NUTR 351

Due October 11th workbook, receipts, and diet analysis on D2L Assignments
Feed Yourself for $4 Per Day

Assignment According to the World Bank, about half of the worlds population lives on less
than $3/day. The average SNAP benefit per person per day in Montana is currently around $4.
See if you can meet your food needs on $4/day for three days, totally $12.

Conditions
Strive for a nutritionally balanced diet
Do not accept any free food or charity from your social network.
You are allowed to go to the bread room at the Gallatin Valley Food Bank, eat dinner at the
Community Caf, or similar community services.
Only consume what you have purchased with your $12 or through community services.
If you cannot meet the challenge, that is okay. Be honest in your reflection about why.

If you PURCHASE bulk items or larger packages of food (e.g., carton of eggs) and want to
divide out the cost of what you use on the $4/Day assignment you should:

1. Go to the grocery store

2. Purchase the bulk or larger package of food
3. Highlight these items on the receipt
4. Scan the receipt to turn in with your assignment
5. Make a note on the receipt or on your assignment of how much of the bulk or items from the
larger package that you used and the actual cost

If you use bulk items or larger packages of food (e.g., carton of eggs) THAT YOU ALREADY
HAVE IN YOUR PANTRY and want to divide out the cost of what you use on the $4/Day
assignment you should:

1. Go to the grocery store

2. Take a picture of the price tag of the item
3. Add all pictures and receipts to one word document or PDF
4. Make a note on your document or on your assignment of how much of the bulk or items from
the larger package that you used and the actual cost

Instructions:
This assignment has five parts. Answer the following questions below at the appropriate time as
if this was your journal. Use this workbook as your written log and submit a typed version of
your questions with answers (structured like the worksheet below), receipts, and diet analysis
on D2L Assignments.

Part I: Planning Complete your answers to Part I before you begin the experience.
Part II: Purchasing Complete Part II after you have done your shopping.
Part III: The Experience Complete Part III the day of the experience
Part IV: Analysis Complete Part IV when you have completed the experience.
Part V: Follow Up Part V has questions that should be completed during the experience and
after the experience, so read all questions now.

SEE PAGES 3- 10 FOR PROMPTS ACCORDING TO EACH PART

NUTR 351
Due October 11th workbook, receipts, and diet analysis on D2L Assignments
Rubric

Assignment Component Points Score

Diet analysis and reciepts 10
Quality of content spelling, grammar, sentence structure 5
Content (meal plan & evaluation, description of experience, 25
implications for profession)
TOTAL 40

SUBMISSION
When your assignment is complete, save into a file on your computer using the following
format to name the file. You cannot use any spaces; substitute a _underscore in place of the
space. Your initial and last name_4DAY.doc (the .doc extension is automatically created when
you name the file) Example: bykershanks_4DAY.doc
Submit to D2L Assignments 4 Dollars Per Day by October 11th at 305 PM
NUTR 351
Due October 11th workbook, receipts, and diet analysis on D2L Assignments

Part I: Planning

Before you begin the experience, reflect on how do you think it might feel (physically,
emotionally, and mentally) to be food insecure?

I feel like physically, I wont feel much different because I am not a person that spends a lot of
money on food anyways. The only thing I generally splurge more on is meats, and that is not
incredibly often. I always try to go for the healthier option, but, as a college student, I am always
conscious about how much of my budget I am spending on food. Mentally, I think that I will be
motivated and excited because this is an assignment that I have been looking forward to and I
would really like to succeed. Emotionally, I will feel proud if I am able to successfully complete
the assignment. I am looking forward to coming away from this assignment with a greater
understanding of how others in the world view food security or insecurity.

Before you go shopping, what kinds of foods do you think you will buy with your $12?

I am planning on buying two types of fruits, depending on what is on sale, half a dozen eggs,
1% milk, whole wheat bread, and two boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I already have a box
of noodles, canned chicken breast, mayonnaise, and oatmeal.

Part II: Purchasing Keep all of your receipts. Take a picture of these receipts and turn in on
D2L with this packet.

Describe your shopping experience. Where did you shop, what did you buy, and how much did
each item cost?

