Day 2

Thankfully today I didnt want up to the smell of eggs. I did however wake up with quite the head ache. Thank goodness I could still make my home brewed coffee. I started the day off with peanut butter and toast once again. There is nothing like a big glass of milk with peanut butter but the powdered milk is very sweet and having not mixed it the night before was kinda lumpy. Just after breakfast I had to pack for a two day trip for work. I am not usually a light packer and this trip was no exception. I had to bring a lot of documents, clothing and this time food. The canned food I picked and a few snacks I figured would allow me to eat my meals while on the road. I took a can of alphegetty some cup of soup a can of salmon, as well as the boc of triskets and fruit loops for snacks. This way when I was sitting in lunch meetings could snack away while others ate. Before I left for the train I treated myself to a cup of soup followed by a big glass of water. On the train my stomach rumbled as I watched people eating their take out lunch all around me. I am usually one of those people when I am working away from my office. After getting on the road and informing my traveling companion for the trip of my special diet plan i got that all familiar craving for coffee. Thankfully I had brought a veritable vat of my own home brewed coffee with me. So as my colleague stopped to grab a coffee I simply requested the restaurant to warm mine up. We arrived at our destination around 5 and after only coffee in the car my stomach was grumbling. I tore through a good portion of my triscuits before heading into the meeting. The meeting provided fresh fruit and pizzas for everyone but I declined wanting to ensure that I got the most out of my challenge experience. Again I turned to my triscuits before the meeting was over. After the meeting we headed out to a pub with the other attendees. I want to start off by saying I love pub fare. Sweet potato fries, chicken wings and all the stuff that you smell the moment you enter. Tonight was no exceptions. All the other attendees treated themselves to a variety of pub delights and I tried to make due on intelligent coversation to stave off my appetite until we were back at my hosts house. When we arrived in for the night I made my alphgetty and got ready for bed. My stomach felt full but continued to rumble. Given my busy schedule I dont usually have the time to make my own meals but when I was challenged to I found that it was extremely hard to fit it into my day. Off to bed once again feeling quite sluggish. Once I got to bed I found it really hard to get to sleep. I had stopped drinking coffee much earlier than usual but I think with my diet being off it may have affected me more than usual. It was a very long night.

Day 3 Thank goodness for free coffee. I refilled my vat from the home brew at our host’s house before we made our way out the door around 7am. We had a morning breakfast meeting and I felt barely awake. That coffee would have to do me until the last speaking event of the trip at my old high school. Once again I resorted to fruit loops for my breakfast. Without the milk it was less fulfilling but not as sweet. I ate the bag that I had brought with me and tried to focus on my notes for the next meeting. My concentration since starting this challenge has definitely been affected. I find it hard to concentrate on one thing at time and often trail off in my thoughts. Never the less I got through my interviews and meetings and just after 12 noon we were on to the last event of the day before the trip home. We spoke to a high school class at my old high school. I was happy that I was able to focus and share the week’s experience with the students. After leaving we stopped to do a few phone meetings and I was able to get a chance to eat some tuna and another cup of soup. I spent the rest of the trip home drinking copious amounts of water. When I got on the Go Train home from Mississauga only to once again be surrounded by people eating take out. Triscuits to the rescue. While on the train I attempted to study for my night school french midterm that night. Again I felt really scattered. I got off the train in Whitby and got a quick ride to my test. Thankfully my husband had made me some coffee at home and brought it with him. I got to class just in time to write the test. I am not sure how I did but I felt rushed from the get go.I tried to focused on what II had studied but I was alll over the place. I am ususally at the mercy of a very tight schedule and I have generally adapted very well. This time however I found it hard to get on track. When I got home I made some pasta and sauce and went to bed early.

