I’m taking the San Francisco Food Bank’s Hunger Challenge for the third year – trying to feed my husband (the Bottomless Pit) and myself for just $4 each per day. But this year, I’ve got a secret weapon! I’m supplementing our menu with the items I could have received for free, at one of 200+ food bank grocery pantries.
Here’s a great example of the huge difference my hypothetical food bank items would have made. I roasted a chicken (on sale at Safeway for $1.29/lb). Riffing on one of my favorite (RIP) Gourmet magazine recipes, I rubbed it with a blend of salt, pepper, olive oil and rosemary. I let myself have fresh rosemary because it could easily be plucked from public landscaping nearly anywhere in San Francisco.
I set the bird (alas not organic or free-range) on top of a cornucopia of potatoes, carrots, onions and tomatoes. ALL of these veggies came from my faux food bank allotment. Without them, I would have had…just chicken. Amazing what a difference a trip to a grocery pantry makes in someone’s food options!
I sliced some garlic into the vegetables, drizzled them with a little olive oil and roasted everything for 90 minutes at 425 degrees, basting along the way. It made enough for two dinners for two, with extra leftovers. All for about $1.60 per serving, with some “free” food bank cucumber slices on the side. Of course, the Bottomless Pit thinks the food bank should hand out wine (well, at least to him). Tough luck, guy!
A very good, very personal lesson in how important it is for those living in poverty to have access to a grocery pantry.
GET INVOLVED!
♥ Take the Hunger Challenge yourself. It’s not too late to sign up, and it’s free!
♥ Read blogs by people taking the Hunger Challenge. There’s a blogroll here.
♥ Follow the Hunger Challengers on Twitter. There’s a listing here.
♥ Learn more about the San Francisco Food Bank.
♥ Follow the San Francisco Food Bank on Twitter to see how they’re fighting hunger every day.
Lowell Thomas Award-winner Gayle Keck has sipped fermented mare’s milk in Kyrgyzstan, dug for truffles in Italy, crafted wine at Napa Valley’s “Crush Camp” and munched her way through every continent except Antarctica, which seems far too focused on frozen food.
She has written for Gourmet, National Geographic Traveler, Zagat San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants 2010, and is a frequent contributor to the Washington Post and other major newspapers.
Gayle has visited 49 US states (sorry, North Dakota) and more than 40 countries – though her favorite trip was a flight from Chicago to San Francisco, when she met her future husband on the airplane. She also blogs at Been There Ate That
