DG Market and Food Deserts

I’m not sure if I had ever been to a DG Market before yesterday. I was having fun riding around, like I often do, and was in Selma, North Carolina. I intentionally took a straight street that went through a long neighborhood and then started to “head out of town.” I was a DG Market on the next road over, to my left, but surprisingly to me, there was no road or street that let me go to my left. I even passed a large church on my right, and I thought it strange that for such a large church it was odd to not have easy access from multiple streets.

Eventually, the road I was on came to a Y intersection and I was able to turn back toward Selma. I finally made it to DG Market and turned in. I wanted to explore the food offerings that they had, and maybe even buy some “low sodium” cheap beans if they had any. “Cheap” is a relative term, but for me currently a cheap can of beans should cost less than $1. I’ve bought a few slightly more expensive cans, but that’s just because I wanted another store’s brand of beans or low sodium beans in my collection. *I don’t really have a collection. Maybe a loose collection, that I might reference to compare quantities of sodium, carbs and/or sugars, but nothing formal. There are some low sodium canned goods at Target that are a little more expensive, but that may be because they label them “Organic.”

I was disappointed.

As I walked about the grocery section, which was rather large, I quickly noted that “there are food deserts, and there are food deserts.” And this DG Market was a food desert lacking healthy foods. Want “bad for you” cereal choices, yep, they got lots of that. Large selection of candies, and soft drinks. I don’t think I saw any “low sodium” options in their canned goods. If there was an IGA or Food Lion a couple of miles from here, I would pass this store every time and go for the gold.

They did have a large refrigerated section. I’m spoiled by LIDL’s cheap milk prices. Even Food Lion and Walmart have good prices on milk. *The one thing that they all “get you on” is the price of Half-n-Half or like “coffee creamer” prices. You pay more for a quart of creamer than you do for a half gallon of milk, and that is in FL, HT, Walmart, IGA. I think LIDL’s price on a half gallon of 2% Milk is currently $1.77. That reminds me, I think I still have a photo of two items I bought at a LIDL in Havelock, North Carolina several years ago. I took the picture because the milk was cheaper than the jar of pickles I purchased. Now that I look at it, it’s obvious that LIDL was getting people into the store with cheap milk prices – $1.10 for a gallon of regular milk, wow! **That LIDL closed eventually and is a nice empty building when I pass through periodically.

If I were a poor person, I might be able to eat pretty well on $5 at day by shopping at LIDL and Aldi’s each day. Say I was lacking refrigeration, it could still be affordable to buy a cheap half gallon of milk, drink a good portion either for breakfast or lunch and then feed my pet the rest, or throw it out each day.

Let’s explore this concept in a little more detail.

I came across an even more stringent problem online. Someone asked to eat for a week on $5 total. I have done my best below, but don’t think that is possible. I was thinking that you wouldn’t be able to cook, or refrigerate your meals, and might not have access to water or a pot or pan, or plate or bowl. But I still offered one alternative to make a cheap soup, and buy some bread. This still exceeded the $5 limit.

Yes, we need a little money, but not an irrational amount. *I just came back from a website that was discussing on eating for $5 a week. I think that would be stretching it, but $5 a day would be very dooable, and even nutritionally viable.

One big problem is transportation. How do we get from the median near a traffic light where we’ve been panhandling, to the nearest LIDL or Aldi’s? And then are we going to eat in the grocery store parking lot, or find some shade nearby?

Condiments that don’t need to be refrigerated:

Yellow mustard
Ketchup
Hot sauce
Honey

I wouldn’t have thought of that one, honey has an almost indefinite shelf life. Oh, and Inglehoffer’s Creamy Horseradish sauce has a “shelf stable” life. I like to mix it with yellow mustard and add a little sweetener (honey if I could).

Spices

S&P
Cinnamon
Garlic powder ? Target
Cumin powder ? Target

Although peanut butter isn’t a condiment, it doesn’t need refrigeration. **Okay, so you can’t heat up your bread in the microwave before you slather on a little peanut butter, and maybe a little honey. Live with it.

Buy a loaf of freshly baked grained bread at LIDL and slice it. *I haven’t learned how to use their slicing machine yet. You don’t need a lot of bread each day, but maybe a sandwich for lunch and/or dinner. Yellow mustard doesn’t need refrigeration, so that’s a one time purchase that might last a month or more.

Am I going to buy a $.79 container of plain Greek yogurt to go with my fresh berries? Oh, oh, the berries should last at least two days, shouldn’t they? I have seen some strawberries start to go bad later that day, without refrigeration.

Buy an avocado.

Let me see if I can explain the parameters for this project. I have a homeless person who was given $5 for food for a week. That may be their self limitation. They said they wanted to get enough food to eat for a week. They don’t have a kitchen in which to prepare or cook, or refrigerate their food. *Can you make a no cook soup, that has good flavor?

That is why I’ve chosen several “already cooked’ items: canned chicken, black beans (or cannellini), whole kernel corn, diced tomatoes with green chilis.

The Fajita Seasoning is an attempt to flavor the soup, without having to buy small jars of individual spices, and possibly some homemade salsa. **I am currently missing a sweet onion, which I think almost is a necessity. ***I have not listed a raw sweet potato, but recently I sliced one, and realized how pleasing the mild sweetness of each uncooked slice was.

If I use the Black Beans, I can add a half can to the soup and half of the can can become refried beans (without the frying). Part of the Fajita Seasoning can go into the salsa, and maybe the refried beans. *Okay, if you make the refried beans out of the Black Beans, then the soup is going to look entirely different. The yellow corn and the diced red tomatoes would probably make the Black Beans pop.

