My Mother's Wisdom

My Indian mother has always expressed a degree of horror over what some Americans eat. "They spend so much money on food," she said, "and they don't even eat well." She like to bring up the example of a young co-worker of hers a few years ago. "She used to spend about $2.00 a day on chips from the vending machine," my mother often says. "If you're going to eat chips, the least you can do is put them in a bag and bring them from home."

A firm believer in making her food fresh and from scratch, my mother buys very little in terms of processed foods. And when she does, she combines every sale and coupon imaginable to get those Bagel Bites for almost free. I know that she's a super shopper, but I was more than surprised when she recently told me she spends only $200 a month on groceries for my father, herself and my brother, who at 17 is the only one still living at home.

Either my mother had her numbers a little off or she needed to start sharing her shopping and cooking tips with the world. Possibly on national TV. "You don't really need that much money to eat healthy," my mom said again. My Mom doesn't really focus on buying local or organic, but in the great big view of our country's health, organic and local versus industrial is a far less important battle than whole and natural foods versus processed food. America's biggest problem isn't that we're eating fruit and vegetables grown the wrong way - it's that we're not eating them at all.

"Please check your bills," I told my Mom, "and let me know how much you really spend this month." She promised to ask my brother to scan in her receipts and e-mail them to me.

Meanwhile, I decided to test my mother's theory in a two week experiment. Was it really possible to eat well on a tight budget? It would be a two-part experiment.

Week One: I set budget of $60 for the week for my husband and myself, I decided to try and eat the healthiest meals that I could. First and foremost, this meant no processed foods.

Week Two: Approximately double the budget, but increase the constraints. Along with eating whole foods, I would eat as locally and organically as time and money permitted.

A few ground rules:

1) I wouldn't let either myself or my husband go hungry.
2) We would end up eating mostly at home, but if a social commitment came up we would try to work it in - particularly for my husband's sake, since he was a willing but nervous participant in the experiment.
3) I wouldn't, for the sake of the experiment, "eat beans and rice" all week or "scavenge for mushrooms," as a few of my classmates predicated I might have to do. My goal is to see if one could eat well on a tight budget, in a reasonable fashion.

And so, equipped with a few of my mother's recipes, my own creativty and the depth and breadth of the Internet, I am off.