Ration Challenge

[jennyjj01]

Here we are stashing baked beans, caviar and fine wines..... How about trying life on a typical UN war-zone ration pack?

I recently stumbled across a charity fundraiser that sends you a typical crisis ration pack, as might be given to a war-zone refugee. The idea is to get yourself sponsored to survive on that set of extremely meagre rations.

Contents have to be supplemented separately with a bag of flour and a bag of rice and some water, to give a total of...

400g can of kidney beans
170g dried red lentils
1.9kg rice
85g dried chickpeas
1 small 90g can of sardines
330ml veg oil
400g flour

Some recipes and instructions, mostly about fund raising. Wow. gotta get that recipe book!

That's for a week!

The charity website

Behind facebook. log-in.. a video

Who here thinks they could survive on that. I might give it a try, one week.

[jansman]

Interesting.I find Stage 2 interesting on the charity link,where tinned fish is offered as part of the diet: ' If vegetarian or vegan ,an alternative will be offered.'

Very First World- and middle- class- lets- do- the guilt- trip- and feel better about our priveliged situation,but- if you have issues we will change the rule. You find yourself in that place,you eat ANYTHING!

1.9 KG of rice ain't a bad amount for one person.Half the world lives on rice.In my house,half a mug feeds two of us easily.For one person,that would do the job.Along with the rest of the ration of course.AND what would be traded,scrounged and foraged.This is,of course,a ration based on a Middle Eastern diet.

[pseudonym]

Good job one can still use ones Aga and Le Creuset to cook it on, my Semillon says it will pair nicely with a Cabernet Sauvignon...

[Jamesey1981]

Good job one can still use ones Aga and Le Creuset to cook it on, my Semillon says it will pair nicely with a Cabernet Sauvignon...

I'm not sure the motorised rotisserie in my range will be a lot of use, but at least I'll be able to eat it off the good china.

Regarding the vegetarian and vegan option that Jansman mentioned, I'm sure there was a bit in the SAS survival guide by Lofty Wiseman that was along the lines of anyone that refuses to consume something that they could eat without risk to health in a survival situation due to some moral objection is putting the survival of the entire group in jeopardy.

[jennyjj01]

Very First World- and middle- class- lets- do- the guilt- trip- and feel better about our priveliged situation,...
You find yourself in that place,you eat ANYTHING!
...
AND what would be traded,scrounged and foraged.

I do have enough cynicism to acknowledge that it is indeed a pathetically middle class bit of gesturing, but I'm inclined to give it a go, anyway.

Worst case scenario is I give away a few pounds and lose a few pounds.

[jansman]

Very First World- and middle- class- lets- do- the guilt- trip- and feel better about our priveliged situation,...
You find yourself in that place,you eat ANYTHING!
...
AND what would be traded,scrounged and foraged.

I do have enough cynicism to acknowledge that it is indeed a pathetically middle class bit of gesturing, but I'm inclined to give it a go, anyway.

Worst case scenario is I give away a few pounds and lose a few pounds.

And fair play to you.

It is interesting that the UN refugee diet is tailored to the cultural norms now. Remember the Kurdish Muslims driven out of Iraq? The UN were criticised heavily for dropping pork based rations on the mountain they were living on.

I wonder what they would hand out if it were the UK? Mind you,living on rations in the UK; I guess that's already happening at foodbanks.

[Arzosah]

The amounts listed will enable survival, for sure. The vegetarian thing is interesting, though - in the late 80s, I travelled back to this country from Crete, by ferry and train. It took 5 days **faints** and quite a lot of it was overnight. By the time I got to Switzerland, I was desperate for a lie down in a bed, but I didn't have much money, and I hadn't yet got a credit card (they weren't as common then, honest).

So for £20 in travellers cheques I got a weird bedroom in a very posh hotel 2 minutes walk from the station, which left me with 10 Swiss Francs. I put by 2F for breakfast the next day, and those 8 francs enabled me, a vegetarian of 5 years standing or so, to have a McDonalds cheeseburger and fries, with a coffee (and it was still strong coffee that you got at McD ).

It was bliss! It felt like a survival thing, even though it patently wasn't. And my body agreed, I think - you hear a lot about how vegetarians get upset stomachs from eating meat again, I didn't have a single problem.

[Arwen Thebard]

Not directly related to this topic but does anyone remember the "Action Against Hunger - Living Below the Line" campaign back in 2015/16?

"Living Below the Line challenges individuals and communities to eat and drink on just £1 a day for 5 days."
https://www.actionagainsthunger.org.uk/ ... below-line

It was a struggle at the time, but we reckon would get through much easier now and the month long version was actually easier in many respects once you had built up a stock of left overs.

[jansman]

Not directly related to this topic but does anyone remember the "Action Against Hunger - Living Below the Line" campaign back in 2015/16?

"Living Below the Line challenges individuals and communities to eat and drink on just £1 a day for 5 days."
https://www.actionagainsthunger.org.uk/ ... below-line

It was a struggle at the time, but we reckon would get through much easier now and the month long version was actually easier in many respects once you had built up a stock of left overs.

The local church rolled this one out to their congregation as I recall. Much fanfare as I remember too. How successful it was, I have no idea.

There are a couple of Facebook groups right now, living on £1 a day, and living on 50p a day! Some interesting meals.

[pseudonym]

Not directly related to this topic but does anyone remember the "Action Against Hunger - Living Below the Line" campaign back in 2015/16?

"Living Below the Line challenges individuals and communities to eat and drink on just £1 a day for 5 days."
https://www.actionagainsthunger.org.uk/ ... below-line

It was a struggle at the time, but we reckon would get through much easier now and the month long version was actually easier in many respects once you had built up a stock of left overs.

Ah the recipes, full of beans came to £4.96 for the week, no water included You ate well but died of dehydration.