I just read an article about a couple who were participating in a Global Poverty project called "Live Below the Line". The idea of the project is to attempt to live at the extreme poverty line globally, which turns out to be less than $1.50 per person per day. In their case, the budget was set at $15 per week for two (which is actually 5 days by my calculations - I guess the weekend doesn't count).

The couple's strategy included a ton of non-paleo food, of course, because non-paleo food is generally pretty darn cheap. Here's a list of the items they purchased over the course of a week:

The initial budget

- Two bags of rice, $1.19 each, $2.38.
- Tortilla shells, $1.25.
- 8 oz cheddar cheese, $2.19.
- Two cans of green beans, 67 cents each, $1.34.
- One dozen eggs, $2.00.
- One zucchini, 48 cents.
- One onion, 94 cents.
- Fresh ginger, 32 cents.
- Bag of dry black beans, $1.49.
- One can of tomatoes, 8 oz, 30 cents.
- One quart of milk, $1.19.

Additions and subtractions

- two packages of ramen noodles, +67 cents.
- a can of tomatoes, -30 cents.
- a bag of rice, - $1.19.
- dried apples, + 98 cents.

Total for week: $14.04

So I thought it might be an interesting exercise to "paleo-ize" this as much as possible. My first reaction, of course, is to produce as much from the garden as possible, but I'm not sure if that fits the criteria of the project. Second thought - I know I can get 18 egg packs at a local discount grocery store for $1.25 - $1.50, so I might lean more toward that. Rice - I can maybe see that, beans - not. Meat, unless road kill or hunted (or perhaps fished) would not fit into the $15 per week budget.

Anybody want to chime in here with some thoughts? What would your strategy be?