Love and business and family and religion and art and patriotism are nothing but shadows of words when a man’s starving. ~O. Henry Day 4 was a challenge. I tried to adapt my eating so I could avoid another migraine. Therefore I stuck to drinking a lot of the powdered milk and avoiding the pasta and bread. It helped and my energy level was a bit better. Maddy and Mom had cereal with “milk”. By lunchtime however my energy level had dropped and I had no desire to cook. I grabbed the can of potatoes, rinsed and drained it a couple of times and then heated it up in the microwave to make another warm potato salad. I’m outing my mother – she cheated. Can’t blame her though. She has high cholesterol, hypertension, post-polio syndrome, osteoporosis… the list goes on – I’m amazed she lasted this long and I’m grateful she took the journey with us. Felt sluggish through the rest of a very busy day. Maddy’s school concert was at 7:00 p.m. so had to make a quick Kraft Dinner meal with some fried onion and a glass of juice. Packed a bowl of the KD with a small container of canned potato salad for Maddy to eat at the school. The school had a table with coffee and baked goods for sale. Felt guilty for not buying to support the music program (will send $$ later)… and those cupcakes looked so amazing. Watching others eat them made the hunger come back. Went out again last night to meet up with friends and had a glass of water with ice, again. If people didn’t know that I was on the PFIB diet, I wonder how welcome I would have been at the restaurant if I kept ordering just water? Makes me wonder about what kind of social activities are available for people on assistance, things they can afford (aka FREE) that would help them expand their social circle and improve their self-esteem? Does that exist? It certainly is needed. The internet is an option, but it costs money to have a computer at home and be online – libraries and other public buildings offer free internet but how easy is it to get to? Had a small cup of the last of the fruit cocktail before bed. It felt good to eat something “healthy” but I’m craving meat. One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. ~Virginia Woolf Since the PFIB Do the Math Challenge is about creating more awareness and putting pressure on the Provincial government to add a $100.00 per month food supplement – I think it is time to talk politics. I am a fiscally conservative-socially progressive thinker. Call me a red-tory, a blue liberal… or just call me Kim. I’ve spent most of my career fighting for what is right for those that don’t have a voice – from the marginalized to the average Cindy-the-Taxpayer. I’m not stopping now! And yes, you can fight for both! Yesterday I blogged about Future Costs of Care and I mused about how much this lack of nutritious food for those on assistance is costing us. Let’s talk about the dollars and sense of this. My fellow bloggers from the Durham region continually point out two main issues with our 5-day diet: 1) High in carbs, 2) High in sodium. A diet which would lead to a high risk of: diabetes and hypertension. Now, I couldn’t find Canadian or Ontario numbers – but I did find a study in the U.S. for direct costs of care for Diabetes and Hypertension in HMOs http://www.ajhp.org/cgi/content/abstract/56/15/1515. Their findings? $13,446 a year in health care costs if you have both Diabetes and hypertension, $8,493 for just diabetes and $8,424 for just hypertension. I won’t even get into the costs of the comorbidities. The three most common comorbid conditions were dyslipidemia, coronary artery disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with the frequency of cerebrovascular disease and myocardial infarction more than double in patients with diabetes and hypertension compared with patients with either disease alone. So let’s Do the Math shall we? (And yes, I know this is a simplification and that there is much regression analysis to be done, but please bear with me) $100.00 a month = $1200.00 a year. Or $8,000 to $13,000 a year later in life? Usually people develop diabetes and hypertension in their 50′s… those on unhealthy diets much earlier in their 40′s. Let’s simplify this by saying 10 years earlier than someone who develops these conditions by their own poor choices vs. no available nutrition. $80,000 to $130,000 added cost to the health care system. And this is only factoring one person in the equation – what if it is a family of four eating like this? Couldn’t find stats on how long the average recipient stays on assistance… if it was 10 years as an example that would be an additional cost of $12,000 for a $100 a month food supplement. $12,000 vs. $80,000. I’ll take Door Number One please! If someone can show me stats that say that there is no cost savings to our health care system by ensuring that people on assistance have the ability to eat nutritious food I would be happy to look at those stats. But right now from where I sit the numbers add up to one thing: this is costing us money! There is only one taxpayer and government Ministries need to stop hoarding dollars in their many budget silos and realize that $100 a month in Com-Soc is going to save $700-1000 a month in Health. It’s time that government gets “IT”!

