thanks

My thanks to everyone who made this event possible.
A couple final reflections:

• the Food Bank does an amazing job caring for people and helping them out with what they have.
• If the Food Bank had healthier food they would offer that to people, so I came away thinking how can I and everyone else donate healthier foods?
• Yes we cannot let the government off the hook to care for people.
• Can we also link with farmers here in our area to get fresh veggies and fruits?
• As I reflected over thanksgiving on this my compassion has increased 100% for folks out there living live this.
• I recommend everyone do the challenge once a year. It will keep us humble and caring for those facing difficulties in life.

We have an amazing community here, together lets keep working on this!

Thank you

Thanks to all the participants in the "Do the Math" Challenge Cambridge. Your posts over the past week have been candid and insightful. We hope this experiment has shed light on the food insecurity that many in our community experience regularily, and can be an important step in addressing the issue of poverty in our community.

-The Do the Math Planning Committee



Be sure to check out the following media coverage:


"Food Hamper Takes Toll", The Cambridge Times


"Eating only from an emergency food hamper an eye-opener — when I could keep my eyes open", The Record

Wrap-up Refections

Today the participants met to wrap-up the challenge and share there experiences from the week. Here are some of their reflections:

 “Wake up call” 

“Your choice was taken away”

“What are [the kids] going to have for lunch tomorrow?”

“To go through a week was not a problem for me but I have a wife who is pregnant and a little fellow. I wouldn’t want them to have to live off the hamper I got. As a family it wouldn’t cut it.”

“Survival’s not good enough” 

“There is a hidden society”

“It took a lot of planning. The first thing I did was put the food on the counter and took a pen and paper and strategized.”

“I was encouraged by staff at the food bank who helped me pick out food and told me how to stretch it”

“You don’t have enough calories or sustenance to be active”

Tony: Day 4

Day 4: Thursday Oct.7. 

Well another day of work lies ahead and my morning routine seems to carry on as usual . More coffee but this morning I finish off the rest of my fruit cocktale and eat a cereal bar that was in my hamper .Today lunch hour finds me home so I open up my can of vegetable soup and have a few more crackers . I have to say that for a temporary period of time my food hamper is serving me just fine . I will however say that I am missing chicken , but I really don't know if its a need or just a want .I have protein available in my can of tuna that I have yet to open . This evening I took my wife and little guy to Hespeler Baptist Church where we were treated to a wonderful dinner of roast beef , potatoes , carotts , onions and gravy . Before this we had a vegetable beef soup .We actually had ice cream and a choice of apple or pumpkin pie ! This meal was fantastic but what stood out to me the most proved to be a human element . As soon as I walked in the door with my wife and son we were greeted with the most warmest of smiles . We were shown where we could be seated , the play area for our little guy , and what time dinner was going to be served .I had an opportunity to talk to a mom with her two little girls and to people on both sides of me . Talk was about weather , children , and how good the food was ! As dinner began to wind down I experianced first hand the compassion of people as I had two different people ( not volunteers) approach me to tell me where dinner was being served next Thursday and that they hoped to see us again .I never got into any details , and thanked them very much . As I have said earlier , for a single guy my hamper would certainly hold me over . For a family , unless the contents are different , not a chance that I would want to keep them going on it .I would have to definately make use of the drops ins to supplement . I look forward to meeting everyone tomorrow and to listening to their experiances .

Tony Campbell

Today started like yesterday, with a small serving of oatmeal. Lunch was leftover spaghetti from yesterday (plain sauce, no meat or cheese or veggies, but not too bad). Supper tonight was creamed tuna (margarine, flour, water, skim milk power, and tuna) on toasted bun (they're stale, but toasting still works...).

I miss dairy (cheese!), unprocessed meat, eggs, and fresh vegetables. I haven't eaten any green vegetables this week; one of my sisters is a clinical dietician, and I'm worried she might have words with me. :)

So, some reflections before wrapping-up tomorrow:

1. I have been hungry, I have missed certain foods, I'm a little cranky, and my concentration and energy are low. And yet, I'm complaining from a pretty comfortable place in life. My partner and I own a house; we both have university that allowed us to apply for and get full-time jobs, we have two cars, a usual week involves a bottle of wine with a dinner or two, and even though I couldn't buy myself a coffee today, I did drop by the dry-cleaners after work. Take away these privileges, and life would be a lot harder than I've experienced during the "do the math challenge." If I didn't have the opportunity of univeristy and couldn't afford the clothes for the job interview, or was hit with some of life's hardest twists and didn't have a great family and spouse behind me, and on top of it, if I was feeling hungry...I would hope for the support and the hand-up of a good community.
2. I sometimes hear comments that people who receive social assistance or food hampers are lazy and taking advantage of "the system." ...the message implied is that assistance is a "comfortable" or "desireable" choice. This is simply not true. In my opinion, if assistance is the "comfortable" choice, I sure as heck don't want to know what the other options were.
3. I've re-read this, and yes, definitely a little more cranky than usual today. :)

Jean: Day 4

Day 4 noon

Today had its wins. I had 2 meetings with FOOD involved. Last night at a group I was told that meeting food was fair game so despite enormous food guilt I had 2 pieces of fruit and a coffee. And cheese: a food I eat usually a lot but not in this hamper. What do adults do for calcium ? I had no interest in the carbs not surprisingly.

Breakfast was great: a coffee and a carrot Tim muffin. Midmorning I was hungry however and felt that upper abdominal tight growly feeling. Mildly uncomfortable. Lunch was another meeting so I got carrot soup and an apple. I donated some of my ciabatta roll stash to this lunch but i Still have 8 of them left and I worry about them going stale or moldy. I dont want to waste them. If I had eggs or milk I could make French Toast or bread pudding. Am I more food focussed than usual? I think I am. Supper will be the rest of my ratatouille and rice. I am considering opening the corn but I am wondering if I can make corn fritters without egg. I have not used any sugar yet so I could try and find a recipe.

This week I am definitely more hungry. I am faced with foods that challenge my recipe routines and still have to make time for meetings, work, family. Fortunately I am not having to cook for a bunch of other people too.

I cant be at the lunch tomorrow. I work until noon. Maybe I can be there by 12:30 and just listen. I have food to return...

Jean Skillman

Potluck Lunch

I'm sitting in my office avoiding the potluck luncheon for all staff. I can't attend. What would I make to bring? In real life, I would make up an excuse, but in this simulation game, I can just explain to a few people and hope in these hard financial times we can all be thankful for our jobs - even if you don't love it.
We often have potluck dinners for participants in my programs. sometimes people bring a box of timbits or a bag of cookies. its not necessarily because they don't want to contribute, it may be that they just cannot afford to bring anything and its just too embarrassing to admit that.
This is humbling. I don't have many choices. We had to make kraft dinner last night so the four of us could all have kraft dinner for lunch. There was nothing else - well margarine on a bun but I chose the kraft dinner. I have to hand it to the food bank. they give you as much choice as they can. It helps maintain some dignity.
I can't go in that room and look at all the wonderful dishes hand-made by my colleagues and drool. I can't attend a potluck without bringing something. Everyone wants to be the one who gets asked for a recipe. so I'll sit here at my desk, and eat my kraft dinner.