What are we doing?

Finally set up a blog so I can post more about our plans and experiences during the upcoming Lent season. As some of you saw from a FB post, Warren and I are planning to eat only what we can afford with the amount of money the federal government considers poverty level for a family of two.

The US Department of Agriculture figures out the minimum nutritional requirements for families of various sizes and then calculates a food budget. They then multiply that minimum food cost by about 3 to come up with total poverty level income. They make some adjustments for families smaller than 4, realizing that housing and other fixed expenses take a bigger chunk out of budgets of smaller families. So, without going into all the details, that's how I came up with $95 per week, or about $13 per day for the two of us.

Mind you, this is a federal government poverty level. It does not take into account the high cost of living in the Bay Area. But there is no official Bay Area poverty level, so people who live here are deemed above or below poverty based on the national numbers. Seems unfair, given that, as a government employee, my salary is adjusted for the high cost of this area.

We've done other food-related Lenten devotions. We've given up alcohol. I went vegetarian one year. Warren did a Ramadan style fast. Basically, fairly simple things that take us out of our routines and make us think about how we're living our lives, which, I think, is at the heart of Lent. This year's plan will definitely be a change for us, and, since I wholeheartedly endorse the concept of doing something positive during Lent (i.e., not just giving up, but giving out), we will donate the money we save to local food programs .

Just telling people about our plans has been fascinating, and has generated a lot of conversation. Some are convinced we can't possibly eat a healthy diet, and could, in fact, eat every meal every day at a fast food restaurant and stay well within our budget. It has made people think about their food habits a bit. I hope others might join us, even if for only a short time.

I'm not worried. Warren is a miracle worker in the kitchen. The biggest challenge will be dealing with the lack of convenience, especially of being able to eat out pretty much whenever we want.

Topics I hope to find time to explore over the next 6 weeks include; what are the ground rules (can we take donations? can we use food that's already in the house?)?; how could we do this if either of us had special dietary needs?; what did we eat?; how did I manage without Peet's?