menu for a family of the time. Apparently, some felt that it was inappropriate to subject symposium participants to such a meager offering, though the point of serving the menu was to acquaint the participants in a visceral way with the challenges of those hard times. The point is that people eat in a social context; their expectations are shaped by what goes on around them. Without choosing to entertain guests, there are more occasions than people acknowledge when one needs to participate in a bake sale, a pot luck, snacks for a kids' group, a work event event, etc. These are not things one can plan for in a tight budget. This situation is particularly hard on families that limit their expenditures out of necessity.

I suspect that in current conditions of comparative plenty for most, a family who participates in the Whole Foods $100 challenge will abandon it with alacrity.

Most importantly, in figuring the cost of a meal, the cost of time to prepare it, access to a store (see again the food desert thread) and the electricity and gas needed to cook it are not incidental. The assumption behind this Whole Foods-sponsored exercise may be that someone (likely the mother) has unlimited time and energy that she is not currently applying to feeding her family. Doesn't that leave out the person who is working two jobs to support a family? The person living far from a Whole Foods? What about the single parent, the disabled head of household, the person with limited extended family support?

My point is that in our society, there are too many people who are subjected to others' uniformed views about what is a "correct" amount to spend on food. I am familiar with a situation where a family court judge decided that $150/week was too much to spend on food for a working mother and two children with special dietary needs (food allergies). One wonders whether the judges are working with actual data.

I guess I think that this challenge is something one does if one can afford to, as a creative exercise. I'm all for a creative exercise, but this one lacks value as anything but a curiosity. IMO, Whole Foods is not all about healthy eating on a budget. Their offerings make it clear that they are a gourmet store with eco-friendly aspirations. A person shopping there on a restricted budget would likely get tired of being tantalized by expensive fresh breads and imported cheeses. A different challenge to target their typical customer would be based on health, sustainability, or happiness benchmarks.

Hi- Actually the blogger as far as I know works full time. I am not sure, but I think that this experiment is only going to last a week. I shop at Whole Foods on occasion, but I couldn't afford to buy all my groceries there, and I would rather buy my produce at the Evanston farmer's market when it is open.

From what I understand, the blogger was spending a ton of money at Costco on brie cheese and I believe bacon, and so obviously she was obvious to how much she was spending on groceries.

Lots of times, when people are on a special diet, it is cheaper to shop at WF as opposed to Dominick's or Jewel. Trader Joe's is probably cheaper than WF for special diet stuff, but most of the items for sale at TJ, are under their own brand, and so you can't use coupons like you can at WF.

I might be the exception when I am at Whole Foods, but I never buy something there just because they are sampling it. What I mainly buy at Whole Foods is plain yogurt, bulk food including spices, peanut butter, a few select cheeses such as Jarlsberg lite, guiltless Gourmet tortilla chips when they are on sale, and any other occasional can't pass up sale, especially when they have a good coupon for it. I just ran across a coupon on Whole Foods site for $1 off any Whole Foods brand product in the frozen department. Last year at Christmas time, WF had Cedar's hummus on sale for $.99, and so I think I bought 4 of them.

I know that they don't get a lot of people using the link card at WF. Thanks, Nancy

Has it been established that somebody can feed a family of four for $100/week regardless of where they shop?

Roger Ramjet wrote:Has it been established that somebody can feed a family of four for $100/week regardless of where they shop?

Newark Mayor Cory Booker is in the midst of doing a week-long SNAP challenge: Feed yourself for less than $30 a week, which is what food stamp recipients receive. I suspect that's how WF arrives at it's amount of $100 for a family of four.

If you read Booker's blog posts and Twitter comments, he's struggling with hunger issues. Coffee wasn't in the budget, so he's gone cold-turkey on the caffeine. He's also apparently not much of a cook and works a zillion hours a day, which made it tough for him to prepare meals in advance. Most of his meals this week: Sweet potatoes, beans and frozen veggies. (He's also a vegetarian.)

Reader comments on Booker's challenge have been interesting, and I suspect he'd shop much differently if he did it all over again.

Hi- It sounds like the mayor did not think this through before he began this journey. At the start of this journey he bought a bottle organic olive oil and some bags of salad mix. It mentioned that he is not really into cooking either, which complicates thing. The very last day of his week long challenge, he was contemplating making a dish out of salsa, mayonnaise, and mustard, because that is pretty much all he had left. He also had to go through caffeine withdrawal all week, because he could not afford coffee. I don't know if he meant Starbuck's coffee, or just any coffee.

