# What is the cheapest food in order to maintain life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814 "2004-04-30T06:06:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roland\_Deschain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@Roland\_Deschain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Deschain)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/1 "2004-04-30T06:06:30Z")
For the sake of this argument let’s assume that you are taking a multiple vitamin/mineral so basic vitamin deficiencies is not an issue. All you need to worry about is getting sufficient proteins, fats, and carbohydrates in order to meet minimum physiological requirements. We would probably want to consider the _calorie to cost ratio_ of the foods we were pondering (in US dollars) to make the best decision. I think it would be hard to beat McDonalds double cheeseburger at $1.00 and over six hundred calories. It has sufficient carbs, fats, and protein (to much fat in fact) to support your body’s needs. Furthermore, three such burgers would provide about 1900 kcals per day (if you wanted to diet you could get by on two dollars per day taking the calorie count down to about 1300). Some contenders like Lard, would have to be discounted because they provide too little protein, and no carbs (peanut butter might fare better). In addition, the long term health effects wouldn’t **necessarily** be so bad if we combined our low cost food with caloric restriction. That is because at least in lab animals the benefits of caloric restriction have ensued no matter **what** the actual diet consisted of so long as basic vitamin/mineral needs were met. In other words at least in mice it doesn’t matter if the diet is 70% verses 20% fat, practice CR (with adequate nutrition) and they almost always live twenty to forty percent longer than control mice. Thus, my diet could be called the “eat cheap and prosper” diet plan. Maybe McDonalds would sponsor a book deal? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/2 "2004-04-30T06:22:18Z")
It would probably be cheaper to buy bread, beef, etc, and make your own burgers (and cheaper still to bake your own bread). In general, processed cooked food tends to cost more than the raw ingredients plus the energy input. You might be able economise still further by using a vegetarian protein instead of the beef. And if you prepare your own burgers there might be some scope to eliminate excess fat from your diet, enabling you to save more money, or to eat more nutritiously for the same money. Of course, there’s a capital investment - you need a stove and various utensils, so the economics of the matter would be affected by how long you expected to be living cheaply (and by whether you are looking at average cost, or only at marginal cost, assuming you already possess a rudimentary kitchen). And of course the factors that mean you have to eat as cheaply as possible might also mean that you didn’t have facilities for preparing your own food (e.g. you might be homeless). And if you are homeless, and sleeping rough, that would also affect your required caloric intake. ---
**Author:** ![nifferka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@nifferka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nifferka)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/3 "2004-04-30T06:47:12Z")
But you need to eat vegetables or whole grains, just for roughage. Vitamins can’t completely replace veggies. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/4 "2004-04-30T08:06:23Z")
Time to revive the old “People Kibble” thread… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/5 "2004-04-30T09:51:27Z")
We’ve had threads on this before; it is a really interesting thought experiment, but I think it requires a _lifestyle_, rather than a shopping list; my plan would be (actually, I do a lot of this already): Get a large, efficient freezer. Buy bulk sacks of rice, beans, flour and possibly whole wheat (which can be cooked like rice, but is more balanced in terms of nutrition). Buy _Seasonal_/locally-produced fruit and vegetables. Take advantage of reduced-price packs of meat, split them into portion sizes before freezing. Scrupulously save and re-use leftovers. Save fats from cooked meat (the fat that comes out of sausages, burgers, bacon etc, can be used to fortify other meals such as fried rice and roast potatoes) Save bones from cooked meats (if you live alone and only have a few at a time, put them in a bag in the freezer until you have a pound or so, also save and freeze things like celery bases, onion tops/tails); use these to make stock for soups and risotto. Supplement your diet with wild-gathered foods where possible (for example: in late summer, I can go walking for an hour and pick a few pounds of blackberries every night). I keep a couple of thin plastic bags in my wallet at all times and I often return from a country walk with _some_ kind of food. Grow your own vegetables, if space allows. Vitamin supplements are actually quite expensive - vegetables and fruits can be comparatively cheap and offer actual _food_ value in addition. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/6 "2004-04-30T10:20:36Z")
Another potential avenue of research would be to look at what people did during times of strict rationing in wartime Britain - this wasn’t so much about _how much you could spend_ as it was about _what you were able to buy_, but a lot of the methodologies are similar; bulking up the plate with the cheaper, more readily available ingredients etc. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/7 "2004-04-30T10:37:48Z")
The originator of Cornell bread, strangely enough he was a professor at Cornell University, always maintained that life could be sustained on his bread, butter and water. I presume he knew what he was talking about, just sounds boring as all get out. I’d go with the pasta and beans thing myself. [off topic: Hurrah! All the smilies have returned] ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/8 "2004-04-30T10:50:48Z")
Celyn’s diet = acquire cheap veg, some rice, lentils, beans, make soup/casserole-type thingy. Eat. When it all gone. Repeat process. Oh yes, and a multivit/ multimineral. No- it is not very imaginaitve - heheh - I msut watch this thread for wise ideas! 🙂 Celyn the Impecunious. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/9 "2004-04-30T11:27:59Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Buy bulk sacks of rice, beans, flour This is it in a nutshell. These three products (maybe throw pasta in there, it is a flour based product) have been the food of choice for billions of people throughout history. Mix it in with a bit of fresh veggies every day, and some meat when you can afford it, and you’ll be eating just like billions of people across the globe eat. Considering that for your $1.00 cheeseburger you can probably get 2-5lbs of these products, I’d say they’re WAY cheaper than McD’s. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/10 "2004-04-30T12:32:59Z")
