Nutrition in Society

Fall 2015
Feed Yourself for $4 Per Day
Assignment According to the World Bank, about half of the worlds population lives on less
than $3/day. The average SNAP benefit per person per day in Montana is currently around $4.
See if you can meet your food needs on $4/day for three days ($12/3 days).
Conditions
Strive for a nutritionally balanced diet
Do not accept any free food or charity from your social network over the three days.
You are allowed to go to the bread room at the Gallatin Valley Food Bank, eat dinner at the
Community Caf, or similar community services.
Only consume what you have purchased with your $12.
Part I: Planning Complete your answers to Part I before you begin the experience.
Part II: Purchasing Complete Part II after you have done your shopping.
Part III: The Experience Complete Part III on a daily basis during the experience
Part IV: Analysis Complete Part IV when you have completed the experience.
Part V: Follow Up Part V has questions that should be completed during the experience and
after the experience, so read all questions now.
Part I: Planning
Before you begin the experience, reflect on how do you think it might feel (physically,
emotionally, and mentally) to be food insecure?
Increasing the awareness of the food insecurity issue in the United States has led more people
to try the SNAP challenge, aka the $4 per day challenge. Before going into this assignment, I
thought about that active lifestyle that I choose to live and how this could affect my workout
regime. Eating the food that I planned on consuming for the next 3 days would alter my energy
levels, and physically, I would not feel motivated to continue to run and play soccer every day.
Im the type of person that feels extremely hangry when I am hungry.
Emotionally, I think this experience will be hard for me because of this. Researching
other peoples experiences and talking to my classmates prior to this assignment, I gathered
that frequent hunger is felt throughout the course of the three days because of the lack/types of
food that were consumed. Im afraid that my emotional stability will be affected during this
project because I wont feel satisfied from the amount of food that I am eating, on top of still
working out during this assignment.
My mentality throughout this process might be the hardest component to this
assignment. When youre hungry it is hard to focus on anything else besides the thought of
food. I think it will be hard to overcome the temptations that I will face the next three days.
Having four roommates, it will be hard to resist the temptation to their food and watch them cook
and eat the food that I normally eat on a daily basis. I love to cook and although one of my goals
is to continue to cook throughout this process, it will be hard not using butter, oil or any other
condiment that I usually cook with.

Before you go shopping, what kinds of foods do you think you will buy with your $12?
One of the conditions of this assignment is to strive to consume to eat a nutritionally balanced
diet. Taking this into consideration, I plan on trying to balance the macro and micronutrients of
my meals in terms of protein, calories, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, etc. With that
being said, I plan on buying rice, beans, pasta, an onion, one loaf of bread, and some apples.
Part II: Purchasing Keep all of your receipts
Describe your shopping experience. Where did you shop, what did you buy, and how much did
each item cost?
Walking into the Town and Country, I felt anxious and stressed about this part of the
assignment. Although I had an idea of what I was going to buy, I was worried that I would go
over my budget or that I wasnt purchasing the things I should in order to meet my goals which
were to cook as much as possible and maintain a nutritionally balanced diet. I bought one loaf of
high fiber flax & sunflower bread, one can of kidney beans, two cans of black beans, one pound
of organic jasmine rice, a package of linguine noodles, 3 Springdale honey crisp apples, and a
kit kat. My original plan was to buy an onion instead of a kit kat. I forgot the onion and was
already in such a rush because of the line that was forming behind me and the first thing I saw
that would keep me within my budget was the kit kat bar (I was at 10.59 prior to the purchase of
the kit kat). When I was walking out of the grocery store I realized that I was drawn to the candy
because it was the first thing I saw. You see this at nearly every grocery store where the things
at the checkout stations are all unhealthy option. I obviously wouldve changed my choice if the
first thing I saw was fruit or vegetables.
Cost of each item:

Loaf of bread
Kidney beans
Black beans x2
1 lb. rice
Linguine
Apples x3
Kit kat

Total

1.99
0.69
1.38
2.26
1.19
2.19
0.85
11.44

What strategies did you use while shopping to maximize your allotted money?
(Copy your receipts to turn in with this assignment sheet)
Some strategies I used included buying items that were on sale and using the bulk section of
Town and Country. I decided to shop at Town and Country because that is where I normally
shop and I am familiar with the prices and what they carry in bulk. I compared canned beans to
the price of buying dried beans in bulk, as well as the price of boxed rice to the rice in bulk. I
always went for the cheapest brand, but still tried to buy the things I liked to eat like jasmine rice
and whole wheat bread. I couldve saved some money if I decided to buy white rice and white
bread because they were less expensive than the whole wheat bread and jasmine rice.

