Do the Math Challenge

2010-10-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

TODAY'S GONNA BE A GOOD DAY!!!

Well it's finally here, Day 7! I can't believe it took so long to get here! I love Fridays, especially this one! And I am sooooo looking forward to sharing Thanksgiving with my family!

I have to say this journey is one of the hardest I have had to endure. It wasn't easy, in fact it was damn hard! I still can not imagine having to do this day in day out, week after week, year after year.

I could see my energy levels dropping off as the week progressed and not having my usual "zest for life" is really depressing, not only for me but for my family and friends. It was an extreme stuggle to go to that food box and try to design a meal that I could look forward too! I'm so tired of pasta, KD, weiners, fried egsg on toast and oatmeal. That is what my meals were like ALL week. And I am sick of leftovers! Honestly I want to gag just thinking of having to eat like this again for another week.

My heart goes out to those individuals who want to eat better but cannot afford to. It should not be a luxury! I encourage everyone to send out an email or a Facebook message to their friends and family asking them to participate in the survey along with an email to the government asking them to put more money in the food budget.

Congratulations everyone! See you at the luncheon today!

Liz

This is it

2010-10-07T19:33:00.001-07:00

Well, this is it. One more breakfast and the food is gone. I couldn't imagine heading back to the food bank or trying to budget for food with too little money with no end in sight. This preoccupation with food and the constant knowledge that there is not enough really affects one's outlook on life. Thanks to everyone for the insights and I really look forward to meeting again as we work toward a city with no hunger.

Day Seven - Last Post

2010-10-07T18:43:00.001-07:00

I was just thinking about how I would feel if I knew that I had to go to the foodbank again tomorrow and start all over again for another week… What a desperate thought. This week has taken its toll on my physical and mental health. I find that it is a vicious circle: I am not taking care of my diet/nutrition, which makes me less interested in and able to exercise, which makes me less creative in my thinking and less able to problem solve (at home and at work), which makes me less positive, which makes me less motivated to take care of myself… Yikes. And to think that a week ago it was all about the nutritional content (or not) of white bread… this issues are obviously so much bigger. What an opportunity this Challenge has been for many of us/you to talk about these issues… and now to the action… Happy THANKSgiving to all.

Départ pour Mtl, nous devons arrêter / Leaving for Mtl, we have to quit

2010-10-07T12:56:00.000-07:00

ENGLISH WILL FOLLOW...

Denis et moi nous apprêtons à partir pour Mtl puisque je suis en réunion demain toute la journée. Ce qui veut dire que nous devons malheureusement (ou heureusement) terminer notre défi. Nous savions déjà que cela arriverait et nous nous étions fixé comme objectif de durer au moins jusqu'à jeudi midi - c'est fait! Il nous reste même de la nourriture (4 tranches de pain, 1/4 de boîte de céréale, un peu moins de 1/2L de lait, du gruau et des poires) alors on aurait probablement réussi à se débrouiller pour ce soir et demain matin. Je suis quand même contente que ce soit terminé - mon corps est content. Celui de Denis aussi! J'aurais vraiment voulu être là au dîner demain et pouvoir discuter avec mes collègues du défi. C'est certain que c'est une expérience qui m'a ouvert les yeux.

Bon courage à ceux qui persévèrent encore - lâchez pas! Nous sommes avec vous en pensées.

ENGLISH
Denis and I are about to leave for Montreal because I have meetings all day tomorrow. This means that our journey unfortunetaly (or fortunately) stops here. We already knew that we had to leave town so the objective was Thursday lunch and we made it. We still have a bit of food left (4 slices of bread, 1/4 box of Cheerios, 1/2L of milk, some oatmeal and some pears) so we would of been ok pour supper and breakfast tomorrow but let's just say I am glad I don't have to count every little piece of food I have. My body is also glad this is over! Denis' as well. I would of liked to be there at the luncheon tomorrow to see and exchange with our fellow participants. This experience has certainly opened up my eyes.

I wish good luck to the rest of the guys - only 2 meals to go... Hang on! We are with you in spirit.

Disappointed

2010-10-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

I'm a little disappointed in myself because as of Tuesday evening, I had to quit the challenge. Leaving the office at 4 pm Tuesday afternoon with my tomatoe soup and ritz crackes long gone, I proceeded to continue with my scheduled plans for the evening. Close my trailer for the season, get to the hospital to visit Dad before visiting hours were over then getting home. I've accomplished this type of schedule before without eating until I get home, however this time very different. When I got home, my stomach was in knots and making noises that would scare children on Halloween. I couldn't bring myself to eat the month old expired weiners I had boiled the day before which gave me a choice of can of tuna, which at the time would take to long and cereal, very little milk left. With knees shaking I grabbed anything I could get my hands on and hence quitting the challenge. And just so you know, nothing I grabbed was healthy, just food. I certainly see many things in a different light. Good luck with your last evening and see everyone tomorrow.

Final check-in

2010-10-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

Before going to the Blue Door Cafe for lunch, I weighed in at Alice's office: I dropped 5 pounds this week.

I gained some back at lunch, though. It was by far the best meal of the week: tomato-vegetable soup with pasta shells and REAL meat (with texture and everything!), a luncheon-meat sandwich, some cookies, and a glass of milk. Delicious and filling.

Like Kathy, I felt guilty being there despite nobody making me feel out of place. In fact, I had polite conversations with a couple of people there, although I did shift the topic of conversation when it veered too close to why I was there, what brought me to Sudbury, etc. I didn't want to expose myself as a hunger-tourist.

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone at the lunch tomorrow. Less than 24 hours to go!

ONE MORE DAY!

2010-10-07T10:06:00.001-07:00

Just want to say to all the remaining participants - keep going! You've only got one more day! I'm sure knowing your in the home stretch is daunting to your hunger, but the message you are all creating is one that will speak volumes!

This has been an unforgettable experience, and I've enjoyed everyone's blogs...Thanks for sharing, and I'm glad to have experienced this with you all!

Keep it up!

Fraud or Faithful?

2010-10-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

Having just visited the mission two nights ago for dinner, I really appreciated the blog by John Gaudi about 'visiting the locals'. His question is a good one, "Isn't this really just a form of tourism?" it's also a tough one. I felt like a fraud there in some ways because it seemed like the communtiy knew we really didn't need to be there. I hoped no one would ask why we were there because then it would have been hard to explain that even though I am an advocate; we are really just on a 'dare' so to speak. Words like 'consumer' voyeur', 'tourist' all spin around in my mind. It is easy to feel guilty isn't it? Why do I have so much? Why do some have it so hard? All difficult questions for sure, but one thing I have found is that guilt is not a good motivater long term.

If this challenge simply raises awareness about appropriate food bank donations, and the insufficiency of food for those needing assistance then it has been a good thing. If this challenge results in a significant change of view on the social stigmas of those who access support services and who are on ODSP, or OW then this has been a great thing. If this challenge takes those of us who have participated, witnessed, listened and supported; beyond our guilt, then we have stumbled onto something that is absolutely life giving to all of us. When we see each other as equal, more alike than different, we don't need to feel sorry for anyone because we understand we are all in the same boat. I celebrate with those who celebrate, I grieve with those who grieve, we share the same air, we can share our burdens. My guilt will not empower anyone and will only continue to reinforce our differences. When we extend help to someone not because they are poor but simply because they are our neigbour then we offer what cannot be donated, supplied or bought and that is dignity, respect and empowerment. If this challenge could do all that, then it could change the world.

Kathy

Notre meilleur souper de la semaine / Our best meal of the week...

2010-10-07T05:58:00.000-07:00

English will follow...

Merci! Merci Merci Merci à la Mission sur Elgin. Denis et moi sommes allé hier soir pour le souper. Un peu tard car j'avais une réunion mais il restait de la bouffe et surtout, des gens très généreux. Nous avons mangé comme des rois. Une bonne soupe maison avec pleins de légumes frais et du poulet. Ensuite, une GROSSE assiette avec des carottes fraîches, des patates pilés (des vrais, pas en poudre), de la dinde, eh oui, trois bons morceaux de dinde avec un peu de gravy, deux tranches de pain et un morceau de gâteau pour dessert. Je mangeais, et je sentais l'énergie lentement revenir en moi. Parce que je peux vous dire que par la fin de la journée hier, j'étais pas mal bobo au bureau. Moi qui n'est pas une énorme fan de gravy, j'ai liché mon assiette avec mon pain! Nous étions bourrés mais nous avons tout mangé car on ne voulait pas laisser rien dans nos assiettes par respect à ses bonnes personnes qui ont préparés ces repas. Il n'y avait pas foule à la Mission car nous sommes arrivés vers 19h (ouvert jusqu'à 20h) donc nous n'avons pas exactement "socialisé" avec des gens puisqu'il n'y avait qu'un homme au bout de notre table - très gentil. Lorsqu'on a ramassé nos assiettes, on nous a demandé si on avait aimé le souper et en toute franchise, j'ai dit que c'était le meilleur repas que nous avions mangé de la semaine et que nous étions très reconnaissant. Aucunes questions, d'une grande gentillesse - j'ai énormément de respect pour ces gens qui donnent de leur temps pour servir ces repas trois fois par jour.
Merci

ENGLISH
Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you to the Mission on Elgin. Denis and I went there for supper last night. We arrived a bit late because I had a meeting past 6pm but there was food left and the greeted us with open arms and a beautiful smile. We ate like kings. A bowl of home made soup with vegetables and chicken and then a HUGE plate with fresh cooked carrots, mashed potatoes (real ones, not powder), some turkey, yes! turkey - 3 nice pieces - and gravy and 2 slices of bread and chocolate cake for desert. As I was eating, I could feel the energy come back to me because by the end of the day yesterday, I was complety capoot! I am not a huge gravy fan - well I dipped my bread in that gravy and cleaned my plate real good! We were full half way (having reduced our portions all week) but we wanted to finish our plates and not leave anything. In respect to the people that cooked this meal and especially for those that use the Mission. There was not a whole lot of people cause we arrived a bit after seven so we did not "socialise" much - there was only one man at the end of our table who was really nice. When they picked up our plates, they asked if we had enjoyed the meal and I answered, very frankly, that this was the best meal that we had all week and that we were greatful for their generosity. No questions asked, everybody was kind and respectful. I have a profound admiration for the generous people that give their time at the Mission to serve these meals 3 times a day.
Thank you

More Ponderings

2010-10-06T18:19:00.000-07:00

I (Larry) had an interesting conversation with a co-worker today that sparked thoughts through out. We discussed how many of the clients we work with often will eat only one meal a day, and as a result, their metabolism could be affected by slowing it, thus causing weight gain. But based on what Kathy and I have rationed, we could have easily taken all we ate on a daily basis and ate it in one sitting. At the same time, we talked about the post that went up yesterday (sorry, I recall who posted it, but it was a dietitian) and how a person, if spreading out the contents over the week, would be getting roughly a 1000 calories daily. For myself and most of the clients I serve, that would be about half of what our bodies require to function normally without physical activity. And yet, as helpers in the community, we encourage people to be physically active....how ironic...how do you be active when undernourished? And yet how many thousands of times have we heard about an "obesity epidemic"? Around and around in my head I go.

Kath put together a great rice/veggie/egg/spaghetti sauce thing for me for supper tonight. I have often marvelled at how she can take "nothing" and create something, bordering on masterpiece. As I pondered my bowl in front of me, I began to think, "Would I, if on my own, be able to whip something like this together?" A resounding no! I then thought of other clients who live on their own, but do not have a creative partner that can make a wonderful creation. What would they do with what we have left? Would they be able to create something as edible? I'm not so sure...I know I couldn't do it!

So, if I piece this all together as if I were a client I work with, it would go something like this: I get a box full of stuff from the foodbank, which is great, but then I am not sure what to with some of it, so I use what I know, but what do I do with the rest...well, I will eat only suppers for the next week...but then I am supposed to be active...but man, I am way to tired, so I think I will take it easy tonight...

By no means am I implying that those on assistance don't do much...I have met too many amazing people that do great things in our community...but after this week, I could completely understand if they didn't want to/couldn't be active.

Day Six - Support

2010-10-06T17:57:00.001-07:00

Just a brief note to share today. My husband is out of town on business and the parenting is now all in my hands. Not a big deal… usually… But I am feeling lethargic (everything is a big deal) and just lacking in reserves, both physical and emotional. I cannot imagine the challenges of single parenting on a painfully tight budget with no end in sight. Kudos to the many, many of you out there that do – and manage to do it the very best you can.

Soup and cookies

2010-10-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

We're in the homestretch now. I'm so grateful to my wife Karen who chose to make peanut butter cookies using the recipe on the side of the jar. One cup pb, one half cup sugar and one precious egg mixed together, separated into balls and baked. Delicious. The snack we needed. But even they are being rationed to last until Friday. We're down to just a few crumbs of cereal, a few drops of milk, a quarter cup of oatmeal and four slices of bread for breakfast. There's still one box of kd and tuna for supper tomorrow. There is absolutely no way the food would have lasted an entire week for our family of four. If we had not supplemented the kids lunches with our own food this week, we'd be eating rice, rice and rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (We still have a half bag of rice left.)

For whatever reason, I still am feeling fine. My wife however is sharing in the headaches and discomfort so many of you have blogged about. The children, not thrilled with our family dinners, forge on with their enhanced lunches.

The highlight of this experience for me occurred today: my visit to the food kitchen with my colleague at CBC, John Gaudi, who is also participating in the challenge. After enjoying a hot bowl of soup, meat on a bun and small sweet, we struck up a conversation with a few of our fellow diners. I brought along my tape recorder to record their thoughts on the food challenge. As people who rely on social assistance, I asked them what they thought about a bunch of Sudburians eating a food bank diet for seven days. Kim said we should all try it for 90 days. That's when you would truly feel what it's like to be on social assistance. Imagine. My conversation with Kim will be on Morning North Thursday at 8:15 (unless the lineup has changed since I left this afternoon). That conversation, along with a chat I had with Elvis will be posted on the Morning North website under audio features later tomorrow. I was moved by their honesty and willingness to share their stories.

Lucky Choatmeal

2010-10-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

For breakfast the past couple of days: oatmeal mixed with Lucky Charms. Or, Lucky Choatmeal. The name's pretty appropriate as it indicates my feelings toward the dish as well as what it looks like. Yet it's actually surprisingly tasty and relatively filling.

On the way to and from class, I was thinking about how Shakespeare writes about food. There is the famous banquet scene in Macbeth; in Pericles, Pericles delivers grain to the citizens of a starving city; and in The Tempest, an elaborate banquet is laid out for ship-wrecked and hungry characters, but it cruelly disappears when they try to eat from it. Also, Caliban itemizes the produce of the mysterious island. Another character, Gonzalo, imagines governing a commonwealth in which all resources are held in common and are available without undue hardship: "All things in common nature should produce / Without sweat or endeavour." According to Gonzalo, riches and poverty will no longer exist. He doesn't mention explicitly hunger, though.

Sometimes Shakespeare uses food figuratively. The opening lines of Twelfth Night, for instance, are: "If music be the food of love, play on, / Give me excess of it." In Coriolanus, battles are depicted as crude feasts, and Coriolanus (a heroic soldier) is depicted as a voracious eater of men. Recently, I heard a paper in which metaphors derived from sixteenth-century cooking techniques appeared with some regularity in Shakespeare's history plays.

