Wash Post article on stretching grocery dollars

You might find this helpful:

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodPlansCostofFood.htm

Scroll down to "archived materials" and there is a 80+ page booklet in .pdf format of tips, recipes, etc. Very basic, easy recipes.

I have some beefs with the Washington Post "Stretching Your Food Dollar" graphic.

Frozen OJ would be a much better buy than $6 for chilled juice.

Fruit like bananas and apples are cheap. Spend a bit on some whole oranges from the money saved on buying frozen oj rather than chilled juice.

$4 for cheese slices?

Buy a whole block of cheese rather than spending extra for shredded! Should save $1.50-2.00 that way.

Many folks aren't going to eat the tofu.

That store brand olive oil was expensive ($7.59)!

The wife of the couple who are my landlords is the director of a large local food pantry. As she's told me several times (and I've read elsewhere), folks on food stamps/getting assistance from a food pantry, often don't have the time/skills/reading level to attempt new stuff. They want basic, decent food. That USDA booklet with recipes is a good place to start. It also has a two-week meal plan.

DH and I both said WTF???

We feed a family of pregnant nursing mama, unquenchable toddler, and daddy for $50 a week on organic and gluten free foods (we also have to sub for dairy, soy, eggs, and corn for me and the toddler).

That is ridiculous........$120 a week.............. :

Liz

They actually recomend buying watermelon as cheap? I'm not paying $6 for one melon (seems like they get smaller every year too . Watermelon is simply a luxury that we choose not to afford.

Store brand canned veggies are half the cost of frozen. I don't know how they compare nutritionally, but hey we're comparing dollars right?

$2.39 for bread? Come on. Store brand is $1 here, and we get the expensive brands from an outlet store for $0.50! (and every town I have lived in my entire life has had some outlet bread store, wonder bread, hostess, sarah lee, etc.)

We'd get evicted if we spent that much on food. We spend $50 for two weeks (for two people).

I wish they'd put a meal plan instead, it'd be more helpful imo.

Quote:
Liz, tell me what you eat! those are similar to my food restrictions (I can have eggs and corn though) and we spend much more. I would love to know how you do it!

I don't know where everyone lives, but I'm willing to bet food in Washington, DC is a bit more expensive than a lot of other less urban, lower COL places. I know that from the suburbs here to the city of boston there is quite a markup - you aren't just paying for the food itself, but for the expensive store location as well.

Quote:
That watermelon is an awfully strange color!

Quote:
I was also wondering what they were planning on doing with all of that stuff.

I live in Atlanta and food seems expensive to me, when I visit my parents in San Diego the food at Henry's is cheaper there which is odd to me.

But I have no clue about the Washington area period.

Liz