Advocacy organizations respond to report on social assistance

In a recent editorial printed in the Record, physician Gary Bloch talks about a patient of his who lost his job as a carpenter after being in a car accident, and like many, had to go onto Ontario Works to survive. The patient suffered from depression and with only $600 per month to pay for rent, food and everything else you may need to live a normal life, had difficulty affording basic necessities. In other words, as Bloch writes, he had trouble ‘presenting himself with dignity’ in order to be employable. Instead of helping him get back on his feet after an accident, OW trapped him in poverty, exacerbating his physical and mental illness. As this individual’s doctor, Bloch could only prescribe physiotherapy and counseling, knowing that these were only treating his patients symptoms rather than the underlying problem: living in poverty.

Stories like this one are exactly why the provincial government created a commission to research social assistance and look at ways to reform the system. Last week, after consulting stakeholders across the country, the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario released its final report called Brighter Prospects: Transforming Social Assistance in Ontario (read the report here). Many are saying that the report is the most in-depth review of social assistance—which includes Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program—since the 1980s.

As you know if you’ve read our blog before, many people who regularly come for food hampers are recipients of OW and ODSP. In fact, in 2011, 36% of hampers we gave out were to OW recipients, and about 20% were to ODSP recipients. Together, this means that over half of the food hampers we give are to people on social assistance. Needless to say, we are very interested in social assistance reform going forward, like many poverty advocacy groups in Ontario.

Embarking on a new path

People like to talk about it and read into the meaning of it, but divorce is something that many people will experience at one point in their lives. There are many reasons for it, sometimes things end amicably; sometimes it’s because of stress and debt, abuse, infidelity, substance abuse, or career related conflicts (Source). Regardless of the reasons, studies from the 2006 Canadian Census reveal that four in ten first marriages will end in divorce before 2035 (Source). Unfortunately today this is one of the current and stressful situations that Diane is facing.

After a few years of marriage we decided to start having kids. It was challenging at times, but also the most wonderful decision we made. I love my kids with all my heart…But sometime after that is when I think my husband and I started to grow apart. Well I know we started growing apart, because we’re just in the final stages of settling who gets what assets. It’s such a complicated procedure and we haven’t even started figuring out child support payments! I’m a single mom with three kids and a limited support network. After the divorce I needed to find a new place to live, so we moved to Kitchener a few weeks ago. I’m still working on finding a job and daycare but last week the last of my savings ran out. Luckily I found out about this program so we can have some food while I keep getting my resume out there. I never realized how hard it would be to start my life over from scratch.

Life as a single parent is going to be a big adjustment – and definitely one that you’ll never be able to prepare yourself for.

Home Economics 101: Waterloo Edition – What does a healthy diet cost?

It’s no surprise how quickly a grocery bill can add up throughout the month after you buy fresh produce, school snacks, meat, milk, and all the other foods you need. But do you have any idea how much money someone typically spends to feed the average family in Waterloo Region a healthy diet? … Give up? Well keep reading and you’ll find out!

Back in September The Region of Waterloo released their annual “Cost of the Nutritious Food Basket” report, which provides an estimate on the overall cost for a household to eat a healthy diet. The estimates of this report are based on average food prices from various grocery stores throughout the community, based on the dietary recommendations from Canada’s Food Guide for specific ages and genders, the number of people in the household and reflective on eating patterns of the community.

A new perspective on food waste

Have you ever come home with something from the grocery store full of good intentions and great ideas for how to use it?  Have you ever lost track of it and found a month and a half later behind a container of leftovers and been forced to throw it out?  I think everyone experiences this from time to time. For most of us this isn’t a big deal; but when you look at some of the impacts that food waste has, you begin to see that it’s a much bigger deal than you’d think once it’s all added up.

There’s something missing

Every time you go to the grocery store there is an abundance of possibilities that you can take home. But unfortunately for over 20 000 people throughout the year their grocery trips are limited, because they’re accessing a food bank.

