Posted on 09/23/2013 1:20:00 PM PDT by wbill
In my work, I see more people who want to focus on losing weight rather than gaining weight, so I don’t often stop to think about the problem of hunger.
It’s easy to overlook the fact that hunger is still a big problem in in the United States. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2011 about 50 million Americans were living with food insecurity — 33.5 million adults and 16.7 million children.
What is food insecurity? It’s the inability to provide adequate food on a consistent basis. For adults, not getting enough food can have harmful effects, but it can be especially harmful for children who need adequate nutrients for proper growth and development.
I’m familiar with the Good Shepherd Food Bank so I know hunger exists in Maine, but to what extent? Maine ranks 18th in the nation and second in New England in terms of food insecurity. Since 2004, the number of Mainers facing hunger has increased 50 percent.
The population of Maine is about 1,328,371 — the food insecurity rate is 14.7 percent of households, or 200,000 people.
Food insecurity can lead to nutrient deficiencies, delayed cognitive development, asthma, decreased immune system function and increased fatigue. A contributing factor to childhood obesity is the lack of access to healthy foods for children living in food-insecure homes.
My office is situated such that I have a big window facing the drive-thru of a fast-food restaurant. There is a pretty steady line of cars going through on a daily basis. Fast food once in awhile isn’t a big concern, but eating a quick meal from a fast-food restaurant or a convenience store on a regular basis is expensive and the food is usually higher in fat and sodium and lower in vitamins and minerals. If you were to price the items out compared to what you could purchase at a grocery store, it wouldn’t be such a deal.
When grocery shopping, nutrient-rich staples such as whole-wheat bread, brown rice, steel-cut oats, corn tortillas, dried beans and peanut butter are good choices. Fresh fruits and vegetables are healthy choices but can be expensive if not on sale. Canned fruit packed in its own juice or frozen fruit or vegetables are great choices. If you buy canned vegetables, drain and rinse them to remove sodium before consuming.
If you are affected by food insecurity, there are many resources available to help. One way to find them is to dial 211 and ask for resources in your area. Food banks, soup kitchens, etc., are located in communities throughout the state, usually staffed by volunteers. If you don’t live with food insecurity but want to help others who do, perhaps volunteering your time at a food kitchen or donating money or food to these organizations would be within your means. Every little bit helps.
SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program previously called the food stamp program. SNAP provides $5 a day to help those unable to purchase food. To see what it is like, try to eat off of $5 a day. You’ll get a little more perspective on how difficult it can be for some families in America and right in your home town. Remember that $5 has to include your morning coffee.
Want to do more? The Good Shepherd Food Bank has a calendar showing 30 Ways in 30 Days to help solve hunger. Some of the suggestions include: » Volunteer at a local food pantry or meal site. » Watch the films “A Place at the Table” or “30 Days on Minimum Wage.” » View poverty statistics for your county by googling “Map the Meal Gap.” » Make a financial contribution to the food bank.
For information on the Good Shepherd Food Bank go to www.gsfb.org. For information on food insecurity in the U.S., check out www.feedingamerica.org.
Georgia Clark-Albert is a registered dietitian nutritionist and certified diabetes educator at Penobscot Community Health Care in Bangor. She provides nutrition consultant services through Mainely Nutrition in Athens. Read her columns and post questions at bangordailynews.com or email her at GeorgiaMaineMSRDCDE@gmail.com.
I do it now.
Sometimes, not every day.
Here’s another...can your pundit get a good breakfast in a major chain restaurant for $5, including coffee and a generous tip? I can!
“Sometimes, not every day.”
Because I don’t have to.
I couldn’t unless I absolutely had to, because I rarely eat rice, wheat, oats, potatoes, or pasta.
Ha!
My sister’s husband often jokes about the fact that growing up, Spam was a little out of the family budget for a couple of years (big family, lean times) So, he learned to like a cheaper competitor’s product called “Potted Meat.”
Of course, I’m not much better. I’m a sucker for Underwood Chicken Spread (that little can with the devil on it). Lord only knows what sort of ‘chicken’ goes into that!
Let’s be honest guys, we COULD eat on $5 a day, but who the hell would want to.
I don’t want the same thing for breakfast everyday.
I don’t want the same thing for lunch and dinner everyday either.
We want variety. And I’ll pay extra to have my kids eat well.
For breakfast they’re going to have cereal, oatmeal, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, pancakes, eggos, fruit, breakfast bars, and an occasional donut or two.
They may not have a new pair of Nike’s every month, but they are going to be well fed.
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That's strange. I often miss lunch if I'm not hungry.
If I went with bulk flour, sugar, beans, rice, etc etc etc....I'd be well under budget.
