Phase III Begins! (Day One - March 1, 2012)

Having the same food everyday, and less of it than I'm used to.  That's what Phase III of That Poverty Project introduces to me.  For three months I will be only eating the equivalent of rations provided by the World Food Programme to people in refugee camps.

Why?  Because this is the food that people around the world are provided when they need food.  Because this is the food that the almost 1 Billion hungry, malnourished people in the world are dying for.  Literally.

The above rations provide approximately 2100 Kcal of energy per day.  Trying to be as authentic as possible, I've only made only two changes to the actual WFP rations.  First, whereas the World Food Programme provides a vitamin fortified "super cereal" comprised of cornmeal and soya beans which I cannot duplicate, I've simply included the ingredients separately.  Second, I am following the example of my West African friends in Sierra Leone who wouldn't dare eat the above without a little "peppa".  Thus, I will be adding some hot sauce.

I am willing to make this sacrifice as a indication of the depth of my belief that poverty eradication is the single most important, preventable issue facing our world today.  Solve poverty, and you improve the world many times over while ridding the world of a whole whack of other issues along the way.  With every grain of rice and every bit of fibre in the lentils I'm eating, I believe, based upon facts and actual real world examples, that poverty CAN be eliminated.  Collectively, we just need to make it a priority.


Oh, by the way . . . I put on a little bit of weight since the end of the second phase.  I am now 222 lbs, which is 11 lbs lighter than at the very start of the project back in July 2011.  In the coming days and weeks we'll see how the above diet affects my weight.


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