Kim Dowds www.kimdowds.ca

The following is a list of what I ate this week:

-Fruit salad provided by Feed the Need in Durham

-Free lunch provided by the AIDS Committee of Durham Region(I don’t consider this cheating because it was free)

-2 boxes of Kraft Dinner

-1/2 loaf of bread

-1/2 a jar of peanut butter

-half a bag of pasta

-1 can of pasta sauce

-2 cans of soup

-1 can of salmon

-1 can of tuna

-1/2 a box of Parmesan Garlic triscuits(thank goodness for these)

-4 apples

-1/2 a bag of Chips (cheat)

-a couple chocolate truffles(cheat)

Food that was in my box that I didn’t eat:

-1 box of corn pops

-1 can of corn

-1 can of peas

-1 can of sliced potatoes

-1 can tomatoes

-1 can alphaghetti

-1 can of ravioli

-1 can of mixed fruit

-1 can of soup.

I guess what struck me the most about this experience is how I exercised choice in what I ate. I’m a vegetarian(who eats fish from time-to-time), but I probably only had 6 or 7 servings of fruits and vegetables over the past five days, because I chose not to eat the majority of canned goods. I had the luxury of choice because I knew I only had to make it for 5 days. If I had had to go a few more days, my choices probably would have been different. I will be donating the leftover items to the food bank at the AIDS Committee of Durham Region.

Brianne Blackman

Volunteer Coordinator

AIDS Committee of Durham Region

Hi everyone I hope that all the challengers are keeping up Today was a better day I guess my body is getting used to eating pasta and carbohydrates As I mentioned before I am keeping up with my activities, gym in the morning, work and walk the dog.. During this experience I have been really concerned about…the life of those who have no choice but live on depending on …food bank or donations or..to survive.. With the winter season…..there is a need to get prepared… Most of us put snow tires on our car but…how do people with low income prepare for the winter.. I know for sure that what I got this week …is not guarantee.

One more thing.. I was not only following the diet but I did make sure not to waste any food.. So…tomorrow I will be able..to bring food back… The story we heard on Monday from the man who has no choice..for the time being.. Did touch me..a lot.. I hope that the challenge and the challengers will help in..not only develop and awereness …but..put an action…into the lives of those who need it.. Manon

Manon Lemonde, RN, PhD Faculty of Health Sciences-UA 3018 University of Ontario Institute of Technology

I have spent the past 4 days preparing meals from the food hamper and only the food hamper. No spices, condiments or olive oil which is a staple in my daily repertoire.

I have done so, as I needed to really experience the what it would feel like not to have these luxuries and understand the feeling of eating only to survive.

Primal instinct takes over, the basic need to consume something to keep on going. The bodies hormones signal the brain eat and eat anything in sight to feed it.

I would be fair to say many people and families whom survive off of the donations of the shopping consumers will eat anything to survive. In Canada that is a shame.

A family or individual relying on food banks or on social assistance will not be picky as to what they eat.

I can say I know these feeling after these 4 days, it is horrible.

My husband told me today that I am being very moody and he didn’t like it. He thinks I have been wacky all week and getting worse and asked me to eat.

Well I will soon, one more day to go.

Today I ate the same as yesterday. Apparently my symptons are worse according to my husband and kids.

A possible solution is healthy donations from the grocery shopping consumer!

email2

I am now on day 4 of the challenge, and I am really feeling the effects of my limited diet. I am frustrated that there are several things in my hamper that I cannot eat because I do not have access to a kitchen. I am sure that this must be a reality faced by some individuals accessing food from food banks. I am struck by how unwell I feel, and how my concentration has been effected. It must be incredibly hard to live this reality for extended periods of time. I was struck by a thought today, about school lunches, and what I would be making for my children to take for their school lunch and snacks, especially as peanut butter is banned due to life threatening allergies. It must be very difficult to try to provide food for kids to take to school with such limited resources.

