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poor
Study reveals that most middle-class people have absolutely no idea what it's like to be really, honest-to-god poor.
This is not surprising. The article talks about how Kraft Dinner is a bad choice to give to food banks because poor people can't afford milk and butter. Also? It has NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE WHATSOEVER.
Most people don't seem to understand how expensive vegetables are. Honestly, guys, it costs a lot of money to eat healthily.
When I was broke, I used to buy Mr. Noodles by the case, because all you had to do was add water. You didn't need to have, you know, ingredients. Two packs of Mr. Noodles a day and the occasional can of something-or-other was my typical diet for a good few months - why I didn't die of scurvy is still up for debate.
Should we be OK with the fact that cheap food is also really bad for us? When are we going to accept that it costs a lot to nourish people, and that without being nourished we can't expect people to function properly? Yeesh.
Comments
How can you criticize the other parties for not representing your riding well enough in a news release stating that you are resigning from the possibility of representing your riding? That comes across as slightly hypocritical. I couldn't comment on that entry (it's a news release I understand - I saw the -30-), so I'm sorry to have to comment on this one. It seemed to be the closest comment-able entry.
All this being said I thought it was awesome that you ran while you did. So much of our generation suffers from politcal apathy - at least, Canadian political apathy. You are to be commended for you for doing what you could, while you could. Hopefully you will find the time later on to get involved once again?
Au contraire, I'm setting a good example for resigning from the position because I can't do the job - he's actually getting PAID for doing nothing! If he was being honest, he'd resign too.
But seriously, the history of Kingston also figures into this - he is Speaker of the House and refuses to do constituency work because he has to "maintain his neutrality." Which is hogwash. Basically he gets an extra $40k on top of his MP's salary to be Speaker and NOT represent his riding in Parliament. That's what the release is referring to, and it's a big deal here in KTown.
I've been that poor....pasta poor. But a couple of carrots, a few day old broccoli flower, those are affordable.
There is no such thing as completely cheap food; but it is, as I know, possible to feed a family of four, nutritiously, for about six bucks a day. Hard, yes, doable, yes, and I have the healthy small boys to prove it.
That said, no one should ever have to make those sorts of choices. We can and will do way better.
Unfortunately, while I joke about blowing out the Child Care benefit on beer and popcorn (well beer, actually) I used to watch the people in my apartment building in James Bay march home on the 20th with a really big bag of Cheesies and a tanker truck of Slurpee. Little wonder that my kids were, more or less, twice the size and twice as smart as theirs.
It really is not about the food or the money so much as the education and intelligence.
(By the way, you have the most difficult Captcha ever)
Yeah, well, I know that education about budgeting and food choices is something else that gets sorely neglected, but that's also related to poverty - and time (a single mom working two jobs might have a harder time creating smart menus). In home economics we learned how to make muffins and sew a pair of shorts of dubious quality, but we didn't learn how to create a grocery list or budget for the week, or about calories or nutritional issues. Why not? I had the benefit of a mom who took gourmet cooking classes and had a full spice cupboard (which, by the way, is expensive - my first grocery shop in a new city cost me $200, and most of that was things like nutmeg and basil. Luckily, I am middle class). Also, buying in bulk is out when you live hand-to-mouth.
Anyway, my point is that it's a larger problem than a single food bank or poor parenting.
You know, you actually make me feel bad about never being as poor as all that. I did however have days when my oldest was a babe when we had to make do with inventive cooking of very very inexpensive cuts of meat and rice. Pork Button Bones make for an excellent stir fry.
I am torn because I am a Liberal. A Trudeauist Liberal. I quit official connection with the party when Martin and his drones had their little coup and have tried hard to re-attach myself since. Until Dion is gone however, we will not be much of a threat to the Harpies, and thats a sad thing, because it means we just help split the vote.
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