In The Taming of the Shrew, Petruccio starves Kate, his newly-wed wife, until she agrees to submit to his authority. In one scene, Petruccio throws away their meal, falsely claiming that the meat was burned. In another scene, Kate begs a servant for some food, and the servant teases her by offering her unpalatable dishes, which Kate begs him to bring. Yet he refuses. Only when Kate finally obeys him does Petruccio permit them to travel to Kate's father's house for a feast.

Now that I think of it, Shakespeare repeatedly treats food in political terms. Kate is "tamed" in part by Petruccio's withholding of food, and, the disappearing feast in The Tempest functions partly as Prospero's revenge for his loss of political power and partly as one of his maneuvers to reclaim it.

A relationship between food and politics is explicit at the beginning of Coiolanus. The opening scene stages the beginning of a food riot. The rioters believe that the city's governors are hoarding grain (effectively starving the city's citizens) in order to drive its price up and profit from this higher price. One of the rioters rather astutely argues that the sign of their starvation--"the leanness that afflicts us"--also serves as a sign of the city elite's abundance: the more the rioters suffer, the more the governors stand to gain. One of the governors attempts to calm the rioters by telling them the famous parable of the body-politic. The city is like a body, he says, and the governors are its stomach, receiving food first before shipping it off to the other body parts. Unsurprisingly, the rioters aren't satisfied with this explanation. Nevertheless, the rioters are calmed: they receive both food and political representation among the governors.

Also, Coriolanus represents this political representation partly in terms of food. While the citizens now have a political voice, several of the elite deride this "voice," noting repeatedly that this "voice" reeks of garlic and onion, food commoners typically ate. In other words, this food marks the citizens' participation in political governance and marks a class hierarchy within that participation.

I'm struck, though, by the rioter's analysis of the situation, by his claim that his and his fellow rioters' (and their families') lean bodies have value as a sign of others' abundance, as if their bodies are status-symbols for the governors. He claims that their "misery is an inventory to particularize their abundance." Their lack of food itemizes how much the governors have.

On the one hand, his critique is an extreme extension of the "keeping up with Joneses" notion. Yet here the idea is not to keep up with the Joneses but to have more than them. Or, in the rioter's formulation: one succeeds when one sees that the Joneses have less.

Yet the rioter's critique is more radical than this because it does not focus on luxuries. It's focused on a fundamental need. It's an interesting critique because it brings to light the relativity inherent in a market of scarcity: one's success is marked by what others lack.

OK. I'm getting preachier the longer I write, and the entry's long enough already, so I'll sign off.

The Next Steps...

2010-10-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

Good Morning All! I was reading over your blogs and WOW... I'm sure I'm not the only one you have struck a cord with. For those of you who have dropped out... thanks for your courrage in taking on this challenge... and for those who are still holding on... GO TEAM!

John, thank you for putting it out there about how we continue this work even after the challenge is done... Thanks as well to Alice for providing the information about how we can connect with people already doing this work in the City. This is an issue that will not resolve itself over night... it's going to take a lot more work to get people living in low income up to par... and even then it may still take time before they can get adjusted. But until then each and every one of us can make a change... donating healthy food to the food bank, changing your perception about those on social assistance or just being more mindful of the difficulties many in our community face are ways we can continue the work we are doing. We can take even bigger steps by talking about this with others in our respective networks... it's about getting the word out there and creating extended understanding of these issues... not having healthy food does more than just affect one's physical health... it affects the way these individuals are able to be human beings... it affects them socially, economically and culturally... and by getting more people to understand these implications we are already affecting change...

As a community... and more broadly we need think as a province... collectively about how poverty affects each and everyone of us... some more than others... and how we need to work together to create a better place to live for everyone. It's not by ignoring the problem that it will go away... rather by talking about it we have the opportunity to enlighten others and truly provoke change...

I hope we can all continue this work in one way or another after the challenge is done...
As a side note there will be a reflection session for the participants on the week of October 18th... I haven't set a date yet but I'm hoping all of you can attend.

GO TEAM!

Steph

Tuna and pasta and sauce... oh my!

2010-10-06T05:18:00.000-07:00

English will follow

En ce mercredi matin (jour 5), je me sens correcte. Du gruau (nature - yuck) ce matin et un bol de céréale pour Denis. Je me sens mieux les matins comparativement au début de la semaine mais c'est clair que par la fin de la journée, je deviens assez irritable. J'ai fait ce constat hier soir en conduisant à la maison lorsqu'un chien a traversé la rue et que j'ai failli klaxonné parce qu'il ne traversait pas assez vite à mon goût... Je me suis surprise à pensé... ouains, peut-être que le manque de fruits, de légumes et de viandes commence à m'affecter!

Le souper d'hier consistait de nos pâtes, la cane de sauce tomate tout-usage (je rebaptiserais sauce tomate sans-goût) et la fameuse canne de thon sans nom. C'était...correct. Pas de la haute gastronomie mais j'avais l'impression que les pâtes étaient un peu plus santé que le macaroni du Kraft Dinner. On mange la même chose pour dîner. Ce soir, nous nous rendrons au Centre Samaritain proche de la maison pour le souper et je suis un peu nerveuse. Nerveuse à deux niveaux... Premièrement, je me croise les doigts que ce n'est pas un souper spaghetti parce que je vais crier si j'ai d'autres pâtes. Deuxièmement... si le constat du peu de nourriture santé accessible aux gens qui visitent la Banque alimentaire ET le peu d'argent alloué par la prestation mensuelle m'affectent émotivement comme ça le fait présentement, je suis nerveuse à l'idée des émotions que je vais vivre ce soir en allant à la Soupe populaire. Je suis nerveuse mais j'ai également très hâte de vivre une telle expérience et je suis d'accord avec l'inscription d'un des participants qui disait que tout le monde devrait vivre cette expérience une fois dans leur vie. Nous serions tous un peu plus conscientisé des défis que vivent certains nos concitoyens.

Je vous en reparle demain...

ENGLISH
On this Wednesday morning (day 5), I feel ok. Plain (yuck) oatmeal this morning for myself and Denis had a bowl of cereal. I feel better than Monday morning but it is clear that by the end of the day, I get more irritable if not agressive! I realized this last night as I was driving home from work. A dog was crossing the street and I almost honked my horn because he was not crossing fast enough. At that point, I realized that maybe the lack of fruits, veggies and meat was getting to me!

Supper last night consisted of our pasta, the all-purpose tomato sauce (that I would rename all-tasteless tomato sauce) and the famous no-name tuna can. It was...ok. Not a 4 star meal but I did feel as though I was getting better pasta than the macaroni in the KD box. We are eating the same thing for lunch. Tonight, we are heading to the Samaritan Centre for supper and I am a bit nervous. Nervous on 2 levels. First of all, I hope that it is not a spaghetti supper because I will scream if I have more pasta tonight! Second of all - if the realisation of the non existence of fresh fruits and veggies from the Food Bank AND the amount of money allocated monthly to live (I would say survive) is getting to me like it is right now, I cannot imagine the overflow of emotions that I will feel tonight going to the Soup Kitchen. I am nervous but also excited to live such an experience. I agree with one of my fellow participants who says that everyone should go at least once in their life to a Soup Kitchen - it would make this world a better place I think because we would probably be a bit more sensitive to the hardships of our fellow citizens.

I'll let you know tomorrow.

Eating What the Locals Eat

2010-10-05T18:42:00.000-07:00

It's Tuesday night. And I'm okay. That after a few slices of whole grain bread, some rice with margarin, and a fried egg. I picked up the food box on Friday at the Sally food bank early in the morning. There was extra bread there for the taking. So, I grabbed a couple of loaves -- and lo and behold...they were whole wheat. I'm lucky. Supplies are running low. The pasta is now finished. And I just cooked up half of the rice to eat with a half can of tuna with cream corn mixed in for tomorrow's lunch. It actually doesn't taste half bad.

I work with Markus Schwabe at CBC Radio. He tells me how he's rationing food during the week with his family. And I think this challenge is harder for folks with kids, for sure.Markus told me he was going to be sharing a can of soup with his family for supper last night. Makes me think of famlies, those who aren't doing this for fun. I did offer Markus a loaf of bread and some soup today. He said his wife wouldn't allow him to take it. It would be cheating. I said, "Markus just take it in case you need it." He refused.

There's one thing I'm just wondering about. We're doing this challenge because we want to. But, at the end of it, we're going to be eating at a nice community luncheon and sharing stories about our experiences. Some of us will congratulate ourselves on making it. Others will not. All of us will likely reflect on what this means for people who depend on a food bank to get by. But, is what we're doing a kind of tourism? Dropping in, but then leaving as it suits us. See the locals, eat the what the locals eat, tell stories about what it's like, and then beat it.... Of course, it's all fine and dandy for me to wax philosophical on a full belly ...even if it's stuffed with what the "locals" eat. Thankfully, I have the whole wheat bread to sustain me.

Day Five - Kinda Angry

2010-10-05T17:59:00.000-07:00

I have been reading the blogs of other participants and am sorry to hear how hard this Challenge is on many. I am glad to hear though that people have stopped if they were having health problems. That is such a strong message in itself – good that you/we have that option. I am getting through and would say that I feel more annoyed/discouraged/angry than anything else. I don’t like the food. I feel “full” but not satisfied after eating. I want to be able to make other choices. I am counting the hours until noon on Friday. But I will get through with bread, buns, one can of tuna, lots of margarine, M&C, a can of corn, soup and crackers left (and a few cookies…). (I feel a little guilty – so other participants, please call if you want anything!). I am annoyed/discouraged/angry because it just isn’t “right”. In a country as rich as ours, people should be better supported. This isn’t just about better quality foodbank food. I think that it is about our society better supporting people (i.e. social assistance rates, minimum wage levels) so that they can afford to make choices that are good for their health… so they can participate in society fully… so that they can be great moms and dads and letter carriers and teachers and politicians and…

The Numbers are In

2010-10-05T17:57:00.001-07:00

With the approval of my manager at work (thanks Joanne!) I was able to use the nutrient analysis program at work to evaluate the nutritional value of our food box. The numbers are not stellar but considering that this is food donated by well meaning community members I think that it is certainly better than nothing.

Both Ernst and I are getting an average of about 1175 calories per day. This is about 1000 calories shy of what Ernst would need in a day and 300 calories lower than my requirements. This is basic requirements, mind you, not taking into consideration the walking we do to and from work, Ernst's hockey and our busy lives. I have found that although I do get hungry between meals, the meals do fill me up. Unfortunately the fibre content is quite low (9 g each per day when we need between 25 and 35 g) and so the full feelings don't last long.

Interestingly, 60% of the calories come from carbs when we should be shooting for 50% at most. This will come as no surprise for all of us who have been eating white rice, bread, pasta, cereal, crackers and cookies for the last few days.

Despite the lower calorie intake we are meeting maximum levels for one nutrient: sodium. At 2000 mg we are within recommended levels (for someone eating adequate calories). Other vitamins and minerals are low, however, including:
Potassium
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Calcium
Iron (for Alice only)
Vitamin D
Vitamin B6
Folate
Pantothenic Acid
Biotin
Vitamin K
Magnesium
Zinc
Copper

That is quite a list of deficiencies. The best way to meet the requirements for these nutrients would be to increase our intake of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. It is a good thing that most people have the option of taking advantage of the additional perishables that we were not able to go pick up. A prolonged lack of these nutrients in our diets could lead to increased risk of heart and cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, some types of cancer, perhaps multiple sclerosis and probably many more chronic illnesses. Hopefully regular users of the food bank are able to eat better earlier in the month when they have more money available. Of course, there is the issue even then of the expense of healthier food choices.

In all, I do want to commend the food banks, emergency food providers, such as the missions and soup kitchens and other meal programs, as well as their volunteers. They are filling a much needed gap. Everything that we got at the food bank is better than the alternative: nothing.

Not Just Another Tues.

2010-10-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

Kath and I (Larry) took our 3 children to the Mission tonight for supper. (I wanted to take her without the kids and could call it a date!...but she wouldn't go for it...something about a teaching opportunity for them...oh well!) We bussed it in from nearby Copper Cliff to round out the experience. When we arrived, I was surprised by two things: 1. the place was nearly full at shortly after 5:30 when supper wasn't being served till 6, and 2. the variety of gender, age and ethnicity. There was a grandma proudly showing off her youngest grandchild, a mom playing with her son, multiple games of cards, and lots of conversation. There was almost a sense of community. It was equally interesting to have one guy yell to others to watch their language because there were children present. There was even the sharing of uneaten food between strangers.

The meal itself was great. As much as I am a wee bit weary of eating high carb foods, I am grateful for what was provided. It was nice to have a full stomach for once this week. And the vegetable soup was great.

Most interesting, was the discussion we had with our three kids afterwards. When asked what their thoughts were, our 13 yr old commented on how he noticed he was the only one with braces...our 11 yr old son was conscious that he felt like we were different because we were dressed differently than others...and he astutely picked up the fact there were a few in the mission that seemed lonely. We had the chance to talk with them about why the mission is needed in the first place, and although the food tasted good, having an increase in social assistance would allow for people to make their own choices. There are some things that can't be taught in a classroom or out of a text.

Our 9 yr old daughter, when praying tonight, thanked God for the volunteers who helped, that there are places like this to help those who need food and asked for God to show us how we can help. Amen Kate, Amen

Its a beautiful Day!

2010-10-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

I played a little U2 this morning in hopes of starting the day off right and it worked. Met Liz at the soup kitchen for lunch and had delicious vegetable soup and a meat sandwich on multi-grain bread! I even got a loaf to take home and Liz gave me her sandwich so I have supper that isn't pasta or KD. (I promised to bring the rest of my peanut butter to our Thursday Rotary breakfast so we can share it.) It was great!
How can lunch at a soup kitchen feel so good and inspirational? There was a family there with a little baby, happy and laughing. There were teenagers across the table gabbing away. There was a very old lady with the warmest smile who served me tea and made sure everything was perfect. She was the one who gave me extra bread. People getting by, making do and helping each other. How can I ever feel down or complain?

Getting organised

2010-10-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

Well last night (Monday night) I attended a lecture at the U of Toronto. I did not think of packing my supper, just my lunch, which means that I did not get to eat supper before 9:00 pm. By that time my lunch was a vague memory. Good thing the talk was fascinating ‘Would Canada benefit from greater privatization of health care?’
I spent the rest of the night cooking for Tuesday and got organized to bring both lunch and supper with me. Today (Tuesday) was my caucus meeting (we always have a nice lunch at that meeting) so I had brought my best lunch… white pasta with canned tomato sauce. At least it was worm… My colleagues had a nice turkey dinner with all the fixing, it smelled delicious and there was plenty left over as 5 of us are doing the challenge. Howard is wondering if you can eat what you hunt, some of us are ready to settle for road kill : )

I would say that today I felt better than yesterday, concentration wise but I still do not have the energy to work out (very unusual for me). I am getting ready for my Kraft dinner, I hate Kraft dinner! I did not have the courage to attend any receptions although we have a delegation from China visiting us as well as the Museum association. The food there will be too tempting. I am not that strong. My mouth is watering for fresh fruits.

2010-10-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

MISSION FOR LUNCH!