Tracey Vaughan Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

I had to go to a restaurant today at dinner time with my colleagues at a conference. I did not cheat! However much I wanted too! I had my peanut butter and crackers, and my last apple, and I thought about how much I will miss having that one bit of fruit tomorrow. It was embarrassing to sit at the table and not eat or drink anything from the restaurant. It was also really hard to watch everyone eating wonderful food, while I sat watching, trying not to think about how much I wanted to join in! I noticed that this caused me to talk less, and feel less a part of the group.

Tracey

That was one heck of a rough night last night. I went to bed at 10 PM with stomach cramps and feeling bloated but woke up at 2:30 in a panic to get to the washroom. I battled stomach issues until 4:00 and went back to bed.

I woke up late at 7:30 AM feeling extremely bloated, tired and irritable. I ate my usual bowl of Oatmeal Crisp cereal with my powdered milk along with my toast with peanut butter and my stomach acted up again. I was hoping to make myself a tuna sandwich today however I ran out of time so I settled for Alpha-Ghetti. I made it through the day feeling completely exhausted and moody (so I needed to be careful not to take it out on anyone). The only thing I wanted to do was sleep however I had music lessons to teach tonight at 7:00 and I didn’t get home until 6:30. Once again I didn’t have sufficient time to make myself anything nutritious so I ate a bowl of cereal. I got home from teaching at almost 9:00 and made myself toast and peanut butter with jam. I think I’m getting 1/4 of my regular nutrients. Ordinarily we cook a couple of meals on Sunday and have leftovers throughout the week and we supplement it with fresh salads. The problem is I didn’t receive the box until Monday morning and haven’t had time or energy to make anything in the evenings.

I feel a bit guilty about looking forward to finishing this challenge because I know I am SO very privileged to be able to eat an abundance of fresh food that benefits my system. As many HIV+ people, I have to do my best to manage side effects of medication however my digestive system is really acting up, it’s been ages since I’ve been this tired and I don’t even want to discuss my mood swings. But I certainly have a lot more respect and concern for those who don’t have a foreseeable end to their challenge. As well, I live in a comfortable home, I drive a car and have a supportive network of family and friends. Unfortunately a number of clients with the AIDS Committee of Durham Region who access our food bank, don’t have theses same luxuries and support in their personal lives.

I’m exhausted and going to head off to bed now.

Chris Mallais

Program Manager of Education Services

AIDS Committee of Durham Region

Living la vida Food Bank Hamper: Day 5

November 5th, 2010 | Author: Deb Rankine

I never thought I’d ever say these words but I am well and truly all carbed out. Sustaining one’s health eating soley from a food bank hamper is not possible. Each morning of this challenge I’d wake up with swollen ankles. The same swollen ankles I went to bed with! My hypertension meds were no match to the gross amount of sodium I ingested this week in all the processed food I consumed. None of the food bank hamper recipes I developed required the addition of salt. No surprise there.

What was suprising was a comment from one of my cooking students when I was telling the class about the Do the Math Challenge and how I’d cooked down a 1.89L bottle of Mott’s Garden Cocktail juice by half so I could develop a flavourful base for a carb-loaded vegetable soup I was making for dinner that evening.

“But wouldn’t people consider that wasteful?” my student asked.

I never thought about it that way. She was right. Especially since I ended up actually having to add 4 cups of water to the soup so the reduced tomato juice base wasn’t so acidic.

I cheated with this soup recipe. Twice. First cheat was going out and buying another bottle of Mott’s so I could recreated the recipe with “straight up” juice and the second cheat was I added a carrot, which was not part of my food bank hamper. Really, what’s a vegetable soup without carrot.

Also, not to be wasteful, I used the dried pasta from the box of macaroni & cheese dinner mix (used the powdered cheese packet to make scalloped potatoes, recipe follows) in my soup as well. What’s one more carb, eh?

The White Cheddar Scalloped potatoes were not too bad. I really liked the Carbolicious Vegetable Soup, however. It was flavourful and make a huge pot.

