A Place at the Table - 1

Lent has arrived, and I'm now reading Chris Seay's A Place at the Table and adjusting my eating and drinking to reflect on what it's like for the poor of the world - including those in our own country. 

Because I am walking this journey alone and because I thought that sticking to one thing for six weeks might be a step too far for me, I decided to vary my approach each week.  This week I have reduced my food budget.  Next week I will be living mostly on the staple foods of someone living in poverty in India.  The week after that is going to be about water rather than food, so I will be limiting my intake of all drinks EXCEPT water during that week. 

So this week I decided to reduce my usual weekly spend by 2/3.  On a tight budget there's no way you can impulse buy or shop without planning first so I set off for the supermarket with a list I'd made of exactly what I'd need for the coming week's meals.  I made it under budget, just.

The shopping was the toughest part of the week so far to be honest but it hasn't proved necessary to live on baked beans on toast for a week after all.  That said, my trip to the supermarket was IT for this week.  No nipping in for extra or forgotten items.  With 83p left in my purse after my main shopping trip there just isn't the cash for additions.

Of course I recognise that it is very much tougher for those living hand to mouth week in and week out 'for real' though.  And that's why I like the element of this process which is about doing something practical for others.  For me, shopping on a tight budget has been a reminder of a tough couple of years early in my working life.  So this week I'm donating the money I saved on my weekly shopping to CEF Oxford (Community Emergency Foodbank).