cutbacks

This week a friend in Edmonton posted a link to a blog about a group of people who were raising money for the food bank in Edmonton. They decided to try to live on $80 for the month of February and still follow the Canada Food Guide. This was the amount estimated that the working poor in Canada had for food in one month. It has been startling to read.

When I was a child we went through some poor years, where we hovered around the poverty line. My parents were extremely thrifty, so I didn't notice it much, other than not being able to afford clothes and private skating lessons and holidays and stuff like that. We were well-fed, though economically, my parents relying on the garden to get us through huge parts of the year and buying in bulk.

When I was in university, I went through months when I had $20 to feed me for the month. I just figured it was what all students went through, living solely on rice and bread for weeks at a time. I barely remember eating vegetables that weren't frozen in the winter months. I never wanted to live like that again.

I've been lucky to be able to eat relatively well since returning from Japan. A little too well at times.

My work situation is always a bit precarious and once my terms end in April I'm not sure what's going to happen. No idea if I'll have any work this summer or in the fall. Huge cuts in the city (thank you, Olympic Village and NPA) means even the public library is potentially deeply affected. There's a hiring freeze (they're estimating it will last until 2011) and positions aren't been replaced. I don't have stable hours; I'm just auxiliary. In hindsight, I probably can't afford to go to Chicago, but it's been paid for and I need something to look forward to. Still, I know things aren't as bad for me as they are for others.

The next few months, I'm going to try to figure out how to live a more simple life, especially when it comes to food. Just in case. My goal is to cut back severely on what I pay for food and donate regularly to the food bank. How this will happen, I haven't quite figured out, but a plan will absolutely be necessary. Comments on the blog offer a lot of helpful information and I've been scouring recipes that don't call for a lot of ingredients or at least only use staples or cheap ingredients. I could probably stand to eat a lot less, so it might be time to look at the Canada Food Guide as a weight-loss option.

I might have to stop baking. This is the crushing blow.

In short, maybe think about donating some food or money to the food bank so people who have it worse off than us can eat fruit & vegetables or have milk or just survive.