by Victoria Rose
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

On March 10, Pathway to Potential held a community organizer training session at the Jewish Community Centre in downtown Windsor.

The day-long event, “Making Poverty Reduction an Election Issue in 2011”, outlined the processes and steps required for developing a common platform and making poverty reduction a serious issue for the next provincial election. The campaign is about awareness on the home-front, “We want to make poverty a key election issue for Windsor-Essex residents, candidates and incumbents.”

The workshop was lead by Mike Balkwill from Put Food in the Budget, a campaign that is pushing for a monthly increase of $100 for adults on social assistance. The campaign is sponsored by the Social Planning Network of Ontario and The Stop Community Food Centre. The concern is that many recipients of social assistance also rely on food banks that are unable to provide fresh food and complete nutrition; a typical food hamper may be filled with processed foods high in refined carbohydrates, sugar, fat, and sodium. An additional $100 would allow an individual to shop for items that a food bank is not able to store like fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, milk, eggs, and butter.  To learn more about why $100 a month would make such a difference, why don’t you take the Do the Math survey?

To read more, CLICK HERE!

Poor stuck in the middle of an ideological fight

By Kate Heartfield, Ottawa Citizen January 10, 2011

The long bureaucratic nightmare that is Ontario's Special Diet Allowance for welfare recipients isn't over yet, but there's reason to hope.

The allowance is supposed to help people who receive social assistance and are coping with medical conditions that require them to buy more expensive food.

Just getting a sense of how the allowance works now, and what the problems with it are, requires reading several incredibly boring and confusing reports.

There's a convoluted Ontario Human Rights Tribunal judgment. The provincial auditor weighed in last year. There's a report from the Special Diets Expert Review Committee, which waxes on for 79 pages about such matters as the precise difference in cost per serving between gluten-free and non-gluten-free pasta.

All of that detail has been necessary to get the provincial government closer to a rational, fair system -- but man oh man, this is one opaque area of public policy.

So imagine what it's like to know that your ability to eat next week depends on this Byzantine system that seems to be constantly either changing or under threat of change. Imagine what it's like to know that there are now new changes, and that every person who qualifies for the program now will have to reapply in 2011 -- and that there might be further changes after that. "The changes to the special diet allowance have been disastrous from the beginning," sighs Wendy Muckle, executive director of Ottawa Inner City Health.

The good news is that eventually, we might be able to have confidence that people who need extra money because of medical conditions are getting the amounts they really need. That won't happen until at least June 2012, when Munir Sheikh -- late of Statistics Canada -- and Frances Lankin are supposed to complete their review of all social assistance programs in the province.

But to respond to the Human Rights Tribunal decision and the auditor's concerns, the province had to act on the special-diet allowance before that review begins. It recently announced changes that will increase the amounts for certain conditions, and eliminate others from the eligibility list.

to read more CLICK HERE!

By Craig Pearson, The Windsor Star

November 5, 2010

I'm hungry, grumpy and can't wait to have steak.

At the tail end of a four-day experiment in eating only food-bank food, I'm tuna-ed out. It's part of the provincewide, poverty-awareness Do The Math Challenge.

On Monday at the Downtown Mission, 22 of us joined the exercise in self-denial -- sponsored by Pathway to Potential, Windsor-Essex County's poverty-reduction strategy. It's part of the Ontario campaign Put Food In the Budget, lobbying the government to add a $100-per-month healthy food supplement for Ontario Works recipients.

Whether there's political will to increase social assistance by $100 a month is one thing. But eating nutritious, fresh groceries on top of canned goods makes sense. Trust me.

I learned a few things on this tinned-food diet, including that I don't like beans as much as I thought.

Plus, I like choice.

Read more!

Follow /A\ News Reporter Christie Bezaire as She Takes that Challenge.

Over the course of the work week I will take part in the Do the Math Challenge, as part of the Poverty Reduction Strategy.
I will only be able to eat the food that I have picked up from the Downtown Mission Food Bank.  I picked up my package today and realized what limited choices people on a fixed income have.  There were at least 3-4 items in the package that I won’t eat… for example a beef stew and pork beans, because I don’t eat beef or pork.  I learned that I can’t trade these items in for others, so I have two choices, 1) Eat it or 2) Go without.
Realizing that the challenge will only last five days, I choose to go without and take home less items.  But there are many people who can’t afford to make that choice and if this challenge were to go on for more time, I may have had to do away with that lifestyle choice.

Read More and watch video!

Follow Christie on Facebook!

'Do the Math' provincewide initiative

By Craig Pearson, The Windsor Star November 2, 2010

INDSOR, Ont. -- Some creative anti-poverty activists hope they can deliver the word of the needy in a simple bag of food.

