Day Two

Two small things that made a difference yesterday, on day two of our challenge. First there was the realisation that I had made a mistake with my calculations - and that we have actually allowed for 4 slices of bread a day and not 2. Then at breakfast time I poured a normal helping of our milk onto my porridge before putting it in the microwave - but we don't have enough milk to do that. Fortunately we still have £1.58 of our £15 budget left so getting another 4 pints of milk isn't a problem.

The only other difference to Monday was the addition of a single mushroom to our evening meal.

But the extra milk, the additional 2 pieces of toast (with an extra 30 g of peanut butter) did make quite a difference to the numbers:

Energy...1656 kCal ... 66% RDA
Fat ... 52g ... 55% RDA
Carbohydrate ... 208g ... 70% RDA
Fibre ... 36g ... 203% RDA
Protein ... 72g ... 131% RDA
Salt ... 5g ... 80% max RDA

The thing that really surprised me was getting more than enough protein - so where did that come from? Well the beans, the porridge and the milk all helped, but the peanut butter on 4 slices of toast was significant.

You have probably heard the saying, 'give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for life'. Aid agencies working with the poorest and hungriest people on earth don't simply give out food parcels but they look for ways to provide long term help so that communities can help themselves.

Sunflower seeds, like peanuts, pack in a lot of energy, fat and protein. Sunflowers are hardy and quick growing. The seeds can be used to make porridge, or turned into sunflower oil. So by providing communities with seed and vital training in modern farming techniques to help protect the young plants, communities are able to grow their way out of poverty. The improvement in diet has a knock on effect on health. Some of the harvest is replanted, some is eaten, some is turned into oil and sold. Meaning that families can afford medical care and to send their children to school.