Part III: The Experience

For each day state what you ate and how you felt physically, mentally, and emotionally. Record
your observations and insights.
Day 1
Date and Day of the Week: 11/15/2014 (Sunday)
What I ate: Since the first day that I started was a weekend I woke up around 1:30 so I only had
two meals and a snack on the first day.
Lunch:
Two eggs (scrambled)
can of black beans
1 piece of toast
Snack:
one apple
one piece of toast
Dinner:
Two eggs
1 cup jasmine rice
one piece of toast
Late night snack:
cup of rice
piece of toast
How I felt: The first day was definitely an adjustment period. I felt frustrated because the food
that I was eating wasnt what I wanted to be eating. Watching my roommates cook their food
and comparing it to what I was eating was difficult for me because they were able to use butter
and other spices that I wanted to use (although I did use black pepper and salt). I never felt
100% satisfied in between meals and was left wanting more from my meals, but had to keep in
mind that I needed to ration my food for the following two days. Towards bedtime, I felt so
hungry that I had a late night snack.
Observations and Insights: When I was doing my homework on Sunday evening I noticed a
higher level of distraction because I was focused on how hungry I was, not my school work. I
tried to drink water to suppress some of my hunger, but it didnt help much. I was playing in a
futsal (Brazilian style soccer) tournament over the weekend and after my game on Sunday
afternoon I was extremely hungry. The food that I consumed before my game (two eggs,1/2 a
can of black beans, one piece of toast) was actually a satisfactory breakfast and gave me the
energy I needed to play for an hour. After my game was when I really felt hungry. I had an apple
and a piece of toast and still did not feel full. I noticed that when I was eating my dinner I was
eating more quickly, without giving myself enough time in between bites. Towards bedtime, I had

to eat a snack before I went to bed because I was still hungry. I normally dont have to eat
anything after my dinner because I feel full even towards bedtime.
Day 2
Date and Day of the Week: 11/16/2015 (Monday)
What I ate: Mondays are a busy day for me. With a full day of school and soccer at night, I have
to wake up early enough to eat breakfast, pack my lunch/snack, and bring all my soccer stuff for
indoor practice at 7:30 pm. For dinner, I went to the community caf before I had soccer.
Breakfast
2 eggs (over easy)
1 piece of toast
Lunch
can of black beans
package of linguine
a kit kat bar
Snack
2 hard boiled eggs
one apple
Dinner (Community caf)
Pasta bake
Salad
Grapes
Mushroom vegetable soup
How I felt: Waking up in the morning was difficult. I felt more tired and I was extremely hungry. I
felt more irritable in the morning than I usually do. Unfortunately, I wasnt able to have my
morning coffee, so I settled for a glass of water. After I ate my breakfast I was able to wake up a
little more and start my day. In class, I felt like it was harder to listen to my professor lecture
because I was still hungry. Once my morning class was over I had to head straight to work,
which was probably one of the hardest things during this assignment. I work at Sweet Chili
Asian Bistro. I am constantly surrounded by the smell of delicious food, and not having my
employee meal was very hard. It was a busy lunch shift which served as a good distraction for
how hungry I felt. It was also a point of frustration during this assignment because I paid more
attention to how much food was wasting during my shift. Once I was off work, I ate my lunch
that consisted of beans, linguine pasta, and a kit kat. After lunch, I actually felt pretty satisfied
because of a large amount of pasta I ate. Shortly after lunch though I began to get hungry
again. Towards the late afternoon, I began to feel more tired than I normally am. I ate my snack
and hour and a half after my lunch. For dinner, I ate at the community caf. No one asks any
questions about why I was there or why I didnt pay, it is simply a place where you can go have
a meal and interact with some of the great people that make up the community of Bozeman.
This meal was one of the only meals throughout this assignment where I truly felt satisfied after
I was done eating. I felt good after this meal and went to soccer and managed to play pretty well
without focusing on my hunger. After soccer I finished up some homework and even though I
had a satisfying meal, I got hungry towards bedtime. When I finally went to bed at 12, I was
extremely hungry and had trouble falling asleep because of how hungry I felt.

