I grew up in a family where we didn’t exactly have a lot of money. To be more accurate we were homeless for some of my childhood. We just never had money in our family. My Dad, a college graduate took any job he could, liquor stores, shoe stores and construction. My Mom was a stay at home Mom with 3 kids, and all of us had various health problems that meant my parents could never really dig out of poverty.
People have very skewed views of poverty, frankly it sickens me some of the stereotypes that are perpetuated by the media, certain news outlets and simply bad information.
Being in poverty does not mean that someone did something wrong. It can happen to ANYONE. I know this first hand because I worked a lot with the homeless in a previous job. Sure, were there some people who were addicts? Yes. But were there former professors, hard working mechanics, school teachers, military men/women? Yes.
I’ve heard people in all communities put down people who live in poverty, and it really saddens me. Behind many of those people begging on the street is a story, a family, a history.
And because you might have seen a few ‘bad seeds’ in the poor community, does not reflect on the community as a whole – just like every other group of people in our country, there are the good and the bad. Just like you would not want to be judged for the worst people in the community you are in, neither do people living in poverty.
I say all of this because I believe that many people think that being Vegan would be far too expensive for them. And I believe that in part can be blamed on some of the stigmas (fair or not) about Vegan eating. Let’s face it, some of the equipment and ingredients some of us use are on the expensive end. Let me say this now, I am in no way judging you for having a fancy blender, food processor, dehydrator or for using raw cacao made from a rare cocoa plant only grown in the northern region of Argentina. I’m saying that it can be intimidating and can come across in the wrong way to many people who struggle to just buy a box of mac & cheese every week, and who have to struggle to feed their children.
My parents lived on crackers when I was born because they could not afford my healthcare and food for themselves.
But my parents are nowhere near alone. Millions live in poverty. The saddest part of this is that so many living in poverty believe that they have to eat the worst foods, because they can not afford to eat healthy. This perpetuates even more problems.
Because most people who are struggling financially end up becoming ill, because of that they end up going into severe amount of debt because of healthcare that they can not afford to begin with. (I will be the first to say that living with out health care is near impossible, and yes hard working people can not get it for themselves or their children).
This in turn leads to the government having to step in (some of the time) and that is why our debt and our health care in so out of control in this nation. We spent 143 billion dollars on diabetes last year, and close to 170 billion on heart disease. Two disease in which are completely preventable and reversible.
It’s an issue of epic proportion.
So why am I writing this ?I want to ask all of you bloggers and tweeters (twips)? To join me in helping a lot of people.
This is what I’m asking:
1. For one week you agree to live on a $21.00 food budget (per person in your household). This is the food stamp budget.
2. Do not use any equipment that costs more than $15.00, with the exception of the following: oven, microwave.
3. Spices that you currently have can be used, but you should subtract $3.00 from your total food budget per person.
4. I personally use no oil or spray oil (nor do I recommend anyone use it) However, that is not the purpose of this challenge, if you are someone who uses it I will be asking you to deduct $3.00 from your food budget.
(to be clear if you are using your own spices and if you use oil you would be on a $15.00 food budget)
5. Write about the dishes you make including ingredients and the cost per meal.
6. Include a shopping list.
7. Send me a link to your blog or twitter account, I will be setting up a special page on my blog so that people can see who is participating.
What I am hoping to accomplish:
Let’s help people who are on a very limited budget by showing them that not only can they be Vegan, but they can do so in a healthy way and have enjoyable meals.
It would be awesome to have references for people outside of the Vegan community on how to eat a cruelty free diet. I want people to be able to look up your blogs/twitter accounts and learn how to shop and make meals.
It would be great for those participating to understand some of the challenges that people who are struggling financially go through.
If you would like to participate please send me an e-mail: natala dot constantine at gmail dot com
Please pick any week between now and the end of August. I will be putting links to your blogs/twitter accounts up on a special page starting this Sunday.
I am really excited for all of my vegan blogger/twitter friends to participate! I think that it will help so many people in their quest to live a cruelty free life despite any financial troubles they might have.