On Monday, participants across the province joined an exercise called Do the Math -- spearheaded by the umbrella group Put Food in the Budget -- agreeing to eat only what is found in a typical food-bank bag for three to five days.

Read more!

By Parma Yarkin,

Windsor Star November 19, 2010

Re: Food bank diet great for losing weight, by Craig Pearson, Nov. 5.

Kudos to Craig Pearson and The Star for opening our eyes to the reality of reliance on food bank rations. Pearson's vivid description of living on unhealthy, barely edible food from the food bank suggests that a more accurate term for the operation would be "food dump."

What was self-denial for The Star reporter is, sadly, a daily reality for far too many of us.

The most vulnerable people in our city, including many children, must put up with stale bread, processed food with high sugar and sodium content, and a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables at a time in their lives when a good diet is most important.

Fortunately, this problem is easily addressed by raising social assistance.

Let us all applaud the efforts of the Ontario Put Food in the Budget campaign and urge Ontario Works to immediately implement the $100 monthly healthy food supplement that would ease some of the burden borne by our neediest fellow citizens.

Read more!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                               NOVEMBER 17, 2010

Toronto, Ont. – Just hours before a report released yesterday showed food bank usage

climbing to an all-time high across Canada, one hundred and fifty people attended a

rally to Put Food in the Budget at the Wychwood Barns at 601 Christie St. in

Toronto.  Monday night’s crowd heard from some of the community leaders that

completed the “Do the Math Challenge” and lived for a week on a diet similar to that

of many people in Ontario receiving social assistance.

Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario told the capacity crowd that taking the

challenge had “strengthened our union’s solidarity,” with every Ontarian who lives

with an inadequate diet.  “The truth is there are low waged, part time or temporary

workers, some of them union members, who also have to rely on food banks.  When we

build solidarity in our communities between those on social assistance, workers,

church groups, and people concerned for fairness and social justice, politicians can

no longer ignore poverty in our province.

Anglican Archbishop Colin Johnson said “This campaign has underscored for me the urgency of

tackling the root causes of poverty.  Many other Anglicans feel the same as me.  Following

their poverty diet, they are organizing meetings with their MPP, writing to their MPP,

expressing their concern about the tragedy of widespread poverty and calling for action,

starting with the $100 per month increase in social assistance.”

One thousand people around Ontario have taken the Do the Math Challenge in eighteen

communities around Ontario.  They tell us that on average they speak with one

hundred people during the week.  That means one hundred thousand people have had a

conversation in the last two months about the inadequacy of social assistance.  “We

thought this would be a one week campaign in the first week of October” said

provincial co-ordinator Mike Balkwill.  “But it has a momentum of its own.  Every

week a new group calls me to become involved.”

Tracy Mead, a member of the Put Food in the Budget leadership team, whose income is

social assistance, said “Ask yourself if you could survive on $585.00 a month, take

the Do the Math Challenge, then try to look me in the eye and honestly say

everything is ok.  Winning this campaign means that we can all hold our heads high.

I’m proud to be a part of this fight and I demand change”.

Diana Stapleton, chair of the Weston Area Emergency Food Bank invited the crowd to

join her in making raising social assistance rates a voting issue.  “This is a

voting matter to me.  I will walk away from supporting the Liberal party if this

government does not take the initiative to increase social assistance and disability

benefits.”

Avvy Go of the Colour of Poverty asked what we have to do to convince

politicians to deal with the situation of chronic hunger in Ontario.  “The right to

eat – access to enough healthy food – is as essential as the right to breathe – what

do we have to do to convince them …. have a ‘hold our breath campaign’?”

The Put Food in the Budget has been working with groups across Ontario to raise

awareness of the inadequacy of social assistance benefits and the health impact

facing people who cannot access nutritious food due to poverty.  The province-wide

network continues to ask the Ontario government to immediately increase social

assistance by $100 a month for every adult in Ontario receiving social assistance as

a first step towards inadequacy of social assistance rates.  A single person in

Ontario still receives only $585 per month for rent, food and everything else.

The rally encouraged ongoing mobilization across the province in the months ahead to

keep the issue of poverty on the political agenda and to put food in the budget.

