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On A Dollar A Day: One Couple's Unlikely Adventures In Eating In America (2010)

by Christopher Greenslate(Favorite Author)

3.26 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1401310184 (ISBN13: 9781401310189)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Hachette Books

review 1: This is an account of two people from upper middle class backgrounds attempting to discover how the “other side” lives. The other side are those with limited food options, and many who depend upon government help. Much of the worlds population really does live on less than the equivalent of one dollar a day. It is the authors journey to try and understand this.My Thoughts: While I appreciate that the authors tried to recreate what it would be like to eat on a dollar a day, it still does not bring them into the full light. They still had nice vehicles, a nice home, and pets that they could take care of without question. Not to mention they were not juggling their finances trying to get bills paid or factoring in necessities into their grocery bill such as toilet p... moreaper, cleaning supplies, or toothpaste.I agree with the authors that yes, there is a problem, but I do not agree with their solution. Their solution is very liberal…leave it all to the government. Government legislation does not nor has it ever solved every problem. I do believe in personal responsibility. There are people who can choose to change their situations but choose not to, yet there are some people that really and truly need help that have tried everything imaginable. There is no reason not to take care of these people at a local level, but I am totally against helping anyone or anything on a federal level.All in all I do not really care for this book. Like I said, I appreciate the problem, but I do not agree with the authors solution. Especially since they have not really and truly been there and have no way of knowing if they would be the type of person that would be motivated to get out of poverty or be happy to take handouts. There are far too many factors that are missing for me to say, “Here, read this.” I cannot in all honesty say that.
review 2: Somehow I kept hoping for just a little more from this book. I wanted to really like it, but it just fell short of my expectations. I did appreciate that it moved beyond the typical writing of blog turned book that often really doesn't work well. I also didn't really understand following the USDA food pyramid food plan if with so many vegan substitutions. It seemed that they weren't really following the program that way. It was actually much more processed - seitan and soy crumbles/burgers, etc are much more processed than ground beef, for example). Overall, this was just ok for me. The part that kept me interested was not actually about their eating at all. It was about their personal interactions. In terms of the enneagram personality theory, they both seems to be 1s, the idealist or perfectionist. Two 1s in a couple can cause for some interesting opportunities for personal growth. I've been working with lots of 1s in my practice, so it was great to see more examples of what works and what doesn't. less

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