This week on The Biggest Loser, they gave each person a $70/week budget for purchasing food. According to the Cost of Food at Home chart from the United States Department of Agriculture from 2012, this is greater than what they suggest according to the "Liberal" cost plan. The "Thrifty" plan averages $37.20 per adult 19-50 per week. The "Low-Cost" plan averages $46.90 and the "Moderate-Cost" plan averages $57.90. Although we are probably more along the low-to-moderate cost income, I live in a low-income area, adjacent to Section 8 housing. According to HUD, a person in the Baltimore area who makes under $45,500/year is considered "low-income," $30,000/year is considered "very low income," and $18,000 is "30% of the median." Spending only $70/week on food for a week per person shocked the contestants. That amounts to $3,640 per year or 20% of the salary for the bottom-level income group. Given the costs of housing, commuting, insurance, medical care, and other things, that much per week may not be possible for those in the lowest income groups.
I would like to send my personal challenge to The Biggest Loser chef to prepare healthy meals for a family of 4 using the "Thrift" plan that I try to follow for my family of $126.50/week for a family of 4. I don't think you could do it with the organic food plans you feed your contestants.
Sources:
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2012/CostofFoodJan2012.pdf
http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/il/il12/md.pdf
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