By Brenda Sexton

Since hearing about the United Way of King County Hunger Action Week challenge in January I’ve been wanting to give it a try. The premise is to see if you can feed a family of two on $12 a day, although I’ve seen other parts of the country try it on $7 for a single person.

A reporter’s salary doesn’t go far, so I’ve eaten on less than $7 a day. I thought I could do it without much struggle. But it made me wonder if I could feed my family on shoestring budget. In researching, I found some statistics that were a few years old, but noted a family making less than $70,000 a year averages about $4,562 a year on groceries, that’s about $88 a week.

But I wondered about the folks living on minimum wage. That’s where I started as a reporter and 20 years ago it was less than $8.55 an hour. So I began to comb grocery ads wondering if I could feed my family on the random choice of $30 a week.

I figured if I bought a small ham, for no more than $5, I could pair it with rice and a $1 bag of frozen peas for dinner one night and then fry it with potatoes, which were $1 for a 5-pound bag at one store and $69 cents at another; I could use broccoli and cheese, which I found both for $1.49, for dinner another evening. My family eats a lot of spaghetti and when it’s $1 a can for sauce and $1 for pasta that’s a good deal. The debate was whether the $2 for sausage would be an affordable addition.

Tuna was on sale for 50 cents a can. I could make grilled sandwiches, but could I splurge on 79-cents-a-pound sweet potatoes that I could turn into fries? I figured that would cover dinner for another night.

This was a good week for cereal. The boxes are smaller, but it was $1.49 a box at one store and $1.88 at another. Milk was also available for $1.69 a gallon. I think on any other day milk would eat up our budget.

I saw bread was $1.25 at one store. Sandwiches and toast are always a staple. I considered an 18-pack of eggs for $2. They can be served so many ways.

The hard part was getting vegetables and fruit in our diet on this budget. Strawberries were $1.50 a container, but that was a stretch. Even bananas at 59 cents a pound was pushing my dollars. I really thought the asparagus at $1.29 a pound was a good deal, but the broccoli won out for its versatility.

Even shopping the dollar items adds up quickly and doesn’t go as far as one might think. I looked hard at a bag of carrots, Rice-a-Roni, orange juice, oatmeal, refried beans, canned tomatoes, green onions, cucumbers, a bag of lettuce and soup – all $1. The 50-cent items – yogurt and a can of Mandarin oranges – also got plenty of scrutiny.

My thought process kept going back to condiments – mayonnaise, oil, salad dressing, ketchup, spices, butter, peanut butter and jelly. Those items would break me. There was no room in the budget for shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, personal hygiene items or paper towels. Snacks like ice cream or a family favorite, chips and salsa, were a no go.

And I didn’t take into consideration lunch, because my husband and I usually eat leftovers and a piece of fruit. The kids eat at school and on a minimum-wage salary would likely qualify for government help.

The thing that helps in this experiment was preparing a great deal of food from scratch. When I talked to Denise at the Plateau Outreach Ministries food bank, she said many of those who show up on their doorstep don’t know how to utilize less-expensive bulk food items.

They’ve seen increased numbers at POM since the economy took a turn for the worse. POM served 97 families on the last day of March, but usually see 70 to 90, more at the end of the month as budgets tighten. She said they see some families just once or twice a month.

“We assume if they show up they need food,” she said.

The group at POM, and food banks across the area, usually produce a prepacked grocery bag with staples like a canned vegetable and tomatoes, macaroni and cheese, soup and tuna. There’s also rice, beans, oatmeal and bread. Then there are a number of choices to add and sometimes fresh fruits or vegetables. Some food banks, work with government commodities.

I just wanted to know if we could do it. I think we could, but it would be challenging. It gives me a different perspective on how and what I donate to the food bank. Give it a try.