Thank you so much ahead of time – you are all awesome!
I am looking forward to this. I am on a very low budget, I lost my job a while ago. I really want to be vegan, but I really do not think I can afford it, recipes, food shopping lists and ideas would be really great. I have heart disease and I would really like to get over it, and I know being healthy and going vegan would reverse it, I also love animals.
Thanks for doing this. I also love your story, you are amazing.
I love this idea!
What about food we already have in the house, like leftovers that we are unsure of the cost of?
Thanks!
That’s a great question!
Just estimate the cost of the food you use per meal. So if a bunch of kale is normall 1.99 and you already have it – just factor it in.
So let’s say you have:
a 1/2 bag of brown rice (one bag is $4, half bag is $2.)
a can of black beans (estimated 1.79)
1 tomato (a bunch of 4 is 4 dollars, so the one is $1)
1 bunch of kale
you would just estimate the cost of the of the separate items and then divide by how much of it use per meal.
so if you used only 1/4 cup of the rice you would take the full cost of the brown rice and divide by 4.
If you can’t estimate the cost you could always go to one of those grocery store websites that does home delivery and check out their prices.
Hope that helps
I’ve tried to email you multiple times and keep checking the email address here, but it keeps giving me delivery failure… :/
sorry about that!
I just changed the address – try: natala.constantine@gmail.com
that should work just fine! Thanks for letting me know!
Yes! count me in! I think this such an important point — I’m always defending the low income families I work with to others. Bad things happens to good people and life is not always fair.
This is a great idea but I think the numbers about oil/spray are way off, at least for oil. My family buys a $4 can of oil cooking spray and it lasts us at least one month, sometimes two. We only buy a new canister of oil every four to six months. There are four people living here, but two are gone frequently so I’ll call it three. If you combine the two the cost would still be under $1/week. If you buy vegetable oil, which is very cheap, then you would have to slather it on everything to spend more than $1/week.
You can adjust accordingly if you put up the numbers for oil that would be just fine.
oh on the oil – it was more for people to be aware of the cost of buying something like that all at once – a 4 dollar bottle of oil might not seem bad spread out over a month, but many people don’t have the option to even splurge on a 4 dollar item all at once. Just something to keep in mind.
*Same goes for spices, on a budget buying a certain spice in one week means you go with out other staples.
I agree with Crystal that the oil deduction seems high. I just got a pound of olive oil in bulk from Whole Foods for $4, and that’s going to last a whole lot longer than a week for two of us. The same is true of spices, which get used a tiny pinch at a time and last for a year or more.
We currently live on about $25/person/week, and while I think getting it to under $20 is possible, $15 could get a little painful.
I lived for years only using about 60 euros/$75 USD a month on food. The worst part was that most vegetables are extremely expensive here in Finland (some can be 10x as pricey as elsewhere), so there was a lot of stuff I just couldn’t eat, or could only eat 1-2 months a year. But overall it wasn’t that much of a challenge. Omnivores always told me it isn’t possible, but most vegan food is cheap.
(I would be happy to participate in this challenge, but sadly I’m very fully booked until early September, at least.)
again, it’s more that it is hard for anyone on a budget to take even 4 extra dollars out of their budget for the week in order to purchase something like oil. I’m not saying that it wouldn’t last longer, but if you were on a budget of 21 dollars per week you would have to purchase oil at some point (if you were using oil) and it would then reduce at least 3 dollars from your food budget for that week.
We are only doing a week long challenge, if we were doing a month long challenge I might change this part of it.
It’s totally up to you how you participate though.
I have to agree with Natala about oil. I am on a 16 dollar food budget and I can’t not splurge on buying something high priced like oil. I know 4 dollars is not a lot of money for most of you, but it is for me. If I bought one thing of oil it would mean for that week I would have about 12 dollars left over in food.
But, it’s not healthy and I don’t need it anyway!
I also can’t afford to purchase more than 2 spices a month.
