Teachers eat on $1 per day

A couple of U.S. High School teachers decided to conduct an experiment by seeing how much they could eat for $1 USD per day.

It turns out that $1 USD could only sustain them primarily on man-made foods. The teachers, Kerri and Chris, stuck to the experiment for 30 days to prove a point about malnutrition.

These are the guidelines they set before setting out on their little experiment:

1. All food consumed each day must total $1 each.
2. They cannot accept free food or “donated” food unless it is available for everyone in our area. (i.e. foraging, samples in stores, dumpster diving)
3. Any food they plant, they pay for.
4. They will do their best to cook a variety of meals; ramen noodles can only be prepared if there is no other way to stay under one dollar. (They have six packages and will buy no more)
5. Should they decide to have guests over for dinner they must eat from their share; meaning they don’t get to eat their own dollar’s worth of food.

Watching the video interview of the couple did not surprise me when they mentioned they could not afford fruits or vegetables, but rather lived off of bland oatmeal and PB&J sandwiches.

Chris mentions that he lost weight during the 30 day experiment, but it left him feeling ill. Since their dollar diet could not afford them citrus, they had to resort to drinking Tang for their daily allowance of vitamin-C. Isn’t Tang for astronauts?!

When I did my grocery trip this week at Metro I picked up a couple of produce items. I’m a week and a half away from an extended trip back to the United States and my trip to the Peruvian grocery store got me thinking about how much more it was going to cost me to buy the same produce when I return home!

The majority of my produce purchases were under $1 USD each. I love the fact that I can buy cloves of garlic for less than 30¢ or 2 lbs of potatoes for $1.10 USD. Even lime, which when on sale in the U.S. runs 6 for $1 USD is still a bargain in Peru! 1 kg or 2.2 lbs of juicy limes still cost me less than $2 USD.

When I’m on a poor man’s budget in Peru I stick to vegetables and the occasional fruit that’s in season.

So, what can I cook up, concoct or prepare for $1 USD per day in Peru?

1. Spaghetti with red sauce – S/. 1,80 Spaghetti; S/. 1,10 red sauce. Total: S/. 2,90 (≈ 93¢ USD)
2. Grilled Cheese Sandwich – S/. 1,50 Bread (10 pieces; integral, french, yolk); S/. 1,50 Edam Cheese. Total: S/. 3,00 (≈ 96¢ USD)
3. Ham Sandwich – S/. 1,50 Bread (10 pieces); S/. 1,20 Ham (12 slices.) Total: S/. 2,70 (≈ 87¢ USD)
4. Fruit Salad – S/.1, 50 1 lb. Mandarin Oranges (in season); S/. 1,29 1 lb. Red Apples; -OR- S/.1,00 5 bananas. Total: S/. 2,50 – 2,79  (≈ 80¢ - 90¢ USD)
5. Refreshment – S/. 0,50 sachet of powdered Chicha Morada, Pineapple, Maracuya, Granadilla; (makes 1 pitcher.) Total: S/. 0,50 (≈ 16¢ USD)
   
6. Natural Fruit Smoothie – S/. 1,00 – 2,50 1 cup and a half. Total: (≈ 32¢ – 80¢ USD)

If you shop at the local street market or outside of Lima in the provinces then food becomes much cheaper, easily accommodating a $1 USD per day budget!

What then does Kerri and Chris’ experiment prove? Not to compare apples to oranges (chuckle, chuckle), but the experiment proves that I am way less malnourished than my American amigos are on a $1 USD Peruvian diet.

Wow! a developing country beats out the first world U.S. when it comes to nutrition?! You betcha! I just recently published an article about losing weight abroad which explains why Americans are healthier and happier beyond their borders.

[Click here for another expatriate's first hand and frank commentary about losing weight in Peru.]

The majority of the food in the U.S. is boxed, canned, jarred, frozen and most of all processed and preserved, meaning it’s not fresh and is vitamin deficient. Americans are sick, because their food is sick!

My two young daughters have a monstrous appetite in Peru and could easily eat me out of house and home in a day, but in the United States they hardly eat a full meal! They have no appetite or desire to eat! It’s no wonder why kids have behavioral problems in the United States, they are undernourished and hyped up on processed foods and sugar!

My eldest daughter was combination AD/HD in the States, I was very concerned about dealing with this behavior before moving down to Peru. It turns out, I didn’t need to take her to a doctor and treat her behavior with RX drugs, I simply needed to change her diet and I did. Now her focus has improved and she acts out much less. I attribute the change to healthy Peruvian foods.

Diet has a big affect on performance as I’m sure Kerri and Chris noticed in their 30 day experiment. Why is it that American supermarkets are stocked with man-made products that make us sick? Why are fruits and vegetables more expensive, vitamin deficient and genetically altered?

It makes perfect sense for an American healthcare conspiracy. Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock would probably agree.

Watching “The Biggest Loser” on Peruvian cable today it struck my mind that such a program is unnecessary in Peru. I thought, “How typical that it’s an American program!” It even made me recall a Quaker Oats commercial I saw on television in Richmond, Virginia back in February of 2008 with 5th grade girls who talked about eating their oatmeal so they could watch their weight. FIFTH GRADERS! What the heck is America coming to?!

I don’t think that Kerri and Chris’ dollar a day experiment brings awareness to world hunger, but rather to the realities of poor nutrition in the U.S. and the high costs of eating just even partially healthy in a first world country.

Many people around the world can eat a well balanced 3 square meal on $1 USD a day. Kerri and Chris probably would have enjoyed their experiment much more if they had done it here in Peru. At least it would have been tastier and healthier!

If you would like to read more about Kerri and Chris’s One Dollar Diet Project >> Visit Here! <<