The Intro

 

While I was studying in Toronto, subsisting on summer wages, income from 4H projects and student loans, I lived on a food budget of $30/week.  Rice and cabbage were cheap but rarely did this accommodate any extras.  I relished the times where I was able to purchase a box of tea, a container of honey or spices for a recipe I’d been lingering over.  Since entering the workforce, I've abolished food budgeting from my life, enjoying a diet of indulgences and plenty.

The unemployed and working poor who utilize foodbanks in Canada report a weekly food budget averaging $40 per breadwinner, Raise the Rates reports this figure for those on Social Assistance in BC to be just $26.  For the former, the majority budget had to be stretched to accommodate more than one person’s appetite: 60% of those surveyed were parents of one or more children.

Inspired by a local film night hosted by a remarkable one-woman organization, I finally committed to volunteering with the local foodbank and learned of the Welfare Food Challenge.  For the past two years, Raise the Rates has commissioned champions to eat for a week on just $26, encouraging others in the community to take part.  The participants blog about the experience, reporting of worry, hunger pangs and boredom.

To buckle down and hold through a week of meager portions is one thing, but what about two, three, what about living on $26 indefinitely?  The reality is that for too many there isn’t a luxurious breakfast to be had on Day 8, but more of the same unsweetened, ungarnished oatmeal.  I’m curious about the implications of going without for longer, the impacts on a person’s mental, emotional and (partly) physical body, their social life and the energy they have to give elsewhere.  I’m curious about the relationship between personal pride and a restrictive budget.

Starting the same day as my orientation for the food bank, I’ll be living on a food budget of $26 for as long as it takes to figure this all out.

Wish me luck.

-S