Thrifty Meal Challenge | Healthy Living

Planning, shopping, and preparing a nutritious meal is an important life skill. This challenge encourages participants to explore the different sections of a grocery store and consider a variety of money saving strategies to plan a nutritious meal while sticking to a limited budget. The participant will need to combine their knowledge of nutrition, meal planning, and financial responsibility to successfully plan a nutritious meal with limited funds.

Blue Ribbon Poster This experience will simulate a realistic life situation for many families where time, access to nutritious foods, and spending budget is limited. The Thrifty Meal Challenge also includes specific parameters that must be met including:

  • Proper serving sizes for four people
  • Inclusion of the five food groups
  • ​​​​​​​Total cost of meal ingredients being $11 or less.

This challenge has been incorporated as a Special Exhibition poster challenge as part of 4-H exhibits at fair. Additional learning experiences may be offered in a local workshop or virtually to prepare youth to be more equipped for this challenge. Statewide offerings will be posted on this website, along with suggested resources if youth want to dig deeper into this topic and learn more about nutrition and money saving strategies when grocery shopping.


This challenge has been incorporated as a Special Exhibition poster challenge as part of 4-H exhibits at fair. Additional learning experiences may be offered in a local workshop or virtually to prepare youth to be more equipped for this challenge. Statewide offerings will be posted on this website, along with suggested resources if youth want to dig deeper into this topic and learn more about nutrition and money saving strategies when grocery shopping.

Review the guidelines and resources below to best prepare yourself for this poster exhibit opportunity.

Special Exhibition

10490 - Thrifty Meal Challenge – Create a balanced, nutritious meal for a family of four that

includes a serving from each of the five food groups with a budget of $11.

Rules for the Challenge:​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

  1. Each county may select one exhibit in this class to be featured at the Iowa State Fair.
  2. All entries will receive an evaluation and ribbon.
  3. Exhibit may be from an individual or small group.
  4. The meal must serve at least four people and total expense on receipt(s) must not exceed $11.
  5. The meal must include a serving for each person from each of the five food groups.
    1. Fruit, Vegetable, Protein, Grain, and Dairy
    2. If there is a dairy allergy, you may substitute with a calcium rich item, but you will need to indicate the allergy and identify how the item substituted provides enough calcium.
  6. The exhibit will be a poster (maximum size 20”x30”) that includes:
    1. The menu and outline of food items and appropriate portion sizes for each food item.
    2. Meal type (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
    3. Grocery receipt(s)
    4. Photos of the experience: grocery shopping, food preparation, and prepared meal
    5. Attach a copy of the Thrifty Meal Challenge worksheet to the back of the poster.

Additional Guidelines:

  1. Total expense of the whole meal must not exceed $11.
  2. If other items are being purchased for another purpose, try to do a separate transaction so that the receipt copied for this project only includes items for the challenge.
  3. Ingredients or components of meal cannot be itemized and subtracted from total cost; you must include whole cost of the food product.
  4. Example: if you purchase bread to make sandwiches, you must consider the cost for the whole loaf, not just the 8 slices to make four sandwiches.
  5. The receipt and items purchased for meal need to be purchased at no more than two stores/venues.
  6. Garden produce is not accepted for this challenge, it must be grocery purchases.​​​​​​​
  7. Condiments that don’t count toward a portion size of a food group can be incorporated into the meal at no cost, assuming it is a staple item someone may already have in their pantry or refrigerator. (Examples: mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, spices or seasonings, oil or vinegar to cook food with, etc.)

Tips and Resources:

  1. USDA MyPlate website – www.choosemyplate.gov – Information regarding the five food groups and recommended serving sizes and equivalents included here.Recommended Serving Sizes:
    1. Fruit: ½ Cup
    2. Vegetable: ½ Cup
    3. Protein: 3 ounces
    4. Grain: 1-2 ounces (Goal of making half our grains whole.)
    5. Dairy: 1 Cup equivalent
  2. Spend Smart. Eat Smart. website – https://spendsmart.extension.iastate.edu/ - Information on how to eat healthy on a budget. Check out the sections: Plan, Shop, and Cook.
  3. Thrifty Meal Challenge Worksheet ​​​​​​​
  4. FAQ for Thrifty Meal Challenge (Coming Soon)