Next week (October 6th-10th) I’ll be undertaking the £1 a day challenge to raise awareness of global food poverty: existing everywhere from rural Cambodia, to right here in the UK. The general idea is to limit yourself to £5 for 5 days, eating and drinking exclusively from that budget. There will be no snacking on workmates souvenir biscuits, or sharing pots of coffee – unless I’ve paid for my share from my budget!
I love food: choosing, cooking, tasting and eating lots of it. Many of you will know my close-to infatuation with almost every cheese form. However, for millions of individual and families, food is not an enjoyable pleasure, but a costly necessity that demands careful attention. Last year I worked with Edinburgh City Council, looking at their Edible Edinburgh campaign around nutrition and nourishment in the city. I learnt so much about the barriers to adequate food consumption, and about the range of food banks and food support available (and needed) where I live.
This challenge isn’t unique: every spring there is an international following for the ‘Live Below the Line’ challenge, which was started in 2009 by Australian national, Richard Fleming . He came up with the idea after spending two years working in Bangladesh, and challenged himself to spend 30 days living on a pound a day. Subsequently, this has been popularised on a shorter timescale, raising £2 million worldwide last year alone.
I’m aiming to post how the week is going through this blog as each day progresses: as well as the results from my shopping on Sunday!
I thought I’d share some of my hopes and fears (classical language) before the week starts:
- Eating Healthily – Although I’ll only be doing the challenge for a short period of time, it’s not aiming to be a starvation diet. I should be able to eat a balanced diet on a small amount of money…but will I just lapse into carbohydrates for every meal?
- Being More Creative – I rarely think about where my next meal is coming from, or what it will be, instead making something from what is available close to me. I’m hoping that in planning my meals I’ll be able to consider what I eat more thoroughly.
- Ethical Buying – I’m worried that in my cost-driven mindset I’ll have to relinquish some of the sustainability concerns I often take with me when I’m shopping. I’ve never bought caged eggs, for example: but as they will be my cheapest available form of protein, am I willing to give that up? Supermarket budget brands is another issue: not famed for their production quality or their fair prices to farmers.
- Affect on Mood – I’ve begun preparing friends and family mentally for potential behaviour change next week, if hunger or sugar or caffeine deprivation affect my (sunny) disposition. Knowing that I won’t be able to have a wake-up cup of tea is a bit frightening – probably most frightening to those I work with!
- Learning about the Live Below the Line Community – I’ve already done some recipes research to figure out what I might buy for the challenge, and I’ve found so many websites and blogs dedicated to doing the same thing. I’m hoping these will provide vital support when I feel in need of some too-expensive chocolate!
“Stay tuned” for updates next week! And if you want to know more about the challenge idea, I found this article a good starting point to considering food poverty in the UK.
Catriona in Cambodia 