Tag Archives: Lent Fast Day

by claudmba | March 8, 2013 · 10:37 am

1940s Rations challenge: What our mums have taught us

I love visiting my Gran. And as she lived through the war and rationing, she’s been a goldmine of information.

Gran has always been hardworking and resourceful. Like her own mum, she was great at making supplies stretch.

“There wasn’t much bread,” she says, ‘but we made soda bread. And for stew you could sometimes get a bone from the butcher. It was a good idea to make friends with the butcher, and then he’d put aside an extra bone for you to boil.”

Gran’s wartime soda bread recipe has been so welcome this Lent

One of her favourite stories is how Arthur the butcher taught her to skin a rabbit. The skin could be cured and the fur used to line a little person’s coat, and there’d be rabbit pie for dinner. Nothing was wasted.

Get Gran’s wartime soda bread recipe here>>

“We looked after each other,” she says. “Neighbours looked out for each other and we shared what we had. That’s how it worked.”

This marvel of scrimping and soda bread is my legacy. I grew up in a home where ‘waste not want not’ hung in the air alongside aromas of bubble and squeak. Like Gran, my mum learned to feed her big family on the proverbial loaf and fishes. We’d tease her for saving a few peas in a Tupperware, or turning Sunday’s veg into Monday’s risotto. But we never went hungry.

Before the rations challenge, I hadn’t thought much about what I needed, only what I’d like to eat. So I’ve often ended up throwing food out (guiltily, expecting Mum and Gran to burst in yelling ‘no-o-o-o-o!’ in a slow-motion fashion) because I bought too much.

Now, I’m working out how to make food stretch, and appreciating how Mum and Gran had to balance everything to feed all those hungry mouths.

And the food waste is disappearing! The most I throw away is carrot tops and leek bottoms. I’ve stopped peeling carrots and spuds (a good scrub does as well and wastes less). With the meat, cheese and milk I work out what I need each day and how to make it last. It’s a revelation.

Around a third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted every year around the world. Yet one in eight people don’t have enough to eat. What if we could change this?>>

Mums are brilliant. They never stop teaching us. My Mum and Gran are strong, practical women whose ability to make do and mend kept us all in shoes and coats (albeit usually hand-me-downs).

For Gran, the occasional spare rabbit must have been a fantastic gift. As a mum with scant resources, it represented a family feast. And she watched her children grow up strong and healthy, their futures before them.

So many mums don’t get to see that, because the unfair food system stops them. They can make a little go a long way, but if there’s not even a bare minimum, no amount of mum magic can make it stretch.

Sabita is a mum from Bangladesh. She struggles to grow enough to eat and sell when crops are washed away by heavy rains and sea water flooding. But our Caritas partner has helped her with simple solutions like raised vegetable beds and using home-made compost to improve the soil.

Sabita from Bangladesh

“This plot has made a big difference to my family. It’s improved our diet and given us extra income,” she says.

It takes such a small amount to get a family up and running.

Sabita features in our Emmaus meal resource. Why not share her story with your community?

We honour mums on Mother’s day. We celebrate and give thanks for them. We can also honour mums around the world, by taking action today, and making the first step to ending world hunger.

If we can make the system fair, I’ve no doubt mums can do the rest. That would be a real gift to mums everywhere.

Mother Mary,

You hold all mothers in your heart; you know their joys and sorrows. Pray that we may be inspired to create a world where every mother can watch her children grow, happy and healthy, and rejoice as their futures unfold.

About the Author: Claud Mba has worked in CAFOD’s digital communications team for three years. She lives with her husband in Kent and is a lifelong supporter of CAFOD’s work. This Lent she’s putting her love of 1940s style and culture to the test: getting sponsored to live on 1943 UK rations, in solidarity with people who don’t have enough to eat around the world.

You can read more about Claud’s challenge and sponsor her here: http://www.justgiving.com/claudonrations

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Filed under Bangladesh, CAFOD

Tagged as Bangladesh, campaigning, Emmaus meal, food, fundraising, Hungry for change, lent, Lent Fast Day, prayer, rations challenge, sponsored events

by claudmba | March 1, 2013 · 5:41 pm

Rations challenge: cheating our food producers shouldn’t be an option

It’s week three and I think I’m hitting my stride. In becoming a dab hand and knocking up a few wholemeal scones , making sure I divvy up my protein for each day, and I can murder a potato in any one of a dozen devilish ways.

Meanwhile my grocery bills are down, and my waste is down…even my waist seems to be benefitting from this restriction (and if ever there was a sign that I have far too much, it’s that I see a weight reduction as a bonus).

