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View Full Version : Millions worry about quantity, quality of food



Earth Walker
August 24th, 2001, 09:41 PM
TORONTO -- About three million Canadians -- many of them
children -- are considered "food insecure" because of money
worries, a Statistics Canada study suggests.
In a report released yesterday, the agency said almost 2.5
million Canadians had to compromise the quality or quantity of
their diet at least once a year because of lack of money.
The National Population Health Survey, which looked at the
period 1998-99, also found that half a million people worried
they would not have enough to eat because they were short on
cash.
Children up to age 17 were most likely to live in a food-insecure
household. Seniors 65 or older were the least likely.
But children in such households are not necessarily undernourished, StatsCan said. "Adult caregivers tend to sacrifice
their own diet so that children will not be hungry."
The survey considered households to be "food insecure" if a
respondent acknowledged any of three circumstances stemming
from a lack of money: Worry that funds would be insufficient to
buy food; not eating the quality or variety of food desired, or not
having enough to eat.
"In general, households with food insecurity have limited or
uncertain access to enough food for a healthy, active life," the
report said.
"These households have reduced quality and variety of meals
and may have irregular food intake. There may be a need for
recourse to emergency food sources or to other services to meet
basic food needs."
In fact, the agency found that about one-fifth of individuals in
food-insecure households received help from food banks, soup
kitchens or other agencies.
More than one-third of households with earnings of less than
$20,000 per year reported food insecurity in 1998-99.
--- Canadian Press

Earnings below $40,000 is considered the poverty level.
I exist on less than $9,000 a year...how do I do it? :eek:

Drought Will Cost You At The Supermarket
--------------------------------------------------------
TORONTO -- Canadian consumers should expect to be hit in the
wallet at the grocery checkout as farmers struggle through the
most extensive national drought in decades.
"A drought usually works its way through to the consumers,"
said George Brinkman, an expert at the University of Guelph in
Ontario.
This is especially true now that many of Canada's agricultural
markets have become global, and because the drought this
summer straddles almost all the country's growing regions.
Red meat is likely to be most affected by any price increases,
said Brinkman. That's because cattle and hog producers won't
have lush pastures to fatten up their animals, he said.
Corn, a staple of livestock feed, is so parched that it is ripening
while immature and still tiny.
--- CP

SpikesPet5150
August 24th, 2001, 09:49 PM
Wow.. that is scary.. to me, if I was living in a $40,000 a year household, I'd be feelin' pretty well off. I've gone through times where I lived off of Grapenuts Cereal (without milk) for a couple weeks. Now, fortunately, I can afford to feed myself (along with my fiance's help) but I understand their pain of living without food. Is there anything we can do to help?
~Bree
:elf:

Danustouch
August 25th, 2001, 03:02 AM
I used to live in Fairfield County, CT. Highest Tax bracket in the North East. I made just over 25,000 a year, there, and my rent was exorbant!!!!! I lived on basically...two meals a day (scanty meals, at that)...for almost a year. I'd get a salad and a yogurt at lunch during the day (two dollars)...make tea to drink, and when I got home, rummage through the cabinets for whatever I could find. A can of soup? A few pieces of toast? Luckily..I was able to walk over to my mothers house, a couple of nights a week, and hang around, talking to them, and of course, snatch some of their leftovers! That kept me going, I think. I also was fortunate enough to have GREAT friends. Often, they'd invite me to the diner to get coffee with them...and they'd act like they just got the munchies..then, after eating two bites of their food, INSIST that they could eat no more, and beg me to finish it off. They were so careful about my pride. And..just so noone thinks I was being a mooch...i babysat their daughter, sometimes, for them. And, when I was doing better financially, and THEY were having trouble, I helped out with food. Cooking a meal or two for them, bringing something to rituals at their house, and alwaaaaayyyyyys making sure there was enough for them to have left overs out of. And I also reciprocated by passing on the charity, where I could. One time, a guy I knew at work, was having a rough time, getting food. I bagged up a ton of lipton cup of soups, my mom had given me, a jar of peanut butter, some raman noodles, corn muffin mix, jello mix, and some mac and cheese. It wasn't much..but it was more than he had in his cupboard before I gave it to him.

My Circle used to collect canned goods, at each of their get togethers, to be donated to a local soup kitchen. That is a REALLY good way of helping out. If you have foodbanks in the area, or soup kitchens, womens shelters, anything like that...even many CHURCHES have lists of people in need, whom they help out with non perishable food items...and grocery stores sometimes run drives too. We donated a LOT of food to this local soup kitchen, and the people there were SOOOOOOO grateful. Not to mention, surprised that it was coming from a Pagan group..and a Young one at that. So..if you are part of a club, an organization, a coven, a church, what have you...try to organize a food drive, in your area. As for how to help out in this one circumstance, I will be lighting a candle for those in need in Canada, and the U.S.

Thank you, again, Mystique, for bringing this to our attention.

Alaiyo
April 14th, 2004, 09:12 PM
The first thing is to be thankful for what little you do have. The second is to find local charities and learn about how donations of food are made to them. Everyone will give donations in the winter and while it is an important time, need knows no season. In fact, summer is rough for kids who are "food insecure" because many of they relied on steady breakfast and lunch from their school programs (in many US states) which they do not always have access to in the summer. No reason not to have a spring cleaning can drive or if hosting a party, ask for people to bring a can to donate to lower admission price. Find out about policies regarding funding for food programs and support those who support them. Support local food banks by not only donating items but time as well. Some sort donations with just volunteer help. It's a great group activity. Keep in touch with your neighbors, friends, etc. Danustouch provided a good example of how we can help each other through these evil times of food insecurity. The women and the elderly will often go without and say nothing, not always out of pride but because they wanted not to be a burden and let someone else "have it." Be mindful whenever you order out and you order tons of tapas and "beer &" foods and the like and there's food left over and you throw it away that someone else would have gladly finished it for you and been grateful. I know that portions are bigger these days but we ALL know that now. You can order only what you will eat comfortably.