SUMMARY

With rising grocery prices, many Americans are struggling to provide their families with healthy, complete meals. However, one chef is teaching his TikTok followers how to battle this problem through his advice on eating well on a budget, one $5 meal at a time.

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NOTE: If you are short on time, watch the video and complete this See, Think, Wonder activity: What did you notice? What did the story make you think about? What would you want to learn more about?

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WARM-UP QUESTIONS

1. Who are these $5 family meal videos specifically catered for?
2. What is the purpose of this food series?
3. Where can one participate, if they wanted, in this meal plan created by Chef Moe?
4. Why is Chef Moe picking out specific items during his food hunt? Why does he choose to shop at stores like Dollar General?
5. How does this TikTok food saga help change the shame (or stigma) that people tend to have toward cheap meals?

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

1. Through his TikTok series, Chef Moe provides his full support toward families who may struggle with buying the needed resources to make dinner. How do his videos help reduce the shame or stigma that families may feel toward making cheap meals?
2. What skills are needed in order to be able to successfully create a $5 meal plan?

Media literacy: Read over the following infographic and then answer the questions: What goal does the chart serve? Why is an infographic useful for better understanding the concept of budgeting during grocery trips and also maximizing the amount of food that is consumed rather than discarded later on?

WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO

Visit the following two websites: Eating Healthy on a Budget and Nutrition on a Budget: Cheap and Easy Ways for Students to Eat Well. Focus on the benefits beyond food consumption that come from healthy budgeting during grocery trips. Afterward, answer the questions that follow.

1. What is the general message shared by these articles?
2. How can students contribute toward helping prep healthy meal plans while on a budget?
3. Why is there a positive connection between better health and efficient budgeting during grocery trips?
4. What questions do you have on tips for eating healthy while on a spending plan?
5. When can you begin to implement these saving strategies?

Learn more about the benefits that come from food budgeting and seeking healthy cheap alternatives below:

• How meal planning can help you save money
• Meal planning: the benefits to your wealth and health

Written by Justin Vasquez Peralta, PBS News Hour Classroom's intern and News Hour's Vic Pasquantonio

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