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June 26, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels March 20, 2004 The $50 diet By Bill Choy Ashland Daily Tidings For the entire month of February, Steve Wilson ate less than $50 in food. Wilson, 51, president of Ashland Insurance Inc., said he wanted to see if he could live on such a limited amount. While Wilson may have done it for a month, his $50 diet brings up a bigger issue - there are many people throughout the county who have no choice but to live this way every day. ACCESS INC., which assists the needy in Jackson County, said 9,000 children and seniors in Jackson County don't have enough to eat. The organization helps feed nearly 2,700 families each month. The diet During a discussion with co-workers, Wilson told them he felt people could live on only $50 worth of food in a month. "They weren't sure one could do it," he said. Because he had made the statement, Wilson decided it was only fair to try it himself and see if he could eat a reasonably healthy diet on such a low budget. "I like to experiment," he said. "And when I have a new idea, I like to try it out." After a bit of planning and budgeting, he took the plunge. He spent $49.88 on items that included eight pounds of pinto beans, two pounds of rice, 19 pounds of winter squash, 1.29 pounds of ground turkey breast, and two pounds of Mayan Sweet onions. By the end of the month, Wilson had lost four pounds, but said it was very possible to eat cheaply and be healthy. "It's not that hard," Wilson said. "I didn't go hungry. I did have a strong craving or two, but if I wanted something that wasn't in my budget, I knew I couldn't have it." His first week, Wilson ate pretty well, consuming two pounds of beans, a half-pound of rice, one cabbage, three onions, three oranges, a pound of hamburger and seven pounds of squash. By the fourth week, the food was running low. Wilson ate leftovers from week three, four pounds of pinto beans and 0.29 pounds of turkey. "By the last week, it was practicality all beans and rice," he said. "It wasn't fun, but there was always something to eat." By then, he had run out of his Almond Joy Bites, but found another alternative for his sweet tooth - Karo Syrup, slurping it from the jar, although he admits "chocolate is better." But the syrup wasn't half bad, he said. "It was really sweet, but it tasted fine," Wilson said. "I had to have some dessert." He said the diet didn't bother his wife too much. "She was like, 'Well, it's his life,"' Wilson said. "It didn't put her out - she got to eat what she wanted." He said if he did it again, he would put more fruit in his diet (he had only oranges), and would have used coupons and looked for sales to save more money. Wilson came to an understanding of how vital assistance to the working poor and elderly is, and how much of a factor groups like ACCESS can be for those on a limited income. He said if the winter squash, which cost $15.01, had been given to him, he would have saved 30 percent on his budget. "What a difference that would had made," he said. "I realized it doesn't take much to assist someone. Even giving them vegetables from your garden can make a difference." The experience was definitely a one-time deal for Wilson. "I'm pretty much done with it," he said. "I wanted to see if it could work. There's really nothing left to find out." Not uncommon What Wilson went through in a month is very common in Jackson County, said Russ Koehler, resource development manager for ACCESS. He said in 2003, ACCESS fed 15,603 people, an increase of 25 percent from the previous year. ACCESS feeds an average of nearly 2,700 families a month and distributed about 1.8 million pounds of food last year. The organization has 17 food pantries, including one in Ashland. More than 20 percent of children in Jackson County live in poverty, compared to 16.3 percent statewide, Koehler said. Countless families and seniors don't know from month to month what their food budget will be after paying for items like rent and electricity, Koehler added. "They have to be flexible and live on whatever is left," he said. "And there's just not enough food to have three meals a day." Koehler said he knows of seniors who have had only canned fruit for lunch, and children who constantly skip meals. Often on a fixed and limited income, seniors are particularly vulnerable. "They can't go out and get a job," Koehler said. "They're living on social security and disability and that's it." A steady, healthy diet is essential to keep children healthy in body and mind, Koehler stressed. "It's very unhealthy for children to constantly skip meals," Koehler said. "And it's hard for them to think about their studies at school when their stomach's growling." Wilson's $50 food budget is about average for a single person on a limited income, Koehler said, noting that there are people living on far less. He has known families with four people living on only $75 to $80 a month for food, making the food pantry ACCESS offers vital. The food bank gives people an average supply of five to seven days' of food, Koehler said, which can make all the difference when someone is living day to day. He said the food probably averages to 60 to 70 dollars worth of groceries at the store. "They have no where else to turn," he said. "This helps them fill gaps until they can work towards a more permanent solution." Koehler said more than 70 percent of people below the poverty line in Jackson County have jobs, and the working poor are the fastest-growing impoverished group here. He said the gap between rich and poor is growing four times faster in Oregon than in the rest of the nation. Also, the Medford-Ashland area was named the fifth least affordable place in America to live. "This is a very expensive place to live," he said. "The disparity in this county between the haves and have-nots is great." Nutrition Rebecca Fowler, director of nutritional services at Ashland Community Hospital, said Wilson's diet was quite nutritious and was high in fiber and protein. But she would have suggested to him to have more fruit in the diet aside from just oranges. "He did a pretty good job," Fowler said. "It's boring, but healthy." Fowler said Wilson's experiment brings up the important issue of maintaining a healthy diet with limited funds. It's possible, but not without its challenges. Fowler cited a cost chart in an issue of Endocrine Today comparing the cost of healthy, low-fat, low-calorie food items compared to the more affordable, typical selections of consumers. This included 99 cents for Armour Hot Dogs at 150 calories per serving, compared to $3.79 for Healthy Choice low-fat beef franks at 70 calories per serving, 99 cents for a dozen medium eggs at 100 calories per serving, and $4.96 for 32 ounces of Egg Beaters at 30 calories per serving, and $1.99 for frozen broccoli and $3.00 for fresh broccoli, both at 25 calories a serving. The typical selections had 5,480 calories and cost $62.96, while the healthy selections had 3,270 calories and cost $93.96 - a difference of $31.00, or nearly 50 percent more. Fowler has seen the dilemma first-hand as a nutritionist. She has had many patients on low incomes who have ailments such as diabetes wondering how they can follow a healthier diet on limited income. "For people with a lower income, it's like, 'I can't live that way. I can't afford the fresh fruit or the lean chicken,'" Fowler said. "So, we try to work with them to fit their income." This includes trying to find compromises like suggesting frozen broccoli instead of fresh broccoli. "It's better than no broccoli," Fowler said. "It can be a challenge, but we try to work with them to get into a more healthy diet." Foods like Hamburger Helper and fast food items, which many on limited incomes eat, are high in sodium and calories, Fowler said, and the trend toward these items is not just affecting the poor. "That's why we're having such problems with obesity in this country," Fowler said. "Everyone's on the run and are not eating healthy. Instead, they're going to food place like Burger King, which have foods high in fat and sodium and low in vitamins and minerals." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. 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