Can you feed yourself in Valencia for five euros a day? That was the question Kurt Aguilar asked when he decided to try to feed himself for a week using only the Too Good to Go app… here are his results
Can you feed yourself in Valencia for five euros a day? Thanks to an online
organisation that matches unsold food from stores and restaurants with bargain-hunting
shoppers, I discovered the answer is – well, yes, probably. But you do have to really like eggs and
potatoes…
Too Good To Go aims to reduce food waste while offering retirees, students and
working families some relief from rising costs of food. Not to mention the drudgery of always
conceiving, shopping for and preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Too Good To Go began in Copenhagen in 2016. It now serves 19 countries with
170,000 businesses participating, including dozens in Valencia. It claims on its website
to having kept 350 million meals out of landfills.
The concept and execution are simple and straightforward. Businesses offer up bags of
food on the Too Good to Go app (download it at toogoodtogo.com). Customers shop the app,
purchase goods and pick them up at the business at an appointed time. Customers
don’t get to choose their food, so some creativity and sense of adventure (or
desperation) serve you well. Bags cost about three to seven euros and the products can
run from full pizzas and nourishing soups to far-past-their-prime fruits and vegetables.
But can you survive on it alone?
I gave it a try for a working week. My goal was to visit five businesses within walking distance of my apartment over five days and see if I could eat for that period without supplementing my Too Good to Go
purchases. I selected a mix of business types and tried to keep from cooking anything
too complicated.
I also started out with a workable but not extravagant pantry – salt, pepper, oil, vinegar,
sugar, flour, rice, dry pasta, pepper flakes, soy sauce, mayo and mustard.
Here’s what I got for the money.
Sunday pickup
Carrefour Express – 3.99€
(2-9 pm pickup)
12 XL eggs
2 kilo bag of potatoes
30 cm ham and cheese pizza
5 peaches
3 apples
2 limes
Bag of peanut crackers
Verdict: This was a super deal even after I broke three of the eggs in transit.
Monday pickup
Fruteria Zaidia – 3.99€
(2-2:30 pm)
8 potatoes
5 onions
3 eggplants
2 cucumbers
1 butternut squash
7 mandarins
3 apples
2 pomegranates
2 peaches
1 persimmon
A handful of walnuts
Verdict: High volume and great variety. But some of the produce had seen better days. The
mandarins were good only for juicing, some of the apples and onions were right on the
edge and some potatoes had softened. And I had to toss one peach in a streetside bin
because it had begun to rot. But, still, it was less than 4€.
(Wednesday was a holiday, so I doubled up on Monday pickups)
Horno Sant Vicent – 2.99€
(7:30-8:30 pm)
2 cocas (sausage and peppers and tomato, tuna and olive)
Croissant
Donut
Chocolate croissant
Large piece of lemon pound cake
Verdict: Very good. Everything was still fresh and of high quality.
Tuesday pickup
El Mercat – 5.20€
(12-8 pm)
Two pieces of tortilla
Verdict: Not a lot of thought or effort seemed to be given to my costliest bag. The price was only
a couple of euros less than you’d pay for a higher quality product across the way at the
Central Market. Pretty disappointing.
Thursday pickup
El Nuevo Colmao – 4.49€
(2:30-3 pm)
Black rice
Paella Valenciana
Green salad
Verdict: The rice dishes were good. Super bonus points for the salad. A solid offering.
Thursday pickup Part 2 (I couldn’t resist seeing what this excellent vegetarian place had to
offer)
Biovegan by Herbalario Navarro – 4:99€
(6:30-8 pm)
Litre of broccoli soupLitre of bean and vegetable stew
Croissant
Cinnamon roll
Verdict: The stew was by far the best thing I got all week. It was hearty, flavoursome and healthy. The
rest of the goods were also top notch.
Pics of Kurt’s haul all © Kurt Aguilar):
And here’s my meal plan
I started by making the apples into applesauce and using some of the potatoes and
eggs to make a potato salad.
Monday breakfast – one egg and hash browns, juice
Monday lunch – pizza
Monday dinner – egg salad sandwich on croissant and cucumber salad
Tuesday breakfast – pastries and peach
Tuesday lunch – cocas
Tuesday dinner – aubergine, butternut squash and onion stir fry with rice; cake for
dessert
Wednesday breakfast – fruit cup (peach, persimmon, pomegranate seeds, walnuts)
Wednesday lunch – potato salad and crackers
Wednesday dinner – tortillas and cucumber salad
Thursday breakfast – egg and home fries, juice
Thursday lunch – paella
Thursday dinner – bean and vegetable stew with green salad
Friday breakfast – applesauce and cinnamon rollFriday lunch — black rice
Friday dinner – broccoli soup and potato salad
So I did manage to put together three meals a day for a working week and came very close
to my 25 euro goal (25.66 euro), But I wasn’t particularly pleased with some of the
meals. A dearth of protein other than eggs was a big problem for me. Although a
butcher and fish monger offered options on the app, I found it too scary to take a flier on
about-to-expire meat and seafood.
Bottom line – although you can get by on about five euros a day, you would probably be
healthier and happier if you spent an extra 10 euros or so a week and got some leafy
greens and protein at a market.