I think the numbers are very accurate.
Is salt & pepper all right, or would that be the $15?
for vitamins and salt and pepper – I’ll just leave it up to you. If you want to deduct you can.
I’m not trying to be ultra strict with all of this – just more to give people what it’s like overall and to hopefully have some good suggestions for people on budgets.
We used to get salt and pepper from store salad bars
Beautifully written and very eye-opening article. I appreciate that you took the time to share your thoughts. I would love to join in this experiment and plan on choosing a time when I can agree to the above points. I have a family- three little kiddos- who were not raised vegan so I am not sure how to handle the budget amount. However, I would really like to involve them in the vegan diet and do already educate them the best I can at their current ages. I am not sure how I can integrate a vegan diet to the point where they actually turn vegan a remain healthy (they are all pretty picky eaters to begin with) but my love for this earth and all things living make me feel that I need to begin with myself and my family when getting the vegan lifestyle word out there. Thank you for your ideas in this matter. I applaud you for raising some awareness where poverty is concerned an look forward to following you in the future.
This is so great. I feed our family of four for under $75 a week and that includes a CSA share. It pays to be frugal and it can be done. And also shows that a vegan diet is much cheaper than an omni diet.
This is wonderful. I look forward to reading how everyone does.
Would love to join!
Living in the Eurozone, too, – would that be 16 Euros per person a week then? 13.50 Euros, when using spices?
Another question on the oil thing, – I use it for baking and, though it’s sad and pathetic, have used less healthy oils in times of financial troubles to be able to offer the kids cookies and the likes, using oils that cost a lot less than $0.75 a litre…
since this is meant to boost healt, – those oils would be off limits then, I presume?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on poverty.
I think alike and always have to bite hard on my anger when some self-righteous people spread their venom to keep my replies civil…
The poverty in our country makes me sad. I also get frustrated because I have seen the list offered by the state I live in for people on WIC. They give a family of four $20 to use for 3 months at the local Farmers Market. $12 a month to use for produce. Then they offer a crapton of dairy, sugar-filled juices, and some cereals with HFCS. It frustrates me because the government is not offering families that are poor more healthier options. Instead they are giving them “money” to buy generic, gmo, pesticide & hormone filled dairy products, as well as crappy cereal, and a minimal amount of produce. They should be offered more produce, grains, and beans and less dairy. Oh, and if a person on WIC wants soymilk and tofu over dairy products, they have to bring in a doctors note which I find ridiculous. Ugh. Sorry for ranting. But as a mum who budgets for her family and still can feed them healthy options, this really ticks me off.
By the way, I love your page and can’t wait to meet you.
I so appreciate your writing this! My family was on WIC, but I just couldn’t justify (or consume) that many dairy purchases! It was RIDICULOUS! All I wanted was more vegetables and grains (and wouldn’t that be cheaper for Uncle Sam anyway???). *sigh* Someday our country will place more of a value on nutrition…right?
I have started to calculate and, honestly AND pathetically, I am desperate … 11 Euros a week per person… OI!
Pingback: Questions answered about the 21 dollar challenge « Vegan Hope
Pingback: 21 dollar week Challenge shopping list | VEGANin30
Awesome post! I had to experience this not to long ago. I had $20 to buy groceries for my daughter and I and although it was challenging, it was possible. Some healthy items are more expensive and that is pretty sad. It really made my daughter and I conscious of what others go through.
I plan on participating. I will email you when I figure out a week.
..would love to know what others have to pay for certain food items, – I keep being told German food was cheap and yet I am having a hard time finding enough food, – and healthy on top of that, for like 3 Euros a day for 4 people, well, I’ll try my best, though lol
okay, another question, – my handheld blender was more than 11 Euros, EVERYTHING else I could use to make spreads, milks or the likes cost more, but my hand-held blender was the cheapest at 19 Euros, – you can get them used much cheaper though and it’s like 6 years old… I know I am begging, but… is that off limits, too, or are hand-held blenders cheaper in the US and thus useable?