Well Jeff and I went to the Mission for lunch today and we had to wait a few minutes for a place to sit because it was full and people young and old (including young babies) were continually coming in for a meal. I felt bad taking up a spot considering we had something to eat at home but we needed a change and we wanted to experience a meal at the Mission. I am glad we went. As soon as we entered we were welcomed, no questions asked. The meal was such a pleasant change from what we have been eating. Once a chair was available and the table wiped down by a smiling-faced volunteer, we were invited to sit and enjoy the meal we received in the line. Trust me when I say it was so tasty..a hot bowl of chicken vegetable soup, with real chicken and autumn vegetables! We were given a sandwich with some type of lunch meat in it, and a piece of what looked like almond "Finnish" bread for dessert. A platter of crackers and veggies were also placed in the middle of the table to share (I took the piece of red pepper which tasted so delicious) along with a drink of water. Jeff and I both enjoyed the soup, and I savored the little morsels of chicken pieces in it. OMG I miss eating meat. I was full after eating most of my lunch so Jeff enjoyed my sandwich and saved his for supper tonight. There were so many mouths to feed there today and everyone there was treated with dignity and respect, I appreciated that and was very humbled to a part of today's lunch.

Everyone should have this experience, and considering we are heading into a Thanksgiving weekend you would not only be very humbled by it, you would want to do something to help..and believe me donations of food and money are always welcomed.

Tonight's supper for me is a bowl of vegetable soup and a toasted fried egg sandwich. I am trying to avoid more carbs if I can as they are wreaking havoc with my internal organs. Tomorrow is a new day, enough milk for 2 bowls of cereal, for Wednesday and Friday. Thursday morning is our Sunriser Rotary meeting, where a hot and cold breakfast is always served. Jeff and I have discussed our own menu, and will be bringing ours from home, my 2 slices of multigrain bread with some of Jeff's peanut butter. Its what to make for supper that gives me the most grief, I am running out of food ideas...Goodnite all.

J'ai rêvé de viande! / I dreamed of meat!

2010-10-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

English will follow...

Je l'avoue - je me suis réveillé à matin en réalisant que j'avais rêvé de viande au courant de la nuit. Steak, roast beef, même un bon hamburger... La carnivore en moi trouve ça dure!! Denis est un peu moins carnivore que moi donc il tough mais j'ai été obligé de lui promettre un bon steak, salade césar et patate au four pour me faire pardonner de l'avoir embarqué là dedans! Surprenant mais le moral va un peu mieux aujourd'hui qu'hier. Je ne sais pas si je suis juste trop brûlé pour remarquer que les "shakes" sont encore là, ils le sont encore mais on dirait que je me sens moins étourdie qu'hier. Est-ce que mon corps à juste accepté son sort - je ne sais pas. Le cerveau quant à lui trouve pas ça évident. Disons que je me suis excusé au début de mon cours hier soir et une chance que je ne me faisais pas évaluer sur mes techniques d'enseignement car c'était pas fort fort! Je trouve ça difficile de fonctionner au bureau mais je n'ai pas le choix - grosse demande de subvention pour le début de la semaine prochaine. Mais disons que ça me prend le double, si pas le triple de mon temps écrire un petit paragraphe. J'arrête à tout moment, découragée de l'état de mes pensées. Je sympathise avec mes collègues participants qui sont à la radio ou à la télé - au moins pour moi, personne de l'extérieur subit mes moments de perte de focus, juste mon équipe!

On continue, on lâche pas encore mais encore une fois - je ne peux pas concevoir faire ceci mois après mois ou jour après jour. Je ne regarde pas la bouffe de la même façon et moi qui avait déjà l'habitude d'acheter un gros panier d'épicerie pour la banque alimentaire au temps des fêtes, déjà, je vais acheter différemment!

ENGLISH
I admit it... I dreamed of food last night - more precisely, I dreamed of meat!! I am a big carnivore and this lack of meat is starting to get to me. A weiner is not meat!! Denis is hanging on better than I am because he does not crave meat as much as me but I did have to promise him a big steak, a ceasar salad and baked potatoe when this is over... I did kind of "force" him into this!! I am surprised that my optism is up today. Today I felt like #@$@ but today, I'm doing better. I don't know if it is because my body is too tired to notice the shakes but I don't feel as confused as yesterday. Did my body just accept that it is doomed, or maybe that this thing is half done... I don't know... I know that my brain is not liking this challenge as much. I had to teach last night after work and I started class apologizing in advance to my students (and took the time to explain the challenge...). I think it went ok but let's just say I am glad I was not getting evaluated on my teaching skills last night! I find it hard to function at work because I have no choice - we have a HUGE grant proposal to submit for next Tuesday. It is taking me 2 or 3 times more time to write a sentence so you can imagine a 20-25 page grant proposal!!! I sympathise with my colleagues of this challenge who work in the media (radio/tv) - at least my moments of complete blankness or my lack of precision is only noticed by my staff - no all of Sudbury!!

We are pushing through (Denis and I) but I cannot imagine having to go through this every month or every week. I do not look at food the same way now and one thing is for sure - I always bought a grocery cart of food for the foodbank during the Holidays... Boy am I going to change what I buy from now on!

Tuesday, Is That All!

2010-10-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

Just finished my tomatoe soup with Ritz crackers, feeling so bad that the soup is gone, I love tomatoe soup. It has seen me through 2 lunches, now not too sure what I can bring myself to eat. Boiled all the weiners last night, however did not eat. Cereal is my friend these days and worried about the milk, might make it until Friday. Just using the milk for cereal and very sparingly. So from my choices, I'm down to the oatmeal (not so crazy about), can of baked beans, can of tuna....I think I'll make a tuna casserole, that means using up my milk, have to think about that. White bread, lots left because I just can't eat it, using the Ritz crackers as my fill up food, little less than 1/2 a box left.

I'm definitely not feeling good, but not feeling too bad either. Strangest thing is my legs ache constantly. Not too sure what that's about and for a person who usually suffers from insomia, I'm sleeping constantly, so home is not exactly clean, very draggy for someone like me who is somewhat of a clean crazy person, it is quite stressful seeing it like this. It's terrible stressed about cleaning home, too tired to do anything about it, I now understand.

Food Deserts

2010-10-05T07:24:00.001-07:00

I noticed that fellow participant, France Gelinas, MPP for Nickel Belt, is quoted in the Sudbury Star. She stated that in her riding there are 36 communities, many without a grocery store but most have a food bank. France, thanks for bringing up another issue that we face here in Northern Ontario. Physical access to healthy food. A community without access to groceries is literally a food desert. We wonder why there are so many people who eat processed foods and fast foods. There are many people who don't have the physical ability to run out to the grocery store. A convenience store may be all they have in their community. That and a food bank.

Maybe we need to reassess planning in our city - access to public transit, position of grocery stores in outlying areas, or possibly shuttle buses that go to grocery stores at certain times of the day or week. I have also heard of one interesting idea: a food bus. Perhaps we could have a travelling market bus that takes food out to Levack and other communities that don't have grocery stores.

There is also the Good Food Box. I hear they are looking for host sites so that the boxes of vegetables and fruits can be picked up by community members in farther reaches of the city - not just downtown and New Sudbury. Businesses, individuals, organizations can all be hosts. Contact alicehaasdyk.sfc@gmail.com for more information on becoming involved.

I'm Out

2010-10-05T06:46:00.000-07:00

Last night i had to withdraw from the challenge, my day at work was horrible. I couldn't think strait, i was barely able to get my work done in fact I'm correcting a few things today from yesterday. My head was killing me, and i too was tripping all over the place for some strange reason my back hurt most of the muscles in my body hurt, so i quit the challenge. I felt really bad in the moment but not today, today i feel like a million bucks i had a balanced breakfast and because of it I am able to function properly at work.

I hope everyone else taking this challenge finds the strength to continue, because I could not. I will be returning all unopened cans back to the salvation army along with bags and bags of fruit and vegetables that i will be donating every week. This challenge really opened my eyes, and even though I've dropped out of the challenge i will open the eyes of as many people I can from now until the problem has disappeared.

Also on a side note one of my co-workers Sylvie told me this morning about an event called "thrill the world" (look for it on face book) it's a charity event for the sudbury food bank, and we get to dance the Thriller for charity, how great is that.

I'm cheating at this very moment

2010-10-05T05:05:00.000-07:00

This will not come as a surprise to some (probably Markus, who caught me whining to my mom at the doctor's), but I'm cheating this morning. Yesterday was horrible; my brain felt like it was floating inside my head, I was dizzy, and when I wasn't -- I had a terrible headache.

I made the decision to cheat today after I almost fell down my stairs at home. Sure, the cat helped me, but I was pretty light headed to begin with. I was running late, and I didn't have time to make myself breakfast. I was going to make a scrambled egg and eat it on toast with a hotdog sliced into thin strips to make pseudo bacon.

But I didn't, because I tripped and almost fell and was running late.

So I'm eating a bagel with cream cheese right now, because it was $2, beside work, and I needed to eat.

/cower

Forgive me!

2010-10-05T04:34:00.000-07:00

DAY 5

Well its Tuesday morning, 7:30 a.m., and I am glad that I am a little more than halfway through this challenge...its not been easy, and as each day progresses, I am getting less enthused about what I can make for a meal. I'm not feeling well, my stomach growls alot more, and I have less and less energy when I am usually full of it!

I am sick of the taste of this food that all seems to be mush- mushy Kraft Dinner for two meals with and without weiners, mushy pasta for 3 meals, mushy beans and weiners for 2 meals, UGH! If I have to eat any more weiners I will literally puke! My breakfasts have been the best meals of my day consisting of eggs, eggs on toast, oatmeal or shreddies with milk but that is also coming to an end. It has been difficult living without fresh fruit and veggies, and fresh meat...how could I do this if there was no other alternative?

Have you had any cravings? I am craving a succulent fresh orange! Mmmm, imagine how good that would taste? How about a fresh salad with fresh veggies and roasted red pepper dressing on it? Top that off with a sirloin steak, medium rare from the Keg! And a Skor Blizzard from DQ for dessert Mmmm...this weekend just can't come fast enough.

For someone who has a lot of energy, it has been hard. I have felt lethargic during the day but still try to get to the gym every morning, and although my energy level is not at its peak, I push through it knowing I only have till Friday morning. My sleeps are restless, I am sleeping longer, and getting lazier as each day goes by. Not a good sign! Good healthy food is the gasoline that keeps our engines going! Eating this way all the time would certainly diminish my energy levels, both physically and mentally, diminish my spirit, diminish my zest for life, diminish my drive to do much of anything! We need healthy nutritional food choices to be able to be at the top of our game! No matter what we do! I am grateful I do not have to do this challenge "every single day!"

My heart goes out to those individuals and their families who are financially unable to buy what they need to sustain a healthy lifestyle. This has been the biggest eye opener for me. We need to have our government leaders do something about this! Eating nutritional food should not be a "luxury" for anyone! No one should go hungry!

Jeff and I are going to the Mission for lunch today, anyone in this challenge is more than welcome to join us. But I hope its not beans and weiners...seriously.

This Thanksgiving will certainly be one that I remember! Good luck to everyone as we get closer to the end of this challenge!

Checking in...

2010-10-04T23:06:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd check in before hitting the sack. Both Alice and I are hanging in, still. I had a bit of a bonus this evening as Alice ate at the mission: I got to eat the whole box of mac and cheese.

There are definitely side-effects to this. During my lecture this morning, I started to get extremely hungry and light-headed. And it was only 9:00; it hadn't even been 1.5 hours since I'd eaten. Nothing too severe, but still mildly uncomfortable. I couldn't really focus at work. I found that walking helped. I think I'll go for a longer walk tomorrow, keep my head clearer for a longer time.

This challenge has made a positive impression. I've received a number of encouraging comments from people who support the challenge and what it's trying to accomplish. The next challenge will be to keep up the momentum once this challenge is over.

Running out of food!

2010-10-04T18:29:00.001-07:00

The thing that we have noticed most about the food that we have been eating since Friday is the lack of variety in both flavour and texture. Most of what we got in the box is bland, salty, soft and mushy, quite a combination. A. has had to drop out on the 4th day of the challenge because she is allergic to wheat and with the bread, pasta, muffins, and cookies her health was starting to suffer. J. will try to hang in for one more day. He often has oats for breakfast and he will use the leftovers from tonight’s supper of rice, mushroom soup and canned green beans for lunch tomorrow. After that the food will be pretty well gone.
We both found that the diet gave us headaches and now that J. is back at work he is finding it hard to keep focused, particularly at the end of the day. Also, even though it felt like we were eating enough it never seemed that we were satisfied by the meals. Maybe it was the lack of variety or the absence of fresh food. A. supplemented our meal on Sunday by picking dandelion greens and created one of the more satisfying meals that we have had.
Here is a list of what we have left:
1 baggie of instant coffee
2 tea bags
1 baggie of white sugar
Less than 1/4 baggie of instant oats
1 can of tomato paste
tub of margarine
1/4 box of crackers
2 wieners
2 eggs
1 boxes of macaroni and cheese
Part of a box of bran cereal
1 package of cookies
1/4 loaf of bread

Looking for the Light at the end of the Tunnel

2010-10-04T18:11:00.001-07:00

The weekend is over and I think I'm actually doing a little better. Instead of staring at the counter of food from the food bank, I'm immersed in my job. I normally just graze my breakfast and lunch at my desk at work, then have a heartier meal at dinnertime. I had a bowl of oatmeal and a peanut butter and jam bun for breakfast and lunch. Supper was a can of vegetable soup and toast. We also splurged on a glass of milk each. It's hard to believe a glass of milk can taste so good.

We found the weekend was as emotionally challenging as it was physical. We've come to take for granted we can eat what we want, when we want. Over the weekend, it felt like our rights were taken away. We lost control of the most basic of needs. We lost control of our lives. It's that feeling of helplessness combined with the lack of nutrition that make this whole experience hard to digest.

But today I see the light at the end of the tunnel: a light that is much fainter for people on social assistance. It's easy for me to accept my plight, because I know it's all going to end in just a few days. There's also the relief that my children are eating nutritious lunches. I chose to participate in this challenge. Unfortunately there are thousands of families who don't have the choice.

What a Day!

2010-10-04T18:03:00.001-07:00

My (Larry) day started off well...perhaps like the pulling out of station on a roller coaster...and then I hit the hills. Mid-morning, while finishing a counselling session, I could feel the crash coming. By noon, I was a hurting unit...the legs were wobbly and the world had a disconcerting spin happening. I litterally choked the leftover Kraft dinner and weiners down, trying not to gag on the dryness and overall displeasure. I survived that and thought a walk around the downtown would help...but not so much.

I read a blog ( I believe it was Vicky) who had a brilliant idea of checking to see what food bank perishables were available, then go to the grocery store to purchase some of the same. The idea was so those that have to survive off the food bank could get there needs met. I called the Salvation Army and spoke to Jennifer, who explained the process, and very gently reminded me that I would be cheating by doing the grocery shopping, and would also defeat the purpose. She let me know the line was long, so if I wasn't going to cheat, I should come soon. As I felt my blood sugar return to some sort of normal, I was off. Jennifer, thanks for not letting me off!

There is nothing subtle about a 6'1" bald man dressed in a polo shirt and Tommy Hilfiger pants, when all around are under 6' and in denim (and have hair). The woman in front of me at the foodbank was very kind and made small talk with me...and gently asked if this was my first time there...I must have looked a little uncomfortable. By the time I had reached the fresh items, I had already scoped out was I was going to partake in: milk, glorious homogenized milk, and onions to flavor the eggs, and sketchy looking peppers but would also add flavor to items, and the oh-so-good looking day-overdue fruit salad...I scored big...I left floating on a cloud.
Elated, I called Kath on her cell to inform of my great find...the day was looking a whole lot better.

