Live Below the Line Day 5 and Wrap Up - No More Poor People Food!

If you've been following my family on our Live Below the Line journey, you know that Friday was a big day for us.  Friday marked the end of our time living below the line, and I'm pleased to report we all came through it unscathed.  Both my kids did great, after some initial resistance it turned out to be an important lesson in gratitude and empathy for all of us.

I've been asked A LOT of questions about Live Below the Line so I figured I would use this final post to answer some of your questions.

Q:  So what's this I hear that you are not eating?
Live Below the Line is not a fast.  It is a global campaign created to raise awareness of extreme poverty.  US participants ate for five days on only $1.50 a day.  I am raising money for the cause by getting generous folks to sponsor my efforts.

Q:  How did you become aware of this program?
One of my favorite charities is the Rainforest Foundation US.  This year they partnered with several organizations such as UNICEF, The Global Poverty Project, Shot @ Life, and CARE to promote Live Below the Line in the United States. 

Q:  Why would the Rainforest Foundation US be interested in extreme global poverty?
The mission of the Rainforest Foundation US is to support indigenous and traditional people of the world's rainforests in their efforts to protect their environment and fulfill their rights.  In this regard the Rainforest Foundation US has always viewed the protection of rainforests as both an environmental issue and a human rights issue.  While indigenous peoples represent only 5% of the world's population, they represent almost 15% of those living in extreme poverty.  This is where the connection between human rights and land conservation really hits home.  The destruction of rainforests isn't just about cutting down trees, it's about destroying communities and obliterating thriving indigenous cultures.  Seamless assimilation for those forced off their lands is a fantasy, more often they are pushed out of the rainforest and into extreme poverty.

Q:  Who came up with $1.50?
The World Bank developed this calculation in 2005.
 
National Poverty Lines = Cost of minimum calorie intake + equivalent non-food allowance

Q:  HUH? 
Basically it's what it costs in US currency to obtain the least amount of calories needed to stay upright, plus all the other stuff you need to make it through the day.  Other countries do not get $1.50 US currency, the calculation is done in their currency.

Q:  What's a non-food allowance?
Gas, shelter, hot water, medical care, etc.  In others words the $1.50 I had just for food would need to cover ALL EXPENSES if I was truly living in extreme poverty.  That's $547.50 a year - I spend more than that getting my hair done in a year!!!

Q:  What in heck did you eat on $1.50 a day?
I was surprised that it wasn't so much about quantity of food but the quality of food.  Aside from beans there was almost no room in the budget for fruits and veggies.  We had no beef, chicken, or fish during Live Below the Line.  What we did eat was a lot of rice, oats, and pasta, I also made a pot of lentil soup that was eaten throughout the week.  We didn't go to bed with empty bellies, but we didn't go to bed feeling particularly satisfied either.

Q:  Did you accept food donations?
Live Below the Line participants were asked not to accept donations of food.  I can attest that some of the best cooks in the neighborhood offered to drop something by and I had to decline.

Q:  Did your kids really understand it or did they just view it as a punishment? 
At first they did view it as a punishment.  But by the end of the week they really started getting it and started asking thoughtful questions about it.  My son even gave a presentation to his 3rd grade class about Live Below the Line.

Q:  So where is extreme poverty happening?
There is not a corner of the planet immune to the suffering of extreme poverty.  Currently there are 1.4 BILLION people suffering world wide.  That number is equal to the US population times SEVEN.

Q:  1.4 billion, that's a lot of people?
Here's another mind blowing statistic.  In 2011 nearly eight million people died as a result of extreme poverty.  That means more people died of extreme poverty last year than died of AIDS and all of earths natural disasters COMBINED.  Extreme poverty is the global pandemic that nobody is talking about.

Q:  So what can I do??
There are two great things you can do to support Live Below the Line.  First off you can still make a donation in support of my efforts by visiting my Live Below the Line campaign page here.  Live Below the Line is running the entire month of May, so if you've really been inspired you can register here, or you can even put together a group together to Live Below Line.

Thanks for taking this journey with my family and me.  I hope you'll take the time to learn more about the global tragedy of extreme poverty, and do whatever to can to stop it.









 

Live Below the Line - Day 4 - Unrest on the Sidelines.

My apologies for the lateness of this post, I spent most of the day working at the annual LUNCHEON (I know right!) honoring the terrific teachers and staff at my children's school.  From there we went right into my usual after school chauffeur gig.  Above the Line, Below the Line, the mommy thing keeps chuggin' along.

We've reached day four of Live Below the Line, and while the support from friends has been great, the kids are getting crankier by the day.  It's tough to keep them focused on the message of Live Below the Line when they are increasingly resentful of missing out on some much loved, food centered traditions.