Heck, I can put together a crock pot of spaghetti sauce for well under $20 that feeds my entire family for 3-4 nights. It's better than anything you'd get in a restaurant. We usually freeze a couple of nights worth, it tastes better left over. :-) And the sauce makes an awesome pizza. :-) :-)
But it takes a little thought and effort. Can't have folks on welfare, who have little to do to begin with, putting forth any of that.
This is such nonsense. First it was all those starving folks who needed food stamps (oops food assistance). Now it is the food insecure.
Can I survive on $5 a day for food? You bet. Do I eat better than that when I have the funds....you bet.
Eggs, cereal, rice, potatoes, in season veggies, the occasional bit of meat or fish. That’s easily done on $5 per day
Wilson’s Potted Meat Food Product is what we used to get.
I ate enough of it when I was a kid and Mom and Dad needed to streeeeetch the budget a little. (Or more than a little. We didn't have SNAP back then......)
It's good baked, with a little bit of clove on top. Or, in a "ham salad" sandwich.
I like it fried
I should know, I've eaten it often enough.
My food probably eats a lot of rice, wheat, oats, or potatoes. Shame to feed pasta to pigs, except as recycled garbage.
When they assert that some large percentage of US food goes to garbage, they want you to ignore that many pig farmers get a contract to collect food garbage from government eateries (like prisons or schools) and the garbage goverment food is fed to pigs) with supplemental food used to correct for any nutrients not in the garbage.
Yes, and I do.
I had 3 eggs/2 strips of turkey bacon and cup of coffee for breakfast. $1. Lunch...scoop of yogurt from a large container with a few berries .75. Dinner...Gourmet sausage cut up with 1/4 box of angel hair pasta with chopped tomato,onions and garlic. Maybe $2 with half left over for lunch tomorrow. Maybe eat an orange later for snack .50. So for $4.25 I ate like a king.
Because of our kids' ages, there was a time when we were paying simultaneous Catholic school tuition (both high schools and grade school) for 10 children. I assure you we ate on less than (an inflation adjusted) $5 per person per day. And yes, it meant a lot of eggs, chicken, hot dogs, farina, mac and cheese, and peanut butter. Maybe the hot dogs and mac and cheese aren't healthy, but they're tasty and full of protein and if you're getting exercise, hot dogs and mac and cheese once a week won't hurt. At least, it hasn't seemed to hurt our kids.
Maybe if you buy the yeast in bulk (Costco has it). My wife sometimes uses a bread maker (from Amazon, although they do turn up at Goodwill) and although fun as a hobby, the loafs made from small units of yeast are not cheaper than the various sale breads we buy at Safeway or Winco and you have to consume the product quickly. Additionally, I am accustomed to the mass market bread and it is hard to make the switch, although I certainly would in an emergency!
I am not a foodmaker myself so can't comment much on the ingredients but saw this on mint.com (seems you could find a cheaper recipe).
I flipped to the American Sandwich Bread recipe in my favorite all-purpose cookbook, The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (third edition, 3-ring binder). The recipe calls for whole milk, water, butter, honey, bread flour, yeast, and salt. Basic bread ingredients.
Using Peapod.com, I calculated how much each ingredient would cost. Note, I did not include the cost of ⅓ cup water because it is negligible.
At $3.69 per gallon of whole milk, the 1 cup of milk called for costs $.23
At $2.99 for four quarters, the 4 tablespoons of butter costs $.37
At $3.89 for 12 ounces of honey, the 3 tablespoons of honey costs $.49
At $5.49 for 5 pounds, the 3 ¾ cups of bread flour costs $1.23
At $.50 per package, the 2 ¼ teaspoons of yeast costs $.50
At $.99 for 26 ounces, the 2 teaspoons of salt costs less than 1 penny
That brings the total cost of handmade bread to $2.83.
Yowza!
That answer has been "yes" virtually every year of my life. My baby and I have tons of food in the freezer, but sometimes we just don't feel like cooking any of it. So, after a brief moment of uncertainty, we order out. The uncertainty is over whether we should order Italian, Chinese or Mexican. I didn't know that made us "food insecure." Thank goodness we don't grade our toilet by that scale.....
(PS, we've been re-reading "Citizen Clinton." The parody of Mad, Mad, Mad World is a timeless jewel! Thank you so much for that!)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/406007.The_Kudzu_Cookbook
The Kudzu Cookbook: Cooking Up a Storm With That Wild & Crazy Vine That Grows in Miles-Per-Hour!
http://www.gagirl.com/southern/how_to_grow_kudzu.html
Gardening Tips from Down South: How to Grow Kudzu
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Not so. The caloric requirements of women vary, just as men's do. I know quite a few women who are 5'7" to 5'9". While 1100 calories a day may be doable for a woman of 5'1" to 5'4" or so, taller women need more calories, and the requirements of women with fast metabolisms vary as well, not to mention those who run, lift weights or do other forms of exercise.
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