When I got home, we dined on succulent fruit, mushy as it might be...and even saved some for tommorrow...Kath made an amazing omellete with onions and peppers and a side of creamed corn, and bread...and glorious homogenized milk. I even get to watch my Dolphins play on Monday night football, while partaking a little pile of Ritz crackers. The roller coaster has arrived back into the station.

I am grateful for the staff at the Salavtion Army...for their hard work...for the way they non-judgmentally try to meet the needs of those who have little or no voice in our society...for Jennifer pushing me to maintain the integrity of this challenge...for day old fruit and veggies..and for the kind first-nations woman who made standing in line a little more comfortable.

Day Four - Halfway There

2010-10-04T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well if there was a novelty to this Challenge… it has certainly worn off! (Although I do have to admit that I am appreciating the cookies in my box – they seem somehow guilt-free in the context of the Challenge… and the fact that we are allowed to drink the coffee we have in our own pantry…). Now I don’t really hate Shreddies or the occasional white bun with margarine… however, nothing but these foods in sight is getting tedious. And of course my colleagues at work are caring… although one did give me a reality check today saying that many people would be grateful for the food I have in my box. He was right of course. It strikes me that I have the luxury of “criticizing” my foodbank box because I have the luxury of education and resources. I have been able in life to afford to make different food (and other healthy lifestyle) choices. Imagine a society in which everyone could have the resources and knowledge to be as critical of this food as I have the "luxury" of being… Things might just change.

Green beans with spaghetti - The Dr. Seus book that didn't sell

2010-10-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

So today I had a Muffet for breakfast. Its been some time since meat and I was hoping for a muppet; froggy or miss piggy, but nope it was a muffet. I ate half and threw it out. Maybe with brown sugar it might have been ok.
Tonight it was spaghetti and a can of no-name green beans. A little bit of oil and powdered garlic (was that cheating?) and voila! One horrible dish! I added the remainder of my can of spaghetti sauce so I could eat it.
Wife is out and promptly ate a banana. I got to smell it for dessert.
I suspect I am gaining wait from all this bread and pasta even though I am hungry during the day. How does that make sense? I have a box of Kraft dinner that can last for two suppers I guess but, since I only have to make it to Friday, I may just prefer not eating.
Guess what is being served at the lunch get together Friday? I wish green eggs and ham, but noooo!

Too hungry to sleep

2010-10-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

It's hard to sleep when your hungry. I layed awake considering the pros and cons of getting up to eat; if I ate something I could sleep, but then our meager supplies would be less. Hunger won out. I found myself in the kitchen at 4am slathering salt-free margerine on toast-and drinking a big glass of water to help me feel full. The tomato soup and two slices of bread for supper just didn't cut it. I was able to sleep after that although still dreaming of food.

I've measured out our oatmeal and it will run out on Wednesday, so I measured out 2 days of cerel for breakfast, the rest of the cerel serves as part of our lunch. Today, dry cerel and 4 ritz crackers. I must say it is shocking to me the affects this diet has on my energy level, my thinking and my moods. I'm getting used to the dizzy spells every time I get up, but when the blood sugar dives, thats when I feel like I could eat anything. Today after work, I was so hungry, I slathered margerine on bread and coated it with sugar...sound disgusting? I went back for seconds....then I ate cerel, then I fried an egg...then I felt ...gross! That was supper!

All the bread is gone, I wonder if I will just eat the margarine with a spoon soon? (just kidding). We have some rolls left, 4 hotdogs, 3 eggs, our rice and tuna, and a 1/2 box of crackers. Today Larry went and stood in line for the perishables, he brought home two rotting peppers, a decent yellow pepper, and 2 onions. He also got some homo milk and a small individual container of fruit salad that was expired. I was so happy, I salvaged what I could of the peppers,--I will use to cook with the eggs we have left, and maybe try to make a 'hotdog, fried rice dish?'. I ate three peices of fresh pineapple--unbelievable...there are just no words. It's worth it to go and stand in the line.

This thankgiving has a whole new perspective for me. I have so much to be thankful for.
Kathy

I blew a fuse

2010-10-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

I spent much of day 3 (Sunday) cooking and making lists to try to make my box of food last until next Friday. It was such a challenge that I got very little else done. I now feel like a prisoner of my list. I have never spent that much time, effort and energy on food. Even with all this planning, Monday morning came, I did not eat enough for breakfast and halfway through question period I had a hard time concentrating and I forgot a meeting. I tried re-heating my lunch and blew a fuse in the electrical system of Queen’s Park. My co-workers either laugh at me or try to offer support. I like the support more than the laughs. I work in an environment where there is free food and drinks everywhere. I am so privileged. I will think of this day every time I go to a reception from now on. It is no fun to worry about food.

P.S. The press conference at Queen's Park was very well attended and well done. Congrats

Drained and fed up.... is it Friday yet ???

2010-10-04T12:07:00.000-07:00

Well my first day at work on the challenge was pretty taxing...... is pretty taxing, I'm still there. I wish i could call in sick for the week and stay home in bed but i can't. I want to eat some fruit and veggies but i cant, I'm not a big fan of fast food but i would love to eat a pizza right now, but i can't.

I cant do a lot of things i want to do, I want to hang out with my friends but i can't because they have real food all around them. My friends and family can't stand to be around me because since Saturday I've become VERY grouchy and irritable. I'm usually a happy-go-lucky guy but lately I'm fed up with just about everything.

I've missed two work-out days because i don't have the energy to leave the house, It was a mission and a half to leave the house this morning. I couldn't live like this, i don't know how I'm going to make it through the rest of the week.

I honestly want to quit right now and go back to normal..... but i cant. I'm going to take this day by day but i know i will not last the week. I can't concentrate at work, I'm falling asleep at my desk, and i feel like garbage.

i just hope my English teacher doesn't read this blog because it's full of sentence fragments and run-on sentences, but i don't care because my brain hurts.

Perishables

2010-10-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

So I found out what perishables were being giving out today. When I heard perishables, I immediately thought, potatoes, carrots maybe onions, brown banana, well I was completely wrong. Perishables today were 2% milk, 3 red onions, premade salad, day old bread and stale broken up Timmy's muffins. Fruit and vegetables are just no where in this way of life. At this time of year, their should be donations of bushels of apples, bushels of all kinds of veggies. I think we need to get, someway, somehow these types of food to the food bank.

So thankful and blessed am I for the life I have been given.

Our Visit to the Soup Kitchen

2010-10-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Do the Math Participants,
I just wanted to say how impressed I am with how all of you are dealing with this. I can't begin to understand what your minds and bodies are going through right now. Your blogs have blown me away... I feel sad about the fact that this food is making you feel the way you do but at the same time I am left hoping that your stories will help create some change. It also makes me even more sad to know that people live this way everyday... but hopefully all this work will change that.

As most of you know I did not participate in the challenge... but I didn't want to do nothing... So when Vicky decided to join the challenge I told her I would take her to the Soup Kitchen. I have done some work there in the past so it wasn't a place I was unfamiliar with but the experience really did have an impact on me. Not being able to have a choice over what you will eat and the time you will eat it at is something I often take for granted. I eat whatever I want when ever I want... but today for lunch (between 11am and 2:15pm) I was able to have pizza and 2 cookies. There was also pasta salad available but I couldn't stomach it... I have a very hard time digesting pasta..... It was brutal to think to come to the soup kitchen everyday and not choosing what I wanted to eat. It's an interesting thing to think about having someone else choose your diet for you... and not having any other choice. I continued to think and well I guess I did have a choice... the choice not to eat something they gave me... but then would I go hungry? Probably... On the other hand when we got there we were welcomed by the staff and were treated with respect and kindness. We sat with others needing to use the Soup Kitchen in their daily life... For me, I was left with a very sour taste in my mouth... knowing someone else has a the power over one's diet is a place where I never want to find myself and really no one should find themselves there...

This whole challenge has brought about some very strong emotions about the subject. Your blogs have really hit home... Again I would like to thank all of you for your time and patience around the issue. Good luck with the rest of the week... and I'm glad you are all here to support each other... :)

Soup Kitchen Lunch

2010-10-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

So today for lunch I went to the Soup Kitchen, thank you to my fellow co-workers who accompanied me, I could not have went alone. I was dreading going there but deep down inside I was hoping I'd get vegetables, so away I went. Lunch today was pizza, macaroni salad with cut up carrots and 2 chocolate chip cookies. Very satisfying, however, now stomach feeling very unsettled. I saved my cookies and my co-workers cookies, giving me a cookie a day for the next 5 days. Feeling very absent minded, decided to drive over to the Food Bank to find out what perishables they were giving away so I could go buy whatever, lineup too long. Exactly 1 hour for people to get perishables and there were many people there. I certainly wouldn't take their perishables, anyway, I drove right by the place. Can't seem to concentrate on what I have to do. Not sure what's for dinner and it seems like that's all I think about, food. I've got lot's of cereal left, (quart of milk) tuna and of course weiners which I haven't been able to eat yet.

Baisse d'énergie mais on tient le coup / Energy drop but hanging on

2010-10-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

English will follow

Ce n'est pas temps que je ressens les "shakes" ce matin mais il est évident que mon corps ne se sent pas en top forme. Denis non plus mais on tient le coup - pour combien longtemps, je ne sais pas mais on y va. Denis est même à la piscine en ce moment à faire des longueurs et tout ce que je pense en ce moment c'est : Gaspille pas le peu d'énergie que tu as!!

Finalement, nous ne sommes pas allé à la mission hier soir car nous avions une amie à la maison. Tandis qu'on mangeait notre riz cuit dans un mélange de soupe au tomate et eau, avec nos haricots (nos seuls légumes), 2 oeufs brouillés et 2 saucisses (tout mélangé ensemble), notre amie dévorait une superbe salade... Ah, des légumes frais... Mais la bonne nouvelle est que ça l'a fait un GROS plat de riz donc une bonne portion hier soir, une autre ce soir, et on a un petit restant qu'on pourra prendre avec notre soupe aux légumes. Ce midi, c'était la petite canne de bines divisée en deux (Denis et moi) avec une saucisse chacun et le gros luxe - du pain!!!

Il nous reste comme nourriture...
- 2 saucisses
- 2 oeufs
- notre canne de thon
- 1L de lait
- 1/2 boîte de ritz
- 1/2 boîte céréale (family size)
- nos pâtes penné
- 1 boîte de Kraft Dinner
- 1 canne de sauce tomate tout-usage
- 1 soupe Knorr aux légumes
- notre petite canne de poire (on en a mangé une divisé en deux pour l'instant)
En plus de notre gros restant de riz d'hier soir...

Pas pire... pas pire pantoute. Je ne dit pas que c'est facile - au contraire. Le manque de variété, le montant de féculant, l'absence de légumes, fruits, viandes, etc. n'est pas évident et ça l'affecte, je peux vous le dire. Je ne pourrais pas faire ça tout le temps c'est certain.

On quitte pour Montréal jeudi après-midi - des réunions déjà prévu pour le bureau. Donc, l'objectif est de continuer jusqu'à jeudi midi... On verra demain.

J'enseigne ce soir après une journée de travail - j'espère que mon niveau de concentration et d'énergie va s'améliorer...

ENGLISH
It's not so much the shakes this morning but the body is not feeling super well. Denis either but we are holding up. For how long - I don't know. As I write this, Denis is even at the pool doing laps - the only thing I can think of is Why are you wasting the little energy you have!!

Didn't go to the Mission last night because we had someone over last night. While our friend was devoring her salad, we ate our rice cooked in water and the tomato soup, mixed with our green beans (our only vegetable), 2 scrambled eggs and 2 weiners... Not a gourmet meal but not bad either. We ended up getting a pretty big size of meal - enough for supper last night, for tonight and a little left over for our lunch with the soup. For lunch, we divided our small can of beans (Denis and I) and 1 weiner each - for our luxury item... bread!!

This is what we have left...
- 2 weiners
- 2 eggs
- the can of tuna
- 1L of milk
- 1/2 box of Ritz
- 1/2 box of Cheerios (family size)
- our pasta
- 1 box of KD
- 1 can of all-purpose tomato sauce
- 1 box of vegetable soup Knorr
- 1 small can of pear halves (we ate one half of a pear divided in 2)
And our left overs from last night...

Not bad one could say - not bad at all. But trust me - it's not easy. The lack of variety, the absence of fresh vegetables, fruits and the overkill of starchy foods is hard. It's affecting our body - I can confirm that! I could not do this all the time.

We are leaving for Montreal thursday afternoon - I have meetings for work. So our objective is to keep going till Thursday noon. We'll see how that goes.

I have to teach tonight after work - hope the concentration and the energy level will be up a bit.

Alice's Speech - Press Conference

2010-10-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks again Alice for your moving speech at our press conference last Friday! Enjoy!

On behalf of Sudbury’s Do the Math Challenge Organizing Committee I would like to thank you for joining us today to raise awareness of the short falls of Ontario’s social assistance program. The committee is made up of a group of Sudburians who recognize the reality of food insecurity in our community and are committed to do what we can to ensure that sufficient, healthy food is available to all. The committee is a true representation of our community, including individuals who are receiving social assistance, those with low-income occupations, and others who, while this is not currently a personal struggle, see the effects of inadequate income and lack of food where they work, at leisure activities and in their own neighbourhoods. The committee members have either experienced food insecurity or know that through only a few unfortunate events we, too, could be faced with the question, “Do we have enough food for our family today?” The goal of this committee is to eliminate hunger and achieve food security in Sudbury.

Food security exists when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. Food security exists when people are able to meet their dietary needs and satisfy their food preferences for an active and healthy life¹. Food security exists when people are able to access to food in a manner that preserves human dignity. Food security exists when food is produced in a manner that preserves the environment as well as the income and dignity of farm workers.

However, the Do the Math Challenge aims to raise awareness that many Canadians do not experience food security but rather its opposite: food insecurity. While

Canada

remains one of the world’s most prosperous countries, its unequal distribution of wealth remains a significant issue². In

Canada

, food insecurity is not defined by the scarcity of food but by the barriers which limit accessibility to food. While there is no scarcity of healthy food in

Canada

—there’s plenty of food to go around—access to this healthy food remains inequitable. Poverty is one of the major factors limiting many Canadians’—and Sudburians’—access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food and Canadians experience food insecurity and at varying degrees of severity. For example, some households may eat less at times when money is scarce. Others may purchase less healthy foods because those foods are cheaper. Parents may decide to go hungry so that their children will not. And, in the worst case scenario, food insecurity does make children go hungry.

Approximately 10% of Canadian households were identified in 2004 as experiencing either moderate or severe income-related food insecurity³. Households with social assistance as their main source of income were at an even higher risk. With limited income and facing high housing, health and child-care costs, some Canadian families find they have little money left to buy food.

In Sudbury, food is expensive. According to the Sudbury and District Health Unit’s 2009 Nutritious Food Basket, a monthly basket of basic, healthy food costs a single person household $272. Given that such a household receives $592.00 a month from Ontario Works, that household will only have $320 remaining to pay for rent, utilities, and other necessities.

Children find themselves in a similar position. A basket of basic, healthy food costs a single-parent, two-child household $774. Such a family receives $1682.00 a month from Ontario Works. After feeding themselves, the family is left with just over $900 a month for rent, utilities, school supplies, and other necessities.

Of course, Sudbury’s harsh winters make housing, clothing and transportation a priority. Food purchases often are reduced, as if they were a luxury one could do without. But healthy eating is not a luxury. I think we can all agree that it is a basic human right.