Even buying from a supermarket (i.e. not in mssive bulk), I can get a 2 lb bag of flour for 9 pence - so the McD’s dollar (about 60p) would buy about twelve pounds of flour - with which I can make bread, cakes, dumplings, crackers, pasta etc for _weeks_ (OK, some of these need a few other ingredients, but unleavened bread and crackers can be made from a simple flour/water dough and a little salt). Man cannot live by bread alone, but it could be an incredibly cheap staple, and that’s just with one dollar from one day - I’ve still got 20 McD’s dollars to spend on vegetables, rice, beans and some cheap meat. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/11 "2004-04-30T12:53:25Z")
> [@Roland Deschain](#): > > I think it would be hard to beat McDonalds double cheeseburger at $1.00 and over six hundred calories. It has sufficient carbs, fats, and protein (to much fat in fact) to support your body’s needs. …Thus, my diet could be called the “eat cheap and prosper” diet plan. Maybe McDonalds would sponsor a book deal? You’re obviously not familiar with “[Super Size Me](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=2072523),” a documentary that shows in all too graphic detail what happens to a person on the all-McDonald’s diet for just a month. Under medical supervision, Morgan Spurlock ate three meals a day at McDonald’s… > [@](#): > > within a few days he’s vomiting out of the window of his car. And it’s downhill from there. Spurlock’s body goes through a general deterioration that surprises even his doctors in its rapidity. (His girlfriend, a vegan chef, is beside herself.) Gaining weight is just the outward sign: His liver becomes toxic, his cholesterol skyrockets, his libido sags, he gets headaches and becomes depressed. You also ought to read Eric Schlosser’s “Fast Food Nation,” which is just one source that can address the minimal nutritional value of most fast food. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/12 "2004-04-30T13:21:48Z")
Cecil on [utl=“[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_209.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_209.html)”]Can Man Live on Bread Alone ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/13 "2004-04-30T16:33:49Z")
Double cheeseburgers aren’t anywhere near high enough in calories to justify costs. I can easily get 1k calories per $ spent if i do not care about eating low fat foods. You’d probably have to buy your own flour, salt, yeast and sugar in 100 lb bags at a wholesale club to get the most edible calories per $ spent and bake your own bread. I would assume you could get upwards of 10,000 calories per dollar that way. You could also make pancakes, pasta and waffles, and a variety of other flour based food products too. As far as fat & protein, generic peanut butter or generic margarine to put on the bread bought in bulk at a discount is a good source of both of them. Dont know what you’d do for potassium but with that diet it looks like you are taking in alot of sodium and almost no potassium. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/14 "2004-04-30T18:12:49Z")
> [@xvxdarkknightxvx](#): > > Time to revive the old “People Kibble” thread… That’s the first thing I thought of. [Here’s the main thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=53966), with [two](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=54443) [others](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=156949) as a bonus. Lots of discussion of the basic idea behind this thread— minimum nutrition produced most cheaply and efficiently— can be found there. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Deschain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@Roland\_Deschain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Deschain)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/15 "2004-04-30T18:24:10Z")
Actually, I have read Fast Food Nation, and read many reviews of _Supersize me_ (but not seen the film). Neither, of these perspectives take caloric restriction into account. In Supersize me the author probably ate between 2,500 and 3,500 kcal’s per day (at that level his results are less surprising). In addition, his “sample size” of one was rather small. Look at it another way if someone produced a film purporting the _benefits_ of say an all cabbage diet based upon their personal experience alone, then people (I dare say on this forum) would be skeptical. The soup advice seems practical. I’m not sure about the flour. I’ve never baked anything from scratch (nor has my wife, we consider opening a can of soup scratch cooking), and unfortunately we eat about seventy percent of our meals at restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/16 "2004-04-30T18:30:57Z")
[Richard Jenni as Bill the Belching Gourmet] Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, still 39 cents a metric ton! [/RJ as BBG] 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/17 "2004-04-30T18:33:33Z")
When I was living the bachelor life and going to the gym 4 times a week I practically lived off of oatmeal, beans & rice, fat free cottage cheese with pineapple, and chicken breasts. Best shape I was ever in. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/18 "2004-04-30T18:42:54Z")
I swear there is a guy who has eaten nothing but a big mac and coke every single day for many years. Cant remember where I read it from though. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/19 "2004-04-30T18:50:54Z")
If you’re really interested in CR, check out the [Calorie Restriction Society](http://calorierestriction.org/?PHPSESSID=9022dd867f0daf6782a8be6b7070329e). The members practice CRON - Calorie Restriction with **Optimal Nutrition**. The Optimal Nutrion is key. They believe in getting the majority of your nutrients from food as there may still be many unidentified nutrients in whole foods that you can’t get from a vitamin pill. Plus things like fiber which are totally lacking from a fast food menu. Dean Pomerleau is one of the society’s more active members. He’s often featured in media articles about CR. He’s developed a meal that he eats every single day. It’s not particulalry cheap or easy but he does cover all the nutrient in what he’s determined is the ideal nutrient ration. It’s probably as close to home made People Chow as you can get… ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814/20 "2004-04-30T18:53:44Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > … > Dont know what you’d do for potassium … Bananasses, my precious. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-cheapest-food-in-order-to-maintain-life/242814.md?page=2)