Food banks generally operate almost exclusively on donations – donations of time, money and food. As a result, it’s not uncommon for programs such as ours to experience a few weeks or months without certain food items such as canned soup, cereal, rice, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, canned meat, or canned beans. At the moment, three very significant products are on the top ten lists of most needed food donations. Any idea what they are? If not, click here to find the answer.

Unfortunately three of our four protein products are on the top of the list: canned meat and fish, peanut butter, and canned beans. This has dramatic implications on the overall nutrition of our hamper; and also how many meals patrons can make out of the food we have to offer. You may remember how important food items like canned meat are to our patrons; but if not click here.

Luckily the Food Bank of Waterloo Region has been getting in higher amounts of frozen meat products. This means that our program has been able to slightly increase our quotas since the beginning of August. Here’s an idea of how our quotas have changed:

Family Size	Previous Meat Quotas	Current Meat Quotas
One person	500 g	750 g
Two people	1 kg	1.5 kg
Three people	1.5 kg	2 kg
Four people	2 kg	2.5 kg

Though it’s a minimal amount, it has an impressive impact. For example single people generally got one choice of meat such as a bag of sausages or a few chicken breasts in the past. Now a single person meat pre-pack will include two choices of meat products or a larger chunk of meat. But let’s look at the nutritional implications of raising our meat quotas:

Family Size	Increases of servings
One person	2 servings (1 day)
Two people	4 servings (1 day)
Three people	4 servings (almost 1 day)
Four people	4 servings (half a day)

To read more about meat and alternative nutrition, please visit Canada’s Food Guide.

For many people more frozen meat in their food hamper is a welcome change! One of the things that we learned through the work of Jesse and Leah, our two summer students, is that many patrons would purchase more meat or seafood products if they had more money available. However, because of the increasing costs of fresh or frozen meat products, many individuals often use lentils or canned meat as the best alternative to still get protein in their diet.

But with our supplies running out and many people not having the flexibility in their budget to buy a can of beans, a jar of peanut butter, or a can of meat, what do they do? Sadly it often means that many people will be without that food group in their diet for a few days.

Going without canned beans or canned meat and fish has a smaller nutritional impact on our hampers, but it does interfere with meal planning. Now instead of many people being able to throw one of these choices into a casserole, they’re left scrambling to find another alternative to get meat in their diet and complete their meal. Both a can of beans and a can of meat or fish contain approximately a full days worth of meat nutrition for a single person. It’s easy to see how quickly the nutrition of a hamper can diminish without these necessary staples.

Not having peanut butter available also decreases a hampers ability to provide a good level of nutrition for meat and alternatives. It takes two tablespoons of peanut butter to provide one serving of meat and alternatives. For a single person who likely needs approximately two servings of meat for the entire day, a 500 gram jar provides about seven days worth of protein. Larger families typically receive a one kilogram jar of peanut butter. To break this down it means that two person hampers lose approximately seven days of protein; three person hampers lose approximately four and a half days of protein, and four person hampers miss out on approximately three days of protein. Without this staple food, many people are left without anything to eat on a sandwich for lunch or to spread on some celery for an afternoon snack. Click here to read about the significance of peanut butter to our patrons.

What do you eat for lunch each day?  Imagine opening your bag lunch and only having two slices of bread with some mustard and lettuce between them.

You can change this though! Please keep these food items, and any other that you typically enjoy in mind during the fall food drive. Each donation makes a meal and brightens someone’s day – sometimes more than you can imagine. Whether it’s a box of cereal or crackers, a can of pasta sauce, or a drinking box it’ll make someone’s life one measure easier. Each food item they receive is  one step closer to a healthier diet, or one less explanation to a child for why it’s not on their dinner plate. And as our recent blogs show, not having food is only one of the many situations that our patrons are encountering throughout their day.

