Today brings the fifth day of my quest to eat for under $1 per day. Before tonight brings indulgence in much dreamed of and desired culinary delights, I would like to share a few thoughts.
First, the background of this project.
The idea was first born at a lunch between good friends; an observation of the copious amounts of food available and money used to acquire such quantities. This developed into a challenge: if millions of people eat for under a $1 per day, why couldn't we? Incorporating our role as resident mentors in the dorm we created a program to raise awareness about world hunger, collecting food donations and promoting our $1/day diet.
I nervously anticipated our event, imagining myself huddled on the floor every night clutching a bowl of rice and bean consumed by hunger pangs. However, I enjoy a good challenge among friends and of course promoting a worthy cause.
Sunday night we gathered supplies from Meijer:
(Pooling together our $5 for the week, we had $15 between the three of us)
-2 bags of dried lentils: $2.30
-2 boxes of saltine crackers: $2.58
-1 bag of rice: $2.24
-Jelly: $1.66
-Peanut butter: $2.99
-Pancake mix: $2.09
Total: $13.86
Part of the extra money went for homemade noodles and sriracha hot sauce. We could eat nothing else but this food for the week. While we realized there existed additional food close at hand, as any good event on campus includes free food, the object was not just to eat for $1/day but to eat as people who actually live off this meager budget.
Our diet for the next four days consisted of 2-3 small pancakes for breakfast, crackers with peanut butter and jelly for lunch, and lentils and rice for dinner.
It did not take long to realize how easy it was to survive on a little-demonstrating to me that on a normal day I probably eat more food, more frequently then I need. During the day, knowing that food was scarce, I could work for hours without feeling hungry. I was shocked at only experiencing real hunger pangs a few times through out the week. This is not to say that my current diet would be healthy in the long run especially since it was lacking fruits and vegetables-countless important vitamins and minerals. As a result of this unbalanced and lacking diet, I was left feeling unsatisfied, tired at times, and slept more than usual at night. However, t is amazing how the body can cope under change and stress. Surprisingly, I was proceeded through each day accomplishing necessary tasks, almost as usual.
A day or two into the world hunger challenge, I began to notice particular physical changes. Perhaps it was the lack of food that stimulated characteristics of the ancient hunter-gathering in me-experiencing heightened senses. I especially became acutely aware of sounds, making conscious observation of things I normally would not notice.
Examining retrospectively, the hardest part of this week was not actually being hungry but being surrounded by food. Although I was aware previously, this week particularly demonstrated the large role food plays in our society. It is difficult to go anywhere without interacting with food in some manner. There are numerous restaurants in any populated area. There is food at work. People's homes are stock-loaded with food. There is food at social events, gatherings, meetings. Not to mention how food is sold nearly everywhere possible including places that should not even sell food like hardware stores.
I was surprised by my own preoccupation with food. While I was not hungry much this week, I was not always full or satisfied with my meal. I spent an embarrassing amount of time and energy thinking about food I would like to eat.
Food is an important part of our lives not just for physical sustainability and performance, but pleasure and cultural reasons. Food plays a central role in holidays and celebrations. Food can be cooked as a gesture of affection towards others.
In a way food obviously has a hold on us.
Is that negative? Not necessarily. I believe awareness is key though.
Food is a marvelous part of lives but do not be consumed by what we consume.
Now, holding a cold Corona and preparing a mouth-water steak, I could not be more happy and appreciative for what I have.
To learn more about world hunger and make a donation to help those who really live for under $1 per day, please visit: www.thehungersite.org
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