i'm not exaggerating. $5/day. that's what i spend on food...

my food budget is $200/month, but it includes stuff like soap and i inevitably waste some money on junk food, here and there.

i spend roughly $150/month on my actual diet. $150/30d = $5/day.

this buys me one of the following two meal plans:

1) one banana, one kiwi, 5 strawberries, 2 scoops of cherry ice cream, a very large glass of soy milk, a glass of orange juice, a tomato, a half a green pepper, a bowl of fettuccine, a quarter brick of cheese, eight slices of genoa salami & a large serving of salad dressing.

or

2) one banana, one kiwi, 5 strawberries, 2 scoops of cherry ice cream, a very large glass of soy milk, a glass of orange juice, a toasted and buttered bagel, four eggs (fried), eight slices of genoa salami & eight slices of cheese.

both of those meals cost around $5.00. i guess if you're old, it might make more sense to remove the cheese altogether, and use that savings to upgrade the salami to chicken.

so, how are these old folks getting stuck with frozen beans and packaged casserole at $8.00? the answer is corporate subsidies. the money goes from the government to the food manufacturers, and through the old folks home as a conduit.

the best thing to do would be to give the money to the seniors directly and have them make their own meals. but, of course, that's not always feasible.

i don't know exactly how you deal with this, but i know that it's possible to eat very well on a lot less than they're complaining about, and the problem is clearly in the corporate welfare in the contracts.