Just checking to be able to do some planning…
You raise some very interesting ideas that I had not thought of before. But, as you point out, one never knows when they will find themselves in such a situation. Bravo and good luck with the challenge!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this concept!!
First of all:
I LIVE this scenario EVERY WEEK!!!!!!!!! And most of the guidelines are PERFECTLY realistic!!
I have three kids and our food budget is 55$ a week. That’s less than 15$ per person per week.
We DON’T always get to choose the “healthier” option (yes, sometimes the cereal has a bit of sugar or the bread isn’t 100% whole grain) , we DON’T always have oil or spices or salt or pepper and when an appliance breaks (currently my blender and my crock pot) we DON’T have the option of replacing it.
However:
I DO set aside 3 or 4 dollars a week (most weeks) and use them for bigger bulk purchases every couple months. I save a great deal by buying 20# bags of rice, beans, lentils, WW flour and gluten flour very cheaply.
I DO have an apple tree, berry bushes, and grow carrots, potatoes, kale and cabbage (I freeze and can stuff like Betty Crocker!) and purchase seeds with grocery money. This way summers are a little less painful.
And I shop very VERY wisely (places a lot of people might be hesitant to even set foot in – local ethnic markets, discount grocer, roadside stands, scratch-and-dent warehouse, Asian markets, Bulk Barn, the dollar store, etc…) so I can buy spices for pennies, tofu for 69 cents a lb., coconut milk for 40 cents a can, etc and sometimes, with careful planning or a fluke sale, I will “splurge” on items that might seem a luxury! Don’t judge
I adore you, Tofu Mom! You’ve got the right idea, and are not afraid to tell it. If more people were humble enough to shop at the local ethnic markets, etc., they’d be surprised at the great finds they come across. I am quite thrifty, even to the point that my husband thinks we may not need to be. Being a good steward of what we’re given only leads to a greater abundance of blessings.
Thanks for sharing. Kudos to you!
I think VegNews had an article of a couple who did a $1 a day vegan challege. Sadly their diet looked very boring–lots of PB and J. I’d love to see a healthy version of this, particularly one that is gluten-free.
I probably won’t do this for a week but I will see if I could do a $3 raw vegan for just a day. Then I can simply not use my fun extras and not have to worry about calculating them. I do know a few people who are raw vegan and live soley off food stamps. They do not do all organic I know that.
TofuMom, thanx A LOT for your comment!
Now I see I REALLY have a problem!
I use about all the shopping options you stated and do a lot of cuts, too, where I have to when I have to. But even the cheapest tofu at our faraway Asian center is €0.82 which will be a rough $1.08, – not to count in the transport cost… any closer source (discount grocery shop) will sell less than 1 lbs. for €1.79 which is $2.35… and there is no can of let’s say coconut milk less than 0.69 Euros (bargain) / $0.91 so that I am calculating around making coconutmilk myself using shredded coconut… IF I can find that cheap lol
Any cereal other than oatmeal would be unaffordable with an lbs. of oatmeal at €0.29 / $0.39 (if on sale), which I can also use for burgers, – but honestly as much as I support this vegan on a budget idea, with around 1 Euro/ a day for a person and the cost for everything even at discount stores, dollar stores and that faraway Asian market… I am doubtful to be able to make a working contribution.
Living right behind one of the biggest steel plants I can’t even plant my own stuff without exchanging the soil each year, – how pathetic is that? Not much of a financial bargain to be made even by that… plus, our apples on our apple tree are said to be a health hazard, too lol
Well, as you can see, I am already feeling the emotional toll of having to live on some €6.25 for 4 on a day, – which converted to dollars may sound like a comfortable sum ($8.21) but I have a faint notion that due to differences in the actual cost of food here might not be actually that much dollars… but I am on a quest and calculating and looking and thinking…
Pingback: The 21 dollar challenge… « Two Vegan Boys Weblog
Here’s my first post: http://tofu-n-sproutz.blogspot.com/2010/08/21-dollar-week-challenge.html
And in adding up my budget, (told you I’m terrible with math) I remembered that I’d actually added $15 a week in the middle of July – so it’s more like $70 a week, though I’m attempting to use more for bulk-buying – like 10 – 12$ a week so I can stock up on more non-perishables for winter when I don’t have so many fresh options.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback. If I lived where tofu and coconut milk weren’t affordable, I wouldn’t buy them.
