In this November 2015 segment from PBS News Hour, correspondent William Brangham goes to New York to meet with Leanne Brown, the author of a new cook called Good an Cheap: How to Eat Well on $4 a Day. Brangham tells us that the book started as Brown’s master’s thesis at NYU’s food studies program in an attempt to answer the question: could someone on food stamps eat well on the program’s budget of $4 per person per day. Brown says that eating well is a right, not a luxury, and that eating on $4 a day is a reality for 46 million people. Brangham tells us that Brown posted the recipes and photos from her thesis on her website for free, and, when that was posted to an online message board, things took off. Her Kickstarter campaign raised $10,000 in 36 hours and $140,000 altogether, which allowed her to send $30,000 low- or no-cost copies to non-profits to give away for free. Finally, Brown shows us how to make two dishes from her cookbook that would work for Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving-style deviled eggs and cheesy cauliflower, a substitute for mac and cheese.

discussion

Why is this segment featuring a cookbook part of a news show?

What is the message behind Good and Cheap? Why is eating well a “right”?

What two recipes does Brown show us how to make? How are her book and cooking demonstration similar or different to other cooking shows you’ve seen?

How does this cookbook relate to the “food stamp challenge,” where people of
means like Gwyneth Paltrow try to eat on the amount of money given on the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, often called “food stamps”?