The mayor is vegetarian, and so that should have made things easier for him. I don't know if he goes out to eat all the time, and that is why he hasn't done a lot of cooking in the past.

Concerning the how can anybody feed a family of four on $100 a week, I am really big on the person that wrote the tightwad gazette newsletter and books, and she has a family of 8. I would be surprised if Amy spends more than $200 a week on food. The family has a large garden which helps, but the family also eats oatmeal most mornings, with the only exception being when they can purchase cereal for $1 a box or less on clearance or at a salvage place. The family buys their oatmeal in 20 pound bags. They also have a rotation of stores they go to, and they go to each store once a month. They also have friends that call them up and tell them they are going shopping at a particular store, and does Amy's family need anything.

They use very few coupons, and they skimp on the meat, and eat a lot of beans and peanut butter. They also buy all of their bread at a thrift store, and they tell the children that they are allowed one glass of juice per day, and that is it.

Another thing that Mayor Booker failed at: Using coupons.

Buying bagged lettuce and packaged, frozen veggies were other mistakes that the mayor made. Whole, fresh veggies would have taken a little more prep time but been much more cost-effective.

I go through periodic episodes of eating vegetarian & vegan. If I were Mayor Booker (or at least a version of him who knew how to cook), I probably would have started the week by making a big pot of dal. You could easily eat that daily for a week--over rice or pasta--for <$7 (particularly if you can buy small quantities of spices from the bulk bins). I'd probably do oatmeal mixed with cottage cheese for breakfast...it's a nice carb & protein boost to start off the day and keeps you full for hours. Since I'm not Mayor Booker & currently do eat meat, I'd pick up a Costco rotisserie chicken ($5, I think), which would be eaten over the course of 4-5 meals (and could be stretched to more).

Monica Eng's SNAP challenge from a couple years ago: Eating on $31 a Week.

Hi- This week both Dominick's and Jewel have frozen veggies on sale for $1 a bag, and they are even cheaper at Aldi's. Most of the canned veggies at Aldi's are priced at $.50.

The great majority of people on food stamps do not use coupons because they do not purchase the Sunday paper. You can purchase the Sunday trib. at Menards and dollar tree for $1, and there is a special on Jill Cataldo's website, where you can have the Sunday trib. delivered for $.50. I believe there is a 13 week commitment.

Hi- I was interested in reading some of the comments about Monica Eng's experience. A lot of people got on her case, because she bought some of her food at WF. Most of the items she purchased at WF were from the bulk section, but she also bought some bacon there. She also visited one of the farmer's market, because it let's you use a link card, and it also allows you to buy double what you mormally would for the same oruce.

I was surprised when I clicked on the link to the trib, story from 2010, and there was a video with GWIV, talking about the GNR awards. He is being interviewed by John Kass. Thanks, for the link, Nancy

When I was on a more limited budget I ate lentils and brown rice almost every day for lunch. They cook in the same amount of time, in the same pot, without being watched, and I would sometimes stir in some BBQ sauce. My office mates would laugh at me and ask how I kept the lentils from falling through the grill.

Roger Ramjet wrote:Has it been established that somebody can feed a family of four for $100/week regardless of where they shop?

I think I could do it without much difficulty, yes. If you hit the chicken thighs or quarters (which are around $0.59/lb at my local Pete's Market), get some potatoes and/or rice and/or beans, you can do it and still have money left over. Now, it's not going to be the greatest diet, but you can surely do it. At Whole Foods? Much more difficult, but still possible, I think.

Right out of college, my weekly food budget was $40; even accounting for inflation, I think it's doable. As others have said, the key is cheap proteins, and you can actually get some good economies of scale with a family of 4 that you can't get with a single person. Whole chickens >> chicken thighs >> chicken breasts.

Given spoilage costs, I think frozen vegetables come out cheaper than fresh. Actually, even without spoilage, I think they're cheaper, but spoilage is easily one of the biggest hidden food costs; frozen vegetables let you buy in bulk and carry over your 'balance' from week to week.

Rice + frozen veggies + eggs = fried rice
Rice + frozen veggies + eggs + leftover chicken = good fried rice
Rice + frozen veggies + eggs + Spam! = fancy fried rice
Rice + frozen veggies + eggs + bacon = what, are you made of money?