Sudbury’s emergency food providers such as food banks, soup kitchens and other free meal programs are essential in limiting the hunger that these families face. These food providers are being turned to at an increasing—and increasingly alarming—rate. For example, HungerCount 2009, a report by Food Banks Canada, indicates that food bank use in Ontario increased by 19% between March 2008 and March 2009. In March 2009 alone, Ontario food banks assisted 374, 230 individuals of which 43% received social assistance as their primary income. Most disturbingly, 38%--that is, 142,207—were children. With the increased need, food banks are struggling to keep up.

There are numerous negative consequences of food insecurity. Individuals in food insecure households are more likely to experience poor health⁴. Diabetes, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and depression—food insecure individuals are more likely to suffer from these. Healthy food is essential to lowering the risk of chronic disease and illness. The reduction of food insecurity in Ontario through increasing food allowances to those on social assistance would likely be cost effective as it would result in a healthier population, lightening the load on—and the costs of—the health care system.

Food insecure individuals, including children, not only experience physical and mental health disease but also education difficulties and social isolation. Food insecurity compromises the ability to learn and development of social skills⁵. Even if a child does not experience hunger, experiencing food insecurity—that is, eating less than one would normally choose or eating less nutritious foods—can limit that child’s learning potential. More than this, a child’s food insecurity poses a risk factor for that child’s mental well-being⁶. As if this were not enough, childhood behaviours such as aggression, depression, inattention or hyperactivity have been shown to increase with increasing food insecurity⁷. These challenges can contribute to decreased success in school and future work, demonstrating that food insecurity can contribute to another generation in poverty⁸.

For many, food insecurity is experienced privately as a secret struggle to maintain the health and dignity of their family. Yet food insecurity should not be an individual’s or a family’s struggle. Rather, secure access to healthy food is a basic human right. As such, it is the responsibility of our community, our society and our government to safeguard our citizens from hunger. The human right to secure access to healthy food is a priority that should rank above the rights of corporations, trade deals and markets. Together Sudburians can work together to develop a healthy community with members with the means to share together in making our city a better place to live.

The aim of the Do the Math Challenge Organizing Committee and the Challenge participants is to raise awareness of food insecurity in our community. The participants do not claim that we will know what it feels like to be live with the reality of food insecurity but rather we wish to bring this issue into the open where it can be recognized and a discussion about potential solutions can become a priority. We invite the community to share with us in this experience through the blogs and public forums. While food insecurity is a complex problem, we can take steps to reduce and eliminate it. In a country as prosperous as ours, there is no place for food insecurity or hunger and we believe that we can achieve zero hunger in Sudbury, Ontario and even across Canada. We believe that Sudburians agree with us – we just need to make our voices heard. There are opportunities to bring long-term solutions to our communities. As a start, we need to show support for the Put Food In the Budget Campaign. Please join us in asking the Ontario government to introduce a $100 Healthy Food Supplement for all adults on social assistance.

1. World Food Summit – 1996 – internationally accepted definition of food security, adopted in the Canadian Action Plan for Food Security, 1998.

2. HungerCount 2010 – Despite its prosperity,

Canada

has the 19^th highest rate of poverty out of 29 countries with similar economies.

3. 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey.

4. Vozoris and Tarasuk, 2003

5. Jyoti et al. 2005

6. Slopen et al. 2010

7. Whitaker et al. 2006

8. Chilton et al 2007

Clarification

2010-10-04T08:38:00.000-07:00

Morning all, as I (Larry) sit in my office with the feelings of blood sugar hitting a low, I wanted to clarify my comments regarding a comment made to my 13 yr old in the past regarding those on social assistance. The comments were made by a past teacher not in the Sudbury area, we have just moved to Lively and thought clarification would be helpful.
The point was not to implicate a particular person but more about bringing awareness to stereotypes we may carry regarding people groups.
Come on lunch time: can't wait to have leftover kraft dinner and hot dogs to be microwaved!!!

This close...

2010-10-04T06:31:00.000-07:00

I hit my snooze button a lot this morning. At this point, I am convinced I am not actually sick; I am sitting here at my desk fine as fine, except for my excessive weariness. It's hard to focus - I've re-written this three times now.

I finally dragged myself out of bed, about five minutes after I needed to leave home to make it to work on time. I walk everywhere, and while I wasn't having dizzy spells, I definitely felt like I couldn't make it by the time I reached the CBC building. And think...that's not even halfway to work for me (Northern Life office near the Sudbury Arena).

I also wanted to talk to Markus, so I was disappointed in myself for being late. But at least I resisted the urge to call in sick. It was so tempting...so very, very tempting. Tomorrow, I'll try to catch Markus.

I have to start writing this experience up for my newspaper article, and I just wonder how I'm going to be able to focus to do it.

No energy. None.

My apartment is a terrible mess. I need to clean, I need to do laundry, I need to clean up...I hate when my place is a mess. But you know what? I'm too tired. I don't care. Right now, besides dreaming of pizza (and oranges starting about now), I dream about going back to sleep.

Sleeeeep.

My breakfast was cheerios. My lunch is cheerios. Both without milk. In fact, I am actually almost done my lunch and it's not even 10 a.m.

Also terrible is the heartburn. I have been trying to control it, but finally had to resort to using antacids. If I let it run unchecked, it will cause severe asthma problems from aspirating acid.

Right now, I am -THIS- close to tapping out of the challenge. But what if I couldn't? I think I'd want to die.

Info!

2010-10-04T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hello All,
I hope your weekend was tolerable... I just wanted to share some information posted from Geneviève on the Facebook page.

Samaritan Centre open for supper 5-8:30pm // At the Foodbank - perrishables Monday 1-2pm first come first serve...

Have a great day...

Steph

Weekend Hungry

2010-10-04T05:47:00.001-07:00

So Friday wasn't too bad, thought I'd get through this quite easily as I'm not a very big eater, what an eye opener, because I'm a really healthy eater (fruits and veggies). Saturday decided to not eat lunch, so had my cereal (life shreddies) not my favourite. Then needed to run errands. This is when my discomfort begins. Went to Canadian Tire, they were selling sauage on a bun outside, I never eat sauage on a bun, I could have devoured in one gulp, the smell was so enticing. I prevailed but it seemed everyone was eating everywhere I went. Had very bad Saturday evening hungry all night, definitely went to bed hundry. Sunday, worked my part time job, starting the day with a dry toast and a fried egg. I have to tell you I miss my fruit desperately. Sunday work wasn't my finest hour, again hungry and it amazes me how much I was taking for granted. Food court, shelves and shelves of treats which if I wanted, would just buy. It's seems like all I'm thinking about is food. Went to bed hundry again Sunday. This morning, cereal again, my lunch is going to be tomatoe soup with Ritz crackers, oh man, I miss my fruit and veggies. Certainly not feeling myself. The Food Bank has perishables today that we can pick up, however after three days without, my thoughts are I can't take those perishables away from the people who need then, so I'm going to call the Food Bank to find what I would have received and go out and buy them. Right now, all I can think of "how do the little children out there in this unhealthy environment survive.? Luck everyone.

Tappin' Out

2010-10-04T04:17:00.000-07:00

Well...Things have taken a dramatic down turn since the chipper blog I posted yesterday. Gone is the fun of taking pictures of what I've made, and rampant are the headaches I've felt since eating nothing but carbs since midday Friday. I stare at the contents of my box, and shudder at the thought of digesting another thing from it. The comforting wieners and beans werent bad, but the white bread and margarine were reminders that I was not in control of what I was eating.

After two dizzy spells, and an afternoon of lying on the couch watching TV freezing because I had no fuel inside me I started seriously considering dropping out....I could not imagine making it through the week...the thought of biting into white bread or pasta was enough to drive me batty..

This challenge is to show society how the food stuffs people on assistance receive is neither healthy enough or plentiful enough to survive, and I can speak now from experience (albeit short), that after years of healthy eating (with careful indulgence), going onto a diet similar to those on assisted programs is not enough for people to live on and remain healthy. No wonder Sudbury has health issues, the food donated is graciously needed, but it's not healthy, researching food items donated by other cities, there are healthier choices out there depending on the demographic but still not sustainable. Hearing stories on my Facebook about how people are always hungry, or in need is not good enough in today's society. We are a country of plenty, and even though times are tough for everyone people should not be resorted to leftovers, and "crap" other people don't want. Now, when I hear of groups holding food drives, I truly wish there was education in place for the amazing people who donate. Yes people are donating from their hearts, and their pocket books but people need to know how terrible the food choices are.

For only three days, I've been constantly sick and lethargic, depressed and cold...I don't want to leave the house, and I cannot possible imagine biting into piece of white bread. Those cookies I so desperately wanted in the blurb I wrote about 12 hours ago, I do not want them to pass my lips as the thought of another thing from a box makes me cringe.

It is with this rant that I say I cannot continue in this challenge any longer. I tried to make it the three days, but I do feel my health is at risk. I am a very slender individual with a hyperactive metabolism, and I have no fuel in the tank (so to speak), to keep me going. I did not want to drop out of the challenge, and it was the last thing from my mind, but I cannot say that my moods, health and demeanor will change...It's time to move on to a supporting role for all of the other challengers.

I have my pompoms at the ready for all of you, and commend your continued journey in this challenge. I simply cannot physically make it.

@#&%!!!

2010-10-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the mayo was a very bad idea. Instead of mayo, I got liquid goop. Oh, Joy of Cooking why did you choose this moment to let me down?!

2010-10-03T21:48:00.001-07:00

I can barely function. I still don't know if I caught the bug going around the newsroom, or if it's my diet of bread and hotdogs, but I expect it's a bit of both.

How can someone live like this? I don't want to go to work tomorrow; I want to curl up in my bed and sleep. I spent the entire weekend sleeping. No energy to speak of and very lethargic and groggy.

For someone who -HAS- to live on this diet, I can see why it'd be hard to get off it. Get off OW or find work that can accommodate a disability. It's just so much easier to stay in bed and pretend it will be better tomorrow. Wait for a miracle, the lottery, or a magical floating pizza.

Mmhmm...pizza.

Choices

2010-10-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

I went over the the Ste. Anne Community Garden to help with the fall clean-up today and one of the gardeners had a really interesting perspective on how increasing funding for social assistance would be effective. She said that the more that people have to work with, the better they usually do at budgeting. I have heard many people say, "well you can't give them more money, all you ever see them with is a Tim's in one hand and a cigarette in the other hand." Well, perhaps with more resources people with low-incomes will have more hope, motivation and a brighter outlook. I wouldn't be surprised that with the ability to purchase healthy foods people won't have to make difficult choices such as: it is cheaper to buy a Tim Horton's coffee and a bag of chips than it is to purchase fresh vegetables and whole wheat pasta to prepare a meal?

The other very legitimate thought is why should those with more money get to choose unhealthy lifestyles and begrudge others the same choice? In fact, I thought that everyone in Sudbury had a Tim Horton's cup surgically attached to their hand. I have also been very surprised at the amount of coffee I have been drinking since I'm hungry and can't snack. I have gone from 2 to at least 4 cups of coffee per day.

One of the major differences of opinion in our house these past two days is how much time to invest in our meals. One thing that I definitely have realized is that the food bank, as important as it is, does not provide ingredients but rather food. And most of this food can be eaten with a spoon right out of a can - standing in the kitchen if you want (at least this seems fine to me). It does not hold the promise of a tasty meal prepared and shared with good company, it doesn't encourage sit down dinners with your family or engage the consumer in learning cooking skills. In short, it is everything that is not recommended for a healthy way of eating (even when the abysmal nutritiousness is taken out of the equation). Perhaps the lack of choice leads to a lack of hope and then loss of motivation to make things better. At least that's how I've experienced it - and all I have to do is get to the end of the week. I do have better choices on the horizon.

One last thing: there are solutions. The food bank is a much needed life saver for many people. We can donate - healthy food choices and money are welcome. I was also reminded today of the beautiful community gardens that are cropping up in our city. More than a place to grow healthy food in a sustainable way, they provide outdoor activity with neighbours that are welcoming and a chance to learn how to take more control over what you eat. If you don't have one in your neighbourhood, there are people who can help you start one. Contact the Sudbury Food Connections Network: ahaasdyk.sfc@gmail.com. Or check out the Sudbury Good Food Box or a collective kitchen. These community initiatives are not just for low-income clients but also Sudburians who want to know where their food comes from and take part in bringing it to their table. The more we are all involved, the better it works.

Ponderings

2010-10-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

This morning, as I (Larry) got ready for church, I thought of a trip Kath and I took to Swaziland (a small country nestled inside South Africa) a few years back. We went to "help" finish a school at a home for orphans: orphans because of AIDS. I thought of what it is I am doing this week and how they lived day to day. On a daily basis, they ate a meal called "pap"...it resembles very dried mashed potatoes or oatmeal, and tasted close to what I would image drywall compound would taste like. They did not often eat 3 meals a day, let alone meals with 3-4 food groups. And yet, considering they had no family left and did not eat what we would qualify as healthy, they had an amazing joy to life. As I considered what I had experienced then, and consider how many living locally survive off next to nothing, I was humbled. As I finished supper tonight, I found my mind wandering of how I would like to "celebrate" going back to normal next weekend. The reality for many, there will not have the same opportunity.

I went running tonight, and as I marvelled at the colours of the leaves, the Apostle Paul's (a guy from the Christian Bible) words ran through my head. He had written how he had learned to be thankful in times of much and in times of little. One of the key things the Swazi's had lived by was to be grateful regardless of circumstance. And they hope for a better future. Poverty pushes a person across the razor's edge between hope and depression. It would be easy to lean towards the latter.

So, as I think about this week, I am thankful for what we do have left, as with Kath's creativity we might just make it.

And I hope for a better future for those who have to live day to day with next to nothing.

Day Three - Grumpy

2010-10-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

Well the kids would vote that I end this challenge... now! Yes I have been a little grumpy... irritable... "frustré" as my 10 year old noted in her journal of how maman is coping. Oops! I found myself feeling increasingly resentful of the fresh foods the family was eating over the weekend. How could they possible leave some cheese on their plate or complain about the carrots? Boy the frozen blueberries looked good at breakfast today… The Sudbury & District Board of Health recently passed a motion in support of stricter measures to reduce salt in processed foods… Hear! Hear! Having eaten nothing but processed foods the last few days, I know my salt intake is through the roof. I am thirsty all the time. I find myself thinking that although foodbanks are not the “fix” to poverty and hunger, there MUST be a better way to equip them. What if they were government funded and had to follow healthy food rules the way that schools now have to…??? I am trying to take it day by day and focus on other things. With a busy week ahead, I cannot afford to let my diet “bring me down”…

Serve with: Open faced brie, tomato and back bacon melt OR...

2010-10-03T15:57:00.000-07:00

Herbed goat cheese and grilled vegetable sandwich.

That's what the Knorr package advises. You know what else you can serve it with? Stale buns.

As far as the challenge is going, I'm not looking forward to the next couple of days. I'm experiencing the irritability others have been noting as well as headaches. Both Alice and I have been cranky-pantses these past couple of days. But I think I'm managing things slightly better: while the sample size admittedly was small, those polled in a survey of the household declared Alice crankier by 2 to 1 margin (thanks, son).

Curiously, we've argued most often about food. I want to make something with what we've got while Alice just wants to eat it, practically straight out the tin. She's getting frustrated with the extra 10 minutes it takes to make, for example, a sauce for tuna on toast. When I started talking about using one of the eggs to make mayo for our sandwiches this week, she nearly lost it. Now we're dividing the eggs and tuna in half, and each doing what we want with our portion.