Big numbers are a problem

It is hard to get a handle on big numbers.  What do 5,000 or more people look like gathered in one place?  What does it look like to serve food to the 2200+ households those 5000+ people live in? It is hard to imagine, and often, even harder to describe. But, on average each month this year we have served that many households and people.  Sometimes, we have served even more.

We can give you a lot of statistics to help you understand how our donors and volunteers make a difference to all the people we serve, but after a while, lots of big numbers lose their meaning – they go in one ear and out the other, and if I asked you later, you would be hard pressed to remember them. Why?  Well, we, as humans, have a hard time wrapping our heads around big numbers in meaningful ways. It helps to have a frame of reference to put numbers in context.  People like hearing and sharing stories, they don’t like memorizing tables of numbers.  We are social beings, not walking excel spreadsheets.

But, I have a dilemma! I have some numbers I want to share with you! To help you understand all the ways our volunteers help, I have broken some of the important stats from this year down a little into things that might mean something to the average person.

Lets start at the beginning…

source: MCC website

On average, each month our volunteers help over 500 infants and toddlers!  If approximately 20 infants and toddlers fit into a day care, that’s translated into about 25 day care centers a month!  This is something to think about the next time you drop your kids off with a caregiver on your way to work, or when you give one of your grandchildren a hug.

How many school age children do we serve?

source: Transport Canada

At one point in your life you have probably ridden in a school bus. Especially if you grew up in a rural community like I did. Assuming that 50 school age kids fit on a school bus, each month our volunteers send home food to feed 30 school buses full of kids! That’s about one and half buses full each day we are open.  Think about that next time you’re stuck in traffic behind a school bus full of kids making faces at you.

What can you fit over 3000 adults into?

source: de zeen magazine

If about 300 adults fit into an apartment building, then on average, each month our volunteers help get out enough food to feed 11 buildings full of people!  Think about that the next time you are  shopping downtown walking past the apartment blocks. If you live in an apartment building yourself, walk up five flights of stairs and, on average, all the people living on those floors would equal the number of people we serve each day we are open.

BINGO!

source: Alabama local news

And finally, if about 300 people fit into a bingo hall, every two months our volunteers help feed a bingo hall full of senior citizens!  I was a bit of a loss to come up with a good yardstick to measure our service to seniors.  But, nevertheless, we called up a local bingo hall and they said that the most they could fit in at one time was about 300 people.  So, every two months our volunteers will call out BINGO and reflect on the 300 seniors our food went to help.

Generally, many people who work with food banks estimate that there are many seniors in our community who need the help but don’t come to us.  Part of the problem is knowledge.  Many of them don’t know we’re here.  The other part of the problem is that it is difficult for them to admit they need the help.

Adding it all up

So, where do our food hampers go?  Each month on average, the food hampers go to 500 infants and toddlers, 1500 school age children, 3000 adults and about 150 senior citizens.   That’s more than one child care centre full of infants and toddlers, one and half school buses of school age kids, half an apartment building of adults and a few tables at a bingo hall of senior citizens every day we are open.

Which is easier to remember?  We would love to hear some feedback from you.  How do you remember important statistics? How can we better share the story of our volunteers and the mountains of food they move to help so many people?

Getting down to business

Ontario is a province with a wide variety of employment options for a number of people. Each day many people go in to work never thinking they’ll be injured. But as the statistics show, this reality is closer than many of us would think. Let’s take a second to look at some of the facts:

• Annually about 300 people die and nearly 270 000 more file workers’ compensation claims due to a work related injury or illness. (Source)
• Each year over 10 000 Ontarians under the age of 25 submit a claim after an injury leaves them unable to return to work for a few days. (Source)
• In 2008 alone, Ontario reported 488 fatalities and 317 031 claims for work related injuries and illnesses to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). (Source)
• The injury rates of workers may be much higher because many workers don’t bring the injury to the attention of their employer, or the employer doesn’t submit a claim to WSIB. (Source)

Unfortunately Ronald is living proof of these statistics. After an injury at work, he’s waiting for his claim to be approved by the WSIB board. So in the mean time he’s coming to our program for assistance. It’s likely that he’ll use the six visits we offer in a year within the next month or two; because his family is without an income for a few weeks and can’t wait that long to buy groceries.

