Terms might be confusing, but as far as I can tell:
Original source was doing food to feed for people one meal (four “individual meals” make up one “family meal”) for $10
Reporter got three “family meals” for $28, meaning four people could eat three times each, 12 “individual meals” in total
Bearing in mind that this appeared to rely heavily on prepared foods, this is not so bad.
I can get a pound of dried beans from Walmart for $1. Five pounds of rice for $3.37. 12 ounces of bacon for $3.94 - perhaps not the very cheapest source of tasty meat/fat for seasoning, but a convenient one. Spend a little for an onion, garlic, assume we have spices and can replace them from time to time… I should end up with 6-8 bowls (using about half the bacon) so around $2 for half the bacon, less than $2 for the beans+rice, so add on a dollar for an onion and some garlic… That’s going to be less than a dollar per bowl. Rice and beans may not have “vegetables”, but it is a complete protein and nutritionally sound.
It’d be easy to add some cheap veggies - things like frozen broccoli, corn, peas run around a couple of bucks for four servings; fresh carrots a couple of bucks for a couple of pounds.
You can eat cheaply if you have a little time to cook. A slow cooker really helps make this more accessible.
So while I detest Dollar General, the video is… not completely terrible, just mostly terrible.
Terms might be confusing, but as far as I can tell:
Bearing in mind that this appeared to rely heavily on prepared foods, this is not so bad.
I can get a pound of dried beans from Walmart for $1. Five pounds of rice for $3.37. 12 ounces of bacon for $3.94 - perhaps not the very cheapest source of tasty meat/fat for seasoning, but a convenient one. Spend a little for an onion, garlic, assume we have spices and can replace them from time to time… I should end up with 6-8 bowls (using about half the bacon) so around $2 for half the bacon, less than $2 for the beans+rice, so add on a dollar for an onion and some garlic… That’s going to be less than a dollar per bowl. Rice and beans may not have “vegetables”, but it is a complete protein and nutritionally sound.
It’d be easy to add some cheap veggies - things like frozen broccoli, corn, peas run around a couple of bucks for four servings; fresh carrots a couple of bucks for a couple of pounds.
You can eat cheaply if you have a little time to cook. A slow cooker really helps make this more accessible.
So while I detest Dollar General, the video is… not completely terrible, just mostly terrible.