Comfort food has taken on a whole new meaning over the last four days, especially for my children.  Tuesday my daughter eats dinner during a break at choir rehearsal.  She and Dad have a Father/Daughter picnic of sorts with a typical meal of soup and a sandwich.  This week was soup and a piece of bread.  Wednesday is fruit cart at school and my kids are ALWAYS given enough money to buy not one, but two pieces of fruit.  No fruit cart money this week.  Thursday is ice cream, but there is no money to buy it.  At Thursdays dance class daughter couldn't buy her usual water.  The Thursday dinner of choice is spaghetti and meatballs, but that was scrapped too.  All this discombobulation in their routines will be capped by with the ultimate insult tomorrow - no money for their beloved Pizza Friday at school and no Friday night meal of their choice.  They are frustrated, powerless, and resentful of Living Below the Line.

While I'm sure my kids lives will return to normal after breakfast on Saturday, Live Below the Line was created to raise awareness of 1.8 billion people that are trapped in extreme poverty.  If the reality of an army of 1.8 billion people whose lives fueled by frustration and resentment doesn't concern you, it should.  If you feel there is nothing you can do to help, you shouldn't.  Your donation can bring them the food, shelter, medical care and education they need to escape extreme poverty for good.  Please visit my campaign board here and support Live Below the Line. 

Live Below the Line - Day Three - the Real Hunger Games.

Day Three and word is getting out of our participation in Live Below the Line.  I've actually raised some money!!!  Thanks so much guys, and keep those donations comin'!!!!

The wisecracks and questions about our Live Below the Line experience fall into two categories; shock that my family is actually eating food purchased at the Dollar Store, and disbelief that the kids are actually doing this at all.  I can even hear the slightest hint of concern in the voices of curious mothers, one Mom even offered to give me food.  See here in suburbia we are not supposed to EVER find ourselves in a position where we are forced to deny our children food because we can't afford any.  But remember that what I'm doing is not unique, millions and millions and millions of mothers send their kids to bed hungry every night, and wake the next knowing they will do it again. 

"What are you going to do on Pizza Friday?" asked one of the Moms.  I have little doubt that if anything drives my kids to secretly break open their piggy banks to purchase illicit food, it will be Pizza Friday.  My childrens school has no cafeteria, but every Friday Vincent's Pizzeria delivers it's tasty goods for purchase, $2.00 for one slice and water or $4.00 for two slices and water.  If my kids resort to using their own money it would mark the first meal they have ever purchased.  It makes me wonder what millions of youngsters living in extreme poverty must resort to doing for food; picking through garbage, stealing, and heaven knows what else.    

Like most suburban kids my daughters' schedule rivals that of the First Lady, so keeping her nourished is of particular concern.  Yesterday was a piano lesson followed by her Spring Concert, where she performed with the band and the chorus.  I made a large pot of lentil soup and served it to her with a slice of bread.  Despite being less than enthused with the offering she was grateful for the food.  Today the real challenge beings.  Today and Thursday she will dance for two hours after school and play a softball game on Friday.  I'm actually playing out scenarios where I eat as little as possible in order to throw more food her way. 

Not lost on me is the irony that I am fueling her for luxuries that the 1.8 billion people living in extreme poverty can't begin to fathom.  The luxury of learning.  Learning to read and write, learning to play the piano, learning to play softball, and learning to dance are things that a kid with an empty belly isn't terribly concerned about.  In that sense the 1.8 billion represent so much more than empty stomachs.  They represent countless billions of talents never realized and dreams never fulfilled. 

Live Below the Line, so others may rise above it.  That's the tag line of this campaign and I couldn't have said it better myself.  Please try to lend whatever support you can by donating here.

Food Money Remaining - $10.93 (in part due to the kids breaking into the freezer and eating ice cream, resulting in a $2.00 expense) 

Live Below the Line - Day Two - Fussy Eaters No More.

Two days into Live Below the Line and even I'm starting to feel the effects of such a limited diet.  Usually by 9:30 I've topped off my morning coffee at least once.  I enjoyed a breakfast of Quaker Oats, but with only water and a slice from a $.35 lemon I'm actually feeling a little light headed as I write this.

Throughout this little adventure I am constantly reminded of an episode of Oprah I watched featuring food-writer Michael Pollen.  To show how fast food has become a staple for people living on an extremely tight food budget the family visited a supermarket and a McDonald's.  Using the $.99 menu at McDonald's the mother provided her three children with burgers and fries for $5.00 (the kids split two fries).  The woman was then shown wandering the aisles in the supermarket, struggling to put together a $5.00 meal that was both within her budget and appealing to her family.  I honestly couldn't understand what this womans' problem was..but I sure do now.  Starting with bare cupboards every day is no picnic.

