Students and staff eat like refugees

Lisa Donaldson – Dietitian in Residence

15 June 2018: Students and staff at the University of Canberra are participating in the Ration Challenge as part of Refugee Week.

Imagine this: you’ve sent your partner or a family member off to the shops to do the weekly groceries and they’ve come home with no vegetables, fruit, herbs, milk, eggs or fresh lean meat. Instead, the bag contains this:

• 420g of rice
• 170g of dried lentils
• 85g of dried chick peas
• 125g of sardines
• 400g of kidney beans
• 300ml of vegetable oil
• Plain flour

Understandably, you’re upset. How could you possibly make a decent meal with those ingredients, you ask yourself.

Believing you can’t, you head back to the shops to get the missing staples while making a mental note not to trust someone else with the groceries next time.

What a luxury, to be able to source vegetables, fruit, herbs, milk, eggs and some fresh lean meat. To be able to go shopping and choose ingredients you like. We are fortunate to live in a country where we can easily access beautiful produce and an endless variety of food and flavours.

But not everyone has that luxury. Look back at that original bag of groceries. That’s all Syrian refugees in Jordan are given to survive off for an entire week. Dry and tinned foods, with little colour, flavour and variety.

As part of Refugee Week this year, students and staff at the University of Canberra are participating in the Ration Challenge. From 17-24 June, they’ll eat like a Syrian refugee.

Could you do it? Look at that list of ingredients again. What would you make?

Here are some tips for getting you through the week.

BREAKFAST

Rice and 50g of kidney beans

LUNCH

Monday – Friday: homemade flat bread with homemade hummus (chickpeas and oil), rice and 25g of sardines

Weekend: leftovers from dinner

DINNER

Lentil soup, dhal and rice

Falafel with homemade flat bread

Could you eat like a Syrian refugee in Jordan for a week? Learn more about the Ration Challenge here.