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facts & arguments

Daniel Fishel

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There were many times when I questioned my decision to commit to living five days on a food budget of $1.75 a day. But the real moment of doubt came when I was staring at a refrigerator case of chickens in Chinatown, faced with three choices – a "new chicken" at $7.99, a "semi-old" chicken at $4.99 and an "old chicken" at $2.99.

The origin of that shopping experience came at the first meeting after I joined the board of a Toronto-based charity that works with remote villages in Uganda. Joining the board of a small charity is a bit like buying a house – there are always surprises, and they are seldom pleasant ones. When I was talking to the charity's chairperson about joining the board, something that somehow got missed in the conversation was that directors were expected to participate in the five-day Live Below the Line challenge – with a food budget that matches the World Bank's definition of extreme poverty.

No one could argue with this initiative's goals of building awareness of global poverty and raising funds for organizations addressing this issue, but when I invited friends to join me, only two took me up on the offer. The good news was that many who declined wrote a cheque instead – so even though I only had modest success in recruiting participants, I was able to hit my fundraising target.

I got lots of advice on planning my diet for the five days. My eldest daughter suggested a staple diet of oatmeal. One friend proposed daily helpings of pasta with sauce made from distressed tomatoes bought at the farmer's market close to my home. Another advocated large pots of tea made with a single tea bag, and still another sent me information on the "cauliflower diet," a weight-loss program in which you can consume unlimited amounts of cauliflower soup.

As appealing as I found the notion of five days of cauliflower soup or oatmeal, I sought out expert advice from another board member who had participated in the challenge the previous year. He had made a large pot of chicken soup, based on a shopping trip to a Chinese supermarket where the prices tend to be lower, and where in addition to buying vegetables he spent $1 on four chicken carcasses. He had been surprised by how much chicken came off the carcasses when they were put in a pot with boiling water and vegetables, and the soup that resulted had been his staple for the challenge.

So that's how I came to be in Chinatown on a Sunday in April, the day before the start of the challenge. With just $8.75 to spend for five days' worth of food, I budgeted $4 for vegetables, and was indeed pleasantly surprised by how far that $4 could go, loading my basket with bok choi, broccoli, onions, leeks and potatoes. I bought three lemons for 50 cents to chop into slices and put in a pitcher of water. (Unlike people in most developing countries, I could drink tap water without fear, so I didn't need to budget for water.) For $1, I bought a large bag of carrots for snacking. Which left me with $3.25 for the chicken and a small emergency fund.

It was then that I ran into a snag. The section for chicken carcasses and chicken bones was empty. When I consulted with one of the store staff, he answered: "All gone." That left me at the section with fresh chickens, in "new," "semi-old" and "old" alternatives.

Maybe something got lost in translation, but I wasn't 100-per- cent certain whether this referred to the age of the chickens when they were killed or the length of time they had been for sale. I'd never had to make a choice of this kind before. We've all eaten day-old bread – day-old chicken left me a bit unsure. But when I looked at the $3.25 in my hand, the "old" chicken was all that fit into my budget. So, trusting in the Toronto Board of Health's scrutiny and oversight, the old chicken it was.

Taking no further risks, I cooked the chicken immediately on getting home, and promptly put it into a large pot where the vegetables were already simmering. The resulting soup was surprisingly tasty, and I suffered no ill after-effects.

I made it through the challenge, suffering only minor headaches due to withdrawal from coffee, a luxury not within the budget. I came to appreciate how much energy and effort is consumed by pondering the small expenditures that most of us make without a second thought. And I grew to understand how monotonous the same diet is – and this was only for five days.

There was one other benefit to the "old chicken" that went into the soup: Not only did it provide me with nourishment, but it also featured prominently in the e-mails I sent out to friends and colleagues asking for donations. A number told me afterward that the story of the "old chicken" helped my e-mail stand out at a time when they were deluged with requests to support good causes.

Friends have asked if I plan to do the challenge again. My answer is a definite maybe. I don't feel compelled to repeat the exercise, but if I do I will shop well in advance. I survived "old chicken" this year, but I won't push my luck a second time.

Dan Richards lives in Toronto.

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