Geneva Brown, 44, of Columbia, eyed vegetables in Gerbes Supermarket on Wednesday, trying to find the freshest food for the best prices. She picked up two heads of iceberg lettuce before finding one that fit her liking. Of the lettuce on sale, it was one of the cheapest available at 99 cents each.
As she pushed her cart around the produce section, Brown added a cucumber and tomato for a dinner salad to accompany spaghetti. She shopped on a budget, which is something she's familiar with as the mother of six.
"It can be really hard," she said. "The thing I always say is that I'm a sale seeker."
Brown's shopping trip in Jefferson City was different from others in her past - she was armed with more knowledge. As a part of the local Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS), Brown and other women participated in a grocery shopping lesson with Lynda Zimmerman, a nutrition and health education specialist with the University of Missouri extension service.
In its fourth year, FSS is designed to teach its Section 8 housing clients the skills to lead financially independent lives. Upon graduation from the program, a client receives money from an escrow account established when he or she entered the program. They can use the money - amounting to thousands of dollars - however they wish, said FSS coordinator Vicki Bullock. But the goal is placing a down payment on a home or car.
Through the program, clients are motivated to find better job opportunities, establish better credit, further their education and more. They are required to take weekly classes on how to function without government assistance.
"That's what I'm really focusing on," Brown said. "Graduating from this program, being able to be self sufficient and able to take care of everything I need without the help of anyone else."
As they weaved in and out of aisles Wednesday, Zimmerman taught them the balancing act of buying food while considering value, taste and nutrition. The women shared their money-saving tactics and the challenges of buying food for children.
"It's really tough. It's getting harder and harder to feed a family," said Dana Dixon, a Jefferson City woman with two children at home, while comparing prices in the frozen food aisle.
After their grocery store tour, they were given a $10 challenge - to purchase a balanced meal with a donated $10 gift card.
To get the best buy, the women were tasked to use what they had learned: freezing techniques, staying away from added sugar and sodium, differences between expiration and sell-by dates, deceptions in labeling and price differences between fresh, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables.
Dixon said Zimmerman's lessons have expanded her options in the grocery store. She said she tends to grab whatever is cheapest, typically processed foods, but now she knows how to incorporate healthy foods.
"Just because it's cheaper and more convenient, doesn't mean it's better for me and for my children," Dixon said. "You think you're doing the right thing because you're feeding them. And, a lot of times you're feeding them whatever you can on the budget that you have."
That was one lesson Zimmerman hoped to get across - good health and nutrition doesn't have to be expensive. Because low-income families are on limited budgets, she added, shouldn't mean compromising their health.
"You can stretch your food dollars and also think about the nutrients at the same time," Zimmerman said.