Trade-Offs

*photo credit to Kim Berger, little black dots are all weevils*

This morning at breakfast, Bethany and I were discussing the trade-offs we make when buying food to bring to Mundri. In Uganda we buy some food that is not available in S. Sudan. This last trip we bought enough to last four months which is the next time someone will be able to shop in Kampala. We stood with our list in front of the oatmeal. You have two choices for oatmeal in Kampala.

Choice 1: The box of rolled oats. Much cheaper. Probably already has weevils (a small beetle) happily eating the oats in the box.

Choice 2: The very well sealed tin of quick-cooking oatmeal. Double the price of the box oatmeal per kilo. No bugs.

Bethany came up with a great oatmeal plan while we were loading one of our many shopping carts with tins of oatmeal. We decide to buy about half of the oatmeal we expect to use in four months in boxes and the other half in tins. We think we can kill the weevils that are already in the boxes by putting them in the freezer for a few days, and we will eat the oats in the boxes first. If we kill the weevils already in the boxes we can hopefully stop them from multiplying. When the weevils are still alive you can get them out by putting the oats in the sun since the weevils will surface and leave the food. However once dead, you just need to deal with them in the food. If the oats in the boxes are totally inedible, we still have the tins.

We have to make a trade-off between price and bugs.

This morning Bethany and I discussed how the freezing was working and the current state of the oatmeal in the boxes. When I make my oatmeal tomorrow morning for breakfast, I know I will be picking out the dead weevils that float to the top once I add water. Any I miss are just a little extra protein. A few weevils doesn't phase either of us anymore. We think our strategy is working out pretty well. =)

Anyway, just thought I would share a little glimpse into our breakfast conversation. =)