I'm anxious to see how work goes this week. Hopefully it takes my mind off food.

Memories of camping

2010-10-03T15:36:00.000-07:00

Beans and wieners tonight or "Memories of Killarney". When my parents were healthy we would always go as a family to Fairbanks or Killarney, have a bonfire and picnic, and see the beautiful fall colors. Nothing like beans bubbling in an old pot over the fire with chopped up wieners. Love them.
Of course, starving from missing lunch and just an egg on toast for breakfast helped in enjoying this meal.
My family thinks I'm nuts. Son is getting out tomorrow as he hates eggs, pasta or rice and thats pretty well all we have left (other than a tin of ....yes....tuna). Wife is having movement issues; she is used to eating fruit, vegetable, and salad. If things don't improve in that department by tomorrow she will have to bail. Just as well, we don't have enough food to last much past Tuesday anyways.
I'm having fun, but its fun because its only a week and I know that. Think if you were looking at this for the foreseeable future with no improvement in sight. There but for the grace of ..... go I. I'm non-religious but I so love the truth of that saying.

Think of the Children

2010-10-03T14:53:00.001-07:00

There are four of us doing the challenge in our household. The two adults have vowed to continue until the end, but the two kids are going back to school tomorrow, and there's nothing we can send them for lunch. Peanut butter is not allowed. They won't eat the prickle pear jam. So we've made a decision. We will supplement their school lunches with food we buy. For breakfast they have to eat the Life cereal we got from the food bank. Unfortunately half of our milk is gone and I don't think it will last until Friday. For supper, the kids will eat what we eat. Karen and I are eating two meals a day. For breakfast this morning we had eggs on toast. (four eggs left) Supper was half the pasta and sauce. Tomorrow it's oatmeal in the morning and dinner is one can of vegetable soup split four ways with crackers.

I hate to think about the children who have to rely on the food bank. The one can of juice we received Friday is gone. There's nothing left to drink except the two litres of milk, and our family goes through up to 20 litres in a week. We can't in good conscience let our kids go to school without the vitamins and nutrients they need. Even by supplementing their lunches, they're going to suffer. Think of the families that don't have a choice.

Stressed out

2010-10-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Well I'm very worried and stressed out now, i rationed everything in my box and i thought it would be a lot easier than it's been, i remember getting the food and planning my meals for the week but after stretching a box of KD for two days and and eating a bowl of soup for lunch saturday and today also eating a lot of white bread i feel drained, grumpy and just about fed up with this challenge. I know it is impossible to make this food last until friday, i see myself running out of food tuesday.

I'm going to stick with it for as long as i can, i just don't know how to deal with the headaches and the hunger pains, I've never had to deal with hunger pains before and for that i am lucky but one thing is for sure i am going to be donating lots of fruits and veggies and whole wheat bread to the salvation army/food bank.

I would love a nice salad and a couple of apples or even some fresh meat

Worried

2010-10-03T13:30:00.001-07:00

Well - I am officially worried. I have an incredibly high metabolism, and I am 95% of the way through my biggest ration - a box of HoneyCombs cereal. I was not so lucky to receive crackers, or cookies, doughnuts, or muffins, and with my constant need to snack to keep my energy level up I could run out of food despite halfing everything....Irritability is rising, and despite eating, I am growing increasingly more hungry as my metabolism processes what little I have in my system...I'll see how I feel after dinner....but I dont think I can keep this up much longer.

Adventures in Food Rationing

2010-10-03T11:29:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday. Two days into the Food Challenge. And this afternoon, ahhh...I feel better. My stomach was growling at me earlier. The single egg sandwich and cup of tea this morning lasts only so long. I had porridge for lunch. I'm waiting for the left-overs to cool down so I can put them into a tupper-ware container. I will eat the rest later on. I usually drink tea with milk. I discovered porridge with tea tastes pretty good. That way I can conserve the remaining milk for the upcoming week.

My plan of attack was to eat as little as possible this weekend. On Saturday, I had an egg sandwich and cup of tea for brekkie. Then I headed down to the Northern Aboriginal Festival. Everyone was eating Indian tacos and scon dogs. So, tasty at the best of times! My friends said, "John, here have some." Sorry, no can do. At night, I had 2 weiners, a bit of bread and treated myself to the can of mushroom soup and what was left of the donuts. I thought to myself, "Hey, this isn't so bad." On Friday, I had some baguette with margarine for lunch with a muffin. And for supper, 2 weiners and the rest of the loaf of baguette.

Rationing the food for the upcoming week is going to be a challenge. I've put the non-perishable items on top of the dishwasher to keep track of what I eat. The can of musrhoom soup - done. The package of soft cookies - finito. The bag of donuts and muffins - gone. The bag of muffins and donuts deserve special note. They got smushed at the bottom of the food box. And the medley of treats wasn't the most appetizing to look at. But, I tell ya...last night I finished the bag off down to the last crumb. I had comtemplated tossing it cuz it smelled a bit funky. The chocolate chip muffin French Cruller donut blend was delightful!

I'm going to make pasta tonight to eat for lunch at work tomorrow. Tom Reid over at Northern Flavours gave me some good tips on what to prepare. He suggested I put the tuna in with the KD, and make a stew with the tomato paste, weiners and I think he said cream of corn. Does that make sense? I'm a little worried about being irritable at work this week. And I'm sure my colleauges aren't looking forward to it, either. But, hey let's see what happens. Gotta go put that porridge away in the fridge now. That is if the cats haven't gotten to it already. Catch ya later.

Compassion and empathy

2010-10-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well I went and picked up my food at St-Vincent de Paul in Val Caron. I came in the front of the store (it was really busy) and asked to register for the food bank. I got a few looks from the customers which made me feel bad. Kathy quickly brough me to a private office where I did my 'in-take' with a wonderful person name Maria. Everyone who helped me register, prepare my box of food, gave me tips and helped me carry it to the car was compasionnate, caring and showed great empathy for all the customers. I felt at ease talking to them. It was nice to see such a caring group of people.

The box is heavy, that gives me hope although there is nothing fresh. I saw a farmer coming in to donate carots but they were not for me.
I then proceeded to drive to Peterborough, race in the "Head of the Trent' on Saturday and drive back to Sudbury Saturday night. With pasta, eggs, bread and peanut butter I was OK for the race and our crew from Sudbury did very well.

Trying to fit in a high protein, high carb diet from a box on the road was a real pain and the drive home was torture. While my companions bought food on the road I ate my granola bars and drank water. I don't remember the last time I had hunger pains like that, if ever. I barely made it home, cooked the one frozen dinner they had given me and ate it so quickly followed with half a box of digestive cookies that it gave me a sore stomack.

I have to plan things better. Forget about getting my work done in preparation for next week, I am planning my menu. I will never be hungry like that again.

Être créatif / Being creative

2010-10-03T09:25:00.001-07:00

English message will follow...

Mon emploi me demande d'être créative...je le fais au bureau, je le fais sur la scène, je le fais même avec les budgets alloués pour nos subventions. Je ne pensais jamais avoir à être aussi créative avec de la nourriture! Vendredi soir, on a fait la liste des menus...comptabilisant chaque saucisse, chaque oeuf, chaque macaroni... Vous comprenez.

À date, je me surprend un peu. Dîner de hot dogs - mais pas de moutarde, ketchup, etc. Donc, je fais griller le pain (pas à hot dog mais du pain sandwich) dans le poêlon avec de la margarine dessus - style grilled cheese. Fait bouillir les saucisses (et je dis bien LES car le paquet expirait le 13 septembre et on était le 1er octobre mais elles sentaient bon puisque le paquet avait été congelé). Je me disais au moins que le pain aurait un peu de saveur avec les saucisses. Je réchauffe ensuite quelques cuillerées de sauce tomate tout-usage et ben du poivre et on met ça sur notre hot dog... Pas pire! Pour souper, je m'inspire d'un blog de Michelle (une des participantes) qui mentionnait de la sauce béchamel. Je n'ai jamais fait de béchamel et donc, je me lance! En faisant la béchamel, je m'inquiète du montant de lait nécessaire car on en a pas beaucoup et je trouve la sauce un peu épaisse. Donc, j'étire avec un peu d'eau et ça fonctionne. Puisqu'on a deux boîtes de Kraft Dinner, on en ouvre une mais pour le macaroni. Mesure le macaroni cuit (4 tasses), divise le macaroni cuit en deux portions (souper / lunch demain) et on se retrouve chacun avec 1 tasse de macaroni pour souper. Macaroni, béchamel (au fromage puisque j'inclus de la poudre Kraft Dinner) et oeuf dur coupé en tranche. Pas le meilleur souper au monde mais pas pire compte tenu du défi. Par contre, quelques heures plus tard, le ventre gargouille et on se permet un bol de Cheerios mais sans lait - il faut le conserver!!

Ce midi, ça sera le restant du macaroni, avec saucisse cette fois et le restant de béchamel que j'ai étiré hier soir... Ouff. Ce soir, je pense qu'on va essayer d'aller à la Mission pour le souper...
Ça s'endure, ce n'est pas l'idéal mais c'est pas le fun de se coucher et se réveiller avec un ventre qui gargouille...

In my line of work, I have to be creative... At work, with the plays I direct and even with the moneys from our grants that are never enough for what we need to do. I never thought I would have to be so creative with food. Friday night, we did THE LIST of all our meals - each weiner counted for, each egg, each macaroni... you get the picture.

Up too now - I am a bit impressed with myself. Hot dogs for lunch but no ketchup, no mustard... So I decided to take the bread (no hot dog buns - just regular bread) with margarine and fry it - grilled-cheese style. Thought that might get a bit more taste with the hot dog. Had to boil all the weiners cause the pack expired Sept. 13th and we were Oct.1st! The pack had been frozen so smelled ok but did not want to risk it for the week. To add some taste, warmed up a couple of spoons of the all-purpose tomato sauce, lots of pepper and voilà!! Hot dogs "a la Genevieve"! For supper, I was inspired by one of Michelle's blog (one of the participants) and decided to try a bechamel sauce for the first time in my life. I was a bit worried with the amount of milk especially cause I thought it was getting thick so added a bit of water... Cooked the macaroni from one of our KD boxes, used a bit of the cheese sauce with the bechamel, boiled two eggs and voilà. Not bad especially with what we have to cook with. But, never thought I would one day measure my cooked macaroni (4 cups), divide that for 2 meals and then divide the supper portion in two (1 cup each). Let's just say we had the munchies later that night - thank God for Cheerios - but no milk... it's rationed!

For lunch - left over macaroni with weiners this time and the left over cheesy bechamel sauce. Tonight, we might go to the Mission. It's tolerable for now but it's hard going to bed and waking up with your stomach growling.

Going Halfsies

2010-10-03T04:01:00.000-07:00

It's the start of day three, and since this challenge began I've altered my schedule somewhat to take time to read blogs, reflect on others thoughts, and mentally prepare for my day. I do this with my first cuppa (with milk), and read bits and pieces to the boyfriend about others struggles and thoughts that are happening to them through this project. Needless to say; those of you going to potlucks, and making dinner for friends/family; I commend you... I wouldn't be able to do it. Yes, I made dinner for my guy last night, but it wasn't until he pulled out the cookies he bought that I struggled...I'm not a big cookie person, but last night - I would have loved to have one, and was sad my box never did receive cookies, like other boxes did.

Trying to get through the week on what I have is going to be tough....I've been halfing everything. Half the box of KD Friday night, half the rice, soup and green beans last night...Everything is being cut down to even smaller portions then I was given...It allows me to rotate the food, and avoids (as much as possible) leftovers (which I dislike). The only thing I haven't halfed is the tuna - that can is way to small as it is! This way, I feel I'm having something different each day, and hopes that I can trick my brain and stomach into believing it as well.....

I'm huge on social media - my business offers it, and I use it all the time. Facebook and Twitter, coupled with the blogs seem to be one of the things that is getting me through this challenge. The fact that I am trying to approach this creatively, and thus allowing myself to focus more on what I'm going to say about the challenge rather then focus on my quickly depleting supplies helps me get through the tough moments of headaches, being lethargic and the melancholy....I've never really been hungry; like Penny's blog below; the bulk of the food has kept me full.

But I digress.... It was Facebook, that gave me last nights meal idea. My friend and Q92 FM radio announcer Holly Thorne tossed out the suggestion of "Barf Casserole," something her grandmother fed her seven children with from time to time. Holly said it looks gross but tastes not so bad, and I'll be darned if she wasn't wrong. The casserole gives me two meals, and when I ate it, I wasnt left feeling sick from it like I was the KD and hot dogs. I could imagine adding fresh veggies, and garlic and onion, and perhaps creating something similar to put into regular rotation!

I am getting worried about the amount of food I have. There are still five days left, and I've eaten a lot of the heartier food items...The pasta and brown beans are being left for mid week, but it might be soup and oatmeal for the next couple of days...Considering I've never had oatmeal, because I hate mushy cereal - I'm really going to have to mentally prepare for this... And that's what gets me - to me, this challenge, my troubles about my likes and dislikes are nothing compared the the fact that this is life to others, and my personal struggle - ends Friday.

To others - this might ever end.....

Day Two - Rollercoaster

2010-10-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well first the personal perspective: I feel lousy about knowingly eating food that is not good for me… I have probably broken all of Canada’s Food Guide rules in the last 24 hours… high fat, low fibre, high salt, no fresh produce, limited protein. I am not so hungry as the food so far is “bulky” (white rice, white bread, crackers). Though I was pretty shaky (and irritable) this morning as I haven’t included snacks in my get-though-the-week meal plan but still tried to keep up with my exercise routine. As for the joy of cooking… I hadn’t realized how rewarding preparing food is. It is just no fun eating the same thing over and over - and knowing that there won’t be any more choices in the near future – and if I am depressed about the one week prospect of this, I cannot imagine the feelings if there is no end in sight.

On the family perspective: I would like to share a brief note about the family rollercoaster. On the one hand the kids are very excited about the Ritz crackers, cookies and the white bread, "Can we have some, Mum?" On the other hand, when we talk about other kids in need, they have tears and ask why this happens and how we can help. Our eldest has written down all my food and is cataloguing what I eat every day (and what my mood is like!). We are all using this as a rich experience to talk about difficult issues.

Friendly advice to non-participating partners: Do not comment after supper on how good the chocolate ice cream was...

Ugh

2010-10-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

I read the blog a few below me, about the teacher. Was it Larry and Kathy?

One of the reasons I wanted to do this challenge is because of those types of assumptions. There are people in all social and economic stratas who cheat the system, and the poor aren't the only ones. But the vast majority of people on OW or ODSP aren't out to screw over the system.

I've also heard people say "Oh look how fat she is, she's not having any problems with not having food to eat."

I'm overweight myself, and I'm looking at the food in my basket. Here's what I see: carbs, carbs, carbs, carbs, carbs, carbs, sodium, sodium, sodium, sodium, sodium. This stuff leaches away energy - and you need energy for school, for searching for better work, for keeping yourself healthy...getting out of the situation which has you relying on OW, for example.

It doesn't matter how much you eat, it matters WHAT you eat. I wouldn't be surprised if I gained weight on this food before the week is done. And this food - it's a heart attack and diabetes fest waiting to happen.

It's great people help out donating food, but I think a lot of us don't realize what we're donating to help out isn't really the best option.

