Weekly Diet for Family in Mali

This family that lives in Mali spends, on average, about 27 dollars per week on food.  They cook most of their food on top of a wood fire.  This family lives in a mud-brick home which reveals their lack of money.  They preserve their foods by naturally drying them.  Their lack of wealth explains their high quantity of grain foods which they spend about 46 percent of their money.  Grain foods are cheap and filling.  The 12 dollars they spent on grain got them 66 lbs of dried corn, 44 lbs of millet, and 44 lbs of smoked rice.  The only dairy they drink in a week is a 1.1 gallon jug of sour milk.  Sour milk is not my preference but I assume they cant afford regular milk. 

For their meat, fish, and eggs they spend a little less than 6 percent of their money.  For the most part this gets them fish and okra, which they use to make a soup.  When they cant afford the fish they use okra only. 

           

Among the fruits, vegetables, and nuts, they spend about 25 percent of their money for food.  For the week they buy 5.5 lbs of tomatoes, 4.4 lbs of dried okra, 2.2 lbs of fresh onion, 1.1 lbs dried onions, 14 ounces dried red chile peppers, and a 14 ounce can of tomato paste when they can afford it.  They also purchase oranges from the market when they can afford it.  When this picture was taken, no fruits were in season.  When fruit is in season, they receive mangos from the ten trees planted by Sumana’s father. 

            

They spend about 23 percent of the weekly food money, 6 dollars, on condiments.  With the 6 dollars they buy 1.1 gallons vegetable oil, 5.5 lbs of salt, 2.2 lbs of tamarind, 7.3 lbs white sugar, and 3 lbs of a spice from nere tree pods called sumbala.  The sumbala is used for bouillon in soup.  They mix it with chile pepper and dried onion and cook it with smoked rice. 

            

The homemade food they make weekly is a 4 pound thick fried cake made of millet flour, water, and vegetable oil.  This is probably a tradition that the family has passed on from generation to generation. 

           

All of their water comes from a community well which means their water is clean.  Water is the only drink they have.  Overall their diet is very simple and cheap.  During times when they have more money they purchase more meats, fish, and eggs, as well as the oranges from the market.