LEWISTON — Mwayuma Avoki doesn’t have much money, so when she buys groceries she focuses on how to get more with less and what’s healthy.
The mother of two, an immigrant from Congo, Avoki has come up with shopping rules that could help nearly every budget.
Her enthusiasm has earned her the designation of PowerMom by nutrition educators for the Maine Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Avoki is one of two Maine mothers showcased in an online video campaign titled Shop, Cook, Eat Healthy on a Budget.
From her Blake Street apartment, Avoki shared her tips as her sons, Gairus, 4, and Ogusto, 5, played.
On her walls are framed photos of her sons and a crucifix. She speaks seven languages, including French and Swahili. She interprets for those who need it, attends Lewiston Adult Education and wants to become a nurse.
Shopping in the United States compared to Congo is confusing, she said. “You see a lot of prices. When I went to give them money, it was very high. I said, ‘What are you guys doing?’”
Avoki said she now knows there’s a difference between unit prices and actual prices for the amount purchased. “Everybody knows how to shop. We didn’t know the amount, how to compare the price and get more food with less money,” she said. “And we didn’t know what kind of food was good for our body and what was not.”
All of that was explained during shopping/nutrition classes at Androscoggin Head Start. She now coaches others.
How much she spends when shopping varies, she said. Sometimes she shops for one week, sometimes for two. Typically she spends between $50 and $100 per shopping trip.
Breakfast is cereal, oatmeal, milk and fresh fruit. Other meals include whole wheat bread, peanut butter, cheese, rice, some meat and lots of vegetables. Once or twice a month she’ll let her boys have pizza. “It’s OK once in a while,” she said. “I like vegetables and fruits in their bodies most of the time.”
In Congo she shopped at farmers markets where there was little if any processed food. People there ate mostly vegetables. “Meat is very expensive,” she said.
When they had chicken, they would eat “just a little piece,” making the chicken last three days.
Norma Larocque, the health coordinator at Androscoggin Head Start, nominated Avoki to be a PowerMom.
Avoki was enthusiastic about what she learned at Head Start nutrition classes. “She brought family. She recruited for me,” Larocque said. Avoki even took Larocque’s class twice. “She said, ‘I learn better if I hear it the second time.’”
Larocque said she’s impressed that Avoki feeds her sons healthful food without much money. “She’s amazing.”
How you shop, what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat matters, she said. For example, no one should eat much late in the day, it will make you gain weight, Avoki said.
“We can be killing the body without knowing it,” she said. “It kills the body when we put too much salt. Then we have high blood pressure.”
Instead of spending on prescriptions, “we want to spend money to eat right and stay healthy,” she said.
bwashuk@sunjournal.com
Feeding five on $260 a month
FARMINGTON — Stay-at-home mom Jami Enman feeds herself and her husband and children ages 2, 6 and 7 on $260 a month. And they eat healthy, she said.
Enman is a PowerMom, one of two Maine mothers promoted in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s education video titled Shop, Cook, Eat Healthy on a Budget.
Enman said their old-fashioned lifestyle makes it possible.
Modern-day homesteaders, they raise their own animals, chickens and rabbits for meat.
“We’re big-time gardeners,” she said. They have a 50- by 60-foot garden plus raised beds for vegetables.
At harvest time, they do a lot of freezing and canning. More vegetables are stored in their root cellar.
She plans every meal, every food, her family eats to save money and eat healthfully. When she cooks a meal, she makes enough for two nights instead of one.
Enman makes bread and most of her children’s snacks, including chips from dried fruits and vegetables. “My kids love fruit leather,” she said. She makes it by pureeing food, drying it with a dehydrator and placing it on parchment paper.
Vegetables are a big part of what they eat. “We don’t buy anything with preservatives,” Enman said. “We go as organic as we can. We don’t buy red meat. It’s really expensive.”
Groceries include peanut butter, beans, rice, fresh potatoes, dairy products and some snacks. She shops for sales.
“It’s a lot of work to feed a family of five on $260 a month,” Enman said. She started feeding her family on that tight budget when they were on food stamps several years ago. Since then, their household income has risen. They are no longer on the SNAP program, but Enman has stuck with the tight budget.
Not everyone can raise the amount of food her family does, she said, but everyone can save and eat healthfully by planning ahead.
“Sit down and plan the meals your household will eat ahead of time,” Enman said. “The fewer trips to the store, the less money you spend. That is big.”
When consumers go to the store often, “you’re buying on impulse,” she said.
— Bonnie Washuk
Mwayuma Avoki’s grocery-shopping rules
* Compare prices at different stores to find the best buys.
* Take the exact amount of money you want to spend.
* Always make a list and stick to it.
* Always make a meal plan.
* Don’t shop with your children. “They like everything they see,” she said. “They will have you spend extra dollars.”
* Shop at farmers markets. Avoki goes to the market in Kennedy Park. “They sell vegetables cheaper. They are fresh from the ground,” she said. She stocks up on vegetables and freezes them for the winter.
* Buy vegetables more than any other food category. “I buy fresh vegetables and fruits, then milk, whole wheat, peanut butter for my children,” she said. Chicken and pork are on their dinner plates but in smaller quantities.
* Don’t buy soda, juice once in a while. “We drink water and milk,” Avoki said.
* Don’t buy cookies, chips, cake, ice cream. “
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