A food experiment
Not starving, exactly, but an experiment nonetheless.
My youngest son is in 7th grade and his science teacher, Mr. Hodges, assigns home study projects. He gives the kids a list of projects to pick from and they do as many as they need to do to get required points.
This week my son chose an assignment called "Living on $1 per day." Actually, due to inflation, they now get to spend $7.75 for 5 days of food. We decided that we might be able to make more efficient use of food if we both did the experiment, and he gets extra points for each family member that takes part.
It isn't easy living on this little money per week, especially when you are used to grabbing a quick espresso, reaching into the cookie jar, having fresh vegetables and fruit. We got enough food this week, but it wasn't fun.
My typical daily food included:
- Plain oatmeal for breakfast.
- One hard-boiled egg and a skimpy peanut butter sandwich for lunch.
- Some rice and a chicken dish for dinner
We got lucky when we shopped. We found a half-price deal on chicken and bought a small chicken for $2.25. That chicken saved us this week!
So, what did I learn from this?
- One can spend a lot less on food and still get enough to eat.
- Eating this way is boring!
- Without really thinking about it, I found myself cutting back so that my son would get more food. This must be instinctive.
- Rice tastes good when you are hungry!
9:41:11 PM 
|