I’m a father and husband to a family of five. When people learn that I’m using a food bank they always ask “how did that happen?” or look at me wondering why I can’t find a job to provide for my family. Well I was working at a factory and had 800 pounds of product fall on me. Now I’m lucky to be alive; but it hasn’t been easy. It took the doctors eight years before they realized that the intense pain in my back meant that it was broken. No one would believe me, so it was hard to get any type of compensation. I struggled to convince the doctors that there was something wrong…and when they finally got the medical proof they needed, I was immediately booked in for a surgery. After that my back healed to the point that I was able to continue working at a different job. But as my luck should have it, I had another accident at work and here we are again. As hard as I try to put food on the table, something eventually gets in the way. Then we need to come here for a food hamper until we can figure out where our next paycheck is coming from.

Put yourself into Ronald’s shoes, this is your story now.  After your accident you aren’t even able to work light duty at any of your old jobs. Each one was very labour intensive and your employers are less than understanding. As a result you have now burned through the little amount of vacation pay you had accumulated; and neither job gave any paid sick days so now you have no income.

On top of this your extended family doesn’t support your decision to not return to work after your injuries. Many of them stopped visiting over a year ago because they didn’t want to hear you complain about the injury the doctors couldn’t find. To date, no one has responded to any calls or emails that the doctors finally discovered your back was actually broken.

What do you do? How many weeks could you go without a paycheck? Who would you turn to for help?

It is no surprise that Ronald was directed to our program for assistance. But his family will likely need help paying for school supplies, buying the kids clothes, and paying their rent at the end of the month. So to do all of this Ronald now has a new “job”. His job is to shuffle through the phone book and talk to a variety of people who will point him in various directions to find the services and support he needs to get through this difficult time. Though he may use the 211 services to find the right direction, he’ll still be left at the end of the day with a stack of papers from a variety of social service agencies that he’s come in contact with. And his family can only hope that each agency visit will bring them another step closer to the end of this unfortunate limbo between incomes.

Snapshot of Hunger

Statistics are one way that food banks try to communicate the demand for food assistance to the public. To calculate statistics food banks pull information from some of the questions that are typically asked when people come in to access our services. (To read about the questions we ask in our intake process, click here).

Calculating statistics is a complicated process that takes a bit of time and a lot of formulas. But it’s all worthwhile when you can share the results because many people have no idea how high our numbers go each day or the similarities that more than 130 families can have in a single day when you break down the small facts. For example one of the statistics that really impacts me to think about is that throughout 2010 approximately 37 percent, or 25 492 people who were assisted with food were under the age of 18.

That’s a significant number of people, which is why it’s important for us to share these numbers so that the community is aware of who needs help. Aside from sharing these numbers on our blog, many of the staff and volunteers will share any number of our statistics with a variety of people who we talk to about our program. These are the two ways we generally share our statistics, because we don’t have a formal report or document that we publish anywhere. However some programs do take the time to create a report, such as the Snapshot of Hunger report done by the Daily Bread Food Bank.

While looking through the report they compiled I found it interesting to see the similarities between the statistics we’re both calculating for the patrons accessing our programs. Many of our patrons would also fit the demographics that the Daily Bread Food Bank is encountering in the GTA region.

However it’s hard to know for sure how similar our patrons are because the Daily Bread Food Bank asks some more in-depth questions than we do here. Although by doing this they get a better picture of some of the barriers and challenges that people are facing in low-income households, which can leave you with a lot to think about.

