I followed an RFK-approved, $15-a-day diet for a week

Walter Bibikow/Getty Images; Alex Wong/Getty Images; Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI

I didn't set out to follow a political diet, or any diet at all, really. But it was January, the new food pyramid was out, and according to the people in charge, it was healthy and easy to do on the cheap. Plus, I like a challenge.

At the start of the year, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced the federal government's new dietary guidelines for how Americans should aspire to eat.