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In a class I am taking called Design for the Developing World, we have a weeklong "lab" in which we can only survive on 2 dollars a day for food, entertainment, and travel for a week. The average person eats on two dollars or less a day, and this challenge is to give us a taste (-_-) of the lives of those in developing countries. I don't know how effective this actually is for anything other than saying "I survived on 2 dollars a day for a week," but it's still a requirement and an interesting challenge nontheless.
The rules are whatever goes in our mouths count toward the total 14 dollar allocation. If a friend wants to give me food, I still have to figure out how much the food cost and account for that. Basically, free stuff is not free. However, tap water and electricity are free, because we're all students, and homework is still due, and it's easier.
In terms of travel, public transport is free (campus buses), but rides with friends would have to be accounted for. In my case, I generally walk to class so travel is pretty easy.
Today we started, and so the day before I went out and got groceries to survive this week.
Groceries:
3 bags of rice at $1.84 each (30 servings per bag)
2 1.5 dozen eggs at $2.19 each (36 eggs)
1 can tomato sauce at $1.40 (6 servings)
1 sweet potato at $0.46
1 pack hot dogs at $0.99 (8 hot dogs)
1 Fuze drink at $1.25 (drank before the challenge started)
Total: $14.00
My plan of action is basically around 13 servings of rice, 5 eggs, about 1 servings tomato sauce, and a hot dog each day. The tomato sauce is my equivalent of a vegetable, but I have no fruit unfortunately.
I am also tenting (Duke-UNC game whatup), so I expect my life to be doubly miserable.
Lunch:
5 servings rice (about $0.30)
2 eggs (about $0.24)
1/2 serving tomato sauce (about $0.10)
pepper/oil ( $0.01 or negligible)
total: $0.65
I had too much rice per flavorful item, so the last few bites were kinda boring. Also, I didn't expect the tomato sauce to be so expensive, but oh well. No pictures, unfortunately, cause well...it's kinda boring.
planned dinner:
5 servings rice (.30)
2 eggs (.24)
1/2 servings tomato sauce (.10)
1 hot dog (.125)
pepper/oil (.005)
total: $0.77
planned snack
3 servings rice (.18)
1 egg (.12)
pepper/salt/oil (negligible)
total: $0.30
Total Day 1: $1.72
I also have a dollar left of leeway, any suggestions? I can only make it to an overpriced campus store however.
 
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Ought to add some beans, need that fiber.
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Eggs and rice is really good. Try it with soy/sauce!
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United States33500 Posts
On February 15 2012 08:56 Disregard wrote:
Ought to add some beans, need that fiber.
agree 100%, but just for variety and flavor it's a good idea as well
also they should have adjusted the $2 for average purchasing power in the entire world 
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I had a philosophy teacher that was living with average 50 $ a month on food, and he said he was almost only using potatos! There is so much possibility!
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The developing world lives on developing world prices. In some countries you could probably eat reasonably well on two dollars instead of substituting tomato sauce for a vegetable.
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Tell your professor to adjust for the relative cost of living and purchasing power parity of your local area or this is just a meaningless exercise in making students suffer.
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^ This
Or lie, eat Wendy's all week, and make up some bullshit about how hard it was and how it opened your eyes to the plight of the third world.
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On February 15 2012 10:11 wonderwall wrote:
Tell your professor to adjust for the relative cost of living and purchasing power parity of your local area or this is just a meaningless exercise in making students suffer.
Yeah I was thinking the exact same thing, unless you base the exercise of PPP it's completely stupid. The African development bank considers people who spend at least $2 a day in certain African countries as part of the middle class. Asking students to live on $2 a day is not only absurd and ignorant, but it's also quite unhealthy.
Also ridiculous that people giving you stuff counts towards the $2, many of the poorest people in the poorest countries survive on food aid from their governments or from NGOs. Many also have the ability to keep animals like chickens and goats that can provide things like eggs, wool, and milk and can be fed quite easily.
So all around this is a bone-headed exercise.
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^^ Also ridiculous that people giving you stuff counts towards the $2, many of the poorest people in the poorest countries survive on food aid from their governments or from NGOs. Many also have the ability to keep animals like chickens and goats that can provide things like eggs, wool, and milk and can be fed quite easily.
Huh? What country is this you speak off?
I live in a third world country and the prices of the things he bought is pretty much the same. In fact, some are cheaper. ENtire families (think 6-8 people )here live off 2$ a day. your prof should make you live on 1$ a day, or less. 2$ is plenty. You won't go hungry. Rice and salt? Rice and cooking oil? yes, that's how poor people eat, if they're lucky. sometimes they don't eat. you guys have no idea how really poor the lower class people (class E) in third world countries are really...
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I think the two dollars is the adjusted purchasing power of the average person in the world (median,mean dunno). While this is obviously a crappy way to do this, I figure at the very least I'm saving massive amounts on food this week.
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I would say the minimum in the US for nutritionally sound diet is about $5 per day? Red beans and rice is the way to go.
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I think you morons misunderstand the purpose of the exercise, you are MEANT to suffer in some way...
Then people mentioning what's 'healthy', what - you expect them to get their 5 servings of fruit and veg a day with some red meat along the way? Wake up you clowns
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EPT