Personally I spent a lot of time reflecting on the Hunger portion of the report because I was saddened to read a lot of those statistics, such as “forty percent of adults go hungry at least once per week” when we live in such a wealthy country. Even though I interact with people here every day that are in this same situation, it still doesn’t get any easier to hear that so many people cannot afford to have a nutritiously balanced diet. Also it’s not easy to face the facts that approximately half of the people accessing food assistance are single people.

Another statistic that their report shared is about income. Income can be an important piece for food assistance because some food hamper programs operate on a means test that calculates how many hampers a household is eligible for based on their income. Though neither of our programs request to know a dollar amount for those who are accessing food assistance, we do ask to know what type of income the household is receiving.

The two most common income responses are Ontario works (OW) or Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). The Daily Bread Food Bank reports that approximately 67 percent of their patrons are receiving social assistance, while our program states that approximately 37% are on Ontario Works. And approximately 45 percent of food bank patrons are receiving ODSP. One of the main reasons this is so significant is because the demand for our services by people receiving these types of income assistant programs will only continue to grow as commodity prices continue to rise faster than the payment increases for people receiving financial assistance does. This is a startling statistic that the report publishes to keep people aware of the challenges that people receiving food assistance are facing.

One of the final statistics in the report focuses on housing, which is a big challenge for people living in lower incomes for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest challenges is affordability. Many individuals accessing food banks are living on fixed incomes and with rising prices of rent and other utilities it can be increasingly challenging to find something adequate in size and affordable. Some of the patrons to the Daily Bread Food Bank spend approximately 72 percent of their income on rent and utilities – with a median monthly income of $925. If you want to show your support to make a change in this area, please click here to add your name to the call for an Ontario Housing Benefit.

Showing your support to increase the availability of affordable housing is one way to promote a better future for people in low-income households. But if adding your name to the call for a housing benefit isn’t your thing, there are still a number of things you can do. You can stay educated; you can share the stories you hear about the people in need; and you can talk to your local government to make changes. Then perhaps one day many of these statistical reports can be put to the history books instead of the newspapers.

Global conversation about food

“Food is one of life’s greatest pleasures and one of our most basic human rights. It’s important we all get involved in the debate about how to change the global food system so everyone has enough to eat today and in the future.” – Raymond Offenheiser, President of Oxfam. (Source)

This quote comes from an article posted on Oxfam that looks at an independent study done by GlobeScan that was collected from 17 countries around the world and a total of over 16 000 people. Each person was asked about their dietary habits and if anything has changed over the years because of the rising food prices, health changes, or any other influential factors.

Oxfam released this study on their website as part of their GROW campaign. This campaign is dedicated to promoting a better future for everyone, which starts by supporting solutions to solving hunger issues, and encouraging government to get involved in preserving resources or creating better policies. Basically the campaign is looking for people to get motivated NOW; instead of when the next disaster occurs. Their goal is to change things for the better, before food insecure situations get any worse. (Click here if you’re interested in joining their campaign.)

One of the results discussed in the survey looks at the fact that many people, in both rich and poor countries, are already reducing the quality and quantities of food they consume. As food prices continue to rise many people can no longer afford some of the foods they previously enjoyed in the past. Instead people in poorer countries are often accommodating to food prices by eating less food overall, eating cheaper food items, or eating a less varied diet. The study noted that women, specifically mothers, tend to change their eating habits more than other family members. You can read about this in more detail by clicking here.

There are a variety of reasons why many people are beginning to change the types and quantities of the foods that they typically consume. All of these are outlined in more detail in the article. However there are a few statistics that I want to share with you because I find them very interesting:

• Percentage of people who have changed their diet because of rising food prices: 39% globally and 31% in the US.
• Percentage of people who have altered their diet for health reasons: 33% globally and 49% in the US.
• Percentage of people who are worried about the rising costs of food: 66% globally and 73% of those in the US.
• Percentage of people who said that they sometimes, rarely or never had enough to eat on a regular basis: 20% of people globally and 8% of Americans.