As for my eating today, I've had a bun and two slices of toast, all three with salt-reduced margerine. I suffer from migraines and it exploded mid-morning, probably about 6 am, and I've slept most of today and eating makes me nauseous.

Hopefully it will be treating me better by tomorrow. I'm pretty sure this isn't challenge related since I've been having headaches off and on all week.

Pasta and potlucks

2010-10-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, Alice and I went to a potluck. I put together a pasta+weiner+stewed tomato casserole. In the pot, it seemed bland, boring, unappetizing. I cracked a lot of pepper into it (figuring the canned tomatoes and weiners were freighted with enough salt already), fried some cubed buns into croutons and tossed those in, then fried (more fat!) crushed Ritzes for a topping. But after that, I literally had nothing left to add. I stood there wondering what else I could do and realized that I had no choices.

Usually, there are options. There's a rack full of spices, a crisper full of veggies, a freezer full of meat. And if I can't find something there, I usually can drive to the store to get what I want. Or, I can go out to eat. But not now, not when I'm limited to cooking with the ingredients that occupy a few--and ever-shrinking--square feet of counter space.

It's a bit of a cliche, I admit: the realization that choice is not equally available to all. But it struck me that my choices were becoming narrower in a more fundamental way. It wasn't simply that I had no seasoning options, that I had nothing tasty to add that might satisfy my craving. Rather, my choices had shrunk to two: eat that particular pot of pasta or be hungry all night. So, really, I had only one choice, which amounts to no choice at all.

We took our casserole to the potluck and ate it all ourselves. We had a good time there (thanks, Ken and Joan!). Someone brought a very cheesy lasagne, someone else sweet and sour chicken, someone else bean salad. There was a pecan caramel chocolate cheesecake. There was apple pie with cheddar. All of it looked very, very good. Both Alice and I managed to stick with what we'd brought. But we did bring some home to put in the freezer for Friday.

Still Blaming

2010-10-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

I (Larry) had an interesting conversation with our 13 yr. old son, Jordan, last night. We continued to discuss why Kathy and I have chosen to do the challenge. He talked of how one of his teachers said that people on social assistance use their money to buy alcohol...I almost lost it. Not at him, but at the fact that there continues to be a stigma (aka. stereotype, prejudice) against those on social assistance. The implication was those that need to go to a food bank and/or soup kitchen is because they spend their money foolishly, and therefore need the social safety net to make up for their mistakes. We corrected his teachers ignorance (and dare I say arrogance) of what was assumed...and yet we are not surprised.
William Ryan wrote in "Blaming the Victim"(1971) wrote of how often the poor end up getting blamed for their condition. Isn't that what happens when teacher's commments like this are made, implying that people are poor because they drink (and/or use substances)? It becomes a very easy answer to a very complex situation. It becomes one more way of knocking those who are powerless down. As I have read others posts I am reminded of how asking others for help is a ding on a person's sense of self-respect and their dignity.

J. and A.'s Second Day

2010-10-02T16:55:00.001-07:00

So we have reached the second day of the Do the Math Challenge. The food box that we picked up on Friday has been depleted quite a bit in one day, I have no idea how it would be expected to provide for two people for a week.
Here is a list of what was in the box:
1 baggie of instant coffee (Thank god we can use our own coffee!)
9 tea bags
1 bag of pasta (about a pound)
1 baggie of white sugar
1 baggie of white pre-cooked rice
1 baggie of instant oats
1 can of beans in sauce
1 can of green beans
1 can of tuna (this was the only can that wasn’t dented)
1 can of tomato paste
1 can of mushroom soup
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 tetra pack of soup
2 lb tub of margarine
1 box of crackers
1 package of wieners
6 eggs
2 boxes of macaroni and cheese
1 box of bran cereal (Just in case all the carbs plug us up!)
1 package of cookies
2 ltrs of milk
8 dinner rolls
2 muffins
2 cookies
3 loaves of bread (We only had one in the box but there was a box of stale but good bread at the food bank that we could help ourselves. So we returned the loaf of white bread and grabbed three loaves out of the free box.)
A. had been out all day Friday on her bicycle without eating and when she arrived she grabbed one muffin Then after a debate about substitutions we had soup and toast for supper. A. couldn’t eat the soup so I scored two servings. Bonus! A. stuffed herself with bread and was rewarded with a headache for eating too much wheat. I had the second muffin that tasted like fish for dessert.
This morning J. boiled two eggs and mixed up an egg salad with some olive oil. J. had half on toast for breakfast and made sandwich for lunch with the rest because he was going to an all day meeting of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. (Food was provided but he stuck with his sandwich for lunch. He told the meeting about the Challenge and they wouldn’t let him close to the buffet!)
A. had two eggs and bread for breakfast, and then she had fish and more bread for lunch.
We both broke down and had an orange with breakfast. It was too hard not to have some fresh fruit. (Of course if this was for real we would not have that choice.)
J. came home hungry; he had cycled downtown to the meeting and decided to make a big meal. He opened the can of beans, mixed it with rice and half of the wieners. It all went into one pot and mushed together. We had it with toasted dinner rolls.
It’s certainly been a challenge and we certainly have not really experienced the fear of going hungry. When the box runs out we will have food. Even then we have wrangled over food in the box.

Potluck Woes

2010-10-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

We went to a potluck tonight. Or should I say, our son went to a potluck. He took crackers and cheese because we couldn't face cooking a dish and we didn't think that anyone would mind a six year old snatching a little free food. We brought some of our pasta tossed with a little canned, stewed tomatoes and our daily allotment of two wieners. No one ate our dish. Maybe they felt sorry for us and didn't want to decrease our portions or quite possibly it was the steaming lasagna on the one side and the delicious sweet and sour chicken on the other side. And the dessert...chocolate cheesecake with a pecan caramel crust. We made it through without trying any.

The reason that we went was to spend some fun time with friends. We talked a little about the challenge but were really preaching to the converted - I met these friends while volunteering at the Elgin Street Mission. The really sad thing is that if we were truly relying on the food bank for food we definitely wouldn't have even gone to the potluck. How humiliating it would be to bring our makeshift casserole and expect other people to eat it. No wonder depression and social isolation is high in low-income populations. Not only are you missing the extra money needed for a night out but you don't even have the means to enjoy a free Saturday night hanging out with friends.

I do have one small confession: we have two pieces of cheesecake in the freezer waiting for Friday night!

2010-10-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

IS IT FRIDAY YET????

Well I have to say I was excited about the challenge....but that was yesterday. Today is another story. Having picked up my box of food was an experience I would not want to have to do every week, and I was very humbled by the experience of going to the Salvation Army depot to ask for food. Seeing a young couple with an infant baby registering for food, how sad is that? Waiting my turn allowed to me take notice of the process of filling out an application for food entitlement...all very disturbing, so many of us don't even realize how fortunate we are to grocery shop and buy what we want whenever we want....

Walking out with my food supply made me start thinking about how I was going to stretch 3 days of emergency food into 7 days of meals. How many meals can you make with a litre of milk, one pack of No Name weiners, one box of KD, one sandwich bag full of pasta noodles, and one of rice, one tin of Spagetti sauce, one can of green beans, one tin of No Name tuna, one can of brown beans, one loaf of bread, 6 eggs, one bag of shreddies, one box of Ritz crackers, a container of Becel, coffee, tea, sugar, and a package of cookies. While it sounds like a lot of food, trust me it all fit into one little box! No creamer for coffee, no ketchup for KD, no peanut butter, no fresh meat, or perishable fruits or veggies and dip! And since I exercise daily, I try to have carbs/proteins at every meal to maintain good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. This is going to be a challenge!

MEAL DAY ONE - Since I had yogurt before leaving home to pick up my food package, I ended up with a bottle of water for lunch, and saved my pasta and sauce for dinner. Turns out a friend dropped by and of course, I made a small dinner for the two of us. No salad or garlic bread. Because I was hungry it tasted good, and we wanted more but I had to think ahead and managed to have keep leftovers for one maybe two smaller meals for later this week. For the rest of the evening I drank water, and went to bed early to avoid thinking about the popcorn or chips sitting in the cupboard.

MEALS DAY TWO - This morning I was starving when I got up. OK bottle of water, off to the gym, back home near lunchtime,there I saved a meal by not having breakfast. So for my lunch it was one boiled egg and one slice of toast (which I have cut into several slices for the week and put it in the freezer to keep it fresh). More water.... Supper time arrives, ok, how about Kraft Dinner, and weiners (carbs and protein remember?), would you believe another friend drops in to say hello, but fortunately for me, she didn't want to stay for dinner...great! there is some KD for another meal. More water, mix a tea bag and a bit of sugar for an iced tea drink...ugh! not quite Nestea! Saved my cookie for bedtime! Hopefully, I don't wake up with a headache or hunger pangs. Tomorrow will be interesting....need some energy before the 5K Run for the Cure...I know I will be famished by lunchtime...more water....stay tuned...

Liz Spooner-Young

Proud of myself.

2010-10-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

I made crackers from scratch :) flour, water, a bit of salt and oil and voilà! Still have a terrible headache. Not sure if it's from barely eating or part of the cold going around work.

Cooking for company

2010-10-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I can smell the bread baking, (Italian Cheese), I've just pulled the apple crisp out of the oven, and every time I stir the chili I think about stealing just one little peice of red pepper. We have family visiting this weekend, there isn't much we could do that would surprise them, but it is weird cooking for them and then watching them eat. My watery vegetable soup and toast just doesn't compare to what everyone else is eating. Actually I think this is a form of torture, I likely will start watching the food channel soon.

I noticed yesterday after Larry blogged that my kids had fast food for both lunch and supper. For our family that only ever happens if we are travelling, and fast food in general is a rare treat. I'm a 'from scratch' cook and was surprised at what i fed my kids yesterday. I remember the decison to order the pizza had to do with feeling so hungry and overwhelmed at the thought of trying to make food for the kids. I get how being so hungry, tired and overwhelmed can lead poor decisions about food. If I was really hungry and had 50$ to buy food with for a month, I admit it would be tempting to just go buy a burger than think about the million ways to need to make it stretch, knowing I'm likely to fail anyway. Why not just go and enjoy the burger?

Man that apple crisp smells good!
Kathy

I Dreamed of an Orange

2010-10-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

Just before I woke up, I dreamed I sliced a huge juicy orange and started eating it. Then within that dream I woke up and felt guilty about cheating on the the Do the Math Challenge. Then I really woke up craving an orange. It's been less than 24 hours and my family and I are obsessing about food.

The trip to get our box of food at the food bank was enlightening. We packed everything up in bags and took the bus home, which was standing-room only. It was fun to unpack the groceries, like opening a parcel. Everything was laid out on the counter, where it will stay for the week. Then reality hit. That's not a lot of food for four people.

Because we're a family, we get a little more than individuals: a dozen eggs instead of six, two loaves of bread instead of one, four litres of milk instead of two. Our family usually goes through sixteen to twenty litres of milk in a week, so we started planning and rationing immediately. The peanut butter is a lifesaver. That was lunch. Peanut butter on bread. We even got a jar of jam, but I have to admit that the prickly pear jam didn't go over well with my 14 year old. (I guess that why it's donated to the food bank)

Supper was Kraft Dinner with one wiener each rolled in slice of bread. The KD was no-name. I have to admit I can eat the occasional KD, but I had a hard time finishing my plate...and the box was split four ways!

The folks at the food bank threw in an extra, which they say they'll do when they have it. So we got a boxed cake mix. Again, no-name. We're a family of snackers, so that cake was whipped up right away, using two precious eggs instead of the three the recipe called for. No frosting. Kind of a weird taste. I'll leave it at that.

We tried to create a menu plan for the week, but have all but given up on keeping the kids in the challenge. There's nothing for school lunches. The can of juice will be gone this weekend. We're already through one loaf of bread. They could take crackers to school, but peanut butter is not allowed. Karen and I will forge through, but at this point we think we're going to have to supplement the kids' lunches next week.

Like I said before, we're obsessing about food and our eyes are already opened. We'll see what we dream about tonight when they close.

Ugh

2010-10-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

I woke up with a dreadful headache, definitely inspired by not eating. Since I was babysitting my cousins last night, I never had supper...I brought the box of KD with me but it was simply too much effort. Once they were in bed and sleeping, I passed out with a hungry gnawing tummy.

Right now, I'm having toast with margerine and it's not exciting. Chewing slowly. I don't think I'm going to make it the full week. Once I start running out of the foods I like and face the idea of brown beans and tuna, I think I'm going to crack.

I am also going to fess up - last night I had to drink bottled water. My relatives sink water is currently not fit for drinking so that's all we had. Does that count as cheating?

I Don't Have KD Memories

2010-10-02T06:07:00.000-07:00

I may have mentioned, I grew up in a home with a mother obsessed with making the perfect meal. Even when she worked, food was always prepped and on a timer; my father and I never ever went hungry, and everything (aside a a brief sidekick period when they first came out), was always made from scratch - If I wanted Kraft Dinner, I went to my grandmothers for the best homemade Macaroni and Cheese. My life at home, consisted of 3 squares, healthy meals, and low salt....

I was a very lucky girl

As I got older, and ventured off to take on the big bad world myself, I still never wanted or needed anything food wise. My mother was always worried I'd go hungry; so on Sunday's when I made the pilgrimage from my downtown apartment to the Valley, I always left with bags of meat, cheese, pasta, and veggies.... I very rarely have experience a tough time food wise.

Until dinner last night

I'm one of those people who get excited from time to time about a little KD; never having it as a child, and actually being able to count on two hands the amount of times I've eaten it since those youthful days I crave it, need it, and occasionally want it....so dinner last night was going to be the highlight of my day, especially because I was going to add hot dogs.... SO many people in my life have talked about KD and hot dogs, and tonight I was going to find out why.

I don't get it

Salty, starchy, and the "meal" left me feeling quite like Morgan Spurlock on day 5 of his MacDonalds challenge I was left feeling lethargic and sick.... Sure I was full, but it was far from a good satisfied feeling. The hot dogs (and I love a good hot dog) were the saltiest I have ever eaten, and I don't eat a lot of salt (although I did miss it in the Becel).

So of course, as I ponder the meal I had just finished, I again thought of individuals who rely on these resources to get them through even the most simplest of days.... How do they do it? Do many of the clients of local food banks ever get veggies and fresh food? Do their meals consist of starches and salts, and how long do they go before they become incredibly sick? I for one could not go long on this "diet" and do not believe anyone should.

Kraft Dinner and hot dogs (KD), may be a nice snack to travel back in time with, but it should not be the food families are raised on.

My list of what I should be eternally grateful for is starting to pile up.

Who has time for poverty?

2010-10-01T17:20:00.001-07:00

Well, after investing 2 hours in the round trip from home to the food bank I am wondering who has time to be on a low-income? I can drive to the grocery store, drop $150, and be home with the goods all put away within an hour and a half. The plus side is that it doesn't take long to microwave a can of beans.

Two things surprised me about the basket. Firstly, no peanut butter. I've had a scenario in my mind of me in to my elbow, scraping out the remnants of the peanut butter jar on day six. Now it seems that I am actually going to have to add margarine to all of my starches. Ironically it is salt-free margarine. One person out there is looking out for my health. I guess this is going to make up for all of the processed food I'll be eating this week. I agree with Penny, after this is all over I'll be taking a load of healthy food choices - whole grains, vegetables and fruits - over to the food bank.