Meanwhile, thanks to the amazing generosity of friends, family, and some people I’ve never even met, I’ve already managed to raise nearly £400 in sponsor money for CAFOD’s Lent appeal! If you’d like to add to that total, please visit my justgiving page.

Maybe I’m blogging on a good day – one where the thought of one more potato doesn’t make me weep – but my thoughts for today are: it’s really not so bad. A few more eggs, and I reckon I’d be happy to adopt it on a longer term basis. Oh, and some tomatoes. An oranges…and the occasional avocado.

OK, there are definitely things I miss. But the benefit of the ration regime is that it really lets you get to grips with what’s essential and what’s a luxury. And the fact is, I’ve got all the essentials.

I’m wondering now, if I’d appreciate lots of things more if I only ate them seasonally? Most of us rarely consider if our fruit and veg is seasonal these days because you can always get what you want, but if we always get the season’s best it not only tastes better, we become almost by accident more aware and responsible shoppers.

Here is one important lesson I’ll be taking forward from the challenge: overseas food is actually a luxury, which adds variety and excitement to my diet. And if I get seasonal local produce where I can, I will most likely have enough money to get my overseas produce from sustainable, responsible sources.

What could you discover in Fairtrade Fortnight?

I do think we should keep buying our avocados and oranges and bananas because overseas producers do, after all, rely on that trade. But I do want to see them for what they are: gifts; privileges, and therefore not to be bought carelessly, or for knockdown prices.

Food that comes from overseas represents people’s livelihoods, every bit as much as buying carrots from Cambridge is supporting farmers here. So not being responsible about whom I buy from should no longer be an option.

Did you know that the 500 million women and men who produce 70 per cent of the world’s food also make up half the world’s hungry people? This is not an accident. Once again, the people who produce our food are losing out at the end of the supply chain.

And once again – it’s something we have the power to change.

During Fairtrade Fortnight, we’re all that little bit more aware of how our purchases affect other people. We can take that awareness forward to make permanent changes to our shopping habits that really support the world’s smallholder farmers who supply most of our creature comforts. After all, over 4,500 products are now Fairtrade, so we should be able to find them!

And we can keep shouting about how unfair it is that seven companies control 85 per cent of tea production globally, and three companies hold nearly half of the global coffee production. Meanwhile, the growers and producers get a tiny percentage of the profits.

At the moment I’m only able to buy food produced in the UK. But I’m going to take a good, hard look at what I usually put in my basket, and see if I’m really putting my money where my mouth is.

I like to think of it as a pincer movement: buying Fairtrade so that growers today get a good deal, and big companies have to think a bit harder about their suppliers, and taking action to change the food system for good might mean that in years to come, we’ll be able to shake our heads in disbelief at the idea that fairly traded food was ever a choice we had to make.

It’s not right that people don’t get a fair price for what they produce. Let’s make 2013 the beginning of the end of this injustice.

CAFOD is part of the IF campaign. Please take action to end world hunger for good>>

Claud Mba has worked in CAFOD’s digital communications team for three years. She lives with her husband in Kent and is a lifelong supporter of CAFOD’s work. This Lent she’s putting her love of 1940s style and culture to the test: getting sponsored to live on 1943 UK rations, in solidarity with people who don’t have enough to eat around the world.

You can read more about Claud’s challenge and sponsor her here: http://www.justgiving.com/claudonrations

Rations challenge: We’re all in this together

As I may have already groaned, I’m finding the monotony of rations something of a chore to deal with. And yes, I am ashamed of myself for saying that.

But there was another side to rationing in the UK. Many poor families ate better in World War 2 than they ever had before. The principles behind rationing were founded not only on making do and home grown, but also on proper nutrition.

homemade broth and wartime scones

The government policy was possibly one of the best policies ever written by a government: it was based on the principles that there must be enough food for everyone, and that the food there was needed to be balanced and nutritious. It was a policy which cared for poor people in a way we rarely see in society today.

The people responsible for putting rationing together were not only interested in making sure the food lasted. They also understood that for everyone to survive and stay healthy, you couldn’t base what people ate on what they could afford, but on everyone getting a fair share.

As such, the very wealthy had to get used to eating only their share, so that the very poor could keep going. Put another way, the rich had to live more simply, so the poor could simply live.

Could your parish take the CAFOD Livesimply challenge? Find out more>>

I don’t for a moment think that the wartime government was any more compassionate or big hearted than any other government in history. I think their reasons were pretty straightforward and common sense: there was a war on; we were a small island. We needed all hands on deck and we needed people to be fit for work. The last thing the government wanted was the workforce taken out by malnutrition.

