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What $29 A Week For Food Looks Like For Actual Low-Income People (And Not Gwyneth Paltrow)

That rounds out to $28 and is about what I’d spend at my local discount store. That adds up to 17,710 calories, or 2530 calories a day. Which is about as much as I’d need to be sustained, and frankly, isn’t that unhealthy of a menu — it includes plenty of healthy fats and proteins, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. I know how to do that mental calculus, balancing between what I need to be able to get through the physical motions of my life and how much I can actually spend, because I lived it.

That being said, I lived it not in a food desert. I lived it in a suburb that was safe. I lived it with a car, even if it was a car that was on its last legs. I lived it on a little more than minimum wage, which is better than what people who qualify for SNAP benefits can say. And yes, the point of the Food Bank Challenge is to bring attention to the fact that Congress has cut SNAP benefits, and if Gwyneth Paltrow’s insane 1000-calorie-per-day diet brings attention to that fact, then all the better.

The author discusses the nutrition vs. money issue, getting the best amount of calories and nutrition for very little money, and the challenges of living in a food desert.