Could you feed yourself breakfast, lunch, and dinner for $7 a day? Many no- or low-income residents in Washington State do each day with the help of food stamp benefits. $7 per day is all that is allocated through this program.

The Hunger Challenge asks for a person’s commitment to eat on this limited budget for 5 days, starting April 20th, as a way to see how those less fortunate than us live. There are rules of course:

• Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner spending only $7 per day.
• Salt and pepper don’t count but all other seasonings, cooking oils, condiments, snacks, drinks, and everything else do.
• Don’t use food you already own.
• Don’t accept food from family, friends, coworkers and others. Not even the free samples from Costco!
• Try to include fresh produce and healthy protein each day.
• Keep track of expenses, food choices, etc. and share your experiences on United Way of King County’s blog.

I have signed my husband and myself up to take the Challenge, which to someone who loves to cook may very well prove to be a good lesson in cutting back. When I mentioned to friends and a few family members that we were considering it, the average response mostly centered on the limited menu and grocery stores that one is forced to adhere to. I am going to try to feed the two of us for 5 days on $60: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, using grocery stores located on Capitol Hill (avoiding WalMart, kthx) and eating as balanced a diet as we possibly can. I’ll post once for each of the five days sharing how the experience goes, starting on Monday.

To read more about the Hunger Challenge, including a budget for additional people, click here. If you decide to take the challenge, leave a comment letting me know so we can compare notes.