But…isn’t that the same issue today? Countries all over the world are literally grinding to a standstill because people don’t have enough to eat. Because food is scarce, prices are high, and that leaves no money for education or essential services. People become weak, and sick and start to die, which decimates the workforce. And this is a travesty, because if we made it possible for people to be well and healthy enough to work, we know beyond doubt that people in poor countries have the resourcefulness, creativity and drive to lift their entire nations out of poverty.

In a world of plenty people don’t have enough to eat. This is a scandal we can change. Please take action today>>

It’s time to change this system. I think we’re ready for change; I think we’re hungry for it. I think we need to keep questioning and questioning, why food isn’t being shared out properly; why people’s most basic needs are being held to ransom for profit; why I get to choose whether or not to use food carefully while mothers like Rose worry that their children will not survive the next drought.

The wartime ethos of ‘we’re all in this together’ needs reinstating – but not on a national scale. We have one world: one finite, albeit abundant resource. We are ALL in this together, across the globe. It’s more than time to get hungry for change. It’s time to get global on global hunger.

Are you hungry for change? Take action with CAFOD today>>

Claud with her victory cookbook

You can read more about Claud’s challenge and sponsor her here: http://www.justgiving.com/claudonrations

Ration challenge week 1: What happened to my unlimited choice?!

During the first week of my challenge, I ate a LOT of potatoes. As one of my few ‘free’ foods, they’ve basically formed the basis of most of my meals so far, including breakfast, for which I’ve been eating the delightfully named ‘Fadge’ – a sort of griddled potato cake a bit like a hash brown (much, much tastier than the name suggests).

As a Catholic of Irish descent, I didn’t think I had a limit for potato eating – the last roastie is always what gets fought over in our family. But by day 4 I woke up feeling slightly queasy at the thought of another round of Fadge, so I switched to water based porridge instead and sprinkled a bit of my sugar ration onto the top. Who knew that grey mush would feel like such a treat!

“Fadge” – a sort of potato pancake I’ve been eating for breakfast

So far the thing I’m noticing the most is a radical cut back on choice. As a very spoilt westerner, my biggest struggle is that every meal is a variation on the same few ingredients. This was never going to be a starvation diet, and I’ve definitely got enough to eat. But it is bringing home powerfully that as soon as food is scarce, choice becomes a luxury. It’s also a luxury to complain about not having choice, so I’ll leave that there for now.

One in eight people don’t have enough to eat. We can change this scandal. Are you hungry for change?>>

I’m also finding the sugar ration an interesting one. As sugar beet was a big crop in Britain during wartime, the weekly ration of 8oz is pretty generous. Certainly to me it looked like the biggest bit of food in the ration box. Unfortunately, because I don’t have sugar on tea and tend not to have it in cereal (although I’ve appreciated it on my porridge, without the extra sweetness of milk!), it’s not a whole lot of use to me. With so little milk and butter and virtually no egg, I’d need to save up my weekly and monthly rations of everything else to do what I’d normally do with that much sugar – which is bake with it.

I think this is where living on rations as a family could be of an advantage. Mums in World War 2 could combine their family rations to make them go further. A lot of families, for example, registered one child as vegetarian to get a bigger cheese ration, so between the whole family they could eke out the meat and cheese a bit better. I love this resourcefulness, which comes through in so many of the recipes and stories I’ve found about this period. It’s something I need to learn from, because the net result is so little waste.

If you have a restricted but adequate diet, a bit of savvy housekeeping will help you feed your family. Marguerite Patten OBE, who wrote many of the recipes for the ministry of food and agriculture during WW2 and beyond, says of wartime food “Our menus may have been monotonous, but both adults and children were incredibly healthy.”

But here’s the rub: for Rose in Kenya, and thousands of mothers like her around the world, no amount of kitchen canniness will stretch the food for the whole family. There just isn’t enough to go round. So mothers have an entirely different choice to make. They have to choose which of their children get to eat today – and generally go hungry themselves.

Families like Rose’s need our help when food runs out. Please give to CAFOD’s Lenten appeal>>

There’s a severe hunger crisis in our world. But it’s not because we don’t produce enough. Families go hungry, because food supplies are no longer based on what every human needs to be healthy, and are instead based on profit and loss. And meanwhile those of us who have much, have too much.

I don’t think I’d quite realised how much I rely on being able to grab any food I want, whenever I need to. As a result, I usually forget my lunch for work at least 4 days out of 5, and buy a baguette or something, while my salad or soup slowly goes off in the fridge at home.

Now suddenly, as I’m thinking of new and exciting things to do with potatoes and leeks, I’m feeling so grateful that I live in this world of choice – but also something like embarrassment. How could I look Rose, who nearly lost her daughter Tabita to malnutrition, and explain how much I throw away, just through sheer disorganisation?

