The Answers??? (I’m all out of catchy titles too!)

My apologies for taking so long to answer some of the questions left over from the forum. As a result of my tardiness, this blog post gets longer with every question added!

What I Can Do on a Personal Level . . .

• donate money and product and volunteer at places like the Saskatoon Food Bank and the Friendship Inn (the ball is already rolling);
• keep telling people about my experiences as a Food Basket Challenger;
• my sister-in-law is the author of a blog that focuses on foodie news & events, restaurant openings, people profiles, etc. She has really gotten involved during the Challenge week, made lots of comments on this website and has promoted the Challenge week on her blog. She is interested in writing more about places such as the Food Bank and the Friendship Inn. I can provide her with contact information and make introductions and pass on any news/events I hear about.
• attend fundraising events throughout the year such as the “Songs for Supper” that Curtis mentioned;
• attend Poverty Awareness Week events. Get involved!

What I Can Do at Work . . .

• organize a food drive at the SPS for the Food Bank – this will be the third year in a row we have done this during Poverty Awareness Week (last year was awesome because Shaw TV doubled the weight of any food brought to their offices);
• continue to work with other agencies on poverty-related issues. We’re gradually getting better at this over the past few years. We recognize that crime issues are sometimes a result of poverty, homelessness, addictions, mental health, etc. and there are a number of things the SPS is working on in these areas.
• I can talk to local and provincial politicians who I meet on occasion through the work I do and let them know about my experiences with the Food Basket Challenge and how the issues noted above affect crime rates.

I’ve mentioned a few times throughout the Food Basket Challenge that I believe housing and finding homes for people is one of the first steps. How can people be expected to work on other “issues” if they don’t have a safe and secure home to go to? It is my hope that someday I can say the Police Service received NO calls for service over the winter due to people sleeping or passed out in bank lobbies.

Why Governments Don’t Respond . . .

Well, that’s a darn good question! Which I don’t have an answer to.

As Sheri pointed out, the issues aren’t ones that have a quick fix. There’s also more than one “right answer”. And the answer for one person may not be the right answer for another person. A mandate needs to be developed and there needs to be commitment and follow through regardless of what political party is in office.

Curtis had a very good point too. Although he put it in different words, poverty just isn’t “sexy”. When the people with money, power and influence aren’t living in poverty, how does a government “sell” it to them? Governments are pulled in many, many different directions by people and organizations who have many different agendas. Sometimes it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the grease and unfortunately the strongest voices are most often not the ones living in poverty.

Fortunately there are some big companies and people with money who do care and who do “get it”. In looking at other cities that are making a difference in terms of addressing issues of homelessness, addictions, etc. a huge percentage of the funding comes from private industry – not from the various levels of government.

Misc Other Answers . . .

I was staying at home during the Challenge. It certainly would have been different if I had not had a home to go to. However, as staff from the Food Bank have mentioned previously on this website, they will not turn anyone away even if the person doesn’t have a health card or a fixed address. But a lot of the food we got required cooking which would have been difficult to deal with if not at home.

We were very lucky that we did this Challenge at this time of year when people are donating produce from their gardens, when the Food Bank’s community gardens are productive and when the inmates at the Correctional Services’ Urban Camp are harvesting their garden (with much of the product being donated to the Food Bank). I’m sure it would have been a completely different story and there would have been many more canned products at another time of the year. (On an aside note, did anyone else see the news segment that CTV did on the Urban Camp garden? It was really good! They interviewed inmates who talked about how rewarding it was to do this work and to be able to give back to the community and feel a sense of self worth even while incarcerated.)

Yes, the Challenge certainly would have been different if I had allergies or health issues such as diabetes. Other than being vegetarian and not eating meat I just had to worry about making the food last throughout the week. When I went to the Friendship Inn I didn’t have to be concerned there would be nothing I might be able to eat.

As far as being affected mentally or emotionally, I thought I might get a bit grouchy throughout the week but I didn’t need any “time out” breaks as I’d expected. I was quite aware though of making sure I never let myself get really, really hungry. I made sure I ate small amounts every couple hours even if it was just a couple carrot sticks or one or two bites of a sandwich just to keep me going. This took a lot of time to organize and I’m not sure how long I’d actually be able to keep that up without other things getting in the way.

I’ve mentioned before that I did think about food A LOT during the week of the Challenge and the weeks leading up to it. Certainly to the point of distraction at times! However, I also found that to be the case with the blog posts which added another element to the week. Writing and commenting took a lot of time and energy. This is what mostly affected my home life – I spent a lot of time on the computer that I normally would have spent with my husband. He was also starting to get annoyed by all the photos I was taking of food and the fact that I wouldn’t let him eat until I’d taken photos of the food he was eating too! ☺

The Challenge week made me realize how much of the social interaction I have with other people revolves around food. A couple friends invited me for lunch that week. I couldn’t go. My work colleagues knew what I was going through and that I couldn’t go out for coffee so didn’t invite me. My dad called and I turned down going out for breakfast on Sunday morning. I wasn’t sure I could sit there while he and other family members ate and I had a glass of water!

In Conclusion . . .

I don’t have all the answers. I don’t have a quick-fix solution to poverty. My week on the Food Basket Challenge only gave me a very teeny tiny glimpse as to what poverty is like for someone who lives it every day. I can’t profess to even begin to imagine what it’s really like.

But there are small things I personally can do to help, without getting overwhelmed by the bigger picture. I encourage everyone who has the capacity to do “something” to get out and Just Do It!