The Slow Food USA Blog

The $5 Challenge Reaches the White House!

Posted on Thu, September 29, 2011 by Slow Food USA
28 Comments | Categories: Cooking, Food Justice, Policy, Take Action,

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Just two weeks after 30,000 of you came together and took the $5 Challenge, the Partnership for a Healthier America—the foundation created for Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign—has announced they’re up to the challenge, too.

On November 29th, White House Chef Sam Kass will be hosting two cooking events designed to highlight that healthy food can be affordable and quick to prepare. In the first event, chefs will prepare a family meal on just $10 (typical SNAP budget for a family dinner); in the second, they will have chefs preparing healthy, three-course “gourmet” meals on a typical American dinner budget—$4.50 per person.

We are extremely excited that the White House is interested in pushing forward the dialogue on how cooking from scratch can be the most affordable and healthy option. And, lucky dogs, they’ve got a treasure trove of tips and tricks—compiled by you, the Slow Food community—available to them on our tumblr page.

We’d also like to see Kass, guest chefs Colicchio and others, as well as the Obamas, really dig deep into what’s really possible on that $4.50. What we heard from all of you was that:

...Whether you had a personal garden
Whether you are a farmer
Whether your friends and neighbors are farmers
Whether you belong to a CSA
Whether you live near a farmers market or good grocery

...all made a huge difference in terms of succeeding at the $5 Challenge. And not everyone has a CSA nearby or the space and time to start their own garden.

We hope the White House’s Great American Family Dinner Challenge acknowledges this “challenge” side of the issue, too. When federal policy is subsidizing the foods that are worst for us, and it’s easier in many communities to buy Froot Loops than it is to buy real fruit, it’s no wonder that cooking affordable meals is more challenging than it should be. Addressing those challenges is going to take all of us working together with the White House to fix the policies that stand in the way of making food truly good, clean, and fair for all.

Member Comments

From Chef Betty Brain on Thu, September 29, 2011

Now they should have a challenge for themselves at the state dinners and other whitehouse functions. Would probably help fix the national debt!!!!

From Hans van den Broek on Thu, September 29, 2011

Let’s Move Campaign by US First Lady Mrs. Michelle Obama,

It is easy, we all soon 7 milliard Citizens they must Breathe, Eat and Drink but WHY must we Breathe GMO-Pollen, NANO-Particles and a lot more in the Air, why must we Eat and Drink allways Toxic Chemicals? WHY can’t our 194 Governments never deliver Air, Food, Drinkwater FREE from any Toxic Chemical? We need the Sunlight, the Rainwater and perhaps the most IMPORTANT is the follow we need all our Pollinators, the Birds, Bats and Insects otherwise must we soon 7 milliard Citizens pollinate flowers on plants, bush and trees by hand this cost us a lot time. WHY abuse the most of the 194 Governments their Beekeepers Worldwide? We need them they taka al since the year 1900 a great risk with Breathe a cocktail of Toxic Chemicals when they work in their Beehives and Mrs. Michelle Obama must know this because we find in the gardens from White House in Washington DC in the USA Beehive with beecolony. It is now very important that we tell the Consumers on all kind Beeproducts as Pollen-Honey-Propolis-Royal Jelly-Bee Wax and Bee Venom we know that by consumption of this products it can given Humans the illness up to Cancer….....Fructose in combination with all kind of Toxic Chemicals work as a catalyst and let Cancer Cells grow very fast special a attack on your pancreas. This is easy to tell and a good item for the US President Mr. Barack Obama he can use it in the Presidents Commission against Cancer or in the Bio-Ethical-Issue Commission in Washington DC under Commission Chair Mrs. Amy Gutmann did writte a Citizen and Beekeeper in the Netherlands.

Best regards,
Hans van den Broek
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From allison burgueno on Thu, September 29, 2011

I don’t understand what is so hard about $5.00 per person for a meal?! It seems very generous. The reason it is so hard in a restaurant is all of the people who contribute to the preparation and serving of your food get baked into the cost (plus waste). But for the home cook - should be EASY. Perhaps people just don’t know how to plan, shop and cook? We typically eat for under $5.00 per person at home for dinner every night and it is all organic and local (0-100 mile) - most of our food comes from the farmer’s markets. So lucky to live in southern CA and grow much of my own food. We have an abundance of natural resources here and we choose not to eat out of season. Our breakfasts are typically under $2.00 p/p, lunch about $3.00 p/p and dinner $5.00 p/p. So much more economical than eating out where it is $15.00 or more p/p for organic and local foods. Thing is 10 (dollars a day p/p)x4 (people)x7 (days) = $280.00 per week - that’s still (280x4) $1140.00 per month for groceries. Many people cannot afford to spend that kind of money. The real challenge is good nutrition from a varied diet for less than $10 p/p per day.

From Lynda Roy on Thu, September 29, 2011

The new book “Eat Vegan on $4 a Day” by Ellen Jaffe Jones may be a helpful resource.

From Susan H Gordon on Thu, September 29, 2011

Actually whole meals can be made for 4 people for just over $5 per meal (for 4) with a little attention to the ingredients. Chili (including peppers,onions,tomatoes, beans,meat and spices)can go a long way and cost under $10 to make Fresh along with rice as a side. A dozen eggs a loaf of bread an extra tomato and some lettuce and Cheddar cheese will cost about 10 more and could legitimatly make breakfast and lunch for the same 4 people. Voila $18 for a family of 4’s three meals.With Alison’s calculations that is just over $500 a month.

From Mollyann on Fri, September 30, 2011

We feed family of 4 on $350 per month. We have a garden, but most savings come from foraging & making meat a side dish.

From Bri on Fri, September 30, 2011

It’s true, $5 per person is VERY generous. We not only took the challenge, but on my blog, I’ve been posting the following:
5 dinners for $5 per person
4 dinners for $4 per person
3 dinners for $3 per person
2 dinners for $2 per person
1 dinner for $1 per person
Now that I see Sam Kass’s new challenges, I think I’ll post about those as well. We found that even with eating local, organic, grass-fed, etc., we had to really artificially inflate our ingredients to get to $5 per person—smoked salmon, anyone?—and now that we’re in the 2 and 3 dollar range, it’s much closer to the reality of how we eat as a family. But that’s us. The question for most Americans, I think, is access to good food and the ability/equipment to cook it.

From Kathy on Fri, September 30, 2011

Bri, what is your blog site? I’d love to check it out.

From Leslie Macchiarella on Sat, October 01, 2011

My actual cost for the $5 Challenge which resulted in a fine meal for a family of five was $4.05. Whoo hoo. I was surprised myself when I did the calculations! http://wp.me/p1CqhR-mE

From Bri on Sun, October 02, 2011

Kathy, so sorry I didn’t link! Sigh! http://redroundorgreen.wordpress.com—I’m also on Facebook with tips and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Red-Round-or-Green/213555975374384

From allison on Mon, October 03, 2011

To be fair - I can feed my family on $100 per week, I prefer some higher end products on my plate. I used to publish a $100 grocery bag blog with lists and recipes. If you eat not local not organic you can do it for much cheaper - but at what cost to the environment and your own health? A garden is a very important variant in the equation of lowering your costs but keeping your nutrition high. Sure you can eat chilli and cheese sandwiches and eggs for breakfast every day but a varied diet is important.

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