Snacking

One carrot for a snack, un-peeled

 On day one, I made the terrible mistake of portioning my food budget into three meals, with no snacks. Today, I'm spreading out my food so I can graze throughout the day. That's how I typically eat. Oh how I miss grabbing a handful of almonds in the mid-morning! Almonds are much too expensive for my budget.

So it's 2:30pm and I'm eating a carrot. An un-peeled carrot. Because seriously, I am not throwing away those carrot peels. Yes, they are bitter. But they are calories. They are vitamins. No way are those carrot peels going in the trash. They are going in my belly where they belong. Carrot skin is food my friends!!!

We waste so much food in this country. There's the big wasting - the over-buying that lets food spoil in the fridge, the huge portions that cause half your meal to end up in the trash, the over-eating that makes us to shit out more food than we need. But I'm reminded that we waste in little ways too. Carrot, potato, and apple peels are thrown out, but they are food. Cooking quickly is chosen over careful preparation, so large edible parts of veggies end up in the trash with their roots or tough ends. I don't advocate for anyone to eat dead animals - but for goodness sake, boil your bones meat-eaters! All those bones you think of as trash boil down into a nutrient rich broth. We can thrown these things away because we live in abundance. But if you're living in extreme poverty, that food you throw out as "trash" could make all the difference.

We use so much more than we need, and leave not enough for others. It's unfair. It's selfish.

Anywho, add $0.10 for my carrot snack, and I have $1.02 left for food for the rest of the day. I will be grateful for every tiny bit of it.

I am also grateful for any support you can give to women living in extreme poverty. Give today, and give generously: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/claire

-Selfish Blogger