Observations and Insights: What I noticed on the second day was that although I had more
things to do (school, work, and soccer) I was still overcome by thoughts of hunger in class, at
work, and towards bedtime. The activities throughout my day that are usually easy for me to get
through were harder and I had to actively remind myself to stay focused in class. Not having my
employee meal at work made me realize how I take for granted the food that is given to me for
free and how much food we waste as a society. Watching customers refuse a box after leaving
of their meal on their plate was hard to watch, and even harder to let that food simply go to
waste. I noticed that although I felt content after lunch, I quickly became hungry after and at my
snack earlier than I normally do. I also ate dinner earlier because of the persistent hunger that I
felt. The dinner at the community caf was my favorite experience throughout this project. The
community caf provides the people of Bozeman with an opportunity to eat a nutritious meal
without having to pay anything. I wasnt expecting people to make huge donations, but it was
surprising to see very few people paying anything, including myself. It was amazing to see the
spirit of the people at the caf and see the smiles on their faces with a plate of hot food on the
table. Im somewhat of a night owl and going to bed at 12 is early for me, but I was so hungry
after soccer and doing homework that I had to go to bed in order to resist eating the food that I
needed for the following day.

Day 3
Date and Day of the Week: 11/17/2015 (Tuesday)
What I ate: Tuesdays are another busy day for me that require me to pack my lunch and snacks
for school. This day was the hardest for me because I was in the mindset that it was the last day
and I could eat whatever I wanted to the next day.
Breakfast
2 eggs
1 piece of toast
cup kidney beans
Lunch
1 hard boiled egg
1 apple
1 piece of toast
cup kidney beans
Snack
1 hard boiled egg
cup blackbeans
Dinner
cup rice
cup black beans
2 piece of toast
Late nigt snack
of kit kat bar
How I felt: This day was definitely the hardest day because I knew it was the last day that I had
to eat like this. I was tired of the meals I was eating because it was basically a different variation
of the same meal every time I ate something. I felt a little more satisfied after my meals on the
third day because I was able to use up all my food that I had purchased because it was the last
day. I ate all the eggs and cans of beans that I purchased. I was very irritable on this day
because I was tired of the mundane food I was eating. Although I wasnt eating the most terrible
food, I still didnt feel like I was eating a nutritionally balanced diet and getting all the essential
nutrients that I needed.
Observations and Insights: What I noticed on this day was that I was planning the types of
meals that I was going to make for myself the following day. I wanted to eat my favorite foods
that I was unable to eat off this budget. It made me realize how privileged I am to be able to
afford the food that I want to eat. I dont ever have to skip meals in order to have enough food
until I get more income or restrict the amount of food that I eat at a given time. The last day was
definitely the hardest, but it was the day with my biggest reflection period. I realized that if I had
to live like this on a daily basis I would feel fatigued, moody and probably have more trouble in
school. Good food is what keeps me going throughout my day and to go without it for three days
was something that I struggled with.

Part IV: Analysis

For each day complete a diet analysis. Print the diet analysis from each day and turn in
during class on November 17th. Calculate the average from three days. What were your average
intakes over the three days for the following macro and micronutrients? (State in amounts and
percentages of recommended values). Use MyPlate
(http://www.choosemyplate.gov/supertracker-tools/supertracker.html) if you do not have access
to diet analysis software.
NUTRIENT

