Nutritional Analysis- Food Stamp Challenge

As many of you may know, Stan Miller, Executive Director of North County Community Services, recently participated in a Food Stamp Challenge and documented each of the meals he consumed (he input all recipes into nutritiondata.com in order to have them analyzed). After analyzing each day of Stan’s Food Stamp Challenge meals for nutritional content, it is evident that total calories were insufficient for a man of his physique. Or for any man for that matter.  He averaged a total of 1,430 calories per day; the lowest day was 540 calories and the highest 2,587 calories.  To put this in perspective, Stan would need a total of 2,280 calories per day just to maintain normal body functions if he were to be resting 24 hours a day.  He only met this calorie need one of the days.

He did very well in using limited fresh produce creatively throughout the week, but was missing several vital elements in his diet.  There were no fruits in his diet, unless you count tomatoes as fruits.  He was also very low on vegetables; the average adult should consume about 2 ½ cups of vegetables per day, and most days he did not come close.  Due to the lack of fruits, vegetables, oils and nuts in his diet, he was also low on key vitamins and minerals like Vitamin E, most of the B vitamins, and most minerals, according to the Daily Recommended Intakes.  Six out of seven days he did not meet the recommended amount of protein for an adult male of his physique which is about 90 grams.

Even though he was insufficient at consuming many vital components of a diet, he did do well in other areas.  He had low levels of cholesterol (less than 300mg per day), saturated fat (less than 10% of total fat), and sodium (less than 2300mg per day).

The fact that he - as with many others who rely on food stamps in their daily lives - had such a low intake of nutrients and total calories is due to the fact that Food Stamps only allow an individual $32 per week for food purchases.  According to the statistics from the nutrition analysis, such a stipend is clearly insufficient in order to provide a healthy, well-nourishing diet.  To underscore this point, four days of the week Stan consumed less than half of the calories he would need even if he were completely at rest during this time.

Hypothetically, though the objective of the Food Stamp Challenge was not to lose weight, (but rather, to experience and learn from the tough choices and difficult circumstances that are required of food stamp recipients) if Stan did happen to want to lose weight and get down to his ideal weight of 178 pounds, he could do so in a quick six months by following this “diet”.  Though, based on his daily needs to maintain normal body functions, this would not be considered a safe rate.

The only foods he had left at the end of the week were two tortillas, two tablespoons of cream cheese, a lime and three cloves of garlic - just barely enough ingredients for one meal.  He practically used all of the food he had purchased with his $32, and it was just not enough. (It is possible, however, to get the recommended calorie and protein intake for an adult if frozen pizzas are bought on-sale for $1 a piece.) The cost of healthy eating is truly unfortunate.

Kelly Shaughnessy

Nutritionist Intern