## People want food that is cheap, filling, and not embarrassing tyred of noisy diet rules and conflicting advice like simple ideas that can be shared with others ## Students living on rent and study money, often turning to instant noodles because “it’s what everyone does” see cheap food as survival but wish it didn’t feel like junk would like to be seen as capable, not broke students are often the first to try things and share them on campus school students peer culture can shift fast light teasing around plastic use plastic = oil, cardboard = trees aim is to make single-use plastic for food feel quietly embarrassing not moralised — just uncool more like “why are you still doing that?” the cultural equivalent of public-urination-yuck normalise bulk buying and simple cooking together sharing simple skills (e.g. sourdough baking) ### What They Need stretched between cost, time, and energy recipes that are cheaper and better than noodles, easy to cook in dorms visible examples of others making it work where they are: dorm kitchens, student clubs, TikTok cheap eats, Reddit frugal subs ### How We Can Be Useful change open to: swapping noodles for staples if it feels simple and proven barriers: cooking feels too hard, too costly, or too lonely first actions: - swap one noodle meal for a $2 potato dish - try a microwave recipe with a flatmate - share a dorm-kitchen photo in a group chat - lightly tease a mate for bringing plastic instead of a staple (“bro that’s oil, not food”) ## Frugal Households families or individuals making groceries stretch week to week cheap food doesn’t have to mean poor quality pride in feeding everyone well on little families bring scale and routine once students show it works ### What They Need constant pressure from high prices and limited energy clear, repeatable meals that others already trust where they are: food banks, online frugal groups, church groups ### How We Can Be Useful change open to: swapping packets for staples if the steps are simple barriers: worry that staples won’t satisfy, fear of wasting time, not sure kids will eat it first actions: - test one $10 family meal plan from the site - cook a bulk potato or lentil dish for leftovers - leave a quick note online about substitutions that worked ## Health-conscious Experimenters interested in nutrition but tyred of commercial diet culture want food that feels balanced and straightforward can provide credibility that cheap staples aren’t just cheap, they’re good ### What They Need clear nutrition basics without hype — potatoes, mussels, liver easy ways to try them out and see the results where they are: wellness blogs, YouTube explainers, co-ops ### How We Can Be Useful change open to: trying calm, low-cost alternatives to diet noise barriers: assume staples are bland, unsure how to cook them, doubt if it’s “healthy enough” first actions: - replace one “superfood” snack with a staple (e.g. liver pâté) - cook a potato + mussels meal and notice how it feels - share a simple nutrition fact in a wellness chat ## People Managing Chronic Illness often dealing with fatigue, pain, or unpredictable energy have been told to eat better but are overwhelmed by complex plans and expensive ingredients need stability more than perfection — routines they can maintain on bad days can become the most credible advocates because they notice quickly when food helps or harms ### What They Need meals that are extremely simple to prepare even with low energy clear signals about which foods tend to reduce inflammation or steady energy no guilt, no pressure, no “miracle cure” promises where they are: chronic illness forums, patient support groups, long COVID communities, disability advocates ### How We Can Be Useful change open to: seeing cheap staples as a low-risk experiment rather than another failed diet barriers: too tyred to cook, scared of making symptoms worse, already burned out on health advice first actions: - try one microwave potato on a rough day and notice how it feels - read a calm condition page without committing to anything - share a simple recipe in a support group if it worked ## Environmental Audience people who care about packaging, waste, climate want their food choices to fit with those values, but be healthy, too bring culture too — cheap food becomes respected if it’s also eco ### What They Need meals that are both affordable and low-waste where they are: environment clubs, co-ops, TikTok eco-tips ### How We Can Be Useful change open to: seeing staples as environmentally better barriers: think eco food costs more, fear it will take too much effort, feel peers won’t notice first actions: - swap one plastic-wrapped meal for a loose staple - share a photo of a “low-waste” dinner with friends - join a cooperative or group cooking effort ## School Canteen Staff and Teachers most school canteens run on thin budgets and very limited staff and in many cases the menu is not their choice it is constrained by departmental guidelines, procurement contracts, approval lists canteen workers often get blamed for choices they didn’t make potatoes, carrots, onions, and simple veg are some of the few foods they can freely shape they fit inside every health guideline, scale easily, and are already “green” under most systems this gives canteen staff a tiny pocket of freedom a place where they can create something good without waiting for approvals from above teachers already overstretched — we don’t add new duties can signal support by mentioning healthy eating when appropriate letting potato be normal in the classroom allowing kids to heat water if rules permit the reasonable.diet ideas map neatly into curriculum topics home economics, health