The Cornmeal Challenge

On Monday mornings I work the Y with 2 very good friends but if I continue to spend this concentrated amount of time with them I may abandon my family and head to the Peace Corps, wearing a bandanna and a t shirt with an emblem screaming "World Peace".

I will preface this also by saying I have spent many hours on my own saying there must be something good I can contribute when I have so much. Now I have found 2 women who not only do good things but also know much more than I do about volunteering, giving,
and have now given me some food for thought on world hunger. This brings us to this past Monday when Amy and Alicia began having a conversation about eating cornmeal. It doesn't sound too interesting on the surface but the whole gist behind the cornmeal is it is what hungry people the world over walk miles to get a bowl of. And let me tell you I have tasted it and I wouldn't walk a block.



Amy is eating the stuff every day for lunch for a year and will donate the money she would have spent on lunch to "World Vision" ( http://www.worldvision.org/) . Alicia is eating it three meals a day for one week. ( You can follow her week on her blog listed below) Anyway, I am the most watered down version of this because quite honestly after having "lunch" with them on Tuesday I honestly cannot bring myself to eat it more than 5 times. It is the equivalent of eating overcooked grits laced with sand and perhaps a pinch of mud. Alicia was thrilled that Amy helped her "cook" the stuff the right way. I am telling you there is no right way.



On Tuesday morning ,prior to my lunch date, I took the kids out for some errands and on our way home I was very hungry. I had only had a small bowl of cereal knowing I would be eating gruel for lunch and figured after all Alicia had told me I was better off being very hungry. But here is how the psyche works folks...



On my way down Rt 66 in Portland there is a hot dog stand and I was suddenly overcome with the urge to stop. I have lived here 3 years and have NEVER had the urge to stop. Next to that is Farrell's restaurant which has a sign announcing specials and this one said "Karen stop and have some Prime Rib" well okay it just said "Prime Rib special" but it may as well have had my name on it. And of course we passed the DQ and the Dunkin Donuts........ugh. I cannot tell you the last time I felt so hungry and all because I knew the only thing I had coming to me was gruel.



I had lunch. It was awful. But it really made me think about the millions of people who are poverty struck in this world. People who walk to get a bowl of this cornmeal to fill that angry, empty space in their bellies. The don't know how fabulous garlic tastes. Or how wonderful a hot cup of tea is first thing in the morning. Or the delight in licking your fingers clean after a sauce laden spare rib. They know only gruel and perhaps are grateful for it.

I realized in this one day how fortunate we are to have not just basic foods at our finger tips but all kinds of food. And yet we are so spoiled. We complain when the price of lettuce goes up. But did you ever get to the store and find there was no lettuce? Or when prices go up on your favorite brand of cereal? Or fresh fish? It honestly never occurred to me to just be grateful to be able to pick what I need and what I want.

So you are asking have I been eating this gruel...not yet. I procrastinated buying the ingredients, probably because I really don't want to eat it. I will start on Monday and we'll see how the week goes. I'll keep you posted.....