The Cost of living GF

During the week of September 19th, Maryland Hunger Solutions is holding its annual Food Stamp Challenge.  For 7 days, participants will use the average weekly food stamp benefit of $30 per person as their entire budget for food and drink*. The goal is to bring a new perspective and greater understanding of the nutritional needs of low-income people in our state. The organization states: "The [Food Supplement Program] is a safety net against hunger, putting healthy food within reach of low-income individuals and families." This got me thinking: What about people who require gluten-free food in order to be healthy? I cannot imagine adequately feeding myself for $30/week.  Sure, I could have as much rice and potatoes as I want, but I'd be missing a lot of important nutrients. Gluten-free foods are significantly more expensive than their gluten-ful counterparts. According to a study published from our neighbors up north (Stevens & Rashid, 2008): The average unit cost of a GF product is $1.71, while that average for a gluten-containing product is $0.61 Gluten-free foods, on average, cost 242% more than regular, gluten containing foods!  [I wanted to put a price comparison of a specific product here, but it's surprisingly difficult to find the cost of non-bulk produts online.]  By those standards, persons who qualify for food sustenance programs and require a medically-necessary gf diet should be receiving an average of $72/week.  Instead, they are essentially forced to compromise their health--either by eating less in quantity or quality or by forgoing the gluten-free diet. One could argue that fruits, meats, and vegetables--which are naturally gf--cost the same for everyone. This is certainly true and part of an ideal healthy diet.  Ideal, however, is not reality, especially in the food deserts that plague Baltimore's lowest income neighborhoods.  A family struggling to put food on the table often won't have the resources to travel for grocercies; they must make do with what's around.  If that means compromising a strictly g-free diet, the potential of needing costly medical services greatly increases.  That $30/week will soon seem like pennies to the government when they're  paying thousands for doctors' visits and medications. With that being said, I don't know the solution.  Mobilizing communities to establish bulk-buying co-ops could be a great start to keeping costs down for everyone.  Free produce home- or church-delivery in low-SES communities may also be worth considering.  Do you have any ideas?  Leave it in the comments section! *If you would like more information about the Food Stamp Challenge or to sign up to participate, visit their website.