Could You Live on a Dollar a Day?

Is this right? Almost one in 10 Americans is on food stamps?

This article in Forbes by Tom Breen goes on to state that during this summer and fall in West Virginia, the average monthly foodstamps benefit was about $100 a month. Is that per person or only per household?

If the latter, for a family of three, that’s a buck a day for food. Can it be done?

Here’s a couple of teachers who set themselves the goal of seeing what kind of diet could be sustained on only a dollar a day per person. The serious undertaking has gained them a good bit of attention–and no small amount of soundbite media fluff, too, of course.

It will be interesting to see both where their diet and health go (might we expect a BiggySize Me sequel called WeenySize Me?) and also if they can leverage their new visibility and voice by way of their blog and the press coverage to make a difference. Follow the Dollar a Day Project, why don’t you?

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fred
fred

Fred First holds masters degrees in Vertebrate Zoology and physical therapy, and has been a biology teacher and physical therapist by profession. He moved to southwest Virginia in 1975 and to Floyd County in 1997. He maintains a daily photo-blog, broadcasts essays on the Roanoke NPR station, and contributes regular columns for the Floyd Press and Roanoke's Star Sentinel. His two non-fiction books, Slow Road Home and his recent What We Hold in Our Hands, celebrate the riches that we possess in our families and communities, our natural bounty, social capital and Appalachian cultures old and new. He has served on the Jacksonville Center Board of Directors and is newly active in the Sustain Floyd organization. He lives in northeastern Floyd County on the headwaters of the Roanoke River.

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  1. That’s a really interesting blog, Fred. I imagine that when this terrible recession ends, many people will have changed their habits permanently. Staring down disaster tends to do that to you. I do think folks are going to be a lot more interested in doing for themselves. They will also be watching to ensure that the government helps them do that instead of engaging in foreign adventures and bailing out wealthy people. Is it January 2oth, yet??

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