The second surprise was the 2 cups of sugar. I'm not sure what we will do with this as we also received Lucky Charms and I'm quite sure that there will be no need to add sugar to these. I do not add sugar to tea or coffee so I guess I'll just be using it as a quick pick me up. Here's a new scenario: Day six, eating sugar with a spoon. I guess we'll see how desperate I get.

Does anyone want to trade for a can on no-name tuna?

2010-10-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

So how does one act when walking in to a food bank for the first time? I don't really need to be here but hey? Eyes downcast? Eyes up? False and nervous smile?
These were my thoughts as I walked through the doors, but in the end I was just awkward. Probably what I would be like if this was for real.

Awkwardness gone when I saw my friend Sterling and the warm smile from Jennifer who took my information. Worse than awkwardness back when the box of food was delivered and right on top, staring me right in the eye was a round yellow tin of tuna. no-name tuna. Anyone remember Starkist? I had opened one of those and never never since! So if theres 3 days to go and if thats all I have left, well people an survive on just water for a few days right?
Kraft dinner for supper was superb and always brings back memories of university; 2 am with beer and friends. Damm! Beer isn't on that "pantry" list.

Group support

2010-10-01T15:15:00.001-07:00

When I came back to work with my box of food everyone was eagerly awaiting my arrival to see what would be inside. A few of my co-workers immediately spread out the contents of my box and started breaking it up into day groups, telling me to use the KD and a couple of wieners as two meals, giving me little tips here and there. I was extremely lucky to have a friend who is a nutritionist present to help me plan out my week, reminding me to try to eat the same amount of calories every day (to make sure i don't have a "crash day")

this will be one crazy week

Thanks Yves

Here We Go!

2010-10-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

As Kath had noted earlier, she had picked up the food earlier today. When I got home from work, I was excited in anticipation to see what this weeks cuisine was going to be. I was amazed at what lay on the table and in the fridge. Amazed that two adults are going to be living off this for a week. As I felt my hunger pangs, the day old donut was looking pretty good.

What is more amazing, is that there are a number of clients I serve that live off this regularly. I only have to endure for a week. I have the knowing in 7 days I will can be back to "normal." But what would I do if the next week looked like last week and will look like the week after?

As I ate my beans on toast, my kids dined on New Orleans pizza...the drive home with it in the car was cruel. Kate, my 9 year old daughter, commented she felt sorry for us. My 13 year old son, Jordan, asked why I was only drinking water instead of the milk we were given. We talked of how Kath and I need to not use it all at once; theres a long week ahead. As I inhaled my beans on toast, I thought, "Crap, I can't even have chips while watching football this weekend!"

Already, the learning has begun.

I can't cook :(

2010-10-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

Nothing spoils the great start to a limited food week than burning dinner. :( Burned rice tastes really, really bad.

Attn kiddos: If your parents are super, awesome, amazing cooks? Learn from them, don't be fed by them. My mom is a fabulous baker and cook, and I never learned for myself.

At least I didn't set the pot on fire (this time).

Day One - lots to learn

2010-10-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

Day One began at 9:15 with a visit to the foodbank. I was impressed by the staff but discouraged by the food... white bread, pasta and sauce, soup, cookies (and more cookies!), KD, and some battered cans of peas and corn... also some milk and tuna. Thankfully the meat food was replaced by some more soup (I am vegetarian). I vow to donate baking powder and flour to the foodbank next time around... and freeze dried vegetables and vacuum packed tofu. and... I ran into a couple with a young child at the foodbank... now that put my ONE week into perspective... I was so busy that I could not plan ahead and ended up eating "lunch" at 4:45. It is Friday night, aka PIZZA night, at our house. I will have to pass which is hard as it is also time to connect with the kids. Food has such a social role in our lives...

How many things can I make with weiners?

2010-10-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

Alice and I picked up our hamper today, the contents very similar to Genevieve and Denis'. Instead of Cheerios, though, we received Lucky Charms. I tried to trade them for Markus Schwabe's Life cereal, but he wouldn't go for it. Maybe he was holding out for a better deal.

For supper this week, the theme is weiners: weiners with pasta and tomato sauce, weiners with rice and green beans, weiners with canned baked beans, weiners with mac and cheese, weiners with soup.

We were fortunate to get a loaf of bread, so for lunch Alice and I each plan to have 3/4 of a sandwich, spread with tuna or maybe a mashed hard-boiled egg. I might mix some of the powdered cheese from the KD into the margarine to make a cheese spread. I was hoping for (and expecting) peanut butter, but there was none.

Breakfast will be oatmeal or Lucky Charms (you missed your chance, Schwabe).

We have a box of Ritz Crackers and 12 cookies to graze on when we really need a snack.

On another note, taking the bus was a bit of an adventure. I was travelling for 2.5 hours, catching the bus at Laurentian University, transferring downtown, visiting the food bank, catching the bus back downtown, transferring again, and then walking from the bus stop to my house.

Alice and I discussed who could visit the Food Bank on Monday or Wednesday to collect some veggies (on a first-come, first-served basis), but neither of us can really get away from work for that long.

So, Day 1: not a lot of veggies, not a lot of fibre, not a lot of nutrients, not a lot of variety. We'll see how this goes.

Whatcha Got In That Box?

2010-10-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today, I picked up my box of food from the local Food Bank, that is to be my source of nutrition and sustenance for the next seven days. Box in hand, I headed home to inspect my wares.

I was immediately nervous. Having always eaten from scratch, and having a mother teach me how to cook, and make everything from scratch as a young child; I have been able to whip up interesting meals when my pantry was more Mother Hubbard, the Upper East Side. I had hoped to be able to combine a few of the five staples we as challenge participants were able to have with what I had been given into what I could surmise to be full meals.

I was dead wrong.

With the milk I had been given, and the Becel, combined with Flour, and salt/pepper, I could have whipped up a Bechemal Sauce and add stuff from the box to it (my tomato soup for example), for a different style of pasta sauce to get my through a day or two, but I would then need something to put it on, and having only received half a Ziploc lunch bag of pasta; come the time I would need to whip up something new, the pasta would have been used on the can of pasta sauce I had been given.

As a snacker, and constant muncher - I have found staring into the content of a box that has been termed the 3 Day Emergency Box, and trying to figure out how to make it last seven days (minus one meal at our local soup kitchen), I've needed to take a big, realistic breath in, and pray I can make this work.

Lunch: Which consisted of a few piecces of french bread (that expires today), and a bowl of cereal will not be enough to sustain anyone, but I am an nervous at portioning the food items I have been given. I knew this challenge would be far from easy, but have already been gripped with a severe case of worry, and a case of; "Is this what people must survive on?"

We should be lucky to have the food we do, from local individuals who donate, and stores who bring in items they may have thrown out, but the reality of this is that my three day kit would not feed a single person healthy and to a point to where the person could say "Wow, am I full" for more then a day and a half on the staples, then a day and a half of toast. Thank goodness for the bread, buns, and the milk.

This will prove to be one of the most difficult challenges I have faced in a long time, and truthfully; I hope I can mange.

Contenu de notre boîte / Content of our box

2010-10-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

English will follow

Voici le contenu de notre boîte - c'est pour un couple. Le défi est d'être capable de faire durer ceci pour tout prêt d'une semaine. On m'a dit qu'on est super chanceux d'avoir eu une boîte de Cheerios format famille car habituellement, c'est un petit format. C'est un YÉ! pour les Cheerios, la boîte de soupe aux légumes Knorr, les oeufs et je dois admettre, le Kraft Dinner car ça fait longtemps que j'en ai pas mangé mais je sais que Denis n'est pas un grand fan. Côté légumes - rien de frais, seulement une petite canne d'haricots verts. Disons que je ne suis pas une fan d'haricots mais je vais le devenir! Côté fruits - rien de frais... une petite canne de moitiés de poires... En tout cas, je vous épargne les détails mais du total du contenu et je souhaite bonne chance à mon chum qui fait la cuisine à la maison habituellement et donc détermine les repas!

Here is the content of our box - it is for a couple. The challenge is to make this last a week. They told me when handing me the box that we were lucky to get a family size Cheerios box - usually it is a small box. So it is a big Hurray for the Cheerios and the Knorr Vegetable soup, the eggs and I have to admit... a little yé! for the Kraft Dinner. I haven't eaten that in a long time but I know Denis does not enjoy that much! For vegetables - no fresh veggies only a small can of green beans and I hate green beans so I guess I will learn to enjoy. For fruits - no fresh fruit just a small can of pears. I'll spear you the rest of the details of the content and I wish good luck to my boyfriend who will have the difficult task of coordinating the menues!!

Not what I expected

2010-10-01T10:37:00.001-07:00

I have been so excited about this challenge, so I didn't expect embarassment and shame to be the two strongest feelings I felt inside when I went into the Salvation Army's food bank on Notre Dame Avenue.

I have food at home -- why am I taking food from people who need it? Even though we all made donations to the food banks to cover the cost of the food, it still feels like I am stealing, taking food away from people who really actually need it. I tell myself over and over that we've made donations, and that our actions will draw attention to a really dire situation.

Somehow, my heart isn't listening.

My Uncle drove me to the food bank, so I show up in a nice black car, wearing my business clothes. Clean black slacks and a businessy-pretty shirt. Overdressed. Very conspicuous. The entire time, I felt as if people were staring at me, thinking "Why is she getting food from the food bank?"

Like Larry and Kathy, who posted below me, I couldn't help but wonder if people thought I was abusing the assistance of the people at the food bank.

The feeling was amplified when I left carrying a big box. The bus stop outside was full, and I could just imagine all those people knowing I need help and had to go for food (even though I'm taking part in a challenge). I wrapped my grey hoodie tighter and tried to look miserable. It wasn't hard.

To me, these things really emphasized how poverty is a really cruel foe. Not only do people in poverty have to make do with what they can afford to eat, they have to go to outside help for food. But the emotional trauma that comes with it? It really hurts -- for me, it's just a ghost of the wound people who are truly in this situation must experience.

Thank you to the kind people at the Salvation Army. I expect when people come in needing help, your kindness and friendliness helps them find strength.

Just back from food bank

2010-10-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it turns out it's a P.A. day so my kids came with me to the press conference and we walked from there to the food bank. A good hike for sure! I have to admit it was a little exciting to look through our box to see what we got. I was surprised to discover milk, margerine, and 6 eggs. I had brought some reusable grocery bags to have my kids help carry the groceries back downtown. The poignent moment for me was taking my kids to Burger King for lunch (which is beside the food bank) and digging through a plastic bag for a day old muffin, and calling that lunch. I felt awkward with my bags in Burger King and wondered if people assumed I was 'using' the foodbank because I was out the door then buying fast food.

Je m'en vais chercher notre boîte / Going to get our box

2010-10-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

ENGLISH WILL FOLLOW....

Je me prépare à aller chercher notre boîte de nourriture et je ne sais pas si j'ai hâte de savoir ce qu'il y a dedans ou non... Au moins, on va avoir une meilleure idée du projet mais en même temps, est-ce qu'on va se dire... Dans quoi on s'est embarqué!!

I'm off to get our box of food and I am debating if I am excited or not to know what is in it.... At least, we will have a better idea of what this projet/challence means but at the same time, will we be saying : What did we get ourselves into!

Day 1

2010-10-01T08:03:00.000-07:00

I just came back from the press conference and even though it is not lunch time i already feel hungry, not because i haven't eaten but because what i eat is not my decision anymore. Not knowing exactly what is in the food basket is tough, but waiting to get it is even tougher.

The day before

2010-09-30T08:26:00.001-07:00

I am feeling anxious about this challenge, thankfully Stephanie as agreed to be my personal cheerleader.

Do the Math Challenge Guidelines

2010-09-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here are the guidelines participants are asked to follow for the challenge!

The challenge will start after the press conference on October 1^st, 2010.
You will be asked to attend the Salvation Army food bank during the day on October 1^st, 2010.

· You will have to call the Salvation Army Food Bank to make an appointment

· You will have to bring your identification for you assessment

· If you have not made your donation to the food bank please bring it with you on that day

You will be asked to eat at least once at the soup kitchen or the mission. You will be asked to make a small donation at the time of the meal to compensate for the food they will serve you.
You will be asked to use public transportation, bike, walk to ask someone for a ride (that does not live in your household) to get to the food bank and community meals.
You will be asked to blog about your experience. The information will be on our blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts. Please see attached for more information.
You will be asked to commit to the challenge for at least 3 days. We would like to have you do the full week without caving or at least try to go as long as possible. If you cave, we are asking you to blog about your experience to discuss the reason why you couldn’t go through with the challenge any longer.
You will be able to use 5 pantry items during the challenge. Those will be: oil, flour, salt, coffee and pepper
You will be asked to refrain from accepting any food from others. If you have to attend a function please bring your own lunch from your food basket.
The challenge will end at 12pm on October 8^th, 2010 at the community lunch. We hope you will attend to talk about your experience to others in the community.

Welcoming the Participants

2010-09-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon!
The Do the Math organizing committee would like to announce the Do the Math Challenge participants. These individuals have made the personal decision to live solely off the contents of a food bank hamper for a week to help raise awareness about the inadequacy of social assistance in Ontario. Those participating are:

Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health - Sudbury District Health Unit

Stacey Lavallie, Web Content Coordinator - Northern Life

Tony Ryma, News Anchor - MCTV

Geneviève Pineault, Artistic and Exective Director - Le TNO
-Partner: Denis Bertrand

T.J. Giroux, Radio Personality - Le Loup FM

Shawn Poland, Associate VP College Advancement - Cambrian College

John Closs, President - Sudbury District Labour Council
- Partner: Anita Desroches

John Gaudi, Reporter - CBC Radio

Markus Schwabe, Radio Personality - CBC Radio
-Partner: Karen
-Children: Nicholas and Gabrielle

Alice Haasdyk, Chair - Sudbury Food Connections Network

Ernst Gerhardt, Professor - Laurentian Univerisity

Vicky Lafond, Executive Assistant - Social Planning Council of Sudbury

Michelle Murray, Member - Rotary Sunrisers

Jeff Sutton, President - Rotary Sunrisers
-Family

France Gélinas, MPP - Nickel Belt

Kathy Dahmer, Minister - United Church in Lively
-Larry Dahmer, Social Worker - Sudbury Regional Hospital

Wishing them good luck!

Do the Math Challenge Background

2010-09-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

Rationale for the Challenge: Community representatives from the Put Food in the Budget campaign visited more than forty MPP’s across Ontario and asked them to complete the survey. The MPP’s who completed the survey said that a single person needs a minimum income of $1340 per month. Almost all of them said social assistance is inadequate.

The Liberal MPP’s gave different reasons for not supporting the Campaign’s request for an immediate increase, because of the recession; because they wanted to wait for the results of the Social Assistance Review, or because they feel there is not public support.

Minister Meilleur said to our delegation that ‘she would love to give people an extra $100 per month but it’s not on the public radar’.

The purpose of the Challenge is to demonstrate that there IS public support for an immediate increase in social assistance as a first step towards health and dignity for people receiving social assistance.

Secondly, the Social Assistance Review terms of reference have just been released. The Review will not begin until September and will last twelve to eighteen months. There will likely be no recommendations before the next election and no possibility of implementation before the election. So a second purpose of the Challenge is to raise awareness that the Ontario Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy means little if it ignores the poorest people in the province and fails to immediately improve the income of people on social assistance.

Finally, it is important to show public solidarity with people in Ontario who experience persistent stigmatization and discrimination.