*Oh, and I’ve been spoiled the last two days by eating lunch from the IGA buffet in Erwin, North Carolina. I’ve bought a perfectly ripe avocado there both days, for 99 cents each. **The avocados have been perfect for 3 or 4 meals. They are perfect in color & texture, not hard at all. These spoil me for all those other avocados that are either not ripe at all or way too ripe and that’s why I bought an extra avocado yesterday to take for home the next day. ***Just do a search for “avocado cemetery” to see my comments on the recurring problem of getting a ripe avocado, just when you need it.

The salad bar was perfect also, but the Ken’s Honey Mustard and Ranch dressings probably made the salad even more delicious. I added: romaine & freesia lettuce, sliced cucumber, raisins, cauliflower and broccoli florets, bacon bits, Spanish olives with pimentos, green bell pepper and some red onion. After I fixed my salad, I went over to the wings bar and I chose three different BBQ chicken wings from the other counter. I could not believe how delicious it all was together. The first day off the charts, and the second day a close second.

Both days, the total cost was less than $8. *Yesterday the total was about $10 but I also bought an extra 99 cents avocado for home. I think the extra cost was because the chicken wings were actually larger, with more meat on them. I think if I forego the chicken wings, and just get the chicken included on the salad bar, with the avocado, I might be able to eat for about $6 – minus drink… and I brought Bill’s Drink Mix one day, and one of those $1 drinks from Wegman’s another.

Salad Ingredients: Frisée & Romaine lettuce, sliced cucumber, green bell pepper, red onion, raisins, bacon bits, broccoli & cauliflower florets, spanish olives w/ pimentos, boiled egg.

I drove a short distance from the IGA down to a small park that has a covered picnic area with tables, and there is an outdoor basketball court behind the shelter.

But recall, one parameter is to see if a totally uncooked soup can be delicious, cold. *It wasn’t a bad soup cold, but most soups are meant to be heated first, even if they are eaten cold. I am heating it after adding various (non-street person ) items: garlic powder, turmeric, more cumin, and fenugreek and some GV chicken broth.

“Never Fried, Refried Beans”

So I drained the can of Black Beans and used a little over half to make my “Never Fried, Refried Beans.” These were low-sodium so they did need salt, but I also added some of the Fajita Seasoning and ground black pepper to these. The salt & seasoning make these very palatable. *I’m thinking about adding some chopped cilantro.

“Homemade Salsa” (the pared down version)

I’m going to use half of the can of “Hot Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies” to make this salsa. Some lime juice & chopped cilantro. This is where I definitely think some chopped sweet onion would be essential. I like hot, but was surprised at how hot these diced tomatoes were. Still, no need to add hot sauce to these and the black beans and avocado help cool it.

*Creative thievery is required. Find some packets of sugar or sweetener to add to both the soup and the salsa. Salt and pepper packets, Equal & sugar.

Oh, I was surprised to find large loaves (some sliced) of freshly baked bread, both French baguette & Italian. I now have a reason to buy a small jar of peanut butter. Protein & carbs. If I were to slip in one or two containers of plain Greek yogurt, for a breakfast item or dessert, maybe with fruit cocktail fruits, could a little of that yogurt be satisfying as a substitute for sour cream? Half the lime juice into the soup, and half into the salsa. The cilantro also into the soup and into the salsa.

I forgot about the food section at Dollar Tree. For $1.25 you can get a large can of pineapple. *Hmmn, crushed pineapple added to a 79 cents container of plain Greek yogurt from LIDL? They do have canned mangoes sometimes too.

When I was a young boy, and only once, my mom, a single mom, ran out of money before the end of the month, and her next pay check. And, we were out of food. She had me get in the back of our car, a 1960s 2 door beige Chevy looking for any change that I could find. Not sure why there was change on the floor, in the back seat, but I did find some. We lived on one corner of a major highway and there was a small store across the street from us. This was before there were convenience stores, but this little store had a gas pump, maybe two in front, and it had assorted foods. There were two things my mom bought (or may have had me buy). I bought a box of Saltine Crackers and a glass bottle of French’s Yellow Mustard. We ate mustard on crackers, and I have loved the combination ever since.

I said this only happened once. I don’t ever recall us running short of funds, or food, the rest of my life. Eventually she would buy a Singer Zig Zag sewing machine and learn how to sew her own outfits for work. She was a Clerk Typist for over 40 years, mostly aboard Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. She would buy a brand new 1964.5 Ford Mustang, Prairie Bronze 2+2. And then for my Senior year in high school she bought me a brand new 1971 Pontiac LeMans blue with a white top. I drove that car my whole Senior year, and apparently she provided the money for all the gas too… and my clothes, and any other items I might want, or need. When I started my Freshman year at Carolina (Chapel Hill) she took the LeMans and drove it to her work because they did not allow Freshmen to have a car on campus.

So that’s how I came up with the four food necessities that might feed you for a week for $5 or less. A slice of bread, with mustard and a slice of bologna. A slice of bread with peanut butter spread on it. A slice of bread with yellow mustard. If I weren’t a Type 2 diabetic, I would try to get a couple of packets of sugar to add to the mustard (my version of honey mustard) or something to sweeten the peanut butter. Maybe even snag a small container or two of jelly or jam. It doesn’t take much jam to make a one slice PB&J sandwich.

If you absolutely can’t keep the bologna cool, then buy two cans of Pork & Beans. That would have to be one meal for each can, with no refrigeration. You could also change half of the beans’ flavor by mixing in some yellow mustard.

You’ll need a “John Wayne” to open your cans of beans, tomatoes, or corn. The small collanders are to wash the liquid off of beans. Plastic eating utensils.

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Snack