Frugal families learn how to cope with soaring food costs

— -- As recession worries deepen, food shoppers are trying to scrimp and save. But eating healthy on a budget is not easy.

At a time when wages are declining, the nation is experiencing the biggest rise in food prices in 18 years, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Unfortunately, high-calorie foods such as chips and cookies are cheaper than low-calorie foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables.

For this month's Frugal Family Challenge, USA TODAY and ABC's Good Morning America Weekend have challenged two families to cut back on their grocery food bills by 15%. We'll check back with them in a month. Both families will receive advice from Maile Carpenter, editor-in-chief of Food Network Magazine.

Here's a description of the families:

The Ramsay family.

They live in Miami. Tania, 47, works in payroll benefits for a hotel chain, and is raising two daughters. Her mother, Detha Ferguson, also lives with them. "I have four people to feed," she says. "It has been a challenge for me to come down on that part of my budget."

Every three weeks, she spends about $270. The Ramsay family seldom goes out to eat dinner. Tania is always looking for ways to save more money for her daughters' college education. No wonder the food cost has been getting to her.

"It's a lot of money, and we have other things that we need to do," Tania says. "Ouch!"

The Jones family.

Susan Sterman-Jones, a drama teacher at a private middle school, and Scott Jones, a photographer, have twins, Jackson and Ruby, 4. The couple, in their 40s, live in Hoboken, N.J., and spend about $194 a week on groceries. They mostly purchase high-quality, organic food.

"But we spend so much money on groceries," Susan says.

They shop at Whole Foods, which they know is more expensive than most supermarkets. "We've been addicted to them," Susan says. One type of food that they can't live without is fish, especially salmon. But there are products, such as frozen foods, they could drop. "I find they are easy to keep around the house when babysitters come," Susan says.