Pola! While the competition was fierce, Pola is taking home a $250 gift certificate to Nobu. Here's why:

With only $50 to eat lunch over the course fo 5 days in Tribeca, Pola achieved the following:

• She spent $7.75 per meal on average
• She spent a grand total of $38.75, leaving her with a surplus of $11.25 
• 3 out of 5 meals contained organic ingredients and received positive food plate points from each judge
  
• She raised her own bar throughout the process, adding a vegetarian meal in the end, even though she knew that meals with meat were less expensive

Congratulations Pola!

You might be wondering how Brian is feeling. As it turns out, the camraderie built during the challenge prompted Pola to share her award with Brian. 

Who do you think won?

The stakes are raised as the analysts aim to meet the USDA Food Plate criteria.

Yesterday the analysts went mobile, sampling fare from two popular food trucks in Tribeca.

Which analyst do you think came out on top?

Day 1: The TriBeCa Cheap Eats Chowdown from Luminary Labs on Vimeo.

Last week, two analysts at Luminary Labs noted that while they love our office neighborhood, it was hard to eat lunch for less than $15 a day. So we gave them each $50 and challenged them to see if they could eat a healthy, filling lunch every day for 1 week.

4 judges will score the analysts' lunches each day on:

• Drool factor
• USDA food plate factor

The participants will score:

• Eating experience
• Purchase experience

Bonus points will be awarded for:

• Organic or locally-sourced food
• Eco-friendly packaging
• Combination meal (bang for buck)

The winner will be determined by the scores above + judges' discretion. The winner will receive a $250 gift certificate to a TriBeCa restaurant so that they can impress their analyst friends. Stay tuned to watch the challenge unfold!