Sunday, May 6, 2012

Anyone Hungry

Saturday, May 12th - next Saturday- is the 20th annual National Association of Letter Carrier's Stamp Out Hunger food drive. I know in the normal course of things, you would expect me to post about this on the day it's happening. But, if you want to donate non-perishable food items, I thought a little advanced notice might help.

When I came up with the idea of helping spread the word, I knew that I did not want to do my normal post. Yes, in its 20 year history, I imagine that this event has developed some interesting trivia. Instead I thought I might give a little insight into what it is like to be hungry. The problem is until recently I have never had to go any length of time truly concerned about the availability of food.  I had no point of reference.  In an effort to obtain one, I decided for one week to live on limited caloric intake. Now, I am a hypoglycemic. Therefore, I had to devise my experiment carefully. I decided on one meal a day couple with two to three small snacks. The snacks were packages of cheese crackers and the meals varied.

The first day was not too bad. I could feel that I had not eaten as much as normal but it really did not phase me. The second day was a little harder, but still manageable. By the third day, I noticed that my mealtime was coming earlier and snacks no longer took the edges off the hunger. Also, I was tiring more easily. Normal daily tasks were being to take effort. By the fifth day, I gave in and ate breakfast as my meal. This was a major mistake, by four in the afternoon I was very hungry. It made it difficult to concentrate on things. The last night was the hardest. When hunger is intense, it is almost impossible for me to fall asleep.

The scary thing to me is that even on limited rations, I know that I was eating more than a lot of people in our society survive on. While intellectually I understood that being hungry was awful and could inhibit the ability to concentrate in school or at work, I had no idea about the huge impact it made on daily life.

So, I implore you to, please, consider leaving some canned goods, pasta, or other non-perishable foods in a sturdy bag for your letter carrier to pick up next Saturday. Today more people are having to depend on food banks. I know in my area the banks are struggling to keep up with demand. Let's all help the postal service help restore their depleted shelves.

1 comment:

  1. Its a hard thing to do living on a limited budget or funds. Whilst I have gone through it in my student days (I once had to live 2 weeks on £3) it wasn't something I'd relish doing again. (It meant meals of noodles and pasta every other day.)

    I know that there are some that do this Extreme Couponing, but we don't have that as an option in the UK. Hope others think and feel the way that you do.

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