classes, basic nutrition this is light-touch, not another programme ### What They Need recipes that are compliant with existing rules and easy to prep within their workload dishes that students will actually buy and eat student demand strong enough to justify menu changes to principals and district staff for teachers: curriculum-ready angles that fit existing lessons without extra prep where they are: school kitchens, canteen lines, procurement meetings, staff rooms, classrooms ### How We Can Be Useful change open to: reintroducing older healthier items that were approved years ago but fell off the menu barriers: fear of backlash from administrators, worry that healthier options won’t sell, no time to develop new recipes first actions: - add a simple potato or veg side that’s already within guidelines - point to student demand when justifying a small menu shift - use the recipes as proof that cheap healthy food is what kids are asking for - for teachers: mention potato as a historical staple in a lesson, or simply let thermos lunches be normal ## Parents of School-age Children not choosing the campaign — their children are kids ask loudly and repeatedly, and parents usually follow through if it’s cheap and harmless the link back to the campaign disappears into peer culture it becomes: “everyone’s child seems to want potato now… fine, it’s cheap anyway” they are the ones who pack the thermos, buy the potatoes, and adjust the weekly shop ### What They Need cheap, packable, no-fuss options that kids will actually eat peer cover so their child isn’t “the potato kid” instructions simple enough to hand to a child or pack before work where they are: kitchen benches at 7am, grocery aisles, group chats with other parents ### How We Can Be Useful change open to: sending warm food instead of packaged snacks barriers: worry the food will go cold, fear of looking odd, not sure what to pack first actions: - try the thermos-mash pattern once: pre-heat, pack, done - notice that half the class is doing it too - realise it costs cents and keeps a child full all morning ## Small Recipe Bloggers and Independent Cooking Sites independent creators who own their kitchens and their voice many are exhausted by the SEO trap — long stories, heavy layouts, algorithmic filler but what they actually want is to cook, photograph, and share in their own style they already have audiences, rhythms, and ways of explaining things that work for them the goal is to give them more time for that, and less time fighting platforms what reasonable.diet offers them promotion and traffic back to their own site recipes mirrored here carry clear credit and a direct link home profile pages on reasonable.diet link straight to their donation page, Patreon, Ko-fi, or shop readers discover them through our filters and search, then leave to support them there control over their own ecosystem they keep their blog, their newsletter, their brand, their voice they choose which recipes get mirrored and which stay exclusive to their site they can export their archive into a clean standard format and publish their own mini recipe books personality-first imports their writing style, photos, asides, and substitutions come through intact nothing gets flattened into generic templates lightweight tools for their own site Clippy integration: a tiny JS snippet that adds command-line features to their pages /scale, /convert, /dietary-restriction — readers interact without leaving the blog open recipe standard: structured data that imports cleanly into reasonable.diet with zero migration volunteers available to help implement either, or clean and standardise an existing archive ### What They Need visibility without having to game search engines a way to turn readers into supporters — donations, subscriptions, book sales structured recipe data that travels with them if they move platforms where they are: personal blogs, Substack newsletters, small recipe sites, Patreon, Ko-fi ### How We Can Be Useful change open to: treating reasonable.diet as a promotional channel and tool layer, not a replacement barriers: fear of losing ownership, worry that a mirror steals traffic, not sure the technical work is worth it first actions: - create a profile page that links back to their site and donation page - import one recipe using the open standard and see how it renders - try the Clippy snippet on a single post - accept a volunteer offer to standardise a small batch of recipes without moving hosting ## University Welfare Officers, Residential Advisors, and Student Guilds gatekeepers of campus culture and wellbeing resources they decide what goes in orientation packs, which posters stay up, and what initiatives get supported often overstretched and wary of adding another programme students will ignore students already want this they just need the materials to be ready-made and low-risk ### What They Need ready-to-print packs that require no extra work from their side initiatives with proven student appeal, not another top-down wellness mandate cover if something goes wrong — “the students brought this to us” where they are: orientation planning meetings, welfare desks, residential hall offices, guild rooms ### How We Can Be Useful change open to: including the $20 shop list and poster packs in existing channels barriers: worry it looks unofficial, fear of liability, not enough time to vet content first actions: - drop the poster PDF into an existing student Discord or group chat - include the $20 weekly shop list in an orientation or welfare email - let student ambassadors handle the physical placement while staff simply don’t object ### Sharing reasonable.diet people share