HUNGER CHALLENGE 2010 RECAP

So so so so so sorry! I was a terrible Hunger Challenger this year! I did update most of my days on my Tumblr which you can see here but you'll have to sift through my other posts, non- HUNGER CHALLENGE related. Here's my recap of the week:

Hunger Challenge 2010:

This year was definitely a challenge, seeing that I was one dollar over budget when buying my groceries. I decided to buy all of my food at the beginning of the week and plan my meals. While that was a super idea, I did end up with ALOT of leftovers by the end of the challenge.

I know, I know, if you look at the meals I ate, they weren't exactly balanced, but, when buying groceries I found it really difficult to have three, well balanced and proportioned meals a day that were under $4. I was able to get a few frozen vegetables in, but that was only for 2-3 days of the challenge. The rest of the food was mostly carbohydrates and starches. This was my main concern that came about during the week. Families living on food stamps DO NOT get the nutrients they need. While I was able to afford a bunch of carbohydrate filled items I needed for energy, I was not able to get the fruits, vegetables, and dairy products I needed to fulfill a healthy diet.

Looking ahead to next years challenge, I may want to spend more on vegetables and dairy products. I had alot of tortillas, and practically an entire loaf of bread left at the end of the week, meaning that I didn't really eat my $28. Next year, I'm planning to just buy tortillas and spend more money on products like eggs or cheese.

Overall, it was a great experience! I never really understood how much planning went into living off $4 a day or $28 a week. It also made me realize how lucky I am to be able to afford a well balanced and special (vegetarian) diet. Instead of this being a privilege to us, we should definitely have the right to balanced meals! But then again, maybe I planned my meals wrong at the beginning of the week?

Here's to HUNGER CHALLENGE 2010!