I would use more beans, rice and grains. This is what works for ME. Look around and find what IS available cheaply in your area. Potatoes? Rice?
Also, (and no one attack me for this) you need to make sure the basic nutritional needs of your family are being met. There ARE places in the world where it isn’t possible. Few and far between, but we can’t judge another’s circumstances.
If the bare-bones basics of a HEALTHY vegan diet are REALLY not feasible on your budget, please take the health of your children into account and don’t be ashamed to supplement with eggs or milk until your budget allows. They aren’t vegan but they are cheap forms of nourishment and a better option than junk food.
Don’t let anyone vegan-shame you into harming your children and their basic nutritional needs.
Tofu Mom, it appears that geographic region has a whole lot to do with food prices. I have just noticed this year that soy milk prices are sometimes competitive with cow milk prices in national chains here (I’m in the Mid-Atlantic), and occasionally cheaper! Cheaper, I tell you! Plus I’m finding quarts of soy milk at the Dollar Store recently. That is such a rush, but I know it’s not true everywhere yet. Keep the faith, all- it will happen where you live, because the external costs of making plant milks are not anywhere near the external costs of making cow milk. Ditto for other non-animal foods.
Pingback: $21 Vegan Challenge « Twigs and Tofu
You can get a lot of inexpensive spices and so forth at local Asian/Mexican grocery stores. (Ex. I bought a 2-cup container of cumin for $3 that has lasted me about 6 months +).
Hello! I just found your blog via someone else who was posting about this challenge! I would love to be included
I will set up a post about it tomorrow!
Great idea. It’s ideas like this that will really change the world! Small steps add up to make big changes. I wish our government would realize some of this stuff, and do SOMETHING about it. Prevention is key.
I’m doing this challenge, but I’m going to do it for an entire month. Although this is probably about what I spend anyway, it’ll be kind of cool to keep track of it and see how it adds up.
I think this is an excellent idea and it proves a very valuable point: you can eat healthy and live a cruelty-free diet on a very limited budget.
Pingback: Money Talks « Vegansunshine's Blog
Correct me if I’m wrong, but nobody here has mentioned dumpster diving? I just joined the NYC Freegan Meetup http://www.meetup.com/dumpsterdiving-4/ and we went diving on Wednesday evening http://www.meetup.com/dumpsterdiving-4/calendar/14193776/ and had an amazing meal we prepared with our winnings last night. Some of us are vegan, although most of us are not, so the food (grilled eggplant, pasta salad, tossed salad) was mostly vegan.
I kept having to remind myself when I thought, “How much did it cost? Oh wait, it was free.” And although this was in NYC, every populated area in the country has waste and things that can be salvaged.
Can’t wait to try it!
I’m going to try this challenge for the rest of this month — basically because I need to. This is going to involve math, isn’t it? Sigh.
I am probably going to cheat, I’ll admit that up front. I make my own almond milk in my very expensive blender and I intend to continue that (if I use almond milk, I’ve got almonds in the freezer already). If I do use it I will subtract the cost of the cheapest commercial almond milk I can find from the weekly total. (I’ll have to research this, I haven’t bought it in a long time.)
Pingback: New Shopping List | VEGANin30
Pingback: Vegan Grocery Bills -Part 1 « Vegan Salt –the blog
Pingback: love list #7 « whollyafool
Pingback: The Food Stamp Budget: Living on $21/Week « My Life is a Sitcom
Pingback: What the Hell is the Food Stamp Budget? (Poorer than you) « A Freelance Life