reasonable.diet by doing it first, then talking about it the actions are small and ordinary swap one meal → tell a flatmate → share a photo → it grows university campuses the core seeding bed dorms are contained environments — one person cooking reaches dozens posters go where students actually look: bathroom mirrors, above kettles, beside ramen shelves, on fridge doors the "$20 weekly shop" becomes a campus in-joke and a quiet safety net volunteers who already put up posters for other campaigns know which noticeboards stay up from here it leaks outward: students go home for the weekend → cook for their families summer break → habits carry into share houses and first apartments graduation → the staple pattern moves into adult life close circles flatmates see you microwaving a potato and ask what you’re making friends notice you’re not buying noodles any more partners taste a $2 dinner that actually fills them up these are the highest-trust conversions nobody needs to be convinced by a stranger if someone they live with is already doing it social media TikTok → short clips of dorm kitchens, microwave potatoes, "$20 weekly shop" breakdowns Reddit → frugal and student subs, honest reviews, cost breakdowns Discord → shared in study group chats, calm.college servers, local community groups group chats → "look what I made for $2" → "send the link" → done Instagram stories → before-and-after grocery receipts, thermos lunches, "fed myself for $17 this week" the content is not polished messy kitchens, real receipts, honest mistakes that is what makes it trustworthy online sharing regular people post recipe links in their group chats with no explanation needed "this one" — that is the whole pitch someone screenshots a poster and drops it in a Discord server the PDF gets forwarded through ten group chats before dinner people share their own versions: "here is my $20 shop" "here is how I make it in my weird kettle" "here is the vegetarian fork I made" each personal edit is a new entry point QR codes on posters go straight to recipes no app, no signup, no friction just a clean page that loads fast on campus Wi-Fi the site is built to be shared: shareable filter URLs, shareable search results, shareable grocery lists if someone finds a perfect recipe for their broke friend, they send the exact link physical presence posters in bathrooms, kitchens, noticeboards, bus stops whiteboards and fridge doors → "potato is cheaper" → "bring potato tomorrow" the two-pronged poster pattern poster #1 catches someone hungry poster #2 helps them cook cooking circles → small groups cooking together, splitting costs, sharing meals bucket culture → a crate of potatoes in the common room that anyone can take from kid-to-kid the most powerful vector in schools is not parents or teachers — it is students "please send potato to school tomorrow" thermos mash becomes a trend memes and TikTok edits spread faster than any official message when enough kids ask, parents follow through it’s cheap and harmless, so they say yes the link back to the campaign disappears into peer culture creators and bloggers independent food writers and video makers with their own platforms reasonable.diet sends traffic to them, not just away from them recipes mirrored here carry clear credit and a link home profile pages collect their work and point readers to their donation or subscription page wellness bloggers try a potato + mussels meal and write about how it felt student pages post "$20 shop" reels food TikTokers show the "microwave cuisine supremacy" angle they link back to reasonable.diet or just mention the idea no central coordination needed the idea travels through their own audiences institutional routes food banks add reasonable.diet recipes to their handouts church groups share bulk-cooking guides community kitchens put the posters on their walls university welfare officers include the $20 shop list in orientation packs these are slower but reach people who are not online the pattern someone cooks one cheap meal → feels surprisingly good → tells one person that person tries it → tells two more within a week a dorm or a class or a household has shifted the spread is not viral in the marketing sense it is viral in the human sense: useful, honest, easy to copy ### Ambassadors and Volunteers Community connect with food banks, co-ops, and student unions to spread reasonable.diet as a free resource; invite people from your own online circles; keep recipe folders, tags, and lists tidy so anyone can find meals quickly. Programming build and refine the site so it stays light, fast, and human; help small recipe sites that reach out to us by simplifying their structure; integrate open standards cleanly; keep things calm and reliable. • developers can also support the “meta-recipe” culture — helping structure base recipes — adding simple forks — keeping regional variations tidy so everyone can build on each other’s work Organising bring contributors together to trial recipes and campaigns; place volunteers into roles that match their energy; welcome newcomers and guide them into groups where they can start straight away. Influencing shape the message that cheap food is doable, not shameful; adapt content to local staples; run casual, playful accounts that spread tips lightly and keep the project visible. Research link cheap staples to clear health outcomes; study frugal food traditions and highlight what works locally; share plain insights volunteers can use. Editing + Artistry set a creative tone of “cheap, tasty, cool”; package recipes into guides, reels, and posters that circulate easily; make memes, graphics, and short clips that keep frugal food fun to talk about.