The reality of the situation is also starting to sink in with the kids.  I think my husband actually feared for his life last night as he ate some lo-carb pasta, beef steak tomatoes with gorgonzola, olive oil, and a little sea salt, and a nice green salad.  Normally the kids pick at their salad, meticulously removing anything not to their liking, but last night they would have eaten every drop and been grateful.  Instead they ate pasta with a little salt.

Also amusing was today's lunch preparation.  I scored a can of condensed tomato soup for $.79 at the Dollar Store yesterday and gave half to my daughter along with a slice of bread and some raisins.

"Not the end!" cried my daughter as she watched me place the end slice of the loaf into her lunch box.  I handed her the lunch box and she placed it in her backpack without another word.  Mothers of children who insist on eating nothing but chicken nuggets, pizza, and hot dogs, take note.  Void of other options, any and all foods appear to be fair game. 

Don't feel bad for us, because on Friday we all go back to our normal diet of beloved favorites like apples, bananas, meatloaf, broccoli, wine, coffee, Boar's Head turkey, and ice cream.  For 1.4 billion people there is no finish line, so if you'd like to help them by supporting our efforts, please visit here.

And in case you're wondering - I've got $17.33 to last me until Friday.

Live Below Line - Day One

Day One - Five meals down, forty meals to go.

If you didn't catch Friday's post, the two kiddies and I are participating in Live Below the Line for the next five days.  We are doing this to raise awareness and for the plight of those living in extreme poverty (1.4 billion world wide).  The premise is to eat only that which we can buy on the budget of a person living in extreme poverty - which according to the World Bank is $1.50 a day, $4.50 a day for three of us.  Because my husband must already monitor his diet to control his blood sugar, sticking him on a beans and rice based diet with no lean protein was unwise, so he is sitting this one out.

So what does on eat on $1.50 a day.  Breakfast was oatmeal, which costs about $.20 a serving.  In the interest of fairness I should note that both kids take a multi vitamin every day, and my daughter takes allergy medicines.  These are luxuries a child living in extreme poverty would never have. 

Neither kid was thrilled with the oatmeal, but as you can see by the picture below, they chose not to skip it.

I can already see that breakfast is going to be the easiest meal by far. 

Now onto lunch, I scored a loaf of wheat bread for a buck at the Entemann's outlet last week and will deduct that from my food budget and use it for sandwiches this week.  PB&J, beans and rice, soup are really my only options for lunch.  Maybe egg salad later in the week if things are going better than expected.

So here is where I am so far;

Total food budget for 3 people - $22.50

1 loaf of bread - $  1.00
2 servings of peanut butter - $  .38
4 apples - $  2.00

Remaining  -  $19.12

Ummm yikes!!!  I can see we are gonna have to make major adjustments or else we are never gonna make it to Friday. 

In addition to raising awareness, Live Below the Line is also raising money to help those who truly live below line.  I am a proud member of Team Rainforest US, and if you are interested in supporting my efforts, please go here. 

Off to do some tasty grocery shopping at the Dollar Store!!

The Countess Lives Below the Line.

Back from a long absence with some pretty exciting news!!

All next week I'll be blogging for Team Rainforest US as we take part in an amazing program called Live Below the Line.

Could you live on $1.50 a day?  Every day 1.4 billion people do, and every year 8 million people die trying. 

Live Below the Line is an amazing program designed to raise awareness of the global pandemic of extreme poverty.  The challenge of Live Below the Line is simple.  Measured in American dollars a person living in extreme poverty has $1.50 a day for food.  Three meals a day on $1.50.  It can be done, but in my house that means a week without coffee, cheese, wine, nuts and toll house cookies. 

Make sure you visit me next week so you can follow along with my glamour-packed week of brown rice and tap water, and learn how you can help.

Honestly I didn't plan it this way, but it seems only fitting that tomorrow night I will be out with a great group of friends to enjoy one of the best meals on Long Island, so look forward to a review on Sunday before my own little version of the Hunger Games gets underway.

Have a great weekend!!

Because Every Friday MUST Include a Smile

Hi Folks.  It's March Madness here in Kingdom; my birthday, the Count Jr. and Contessa have their b-days (BOTH on St. Patrick's Day!!), just hosted the MIL for a week in from CA, and the Contessa had her big concert on Tuesday.  All real good.  Today I'm going to clean my house and catch up on laundry in complete silence.  This will be truly heavenly, since tomorrow the Royal Family heads off to the Great Wolf Lodge with about 30 pre-pubescent boys from Count Jr.'s cub scout pack for an overnight trip filled with earsplitting fun. 

Per standard Friday format I should be showing you some genius in the blogosphere, but I've barely spent any time there over the last week.  Instead I'll show you something great from the Internet that will hopefully bring some much needed silliness to your Friday. 

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle!!! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!!