There are a lot of aspects to the finance and food purchase patterns. Many families are quite literally budgeted down to the last dollar. An extra can of beans may mean doing without something else. Hard for a lot of people to imagine but there are a lot of people who live very close to the edge financially, emotionally, physically.

It is hard to overestimate how stressed the bottom ten percent of the population is.

Also it has to be noted that eating at McDonnald's is fairly effective in a calories per dollar basis. But the big payoff is in time and effort. A single mother working two or three jobs six or seven days a week, shuttling kids to school and daycare, and catching sleep a few hours at a time whenever they can often have little time or energy to cook. Hitting the drive-through on the way home from picking the kids up from daycare is about as good as it gets.

For these people tossing the kids old Power Ranger comforter into the car, refilling discarded soda bottles, and getting a few large deep-discount candles may be a major advance. These ten steps Baby steps are just barely doable.

The good news is the first steps have the biggest payoff for the least investment.

I would rather see hundreds of families with few resources get a minimalist kit together than one or two assembling extensive kits.