Syria ration challenge

bouicca21

The eat for 50p a day thread got me thinking, then a post about the Syrian ration challenge popped up on Facebook.

Rations for a week for a Syrian refugee:

Rice 420g
Lentils 170g
Chickpeas 85g
canned sardines 125g
Canned kidney beans 400g
Vegetable oil 300g

A rough costing courtesy of Tesco, suggests this would cost in the region of £2.88, so well within 50p a day. In reality standard pack sizes are mostly larger so that if you bought from scratch it would cost more like £4.60, so about 66p a day.

I cannot begin to imagine how to live on those rations, so I’m out at the first hurdle. Anyone clever enough to come up with a menu plan for a week using those ingredients and nothing more (so no herbs, spices, etc)?

It’s an Australian page
https://actforpeace.rationchallenge.org.au/the-challenge/the-rations-explained/

[Deleted User]

just been reading the page and how on earth do people manage to survive on this ,I know life is tough for many in this country and one cannot imagine how it is to live in a refugee camp and have to struggle with children and very little food Make our first world problems seem insignificant somehow doesn't it

Last night on TV in the Watchdog programme there was a piece about how the big coffee chain bin food at the end of the day Starbucks,Costa and Cafe Nero seem to be the worst with one of them actually destroying food before its binned by soaking hand sanitiser over unopened sandwiches to stop folk raiding their bins.
The world has gone completely mad I think

Owain_Moneysaver

bouicca21 wrote: »

The eat for 50p a day thread got me thinking, then a post about the Syrian ration challenge popped up on Facebook.

Rations for a week for a Syrian refugee:

Rice 420g
Lentils 170g
Chickpeas 85g
canned sardines 125g
Canned kidney beans 400g
Vegetable oil 300g

You do get a little extra:

To recreate your refugee experience, you’ll need to buy an additional 1.5kg of rice and 400g of plain flour and add these to your week’s rations.

The UK website is here

Lance_De_Boils

JackieO wrote: »

just been reading the page and how on earth do people manage to survive on this ,I know life is tough for many in this country and one cannot imagine how it is to live in a refugee camp and have to struggle with children and very little food Make our first world problems seem insignificant somehow doesn't it

Last night on TV in the Watchdog programme there was a piece about how the big coffee chain bin food at the end of the day Starbucks,Costa and Cafe Nero seem to be the worst with one of them actually destroying food before its binned by soaking hand sanitiser over unopened sandwiches to stop folk raiding their bins.
The world has gone completely mad I think

I saw the peice on coffee shops and I don't think they have done themselves any favours by letting us know that they throw food away. I won't be using them anymore.

I thought hand sanitizer was extremely flammable.

As far as I know Pret give away their unsold food to the homeless.

VfM4meplse

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

You do get a little extra:

I thnk this explains a lot - how the 300ml of oil is used up, for a start.

I could probably live off this quantity with some to spare, but then I am no great foodie. I am guessing that these poor Syrians are also growing their own fruit and veg?

bouicca21

OK, so the flour makes life a little bit easier. I'm thinking falafel, some sort of lentil stew, lots of rice and flat bread. All very bland as there are no spices but, wow, I still have a can of sardines and kidney beans to look forward to.

suki1964

I shall be flamed for this no doubt

But once again a totally non achievable challenge

Already they up the ante with " vouchers" for extra flour and rice, and then you can "earn" spices, milk, tea etc, as they say the Syrians to whom these rations go, earn extras by selling, working etc

PasturesNew

To be honest, life would be a lot simpler with only a small list of foods as you don't have to ponder what to eat. Just boil up some rice and eat it, meal done.

Food choices, thinking about it, thinking about recipes, sourcing, buying, mixing .... food/cooking seems endless in this country.

I think they're onto something.

PasturesNew

suki1964 wrote: »

...

A bit like people and Wartime Rations. A few foods were rationed, other foods were not. If you could grow/get/swap any other foods not on the ration list then you could eat them.

The ration book of WW2 only shared out the more luxurious items, to ensure everybody had a chance of a fair share, else the rich would've just paid what they wanted and had it all.

When I see the WW2 rations list I don't eat that quantity of those foods weekly, so I'd start with a surplus ... that I could've probably swapped for a caught rabbit or something at the time.

bouicca21

Well as far as I’m concerned, it’s unachievable. As far as a desperate refugee is concerned it may be. I don’t suppose a refugee is in any position to complain about food being boring.

Living on WW2 rations is way easier (that one I’ve done) and way healthier.