Day 9: Conclusion
February 14th ,2018
Overall, I insist that my Welfare Food Challenge was a positive experience. I believe I have successfully experienced how those living on social programs must shop and prepare meals throughout the week, in order to keep within the limits of their strict budget. At first, I thought shopping was the stressful part of this challenge, but this week proved to me that the budgeting while shopping was the least complicated aspect of this challenge. Coming up with a variety of meals from a restricted ingredient list is a pretty difficult task. Flavour really lacks when on a budget this strict. Its important to find foods that have natural flavours so that budgeting in seasoning is not necessary. Throughout the week I had variations of the same meal for almost all of my lunches and suppers. Another difficult task was finding the time in my schedule to not only meal prep but also come up with a blog posting, reflecting on each day of the challenge. Without discount programs stores provide on fresh items when they are close to their sell by dates; I would not have had the funds to buy as much food as I did. With this being said what I was able to buy just barely enough to last me through the week. My fresh foods also had a hard time making it though the week without going rotten. Eating spoiled foods is rather unpleasant but I would imagine many people on social assistance have to make the decision to eat foods that have gone bad or go hungry. My challenge was a quick a glimpse of only one aspect of life for those living below the poverty line. I can tell you first hand, this is not an easy way to live.
Raise The Rates - http://raisetherates.ca/
Cumulatively this challenge has taught me a lot over the last week. This was a great learning experience for me and it was very eye opening to live the reality those relying on welfare cheques face each day. The amount of questions I was asked during this challenge about what exactly it was I was doing and why I was doing it was surprising. I didn’t think so many people knew so little about the social programs available to those in need. Talking to my friend’s father about my challenge surfaced the fact that he had a negative opinion towards social assistance. He believed those living on social programs were scamming the government out of tax payer’s dollars, but after we looked into how much social assistance checks really are and I explained to him just how low the average food budget was; I believe he had a much better understanding. I may not have changed his personal opinion fully but I think he now has a better idea of what those living off welfare really deal with. On top of social assistance programs there are food banks in just about every city in Canada that are there providing help to people in times of need; when they have nowhere else to turn for support. Canada offers many different types of social programs that cater to each individual’s needs. Help is out there its just up to the individual to explore their options.
Welfare Food Challenge - https://welfarefoodchallenge.org/about/
If nothing else, talking about the Welfare Food Challenge and what the reality is that those living on social assistance face, helps to raise awareness as to just how limited their funds are even with the support of welfare. I believe that social programming needs to see a raise in its rates sooner, rather than later. Although an individual may be able to fill their stomach for a week off $21, it is not possible to meet one’s nutritional needs within this budget. People living off welfare rates sacrifice their nutrition on a daily basis to eat foods that will keep them from going hungry, but these foods do not necessarily provide significant nutritional value; a good example of this is rice. Community support, from businesses and individuals is essential in order to maintain the quantity of food items required as there are so many in need. I will donate to the food bank each time I grocery shop from now on, if everyone does a little it will help. I believe that the government officials who set social program rates should have to try this challenge before the standards are implemented on the public population; to gain a more educated perspective on the situations those living under the poverty line encounter on a daily basis.
Food Banks Canada - https://www.foodbankscanada.ca/About-Us.aspx
Awareness is crucial to the prosperity of these types of organizations. This is why Raise the Rates has come up with the Welfare Food Challenge to bring awareness to the community about the struggles faced by those living on social programs.
*Included below the photos shown I have provided the links to each of the websites for these organizations and their projects.*
Thanks for following me through my experiences during The Welfare Food Challenge. If you're interested look into it and give it a try yourself!