For More information visit www.putfoodinthebudget.ca

Media Contact:

Mike Balkwill, Co-ordinator, Put Food in the Budget Campaign,

416 806 2401, mbalkwill@iasc.on.ca

About the Put Food in the Budget Campaign

Thirty communities across Ontario – from Windsor to Cornwall and from Toronto to

Thunder Bay are part of the Put Food in the Budget campaign.  The campaign is

sponsored by the Social Planning Network of Ontario and The Stop Community Food

Centre and is supported by ACTRA Toronto; Anglican Diocese of Toronto; Association

of Ontario Health Centres; Colour of Poverty; CUPE Ontario; OPSEU; Registered

Nurses’ Association of Ontario; and the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.

About The Do The Math Challenge

Do the Math is an interactive website (www.dothmath.thestop.org) launched by The

Stop Community Food Centre to draw attention to the impossible budgeting choices

faced by social assistance recipients in Ontario. The recent “Do the Math Challenge”

- part of the campaign to Put Food in the Budget - asks everyday Ontarians to try to

survive on a food bank hamper to draw attention to the chronic food insecurity faced

by social assistance recipients in our province.

Last night, the kids were begging me to let them pillage the remaining treats in the Halloween bag. I obliged them and then obliged myself with a handful of mini chocolate bars. I did not feel bad about doing this. I actually felt good, real good. Because I realized that the constraints that this exercise had placed on me could easily be lifted, if I was only willing to cheat.

And it begs the question; would you do what you had too, to survive? Would you lie, cheat and steal to ensure that you were able to provide for your family. Would you bend the rules to keep food on your table? The stigma and stereotypes associated with social assistance are widely acknowledged.  

And those who oppose increasing levels of support are quick to reference the “people who cheat the system” as reason enough to limit support. But look closely at why folks need to be creative when living on social assistance and you will quickly realize that when you’re hungry, getting your hands caught in the cookie jar is the least of your worries.

I want to commend the organizers of this campaign and thank them for allowing me to participate. It has been one of the most eye opening experiences I have ever had. I want to pledge to you that my support for this endeavor will continue until we get food back in the budget and poverty in Canada is eliminated.

In solidarity,

Taras Natyshak

Essex federal NDP candidate.

 

Sodium city will end today ... for the participants in this challenge anyway.  I hope Pathway to Potential and others will share ways that we can help lobby for an increase to social assistance and the recommendations made by those who rely on foodbanks.  How do we establish more community gardens in Windsor?  How do we create subsidies for farmers so they can donate fresh produce to the poor?  I can very easily ask members of my congregation and the other Anglican churches to donate money or fresh food to foodbanks instead of soup, beans, and Kraft Dinner wanna-be's.  How do we end the need for foodbanks in the first place?  Notice I said 'need' not simply end the food banks! 

  The gospel story about Jesus feeding hundreds from a couple of fish and some bread transforms our understanding of what's mine and what's yours.  God has given us an abundant region of the world in which to create a life - individuall lives and community life.  Sometimes the lives we create and allow to exist systemically are simply mean and selfish pretending not to notice the vulnerable, those the bible identified as the 'widow and the orphan'.  Still here, but today they eat unhealthy food.  You know, I've always loved the painting of the women picking up grains from a field.  Scripture (Hebrew scriptures) teach farmers to leave bits of the crop on the fields so the poor can gather them.  Do not pull down every plant and remove every scrap from the land.  Sets a precedence for a more just sharing.  I hope those with influence and decision-makers are encouraged to review the ways our society provides a vehicle for healthy living for those who lack the ability to sustain themselves.

  This morning I am tempted not to eat anything rather than eat something that remains from the foodbank.  I just sick of it.

  Archdeacon Kim Van Allen
All Saints' Anglican Church
Downtown Windsor

'Faith, hope, and love ... and the greatest of these is love.'

Even though it is day 4 and there is only one more day left in the challenge, it still feels like tomorrows lunch will not come any sooner. The past 4 days have felt like a month and I have now come to the conclusion that my constant headache is from my brain working over time with all of the thoughts of food running through it.

Today was the worst of them all, I woke up with a headache and will be going to bed with a headache. With the lack of food, I have been feeling really tired and weak, and on top of that adding a constant headache is not a pleasant feeling. You would think I would be starving and craving food by the 4th day, but instead I have lost my appetite and when I force myself to eat I feel nauseous. Like Tom mentions in his blog below, I am glad i have the option of finishing this challenge and being able to go back to my normal eating, but it saddens me to think that many people do not have this option. Everyone knows what it is like to feel hungry because they have missed a meal or they didn't order that extra burger with there value meal. What everyone doesn't know is what it feels like to go hungry for the whole day, the whole week or even sometimes the whole month. After doing this challenge it has opened my eyes up to a new world. We need to start looking at what is going on right in front of our eyes. Innocent people are suffering and this should not be the case.

One more day.......

J U S T I N T. F O X
President
Student Representative Council