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.
This year, I’m trying something a little bit different this year. I wanted to see how things would change if I had access to the foods available – for free – at a food bank grocery pantry. No, I didn’t go stand in line at one of the 200+ pantries. I wouldn’t want to take the food people so desperately need. Instead, I supplemented my week’s $56 worth of groceries (2 people x $4 x 7 days=$56) with the items a two-person household would be allotted at a pantry this week:
2.4 lbs of potatoes
2.2 lbs of cucumbers
1.8 lbs of pears
1.4 lbs of carrots
2.2 lbs of tomatoes
2 lbs of stone fruit
2.2 lbs of onions
9 lbs of melon
Nice, huh? I’m going to end up with a lot more fresh fruit and vegetables – but I did cheat slightly, by subbing-in an amount of strawberries equal in value to the melon, since I’m allergic to melon. Yes, this is definitely not fair, since I couldn’t do that at a pantry; you just get what’s available. But I’m telling myself it’s OK, because the food bank often gets berries when they’re in season. The truth is, I’m just not in the mood to be a poor person this year.
GET INVOLVED!
♥ Take the Hunger Challenge yourself. It’s not too late to sign up, and it’s free!
♥ Read the blogs of 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