I went shopping at Smiths. I felt as though the experience was much the same as any shopping
experience for me. I am used to looking for a good bargain when shopping, and this time was
much the same. I bought a half dozen carton of eggs for $0.89, half gallon of 1% milk for $1.69
(drank $0.63 worth), a medium sized carton of strawberries for $1.25, 5 bananas for $1.23 (only
ate 3), an organic red bell pepper for $1.99, two boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $4.37
(butterflied them, ate three halves total), and a loaf of whole grain oat bread for $2.50 (ate six
pieces total). In my cupboard at home, I already had a box of Pasta-Roni noodles (one box),
flavored oatmeal (three packages total), and canned chicken breast $1.00 (one can total).

$11.98 total eaten.

What strategies did you use while shopping to maximize your allotted money?

I looked for objects that were on sale, which is exactly what I usually do. I also tried to make
sure I was getting at least one item from each food group. For the chicken breasts, I didnt try to
get the biggest ones, because that can increase the cost a lot. Instead, I tried to find a couple
that were fairly good sized, but also a reasonable price. The chicken breast that I bought were
also advertised as organic, and fed no antibiotics. I got the same bread that I usually buy
NUTR 351
Due October 11th workbook, receipts, and diet analysis on D2L Assignments
because it is one of the few brands that does not have any high fructose corn syrup in it. I found
items that were on sale to compensate for those that I was paying full price for.

Part III: The Experience

State what you ate and how you felt physically, mentally, and emotionally when consuming
foods for $4 per day. Record your observations and insights.

Date and Day of the Week: Thursday, October 6, 2016

What I ate:

Breakfast: One packet of maple brown sugar oatmeal, 2 eggs scrambled, 1 cup (6) cut
strawberries.

Lunch: Shredded chicken/mayo sandwich (2 pieces of bread, 1/3 canned chicken, 1-1/2 Tbsp.
regular mayonnaise), 1 banana.

Dinner: chicken breast (butterflied, about 3 oz.), 1/3 sliced, cooked red bell pepper, 1/3 box of
pasta-roni noodles cooked.

I ate the same thing each of the three days.

How I felt:

Honestly, I didnt feel much different than I do on a typical day. In fact, I usually dont eat that
large of a breakfast so it was actually more than I am usually used to eating. Mentally, I was
excited because I think that I was able to feed myself fairly successfully on the $4 each day. It
would have been interesting to try to mix up my meals a bit more, but chicken is always a go-to
for me and that made it easier. Physically I felt good, I went to the gym two of the three days as
per my normal routine and still felt as though I was adequately nourished. I also worked at night
all three days but was able to take my dinner with me.

Observations and Insights:

For me, personally, I definitely ate more breakfast than normal and felt like I had to force myself
to finish it. Lunch was a bit smaller than normal for me, but was still adequate. Dinner was the
perfect size to fill me up. The one thing that I didnt have throughout the day were snacks, and
that was a more difficult adjustment because I am definitely a snacker normally.
NUTR 351
Due October 11th workbook, receipts, and diet analysis on D2L Assignments

Part IV: Analysis

Complete a diet analysis. Print the diet analysis and turn in on D2L Assignments with your
packet of materials. What was your total intake for the following macro and micronutrients?
(State in amounts and percentages of recommended values). Use MyPlate
(http://www.choosemyplate.gov/supertracker-tools/supertracker.html) or other diet analysis
software.

NUTRIENT AMOUNT PERCENTAGE OF

RECOMMENDED VALUE
Calories 1618 calories 2000 calories

Fat 27% of calories 20-35% of calories

Carbohydrates 198 g 130 g

Protein 103 g 46 g

Fiber 18 g 25 g

Vitamin A 1010 ug 700 ug

Vitamin C 197 mg 75 mg

Vitamin E 6 mg AT 15 mg AT

Calcium 1285 mg 1000 mg

Iron 13 mg 18 mg

Zinc 10 mg 8 mg

Folate 549 ug DFE 400 ug DFE

Considering nutrients, food groups and other important food components, how well did you
meet your nutrition needs?

