My $29 Food Challenge

Simone's groceries - just $27!

Inspired by Gwyneth Paltrow's goop.com $29 Food Stamp Challenge, I wanted to take this challenge as well to see just how much food I could buy with 29 bucks and live off of it for a week. As a single female, I don't have a husband/SO or 2-3+ kids to feed, so it is practically the norm for me to survive perfectly fine on a grocery budget of $30 or less per week. The key is to buy staple products that can be used in various meals to stretch the product over a few days. I purchased foods from all four food groups: meat, fruit/vegetables, diary, and grains.

I usually just eat a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. Make protein smoothies for lunch, and a side of salad, I'll eat a protein bar mid-day, and for dinner I can make penne pasta with Alfredo sauce and some veggies, or add some grilled chicken. I went to Kroger to buy my groceries because I had some coupons which saved me $2.15, bringing my total food bill down to $27.64! Not seen in the photo but included in my grocery shopping is a 3-quart jug of Ice Mountain water for only $1. I think I did a great job with my shopping. One thing that I want to stress is that I chose to buy some products from the Simple Truth organic line because I like to eat as healthy as possible and I try to buy foods that are non-GMO. So if someone else were to buy the exact same items, they could literally save even more money. For instance, the can of corn, I wanted to pay 29 cents more for the can of Simple Truth organic corn at $1.29  - whereas someone else would decide to buy the Del Monte can of corn for only $1. Same thing with the organic chicken. There is a notable price difference between cage free, no-antibiotics/no hormones, organically raised chicken that Simple Truth sells, in comparison to a Tyson's chicken breast package.

Goop.com's Californian groceries.

When you look at goop's grocery items (approximate cost - $24), it's very, very green and organic, much like her reputed daily diet. I think it's safe to say that it is admirable the awareness that Gwyneth has raised by taking on this food stamp challenge, but the reality is that the very people who survive off of food stamps which only permit them to buy $29 worth of groceries, do not buy the type of food that Gwyneth does, or, even what I buy. Like, who needs 7 limes? Really?

At the end of the day, I think what is more newsworthy from this challenge is the focus of having access to good quality healthy foods. Not everyone has access, the ability, or the motivation to buy the foods shown in this article. Hopefully some people's food buying habits will change from the publicity of this project that goop.com took on.