This post was sponsored by Y-USA as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central.
If you’ve been following me on Instagram then you know that I agreed to participate in the Food Desert Challenge. This has been one of the hardest challenges I’ve ever completed.
Before I tell you about my experience with the Food Desert Challenge, let me give you some information about food deserts.
Did you know that 28 million Americans live in a food desert? A food desert is defined as an area with a population of people who do not have access to fresh food. This is usually because they do not have a grocery store within a mile radius, instead they only have convenient stores. Usually people in these areas don’t have access to cars. This makes living a mile away from fresh food a big problem.
Can you imagine not having access to fresh food?
Sure, you can still have food, you won’t starve. But limited access to fresh food takes a toll on you eventually.
In order to raise awareness about food deserts and hunger in America, the YMCA started the Food Desert Challenge. The challenge is that you must feed yourself and your family for three days on only $5 a person a day.
When I was first given this assignment I thought it would be easy. I’m used to living below my means. Sixty dollars for three days for my family of 4 can easily get us far.
Then it hit me that I couldn’t rely on my usual recipes with fresh fruits and vegetables. I was going to have to actually attempt to buy foods that I could get in a real food desert. So off to The Dollar Tree we went!
I was able to get a good amount of food at The Dollar Tree. Turns out, they have some pretty great food. I’ve shopped there for all sorts of things in the past, but usually skip the food aisle. Not going to lie, I was impressed. I was able to get frozen strawberries for smoothies, canned goods, a bag of beans, rice, and a bunch of other goodies for only $21.91. At this point I was feeling good. I just knew this challenge would be a breeze.
Next stop was Walmart. I was able to buy a few more items for $18.87. To round out our food for the three days, I had leftover food from a previous Publix trip where I spent $19.37.
Grand total: $60.15
I know it’s not realistic to shop at Walmart and Publix, but since the boys are so little and need milk, I figured it would be okay. Plus, I only bought foods that I could possible buy at convenient stores so I could better participate in the challenge.
I went into the challenge thinking it would be easy. Three days later, and our tummies were hurting. We really missed fresh food. Not only did my tummy feel bad, I also felt hungry. No lie, I went to bed hungry every night.
Here is what we ate for those three day:
Day 1:
Breakfast- cereal
Snack- applesauce
Lunch- peanut butter sandwich
Snack- crackers and raisins
Dinner- rice and sausage
Day 2:
Breakfast- frozen waffles
Snack- cereal
Lunch- leftovers from previous dinner
Snack- crackers and raisins
Dinner- frozen egg rolls and pizza
Day 3:
Breakfast- eggs
Snack- smoothies
Lunch- quesadillas
Dinner- black bean soup
The verdict is that I could not survive in a food desert. I’m too much of a foodie. I missed complex flavors and most of all, missed fresh fruit and vegetables.
Even the kids missed fresh food. I took the picture below the day after the challenge ended. Jackson was so happy to have real food again! He actually pushed away the frozen waffle and only ate the fruit.
Here’s the deal, I’m lucky enough to be able to participate in a challenge like this. Many Americans (and other world citizens) are not. Many people wake up hungry every day and don’t know where they will find their next meal.
[bctt tweet=”Many people wake up hungry and don’t know where they will find their next meal. #TheYFeedsKids” username=”eatdrinkandsave”]
The YMCA can help change that. The Y and The Walmart Foundation are partnering to provide meals and snacks to kids up to 18 at 1,500 locations in communities throughout the nation. To learn more about how the Y feeds kids, visit this site.
Do you think you could do the challenge? I dare you! I’d love to see you give it a go and let me know how you do.
Even if you don’t actually do it, try to think about it the next time you shop. How would it make you feel to have only $5 a day to purchase foods from convenience stores? Could you feel happy with no fresh food?
Great topic, Hannah. I hope it makes people really think.
We took my daughter’s Daisy troop to Food Lion this week to buy food for the Raleigh Rescue Mission with a budget of $60. We bought an incredible amount of food, but I don’t know how appetizing I would have found it. Rice, beans, tuna, ramen, pasta and canned veggies will keep you from being hungry, but were a far cry from the variety and quality I am lucky enough to enjoy. At least the girls went into the ethnic food aisle and picked up some spices and dried herbs to make things more palatable.
I’ve thought a lot about food drives since this challenge. You’re right, it keeps people from starving, but it’s not the healthiest way to live. Canned and processed foods here and there are okay, but I can’t imagine living on those foods all the time.
What a great challenge. I don’t think I could because I love fresh produce too much. Thank you for sharing with us.
Fresh produce is the best! My body just feels better eating fresh foods.
First of all, I feel a little dumb, because kept reading the title like five times, and for some reason my brain kept seeing ‘Food Dessert’…. and I was like, what?… lol!
Secondly… No, I don’t think I could survive more than 1 day on Food Desert alone… 98% of my meals are cooked from scratch, though I do use can items like some vegetables, and sauces…. You were really brave just to go for the challenge!
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We do cans quite a bit too which was why I thought I could do the challenge without an issue. I definitely underestimated how much fresh food we eat.
I really want to try this now because I wonder if I’d actually be able to do it. This is a great cause because we tend to think about people starving in other countries but we don’t usually think about people in our own country not having the means to eat a healthy meal.
You should try it! I thought it would be easy, but it wasn’t at all. I didn’t realize how much fresh food we eat every day.
Good for you for participating in this Hannah – I too love using fresh food as often as possible. I won’t lie and say I never use it – I always have a frozen Wegmans pizza in the freezer and the kids will eat no salt added Wegmans canned veggies in a pinch – but I always try to include fresh fruit, veggies and meats in every meal. When I am trying to clean out the pantry and skip grocery shopping for a week, my tummy knows what is going on for sure. In the district I teach in, we have a high poverty rate and ALL of our students are eligible for free breakfast AND lunch. Our district’s kitchen does their best to serve fresh food, but I can’t imagine eating from school every day. For that I am grateful for my job, my health and conscious ability to feed my family well. This is a great post – sharing!
We almost always have frozen pizza in the freezer too! It’s a great back up plan.
Really interesting and sad that some people have to live this way!
What a challenge! I have done a similar challenge for less than $10.00 a day – and I was able to do it but it wasn’t easy. In any case, what a learning experience on so many levels.
It was most definitely a learning experience!
I am glad to see your family was able to make some healthy choices on the budget you were given. I imagine it is harder for those who have limited places to shop.