AVERAGE AMOUNT

Calories

1250 calories

PERCENTAGE OF
RECOMMENDED VALUE
61.4%

Fat

325 calories from fat

74.3%

Carbohydrates

168 g

129%

Protein

63 g

137%

Fiber

23 g

92%

Vitamin A

407 g

58%

Vitamin C

14 mg

18%

Vitamin E

5 mg

33%

Calcium

347 mg

34.7%

Iron

12 mg

66.6%

Zinc

7 mg

87.5%

Folate

516 g

129%

Considering nutrients, food groups and other important food components, how well did you
meet your nutrition needs?
I used supertracker on choosemyplate.org to monitor my intakes of macro/micro
nutrients as well as food groups. Over the course of the three days, I had a high intake of
refined grains. The average total percent of target met for refined grains was 96%. For
vegetables, I had a very low intake of vegetables, only meeting 20% of my target goal of 2 1/2
cups every day. The only day I had an adequate amount of vegetables was the day I ate at the
community caf. I was over my target goal by 1 cup. For whole fruit, I had a very low intake
averaging only 58% of my target goal. Dairy is the food group that I struggled most with. Day
two was the only day that I had any dairy and it was only 3% of my target goal. For protein
foods, all three days I consumed 73% of my target goal.

If you look at the chart above the macronutrients (calories, fat, carbohydrates, and
protein) is not the thing that I struggled with the most. Although I didnt meet the percent of
recommended value for fats and calories, I was over with protein and carbohydrates. With the
vitamins and minerals listed above, I was under in every single category except for folate. I
would say that my nutritional needs were not met in the last three days because of the lack of
micronutrients I was receiving with the food I was consuming.
How could your diet have been improved (within your budget)?
In order to improve my diet I couldve added some dairy by purchasing one less can of beans
and getting rid of the kit kat bar. Adding dairy could also add more calories, fat, calcium, vitamin
A to my diet. I could add 1 glass of milk to my diet and improve my intake of both macro and
micro nutrients.
What did you eat that you normally do not eat?
Everything that I ate within the last couple days, except for the kit kat bar is something that I eat
regularly. The amount and the frequency of these items are what varied from my normal diet
tremendously. On an everyday basis, I do not consume 4-6 eggs daily or have a piece of toast
at every meal.
What foods do you normally eat that you have avoided?
Vegetables and fruit are the main things that I did not eat a lot of. When I cook, I have
vegetables at almost every single meal and with fruit I will try to incorporate it into two of snacks
throughout the day. I also was not able to use olive oil or butter to cook my food in. This made
cooking eggs very difficult because they stuck to the pan. I also love using an array of
condiments such as sriracha, mayonnaise, mustard, etc. with my meals and was unable to add
the desired flavor to any of the things that I cooked.
Did you have any difficulty complying with the conditions of the assignment?
As the days went on, this assignment definitely got more challenging. I was able to comply with
using only the food that I purchased for $12, but I did use some of the seasonings that I had in
my household to add flavor to my food such as cayenne pepper, sage, and red pepper flakes.
Could you continue to live on $4/day? How would doing so change your life?
After taking part in this challenge, I dont think I could live off $4 a day. I am too much of a foodie
to not spend a good amount of my paycheck on nutritious food. If I was to start living off $4 a
day, I would not be able to perform as well in school and soccer as I do now with a good diet. I
think I would feel isolated from my friends with the food they were eating and would not be able
to go out to get lunch or dinner when I want to treat myself. The lifestyle that I have been living
since I was little has been centered around good food that I enjoy. If I was to compromise this, I
think I would be more emotionally, physically, and mentally unstable.