It’s this Carbolicious Vegetable Soup that I will be demonstrating how to make next week on Rogers TV’s “Daytime” on Friday, November 12th, around 11:40 a.m. If you’re in Durham Region, check it out on Channel 10/63.

Tonight we have our debriefing dinner (word has it they’re serving stew. Real protein! I can’t wait.) followed by a Town Hall meeting at 7 p.m., where we, as a community, will discuss how to further increase food and income security in Durham Region and throughout Ontario. All are welcome… Oshawa Community Health Centre, 115 Grassmere Avenue, Oshawa, ON.

Food Hamper White Cheddar Scalloped Potatoes (serves 2)

Developed by Chef Deb at fridgewhisperer.com

Preheat over 350F Grease a small casserole dish. Set aside

2 medium red or Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into ¼ inch slices ½ small yellow (cooking) cut into ¼ inch slices 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves ½ teaspoon ground pepper 1 teaspoon dried vegetable seasoning (optional) 1 cup skim milk (reconstituted from skim milk powder) 1 packet white cheddar cheese powder from box of store-bought macaroni & cheese dinner mix ½ slice day-old bread 1 teaspoon margarine or butter

• In a mixing bowl stir together potatoes, onions, thyme, parsley, pepper and vegetable seasoning, if using. • Heat milk on top of stove or in the microwave until just warm, and then stir in cheese powder. Continue stirring until powder has completely dissolved and has thickened slightly into a sauce. • Stir cheese sauce into potato-onion mixture, then spoon into prepared casserole. • Bake on middle rack in preheated oven for 35 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with the tines of a fork. • Let potatoes rest at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving.

Food Hamper Carb-o-licious Vegetable Soup (serves 8 to 10)

Developed by Chef Deb at fridgewhisperer.com

2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil ½ medium yellow (cooking) onion, finely diced 1 clove garlic, minced 2 Knorr chicken cubes 1 carrot, peel and cut into ½ inch slices 1 can (540mL) canned whole potatoes, cut into ½ inch cubes ½ can (540mL) whole kernel corn, drained 1 bottle (1.89L) Mott’s Zesty Garden Cocktail juice 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes 1 tablespoon dried vegetable seasoning (optional) 1 teaspoon ground pepper ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) dried macaroni from 1 box (225g) of macaroni & cheese dinner mix, cooked for 5 minutes in boiling, salted water, and then drained ½ can (398mL) peas, drained

• In a large soup pot set over medium heat, add oil and swirl to coat. • Add onion and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. • Add garlic, chicken cubes and carrots and cook 5 minutes more, or until chicken cubes have almost melted, stirring frequently. • Stir in potatoes, corn, cocktail juice, parsley flakes, vegetable seasoning (if using), ground pepper and red pepper flakes. Cook 15 minutes or until soup has heated through. • Stir in partially cooked macaroni. Gently stir in peas. Cook 5 minutes more. Serve immediately.

Posted in Deb’s Daily Dish | Deb Rankine, author of The Fridge Whisperer Cookbook Series Inc. www.thefridgewhisperer.com info@thefridgewhisperer.com www.culinarycaravan.com chefdeb@culinarycaravan.com Pickering, ON

I have to admit, I am counting down to the end of Friday.  This experience goes far beyond worrying about food enjoyment. In so many of our various cultures which are represented in Ontario, food is central to most of our significant life moments and celebrations. Food is significant and symbolic for so many things in  our lives,  from the gathering of family and friends, honouring of holidays and milestones,

to the simple pleasure of biting into the fresh orange on a hot summer’s day. For people who cannot afford to even get enough  nutritious food to meet their optimal health needs, I can see how the significance of food falls short of the aforementioned milestones and celebrations. The struggle to plan each days’ meal, the pain of feeling hungry, the decision of whether to buy medicine or vegetables, provide shelter, or protein,

if these things we could eliminate from the daily life of our fellow citizens, we would really then have something to celebrate around the dinner table.

Thank you for this experience. ~Sherry