By Jim Duncan CVFDude@aol.com

A couple years ago, we wrote about eating on $4.10 a day, which was some government definition of a poverty diet. We thought we managed nicely until a reader compared us to "self-conceited idiots who camp out for one night to bond with the homeless, " and correctly guessed that we had splurged on a big dinner as soon as our project was over. Another critic noticed we had eaten comfortably by shopping at farmers markets and cooking at home, but noted many people can't do that because they work too many hours, or don't have cars, stoves, or power.

Despite the chiding, we decided to revisit the scene of our dilettantism - by eating for five days on the same budget, but at places within reasonable walking distance. That limited our choices to McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco John's, Long John Silver's, Burger King, Subway, Donut King and Dairy Queen. For health reasons, we allowed one supermarket trip out of normal walking range, for five-days worth of breakfast: bananas, coupon milk and tea bags. That left us with $3.50 to spend each day at the franchises. The cheap milk was not free of added bovine growth hormones, so we began obsessing that our appetite would metastasize.

Day 1, Wendy's: We ordered a bowl of high-protein chili and a side salad for lunch at $2.31. Nice employees opened doors for us and asked how many crackers we needed. Could they tell we were on a low budget? Did they pity us? Self consciously, we only asked for two crackers. Everything was OK, though the "vinaigrette dressing" had too many empty calories and superfluous ingredients. We returned at dinner for a junior bacon cheeseburger. We felt no hunger pangs that night, but wished we had asked for more crackers.

Day 2, Taco John's: Massive doses of penny tea scared off our appetite obsession. We remembered that Taco John's celebrated Taco Tuesdays, but discovered they now have cheap specials every day. We ordered two tacos for lunch, for $1.29, and returned for two more at dinnertime. We added lots of extra pico de gallo and hot sauce from a condiment bar. And although we got more food for our money at Wendy's, we were satisfied and went to bed without feeling hungry.

Day 3, Subway and Long John's: By avoiding heavy carbohydrates, we had not felt hungry despite consuming fewer calories than normal. Subway sandwiches were too expensive for us to eat twice. WWJD? (Jared that is.) We considered buying a 12-inch veggie delight ($3.69) and saving half for dinner, but we didn't want that, and other sandwiches seemed beyond our budget. We went to Long John Silver's where two pieces of a la carte fried haddock cost $1.98. We bought three tomatoes ($1) from a parking lot stand and ate them for dinner, with Long John's malt vinegar.

Day 4, the royal trio: The Donut King had lots of angry pigeons nesting in its sign - even scarier than its menu. We bought a bad 99-cent hot dog for lunch at Dairy Queen. Burger King's bargain menu yielded a junior Whopper burger ($1.40) and side salad ($1.20) for dinner. This was our highest caloric intake of the week, but we also felt hungriest that night.

Day 5, McDonald's: We had prior experience with Mickey D's because of their dependably drinkable coffee, but we learned they don't set half & half out after breakfast. We would never have noticed that before, but by day five we were stalking free protein and noticing how much food other people wasted. Mickey D's had by far the best bargain menu. We tried a double cheeseburger ($1) and side salad ($1) for lunch and returned for a chicken sandwich ($1) for dinner. CV

Food News

Hal Jasa, formerly chef at 801 Steak & Chop House, is now chef de cuisine at 25th Street CafŽ. Enosh Kelley is now "owner-chef." Kelley says he is introducing a new family friendly menu, with more sandwiches, including a burger that includes pork as well as beef, a gourmet BLT with heirloom tomatoes and an open-faced steak with smoked onions. Homemade fries and onion rings are now a regular feature and the bar food menu has been expanded. Both 25th Street CafŽ and Bistro Montage now use specialty vegetables (like purple fingerling potatoes) from Small Potatoes Farms.

Three Woodward farms invite visitors to a "Progressive Country Celebration" this weekend. Northern Prairie Chevre (1247 310th Street, Woodward; 515-438-4022) celebrates five years in business September 18 with new cheese flavors, free samples of goat milk ice cream and goat milk hot fudge. Jasper Winery from Newton brings samples and live music comes from The Home Grown Tomatoes. Prairieland Herbs (1385 S. Avenue, Woodward, 515-438-4268) will be open all weekend with samplings of fair trade coffees, jams, jellies, and honey. Picket Fence Creamery (1447 S Avenue, Woodward 515-438-2697) offers walking tours of the dairy farm all weekend with drawings, samples and kid's activities.

Standard U.S. agricultural practice now requires at least 45,000 square feet of land to feed a person on a meat diet. That compares to 10,000 square feet to feed a vegetarian.

Food Fact

"In 1992 I decided to eat only the things that I shot with my bow and arrow. Of course, this got me kicked out of many supermarkets, but fortunately, there were many supermarkets in Hamburg, so I was able find many good things to eat." -German artist Christian Jankowski, speaking about his work in Des Moines.

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