Overall our statistics aren’t far off from many of the other countries in the world. Food prices and food security are an increasingly troublesome problem for a wider variety of people. You may remember some of the previous posts that we did on rising food prices back in May and June – but click here if you missed them.

Well to no ones surprise this is still a current issue in the news and something that I’m sure we’ll continue to experience as uncertainty about the global economy continues. Though food is necessary for human survival, we still have a long way to go to ensure equal access for everyone. Until we can find a solution to this long-term issue, food banks will continue to work diligently to provide all these individuals with a few days of food to help them temporarily overcome one of their many challenges.

Right to Food

Most people will have heard of the United Nations.  Especially if you watch the news.  I’m not sure if as many people will have heard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.   Even fewer have probably heard of the Rome Declaration on Food Security and the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.

What are these documents and what do they mean?  In a perfect world they commit the countries that have signed them (which Canada has) to address the needs of their residents and ensure that their human rights are protected and promoted.

What are human rights?  That’s a big question.  I encourage you to read through the links above and try and get a handle on how important they are.  Ones that you may be familiar with are freedom of expression, freedom of thought and freedom of opinion.  These are the rights that we all enjoy in Canada every day. You enjoy them every day you open a newspaper, talk to your neighbours about politics and make choices on who to vote for and how you live your life.

Is food a human right?  It’s pretty hard to live your life without food.  Of all the human rights, food is one of biggest and most important.  It is difficult to enjoy your other rights if you’re starving.

If you read this blog, a newspaper or watch the news, you will probably realize that these documents are all great on paper, but in practice we’ve still got a long haul ahead of us as a Country and a global community. We say we’re committed to overcoming hunger, but yet there are still many people who go to bed hungry everyday: in this country and across the world.

The above picture is taken from one of the nineteen artists that contributed to the “Just Food” exhibit that is being displayed through the support and faith inspired efforts of the Mennonite Central Committee Ontario (MCCO). Some of you may be aware of this exhibit, since it’s been open since early July. But if you have yet to go, it’s not too late! The exhibit will be available until September 27 at Conrad Grebel University College anytime Monday to Friday between 9am to 7pm, or through alternative arrangements. (Click here for a map to the college.)

The inspiration for this event is to encourage people to remember that though we’ve stated hunger is not acceptable in many formal documents, we’ve still got a long way to go to make this a reality.

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food.” – Article 25 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Food is a central part of our lives: it’s part of survival and it’s also something that is often prepared to bring people together in celebration. Though as human beings we need to eat to survive, in today’s society we’re not always guaranteed access to affordable and nutritious food for various reasons.

Food banks are living proof of this: once a temporary solution to overcome (what was thought to be) a short-term problem, many of these programs need to expand their warehouses to keep up with the demands of service that they face each week, day and year. Things have yet to get better as many Canadians continue to struggle to meet their daily needs, or encounter unexpected circumstances that throw their life and finances for a loop.

To give you a better idea as to how high our numbers have been, and show some of the factors that may be contributing to high demands for food assistance, lets look at some of the statistics about food banks.

• In the last twenty years our program hasn’t served under 20 000 hampers each year.
• Each year our program assists approximately 9 500 households with food. (And we only cover Kitchener-Waterloo. To see a list with some of the Cambridge food assistance programs, click here.)
• We are one of over 70 member agencies of the Food Bank of Waterloo Region, which means that there are a lot of agencies responding to the communities need for food assistance.
• Approximately half the households who we provided food to last year relied on Ontario works (OW) or Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) as a source of income. People working full-time, part-time, or odd jobs followed as the next highest group at approximately 16 percent.

So hopefully you can take a break to visit the hunger exhibit. Because as it’s recently been said, and will be said again, hunger and food banks are something that need to come to an end. (To read an article about closing food banks, click here.) Your effort to become more educated is one of the first steps to making this happen; and this event is a fun way to take that first step.

In the coming weeks we will share a few more of the stories of the people who have turned to us for a helping hand. In the meantime, enjoy the food for thought at Conrad Grebel.