Politics & Government

A Patch Editor's Notebook: Taking the Hunger Challenge

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but hard choices had to made and now it's time to see how many ways I can cook fish.

seemed pretty straight forward and relatively painless.  All I had to do was feed myself for five days on $22.30 or $4.46 a day.  The rules say things like mayonnaise and mustard and other condiments and spices don’t count against your budget.  Beer, coffee and whiskey do.

Also, as a participant in the challenge, I can’t let anyone take me out for a meal, I don’t get to entertain using the Patch credit card and I don’t get to eat anything already in the fridge.

Before heading to the store I made a list of the things I figured would count as staples.  Eggs, a big bag of frozen veggies, fruit, yogurt, some kind of meat and a grain were all on the list.  I walked around the grocery store pricing everything before putting anything in the basket. 

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Brown rice, at $.69 a bag was a no brainer.  A three-pound bag of frozen mixed veggies seemed like a good buy and a dozen jumbo eggs for $1.89 meant I had breakfast food.  I found a big bag of frozen fish fillets for $4.00.  With those items in the basket I knew I wouldn’t starve.  Now it was time to accessorize.  What kind of fruit?  I decided on apples because they make a good snack and, with some cheese, they are a tasty dessert.

Looking at my cart, I wasn’t convinced I wouldn’t get awfully hungry at times.  Then I remembered a conversation I had with my father when we lived in the Philippines.  I asked him why he never ate bananas and he told me that when he was a kid his family ate bananas all the time because they were very filling and inexpensive.  I grabbed a bunch of bananas.

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Now was the big decision. Coffee or alcohol? I could afford one or the other but certainly not both. 

I will be your designated driver all week.

Are you also taking The Hunger Challenge? Share your story! contact Concord Patch at Concord-Ca@patch.com. Feel free to also share in the comments section, below.


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