Be honest. How much of your day do you spend thinking about what you are going to eat?
A Place at the Table challenges the reader to spend 40 days eating like the poor of the world and by so doing connect and empathise with the millions of people in the world whose food choices are limited at best. Furthermore it encourages tangible, practical help.
One way of following the 'A Place at the Table' challenge is to eat a similar diet to that eaten by a sponsored child in the developing world. The author himself chose to eat a diet like that of the children his family sponsors in Uganda and Ecuador. He learned that these children ate rice, beans, chicken, tortillas and vegetables and felt that by embracing their meals he was also embracing the children he sponsors. In his own words he felt that by doing this he was 'making a place for them at his table and in his heart', rather than forgetting about them for extended periods.
If that is too scary though, there are lots of other ways you can get involved. You could simply halve your food budget, eating more basic and less varied foods and cutting out treats and 'extras'. Or you could try living below the official poverty line as some have to do in our own country, never mind those in far poorer parts of the world.
During the 40 days the Sundays are treated as 'feast days'. They give the chance to eat your more usual foods, and perhaps appreciate them more than usual.
The practical support mentioned earlier comes from donating the money saved from your usual grocery bill to a charity working in tangible ways with poor people, such as Compassion, one of the charities being supported by the book. Part of Compassion's work is in the sponsoring of children around the world, enabling those children to have a basic but healthy diet as well as supporting their other needs.
We're planning lots of social media activity when this book is released so watch out for information, tips, other peoples' ideas and progress and lots more via this blog and our Twitter and Facebook posts.
Lots of books claim to change your life. This one has the potential - perhaps more importantly - to change the lives of others, as well as your own.
A DVD is also being released to help small groups and churches which are inspired by the challenge to take part as a group. Containing six sessions it has been shot on location in the Holy Land, Haiti, and Ecuador.
Interested in taking up the challenge early?
We're looking for individuals, groups and churches who would be willing to work through the process ahead of the book's publication, and share their experiences with us. If this is something you would like to know more about, please contact us on bpg@lionhudson.com
Price: £8.99 (DVD: £12.99 incl. VAT)
ISBN: 9780801014512 (DVD: 9780801014529)
Publication date: January 2012
Published by: Baker Books (part of Baker Publishing Group)
Available through any good bookshop, online, or via Marston Book Services
Marketing & PR enquiries: Anne Rogers at anner@lionhudson.com
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