Breakfast was a "free" strawberry muffin (OK, cupcake, but doesn't muffin sound better for you and more breakfasty?) for the kids and me (we paid for them on Tuesday), and 6 ounces of grapes for the kids (.67, as the grapes were $1.98 a pound). Christian had 96 cents worth of yogurt, and between him and the kids, they finished of $1 worth of strawberries. Coffee was 58 cents for the pot. Total: $3.21
Christian had leftover chicken nuggets (paid for yesterday) for lunch, and a couple of (silk tie dyed) hard boiled eggs for snacks (.16 cents total). The kids had ants on a log, which they made themselves. We calculated the cost of the celery (13 cents), the per-tablespoon cost of peanut butter (16 cents, and we used four tablespoons), and an ounce of raisins (19 cents).
So we got our ham and came home (where the kids continued their college physics course, did tons of math, guitar practice and then we watched a live launch of a Soyuz rocket. Mr. Nosy Albertson's checker). Counting the ham, onion and cola used to sautee it, dinner set us back $5.28. (The ham was so good, we had absolutely nothing but ham for dinner, if you can believe that.)
The day's total: $9.13. When I added it up and found we did so well, we walked down to the convenience store 2 blocks away and bought the kids celebratory ice cream bars, bringing our revised daily total to $11.31.
Reflections: Another day of successfully staying on our "food stamps" budget of $22 per day for four people.
I swear, all week I've had a major case of Food on the Brain. For instance, for whatever reason, after years of thinking about it, I decided today would be The Day to organize my ridiculously disastrous recipe 'book'. To date (and that means for 20+ years), it has consisted of tattered printed papers and faded pages from magazines stuffed in an old photo album with those awful peel back sheets. My new and improved system would be recipes in sheet protectors in a three-ring binder, actually arranged in categories (from appetizers to desserts). It's a much improved system, but ...let me tell you, Hunger Week is NOT the time to be poring over dozens and dozens of your favorite recipes. I was literally drooling at one point. (I know, TMI, but I'm just trying to keep it real.)
I have to think it's no coincidence. Worries about food security mess with your head - even when it's a temporary, 'tried on' experience.
Also, all this week I have been thinking about a movie trailer we've seen the last couple of times we've gone to the theater. It's for a movie called "A Place at the Table." I'm not going to lie, the first time I saw the trailer, I found my throat swelling shut and my eyes tearing up.
Unfortunately, it's in very limited theatrical release, but I learned from the documentary's Web site that it's available OnDemand.
Per the trailer, one out of every two kids in America will, at some point in their lives, be on food assistance. (That shocked me. Does it shock you?) But it's not due to food shortages. It's about messed up priorities when it comes to funding. As Jeff Bridges said in the movie, "If another country was doing this to our kids, we would be at war."
The movie, sub-titled of "One Nation, Underfed," shows the economic, social and cultural impacts of how hunger affects America.
"A Place at the Table" trailer here: http://video.takepart.com/previews/Mcam9iPd-Y3bNKxgM
It seemed only fitting we watch the movie during Hunger Action Week, so we paid the $6.99. (I do believe that's the first time we've ordered an 'OnDemand' movie.)
Well, that was 111 minutes of heartache. We're number one! - when it comes to being the most food insecure country as compared to the list of other 'advanced' nations in the world per the International Money Fund.
"It outrages me," CJ said as the credits rolled at the end.
"I almost didn't want to watch that at some parts because it made me so angry or it made me so sad," Annabelle chimed in.
There are a number of reasons things are so terribly wrong.
"Oh god, farms are turning into factories," Annabelle declared during the part where the movie explained how 70 percent of subsidies are directed to 10 percent of food producers - the giants who end up churning out processed rather than whole foods. One of the horrid by-products of such a reality is that Mississippi ranks as the most hungry state in the nation, yet its residents are also, per capita, the most obese. Wow. (Another horrid stat - 1 in 3 of the people born in 2000 in the US will eventually be diagnosed with Type II diabetes.)
The stat that surprised/stunned me the most was that in 1980, pre-Reaganomics, there were 200 food banks in the nation, per the film. Today, there are more than 40,000 - and more people than ever are going hungry. As one physician said in the film, more cans of food for the food drive is not the cure. And as Jeff Bridges pointed out, "Charity's a great thing. But it's not a way to end hunger."
We've got a big fat systemic problem.
"A Place at the Table" is definitely food for thought, and a highly recommended movie.
FIRED UP: This afternoon we tuned into NASA TV for live coverage of a historic launch of a Soyuz to the ISS.
What makes their journey is historic is it marked the first time a manned flight docked with the ISS on the same day.
It was a beautiful launch, and what I love is not only did we watch it, I texted Rick and Kennedy about the launch and suggested they and their classrooms tune in and because of that dozens of other kids watched it live, too. When I first texted Kennedy about it, he wrote back that maybe they could sub the launch for part of their social studies video about pilgrims. I write back asking which he thought kids would remember more, some produced for schools pilgrim video or a LIVE ON FIRE ROCKET LAUNCH?! Me thinks the rocket fire. The happy news is they DID watch! No doubt for many, it was their first time watching a live, manned rocket launch. Oh how I love having a hand in spreading the word and the excitement. :)
When I talked to Ken tonight about it, after school, I asked him if the kids started calling out the countdown. He said, "Oh, you think?" :) I also pointed out to him that the pilgrims and astronauts actually had something in common - they were/are explorers. He said they talked about that, too.
We tuned in tonight after dinner for the historic rendezvous of the capsule with the ISS. At 7:28 p.m., less than six hours after lift off, and three minutes ahead of schedule, they had contact and capture!!! Success! It was a good day for space flight.
And then tonight, at about 9:30 p.m., the two hatches between the ISS and the capsule opened and the ISS now has three new residents. Amazing that we watched it all happen on one historic day.
SEEING RED: Check out this awesome, interactive 4-BILLION PIXEL panoramic of Mars created by Andrew Bodrov using images Mars Science Laboratory has transmitted to Earth. Super Cool!
http://www.360cities.net/image/mars-gigapixel-panorama-curiosity-solar-days-136-149#-91.61,0.08,15.0
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