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Spam Ramen Noodles
Posted on 09/23/2013 1:20:00 PM PDT by wbill
In my work, I see more people who want to focus on losing weight rather than gaining weight, so I don’t often stop to think about the problem of hunger.
It’s easy to overlook the fact that hunger is still a big problem in in the United States. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2011 about 50 million Americans were living with food insecurity — 33.5 million adults and 16.7 million children.
What is food insecurity? It’s the inability to provide adequate food on a consistent basis. For adults, not getting enough food can have harmful effects, but it can be especially harmful for children who need adequate nutrients for proper growth and development.
I’m familiar with the Good Shepherd Food Bank so I know hunger exists in Maine, but to what extent? Maine ranks 18th in the nation and second in New England in terms of food insecurity. Since 2004, the number of Mainers facing hunger has increased 50 percent.
The population of Maine is about 1,328,371 — the food insecurity rate is 14.7 percent of households, or 200,000 people.
Food insecurity can lead to nutrient deficiencies, delayed cognitive development, asthma, decreased immune system function and increased fatigue. A contributing factor to childhood obesity is the lack of access to healthy foods for children living in food-insecure homes.
My office is situated such that I have a big window facing the drive-thru of a fast-food restaurant. There is a pretty steady line of cars going through on a daily basis. Fast food once in awhile isn’t a big concern, but eating a quick meal from a fast-food restaurant or a convenience store on a regular basis is expensive and the food is usually higher in fat and sodium and lower in vitamins and minerals. If you were to price the items out compared to what you could purchase at a grocery store, it wouldn’t be such a deal.
When grocery shopping, nutrient-rich staples such as whole-wheat bread, brown rice, steel-cut oats, corn tortillas, dried beans and peanut butter are good choices. Fresh fruits and vegetables are healthy choices but can be expensive if not on sale. Canned fruit packed in its own juice or frozen fruit or vegetables are great choices. If you buy canned vegetables, drain and rinse them to remove sodium before consuming.
If you are affected by food insecurity, there are many resources available to help. One way to find them is to dial 211 and ask for resources in your area. Food banks, soup kitchens, etc., are located in communities throughout the state, usually staffed by volunteers. If you don’t live with food insecurity but want to help others who do, perhaps volunteering your time at a food kitchen or donating money or food to these organizations would be within your means. Every little bit helps.
SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program previously called the food stamp program. SNAP provides $5 a day to help those unable to purchase food. To see what it is like, try to eat off of $5 a day. You’ll get a little more perspective on how difficult it can be for some families in America and right in your home town. Remember that $5 has to include your morning coffee.
Want to do more? The Good Shepherd Food Bank has a calendar showing 30 Ways in 30 Days to help solve hunger. Some of the suggestions include: » Volunteer at a local food pantry or meal site. » Watch the films “A Place at the Table” or “30 Days on Minimum Wage.” » View poverty statistics for your county by googling “Map the Meal Gap.” » Make a financial contribution to the food bank.
For information on the Good Shepherd Food Bank go to www.gsfb.org. For information on food insecurity in the U.S., check out www.feedingamerica.org.
Georgia Clark-Albert is a registered dietitian nutritionist and certified diabetes educator at Penobscot Community Health Care in Bangor. She provides nutrition consultant services through Mainely Nutrition in Athens. Read her columns and post questions at bangordailynews.com or email her at GeorgiaMaineMSRDCDE@gmail.com.
That article on how to grow kudzu is hilarious.
It says cows like it. How about goats? Couldn’t they clean it up?
You didn’t figure in the cost of the spray or butter or shortening for greasing the pan, the cost of running the oven for an hour, and the cost of the water for washing the pan and mixing bowls, sifter, and mixing spoons.
I agree that it was more expensive for me to make bread than buy it. But then I stopped eating bread for health reasons (sob!) and that’s the cheapest course of all.
“...food insecurity...”
The gov’t offers you liquid poop and calls it chocolate pudding.
I thought the butter was in there? But the bread makers are pretty efficient energy wise, especially in the winter when any excess heat goes to heat the house. The person who wrote that said they deliberately omitted the water cost as negligible (which it would be here even for a season of use).
