Reg hack to starve on £1 a day for science
Signs up for 'Live Below the Line' charity subsistence challenge
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As of next Monday, this hack will live for five days with just £1 a day to spend on food, having rather recklessly signed up for the "Live Below the Line" challenge.
Inspired by the news that Ben Affleck will starve himself for charity - and also we presume in penance for his part in cinematic outrage Pearl Harbor - I decided that I too could help out a good cause by laying off my extravagant western diet washed down with lashings and lashings of ice-cold beer.
Live Below the Line describes itself as "an innovative awareness and fundraising campaign that's making a huge difference in the fight against extreme poverty".
It adds: "Quite simply, we’re building a movement of passionate people willing and able to make a meaningful difference to those who need it most.
"Live Below the Line is challenging individuals and communities to see how much change you can make out of £1. By living off just £1 per day for food for 5 days, you will be bringing to life the direct experiences of the 1.4 billion people currently living in extreme poverty and helping to make real change."
Fair enough, so out goes my usual diet of steak, lobster and tinned larks' tongues in essence of sea urchin, and in come rice, potatoes and, er, probably more rice.
Handily, previous Live Below the Line participants are on hand to offer guidance, and I'm currently having a shufti at the site's recipe tips which include "Potato and Mix Veg Salad", "Traditional Porridge with Jam" and, ominously, "Chilli con sin Carne".
Mercifully, I've still got until Sunday to work out just how best to spend my fiver, and indulge in some robust carbohydrate loading before the ordeal ahead. Since I'm based in Spain, I can only pray that the value of the pound collapses against the Euro in the next couple of days.
If it does, I might be looking at an extra kilo of rice on the shopping list, and maybe a banana or two.
We shall see. In the meantime, I invite readers to support me and my chosen charity, right here. Since I once copped malaria on an ill-fated jungle jaunt to Panama, I reckon Malaria No More UK is my kind of cause.
I'll be providing daily updates next week as to how it's going - at least as long as my strength holds out. Wish me luck... ®
