Wayne
Tell us about your living situation.
“I’m receiving ODSP. I’m grateful for the support, but it also leaves me living below poverty line. Eating healthy for the entire month is really challenging, in not impossible. In the last ten days, I’ve been scrambling around, because I’m out of food. Food is the number one
issue in my life. the money we get is glaringly not enough.”
How much money do you spend on food?
“Half of my money goes to food. for the first few weeks I’m spending
about $100.00, and then it runs out and I have to use food banks.”
Do you ever use food banks drop-in meal programs?
“I quality for one food bank in my catchment area [where you can get an emergency 3-day food supply once a month]. I’ve dropped into six other food banks, but they only let you go once if you’re not in their catchment area. And when you do to the food bank you’re already hungry, so you eat it all in 24 hours. When my food runs out in the
last week of the month, I have to come to the drop-in meals at The Stop every day for breakfast and lunch.”
Describe what it’s like to eat on your budget.
“It’s fine for two weeks at the beginning of the month. And then when it runs out it’s scary. Fear. Desperation. Just scrambling around trying to find something to eat.”
Where do you get your food? How often do you shop?
“I go to No Frills or Price Choppers, looking for deals. I shop 2-3 times a month.”
What factors influence what food you eat?
“I want to eat food I like, healthy food. I exercise and try to maintain my good health, but at the end of the month it’s impossible. The food I get at the food bank has no protein- just junk carbs. I gained about 5 pounds this week, from all the crap I had to eat.
What does food security mean to you?
“Food security means not going hungry. Food insecurity means: I’m hungry and I don’t have anything to eat. And I’m out of ideas of where to get it.”
What do you think the government should do to address food security?
“Increase the amount of money to people on social assistance. Or just increase the amount of food money. Food coupons for No Frills to food vouchers or something- anything. They have to ensure that we have enough money for food.”
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Linda Chamberlain
Tell us about yourself.
“I’m Linda Chamberlain. I work part-time as a Peer Counselor at CAMH. I’m on
ODSP but they take out half of my check because I work, and the other half goes
to rent. I moved into my home in TCHC (Toronto Community Housing) in 1996-
before that I was living on the street and in hospitals for over 30 years. Just
having a roof over my head has helped me so much, given me so much courage,
I feel like I can do anything now.”
How much do you spend per week on food?
“I don’t go by the week. At the beginning of the month, I pay my rent, my hydro,
and my phone bill. After that, I, maybe, have $100.00 leftover, and whatever is
left I use for hygienic products and food. by the end of the month, I have
absolutely no money left, and I am living completely off the food bank.
I am one step behind on my bills all the time. I used the food stipend you gave
me for this photo project to pay my late hydro bill. There’s never enough money
to buy food.
Describe what it’s like to eat on your budget.
“I eat potatoes- it’s all I can afford. In the morning I have fried potatoes with
onions. For lunch I have boiled potato dumplings with flour and paprika- that
gives it some flavor, and they fill you up. For dinner I have mashed potatoes maybe
I can put a can of pineapples or corn on that if I get one from the food
bank. I get full on the food I eat but it’s all starch. I can’t go to bed with my stomach
growling, so I eat cookies from the food bank before I go to bed. I’m diabetic and
that makes my sugar go up, but it’s the only food I have, and it’s the worst thing
in the world to go to sleep with your stomach growling. If I could bring my sugar down, the doctors said I might be able to reverse my diabetes, but if I don’t turn it around, they said it will kill me. They’ll pay for pills to get my sugar down, but they won’t give me any money for healthy food. it would be so nice just to have real food- all I want is lettuce and some vegetables.”
Do you ever access food banks or drop-in meal programs?
“I started a food bank in my building four year ago. Every two weeks we get a
delivery, and anyone from the building can come down and take whatever they
need. But the food bank just gives junk, there’s never any healthy food, no
vegetables. There were three kinds of icing and cake mix at the food bank today,
but no milk or eggs to make a cake with it. They give us syrups and vinegars, but
never any food to put them on.”
Where do you get your food? How often do you shop?
“Every month I buy a bag of potatoes, some onions, a bag of flour. Almost
everything else I have I get from the food bank downstairs. Occasionally I try to
afford something in Chinatown.”
What do you think the government should do to address food security?
“We don’t need more food banks- all they have is junk food. We need money to
buy our own food. They’re paying a lot more money on our hospital bills because
all of us are getting sick off of this diet. They haven’t raised our checks in years,
even though the prices of food and rent keep going up and up. Food costs more
now, but we don’t have any more money, so we just don’t eat.”
To learn more about this issue or to get more involved, visit www.thestop.org