Independent George wrote:Rice + frozen veggies + eggs + bacon = what, are you made of money?

Keep the bacon fat around for future frying!

..............

Seems it might be doable, then. Need to make sure to leave enough money to buy garlic - onions - brown sugar (for oatmeal) - dried fruit - cayenne pepper - celery salt - etc. to keep it all interesting.

Roger Ramjet wrote:

Independent George wrote:Keep the bacon fat around for future frying!

Good idea. And I forgot the last one:

Rice + frozen veggies + eggs + turkey bacon = You have sinned against God.

I've been on a big zucchini kick lately and bought six average sized ones this week. Reviewing my receipt later, I was surprised to find that they cost over $4 at Butera (I think 99¢/lb). You'd think a sack of squash would be next to free but it was one of the pricier single items I bought that day.

Hi- The zucchini is probably shipped in from Mexico. I think that is the going price for zucchini this time of year. I could get it at the Evanston farmer's market for 10 for $1 when zucchini were plentiful. I make zucchini bread in the summertime when it is cheap. I also made a batch of ratatouille at the end of the summer when everything was dirt cheap, or I had it in my garden. No way would I make ratatouille this time of year. I still have lots of turnips and parsnips I purchased from Henry at the farmer's market, and I just picked the last of my broccoli from my garden today. I am also going to get lots of winter squash when I go home to Michigan for Christmas.

Right now potatoes are a good deal, and sweet potatoes were on sale last week at Jewel, but frozen vegetables are probably the best deal, if you did not stock up at the farmer's market. I could have gotten a large cabbage at the indoor Evanston's market last Saturday, and a head of cabbage lasts a long time. You can also get good deals on stuff such as bags of carrots at Aldi's this time of year. I just bought a bag of carrots at Jewel today for $.79. I am going to make carrot rutabaga soup with it.

I love red peppers, but this time of year they are really expensive. I load up on them when I can get them for 4/$1, at the farmer's market, and I freeze a bag full of them. You just cut them up, and then put them on a cookie sheet so they individually freeze, and once frozen you put them in a zip lock bag. Thanks, Nancy

NFriday wrote:Hi- The zucchini is probably shipped in from Mexico. I think that is the going price for zucchini this time of year. I could get it at the Evanston farmer's market for 10 for $1 when zucchini were plentiful.

I don't think $1/lb is a bad price, I was (badly) making a point about how fast the money can go on plain old groceries.

Sorry to come to this party so late, but we totally blew the budget at WF and spent more than $100/week, actually $150
http://evanstonnewbie.blogspot.com/2012 ... althy.html

In taking the challenge I found myself looking for lots of recipes that would enable my husband and me to cook inexpensive meals which takes time - as does cooking.

Can any of you recommend resources that features affordable/fast/healthy meals?

Thanks so much!

Lisa D. aka Evanston Newbie

Hi- It is hard to have your meals be affordable, fast and healthy. To be affordable you have to be willing to cut down on meat, and use it as a condiment, or not use it at all occasionally. In the summertime when I have lots of tomatoes and basil in my garden, I boil some pasta, and then I cut up some ripe tomatoes and some fresh basil, and add a little bit of olive oil and a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese. It is really easy to prepare, and is cheap. In the wintertime when I cannot get homegrown tomatoes, I admit that occasionally I will open up a jar of pasta sauce. I am signed up with Dominick's J4U program, and a few weeks ago they had prego pasta sauce on sale for $1.49, and they had a $.50 ecoupon for prego, and so I got two jars for a total of $1.98. I also have ten boxes of multigrain spaghetti that I got on clearance a few months ago at Jewel for $.50 each. I just purchased three jars of Marinatha natural peanut butter that were on clearance for $1.50 a jar. I love salmon burgers, and I got a bunch of those on clearance at Jewel back in April for $2 a box. I also recently got some fresh Alaskan salmon at Dominick's that were ready to expire, and they were 50% off.

You can go to the Evanston farmer's market around noon when they are getting ready to close, and get some good deals. Last Saturday I got three quarts of red haven peaches for $5, and on occasion I can get some organic #2 tomatoes for free. One of the growers there sells them for $1 a pound, and on a few occasions when I tried to buy some, they just gave them to me for free because they wanted to get rid of them. You have to use them up within a few days though, but they are good for making salsa.

Whole Foods has all their bulk food on sale 20% off this Saturday.

Hope this helps, Nancy