Did you utilize any community food resources? If so, how did they help? If not, why not?
I utilized the community caf. I ate dinner at the caf on Monday night, where they served a
pasta bake, with a side salad, grapes, and a mushroom vegetable soup. The day that I ate at
the caf was when I was able to meet the most of my nutritional requirements with my
macro/micronutrients and food groups. After feeling hungry after almost every meal that I ate,
the meal that I had at the caf was when I actually felt satisfied and was able to focus on my
homework.
Part V: Follow-Up
During the three days of the experience, find an application for SNAP (food stamps). Examine
and complete the application. Describe this experience. How difficult was it to obtain an
application? How difficult was it to complete the application? Consider how the experience might
have been different if you had poor reading or writing skills?
Filling out the SNAP application reminded me of filling out the application for my student loans.
You have to be extremely specific about employment, income, support you are already
receiving, other income of individuals living in the same household, the bills that you pay, etc. I
felt pressured to fill out every portion of this application accurately in order to receive the most
benefits if I was to actually apply for the SNAP program. Instead of using my family member as
the people in my household I used my 4 roommates. With most of the information being pretty
specific, I could not answer questions regarding their income and other personal questions that
were asked.
The application was extremly easy to find. Typing SNAP application into google gave me
several links to the application. Once I was on the montana.gov website it redirected me to an
applcation where I could immediately get started on filling out the application. This whole
process took me less than three minutes to obtain the application.
Like I mentioned above, I used my roommates information instead of my family
members. This made the application process a lot hard. I knew all the infomration for myself, but
I wasnt able to fill out a majority of the information for my roommates. The application itself is
pretty straight forward. The majority of the questions require you to check a box or put yes or
no. It would be an easy process if you knew all the information and were only applying for one
person.
If I was someone that lacked reading and writing skills it would make the application
harder, but I think the way the questions are structured, this was something that was taken into
consideration. The questions require you to check boxes that pertain to the people living in the
same household. Although interpreting the question maybe be difficult, the site makes in fairly
accessible. I think the most difficult section for me if I didnt have strong reading and writing
skills would be the bill section.

What are your overall conclusions about this experience? Describe what you learned, your
observations and insights.
This experience challenged my emotional, physical, and mental well-being. It changed my
perception of what it means to be food insecure and how my three-day struggle is something
that 27.9 million Americans face every day. Over the last three days, my main concern was what
am I going to eat for my next meal and how much can I eat in order to conserve enough food for
the next day. Since I was younger my family and I have always been food secure and it has
been something that has been important to all of us in order to live a healthy lifestyle.
After finishing this assignment, I realized that I was unaware of how difficult it truly is to
be food insecure. The people that I surround myself with (friends, family, coworkers) are all
people that do not struggle with food insecurities. When you arent constantly reminded that
food insecurity is something that people face every day, it is hard to put the hardships of these
people into perspective. Participating in activities like this gives you the opportunity to
experience a different lifestyle. If I was to live off the SNAP benefits, my life would change
drastically. What I realized over the last few days is that food security/insecurity is more than
just the amount of money you have to spend on food, but it also affects all aspects of your
lifestyle, socially, economically, emotionally, physically, mentally.
One question that I asked myself throughout this process is if I was to depend on the
dollar menu at McDonalds instead of having the goals to 1) cook as much as possible and 2)
maintain a nutritionally balanced diet, how would this affect my well-being emotionally,
physically, and mentally? This is what many Americans turn to because it is so cheap. We have
seen a drastic increase in adult and childhood obesity because of the types of food you can
afford when you are living in poverty. If I choose this diet instead of my consistent diet of bread,
eggs, beans, pasta, and apples, I would've felt even more tired and irritable. The analysis
section of this project would look extremely different. I would have a huge caloric, carbohydrate,
and sugar intake from all the processed food I would be eating.
From the $4 a day project, I have realized there is no happy medium between eating
healthy or eating all processed foods. You either have to choose to eat all processed foods,
where you might feel full after your meals, but physically you will begin to see the reprecussions
of eating those types of foods. Or you try to eat as healthy as possible and end up feeling
hungry all the time.
What are the important things you learned during this experience that would benefit you as a
food system and nutrition professional?
In any profession, it is always beneficial to put yourself in the shoes of the client, customer,
patient, etc. My occupational goal is to become a clinical dietitian. I think in many instances I will
face a family or an individual struggling with some degree of food insecurity. Its easy to place
blame on someone who is obese or overweight. Saying they did that to themselves for eating
the wrong food, but understanding the types of benefits that this person might be receiving,
such as benefits from the SNAP program, they dont have many options when it comes fo
buying healthy food and getting enough food to keep them full. Processed food is the cheapest
thing that a consumer can buy while getting the most caloric intake. I think remembering that all
throughout my future career will a vital skill to have because after going through this experience,
living off $4 a day is not an easy thing to do. Another crucial thing that I learned during this
experience is knowing the resources that your community provides is a great way to get nutrient
rich meals for little to no money.