According to MyPlate, I was low on vegetables, but was nearly on target with proteins, grains,
fruits, and dairy products. I was low on dietary fiber, potassium, and iron as well as vitamins D,
E, and K. However, I was over on cholesterol and, potentially, proteins. The calories eaten were
right within the target area for me, as I do not need to eat a full 2000 calories on a normal day.
NUTR 351
Due October 11th workbook, receipts, and diet analysis on D2L Assignments

How could your diet have been improved (within your budget)?

I could have improved my diet while staying within my budget if I bought plain noodles instead of
the boxed, flavored ones. I could have seasoned the noodles on my own and bought whole
grain noodles which would have been healthier. I also could have replaced either the
strawberries or the bananas with a vegetable option such as asparagus. I would have lost some
of my fruit intake, but would have balanced that loss with an increase in vegetables. I could
have also just eaten less strawberries and compensated that loss with vegetables at dinner.

What did you eat that you normally do not eat?

I did not eat anything that was outside of my normal diet. The only thing really different that I did
was make myself eat a larger breakfast than usual and I took away my snacks throughout the
day. However, each of my ingredient items were a normal part of my diet.

What foods do you normally eat that you have avoided?

I avoided sweets like cookies and ice cream which are a fairly normal part of my diet. I also took
out my snacks for the three days, but only because I felt that they were replaced with a bigger,
better breakfast than I normally eat.

Did you have any difficulty complying with the conditions of the assignment?

I did not have any difficulty complying with the conditions of the assignment.

Could you continue to live on $4/day? How would doing so change your life?

Yes, I could most likely live on $4 per day. Doing so would most likely take most of the sugary
foods out of my diet, which would actually be good for me. Ice cream doesnt fit very nicely
within the budget, so that would be greatly limited for me. Taking the sugary items out of my diet
would be beneficial in many ways for my health. I also love steak, however steak is a more
expensive meat so living on $4/day would most likely limit the amount of red meat that I ate.
Although if I followed a meal plan similar to the one that I did for these three days, I think that I
would be able to live on $4/day.
NUTR 351
Due October 11th workbook, receipts, and diet analysis on D2L Assignments
Did you utilize any community food resources? If so, how did they help? If not, why not?

I did not utilize any local food resources. I do, however, have a Smiths card because that is
where I usually go grocery shopping so I was able to take more advantage of their sales by
being a member.

Part V: Follow-Up

During the experience, find an application for SNAP (food stamps) online. Examine and
complete the application. Describe this experience. How difficult was it to obtain an application?
How difficult was it to complete the application? Consider how the experience might have been
different if you had poor reading or writing skills?

The SNAP application was incredibly easy to find. All I needed to do was type in SNAP
application Montana into google, and the Department of Health and Human Services website
was the first link in the list. I then had to follow a couple of links to take me to the application
page. Obtaining the application wasnt difficult except that an account needed to be set up, so I
had to go through several links to get to it. The application itself involved some questions that I
did not necessarily have the answers to, so it proved to be more difficult than I expected it to be.
The whole experience would have been quite miserable if I had poor reading or writing skills
because the process of going through several different links would have been way more
confusing. Also, it would have been a lot more difficult if a person did not have a computer and
access to the internet. I have the lucky ability to be sitting on my bed and on my laptop while
doing it, so that makes it a lot more convenient for me.

What are your overall conclusions about this experience? Describe what you learned, your
observations and insights.

Overall, I am incredibly pleased with the experience. It taught me that I am able to, and already
am, eating on somewhere around $4/day (with the exception of my occasional ice cream bar). It
also taught me that I am extremely lucky to be able to eat more when I need to, because I am
not food insecure. I gained more respect for people who are working so hard in their lives to
make sure that their families and themselves are fed, even when they are under the poverty
line. In todays world, it can be so difficult to get ahead, and this assignment gave me more
respect for the people who are doing all they can to get there.

What are the important things you learned during this experience that would benefit you as a
food system and nutrition professional?

I think that it will help me to have the information that it is possible to eat in a mostly healthy
manner on such a limited budget. In Kalispell, my home town, there are a lot of people who
have health issues related to nutrition, but dont think that they can afford to eat more nutritious
foods. Many of the foods that I bought were also certified organic, and I was still able to keep
within a budget and feed myself good portion sizes.
NUTR 351
Due October 11th workbook, receipts, and diet analysis on D2L Assignments