{"id":4271,"date":"2019-04-30T13:53:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T01:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.niesh.co.nz\/?p=4271"},"modified":"2020-04-06T12:25:23","modified_gmt":"2020-04-06T00:25:23","slug":"living-on-2-85-per-day-for-five-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.niesh.co.nz\/blog\/health-lifestyle\/living-on-2-85-per-day-for-five-days\/","title":{"rendered":"LIVING ON $2.85 PER DAY FOR FIVE DAYS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

$2.85 MIGHT NOT EVEN GET YOU A STORE BOUGHT COFFEE. IMAGINE LIVING OFF THAT FOR YOUR WHOLE LIFE.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food insecurity: the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A few weeks ago, my dietetics class was tasked with the Tearfund Live Below the Line challenge<\/a>, where you spend only $2.85 per day<\/strong>, or $14.25 over five days<\/strong> on food. This number represents the New Zealand equivalent of the international poverty line, of which over 700 million people live below globally<\/em>. While NZ is fortunate to not experience poverty by ‘Third World’ standards, food insecurity is a huge issue faced by an increasing number of New Zealand families. In fact, 1 in 5 Kiwi children live in households without enough food.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep on reading to see how I survived for 5 days on $14.25 and get two dirt cheap recipes at the end.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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How I Survived Living Below the Line<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Rules<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The rules were pretty simple – you count what you eat and cannot accept offers of free food<\/strong> (like your flat mate pity-offering you a piece of chocolate).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I did<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I pulled up an Excel spreadsheet and meticulously planned, down to the gram, how much of what foods I would eat for five days. It was hard<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could have bought a couple of dollar loaves of bread and called it a day, but as a future dietitian, I couldn’t help but wonder about the feasibility of following healthy eating guidelines when managing a tight budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looks pretty good right? I thought so too, but if you look closely\u2026 no fresh milk, no leafy greens and only eggs and a tin of beans for protein (those eggs were only possible because I cut down on my portions of grains)… far from achieving Ministry of Health recommendations for the main food groups.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Overall\u2026 it just isn\u2019t a lot of food! To think this should fuel me through my normal routines of uni, work and gym was a worry. Oh, and no coffee (until about day three when I started sacrificing my egg and oats for an instant coffee).<\/p>\n\n\n\n