If I take away anything from this challenge, it’s this: there absolutely is enough food for all of us. But food, like any other resource, needs to be approached with respect, moderation and common sense.

We all have choices to make. Some of those choices are life and death, and others are a luxury. But we can choose to end this injustice – that’s a choice we can all get behind. If you, like me, want all children to grow up with choices and opportunities, then please sign our Hungry for Change petition, and support our Lent appeal.

We’re not stuck with the system we have. We can choose justice for everyone.

Claud is living on rations for Lent

You can read more about Claud’s challenge and sponsor her here: http://www.justgiving.com/claudonrations

£1 a day challenge: The bigger challenge is what comes next

Anna and Simon will be living on £1 a day for a week thie Lent.

Anna and Simon living on £1 a day for a week this Lent.

About the Author: In the week leading up to Lent Fast Day, CAFOD supporters Anna and Simon Bourke took up the challenge to live on £1 a day – a budget that is a reality for thousands of the world’s poorest people. Anna has blogged about her experiences, and here she reflects on the issues the week has raised.

I took on the challenge to live on £1 a day for two reasons. As a CAFOD School volunteer, I wanted to learn about the issues behind Hungry for Change and the part I can play in the campaign. And we are joining with thousands of other supporters, in England and Wales, contributing to CAFOD’s Lent Fast this weekend.

On Day 1 of the challenge, I set off to the local shop, ready to hunt down bargains. We had done no research but felt confident that we’d find food and get by. I felt apologetic for spending so little in the shop, paying in cash out of my usual purse. I didn’t ask for a receipt. I forgot about keeping a note of spending.

On Day 2, I took a special £2 purse, no other money and no credit card. I kept checking the cost of everything and avoided unweighed items like apples or potatoes.

I am very grateful to Simon for sharing the challenge with me. Between us we have been able to stick to our £2 a day challenge. Had it been just one of us doing it, with only £1 a day, it would have been so much harder to get a balanced diet.

Living of £1 a day is not a reality for us. We have limited our dearth of money to food and paid a small amount for tap water. We have not taken in o account accommodation, fuel, lighting, heating and all the other elements of our “luxury” lifestyle.

Help us to change things for people who have no choice about living on £1 a day. Please give to CAFOD’s Lent appeal>>

We’ve saved money by avoiding adding impulse buys to our basket and not eating out. We’ve relished spicy veg, toast and jam and today a scrumptious fresh margherita pizza. It was my final purchase of the week, on special offer reduced from £2.99 to £1.49. That, and another little bar of Fairtrade chocolate. But can I play my part and do as well next week and the week after and make lasting changes? That’s a much bigger challenge.

Our last day pizza – what a treat!

We made a pact not to throw away any food this week. Did we succeed? Almost, but not quite. I forgot about some unfinished yogurt which nearly walked out of the fridge itself. I couldn’t bring myself to eat a small portion of rice pudding I’d tried and failed to make appetising. I had parked it in the fridge but after three days lacked the courage to eat it.

For us, it’s only been a seven days and we have had plenty to eat. We have not taken food for granted but savoured what we have had. In truth, it has probably been a healthier menu in some ways. We’ve eaten less but had more than enough. We’ve enjoyed the vegetables and rice, porridge and bread and jam. We’ve gone without fresh fruit, cheese and eggs and pasta. Yet we’ve felt cravings for things and thought, ‘Not cabbage again.” What we miss is what we’ve grown used to and that is variety and flavour. In place of water we’d sometimes have liked a glass of wine or beer, fruit juice, tea or coffee. We’ve missed grazing in front of the TV on snacks, and cakes with coffee.

I have a bottle of Fairtrade wine ready, as we head into Fairtrade Fortnight. My plan is to try to buy more local produce and work harder to find more Fairtrade produce to add to our weekly shop.

My parents had to feed five children during the long weeks when dad was on short time at the foundry or off with a work-related injury. We ran out of money before pay day but all of us had food, an edcuation, healthcare – and opportunities denied to vast numbers of children all over the world.

I have seen for myself the amazing transformation that can happen in a community when CAFOD works with local people in developing countries. Empowering aid enables that positive cycle of hope through access to clean water, health care, education, tools, land or small loans to generate income. Projects such as those that bring CAFOD super goats helping nourish little Tabita, in Kenya, and set her on the road to a successful future.

I will sign off with these words from a CAFOD prayer card,

‘….The cry of a hungry child breaks the silence of plenty and rebukes the powerful, who withhold their wealth……Your banquet is spread before us, Lord. There is enough.

There is enough food for everyone. Yet the scandal of hunger continues. Please take action to end this injustice today>>

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Tagged as £1 a day challenge, campaigns, food, fundraising, hunger, Hungry for change, Lent Fast Day