At 5'6", I often feel short compared to many of the women that I know. It's odd.
The Kudzu plant stores energy as starch in a large tuber. I’ve seen photos of a kudzu tuber that was nine feet long and weighed 700 lbs. With this much reserve, it is very difficult to kill.
Folks say that if you have your livestock graze it completely for three years you MIGHT kill it. I guess that keeping it mowed for that long might work. Be aware that the roots can travel UNDER a paved road, so killing it on one side of the highway may not get rid of it.
Remember to post “Minimum Safe Speed” signs of at least 45mph...55mph if you have an especially healthy crop of kudzu. (this was a joke. All the rest is true)
wouldn't last more than 10 minutes if I were there. Sounds great.
If one isn’t purchasing expensive food, its not that hard.
Only in American can the #1 and #2 problems of the poor be obesity and food insecurity, in that order.
$35 a week? Yeah. Easily.
About $3.50 in Colombia......
http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae274/rrrod3/Colombia%20Jan-Mar%2013/018_zps54499ed5.jpg
A relative of mine was a food processor. He sold Ivanhoe mayonaise, and in 1934 published the recipe as part of his advertisements. The ingredients worked out to 30 cents a pint for someone at home. It sold in stores for 32 to 35 cents a pint at that time, and provided a jar that was useful for canning afterwards. In the quart size it was 50 cents.
How could he do that? As is common today, he worked with suppliers to cut their costs, had other products that used waste (his mayonaise used egg yolks, and he had other products that used the whites) and made his product in large batches with purpose built machinery.
http://www.hoxsie.org/2013/03/make-your-own-ivanhoe-mayonnaise.html
Yes, I'm told you can feed them kudzu up to 35% of their diet.
I had a great plan to bring herd boys from East Africa to the South, with their goats, to work on the kudzu problem. Half the boys would watch the goats in the morning while the other half went to school. In the afternoon, they would swap.
After a year (or more) load up the boys, their accumulated pay, educational certificates, goodies acquired in the land of Walmart and ALL their fat goats on a ship headed back to East Africa.
Time the trip to coincide with the Haj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Stop by, sell the goats for sacrifices before stopping in Mombasa to get the boys home.
Fees from US landowners for kudzu eradication, plus those from goat sales, should fund the entire program plus establish an educational trust fund for the boys.
The boys would benefit greatly, Southern landowners would, too. For a while, it would even bee a great deal for the goats...for a while.
Alas, far too politically incorrect. Media types, advocacy busybodies and race pimps would have a hissy fit.
So, no "Green Kudzu Remediation Program", no "Study Abroad for a Year" program for herd boys from the bush, neither a "Co-op: Earn While You Learn" program for them either.
And no "Free Range [kinda] Organic Goat Meat" for the pilgrims.
sign
Currently I am feeding two on $30.00 a week.
Could we eat on a 133% increase?
Don't be silly.
Spam Ramen Noodles
That looks very good
Somebody mentioned ‘potted meat’ up post.
My grandmother makes something with potted meat that is really good. (don’t laugh)
She mixes the meat with little bits of cut up fresh tomatoes, crumbled saltines, onion and mustard.
This is stuffed into green bell peppers that have been par
boiled.
The peppers are topped with finely crumbled saltines and swabbed with butter, and baked 20-30 minutes until golden brown on top.
This sounds nasty, but it is really good.
She said she got the directions for this off a mustard jar years ago.
Any of you older guys ever heard of this?
I can and I have many times.
No, but I’ll give it a try...sounds simple to make.
For breakfast I ate a can of black eyed peas with a best by date of 2009 that I paid from 25 to 44 cents for and 5 tortillas that cost me 25 cents, I had 3 cups of coffee that I pay $3.99 to $4.99 per pound for as whole beans, so I am off to an OK start.
I’ve never heard of it, but I do love those old recipes. Back in the day, my mother kept a can filled with bacon grease with which she used to fry eggs, Spam and potatoes, as well as who knows what else? Saltines were a staple, as was Bisquick and Velveeta cheese.
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