It’s the end of my seventh final day! I made it through The Welfare Food Challenge! It was a tough week but I learnt a lot, saved some money and tried a new food. I can’t say I loved all the meals I made this week, but I am happy with the different ideas I came up with like my lentil, broccoli and cauliflower soup/sauce. I know I’m supposed to be positive but this challenge really wasn’t the most fun I am very glad that I get to start going out with my friends again and add a little more flavour to my food. Today I finished off my fresh foods. I think I rationed my food –besides the broccoli and cauliflower— really well. I still had enough to last myself through today and I won’t be stuck with many leftovers at all. It is pretty nice not throwing out any produce that has gone bad over the week since I only bought what I would eat.
For breakfast I had a banana and apple smoothie again. I guess I should have eaten my half an apple yesterday because this morning it had some mold growing on the seeds. It kind of grossed me out so I cut it up and threw it in my smoothie with my last mushy banana.
I was home for lunch today so I made myself 2 scrambled eggs. I passed on the chicken this time to save it for supper.
At supper I had a rice bowl with lentils, 2 carrots, and 1/3 of a chicken breast. My carrots were pretty limp so I stuck them in cold water but it didn’t do much. Thankfully I didn’t mind since I steamed them anyway.
My final snack during this challenge is my last pieces of chocolate. I’m glad I saved them because they’re almost like a reward for this week’s work.
Well all I have left are 1/4 of a bag of rice, 1/2 a bag of lentils and a few scoops of cooked lentils. My fresh food just barely lasted me through the week. I am glad I bought the food that I did, but I do wish that had tried lentils before the challenge instead of blindly taking advice from others. If I was living like this week to week it would get a little easier shopping under budget since I would get used to the restrictions and accumulate leftover food staples like rice and lentils from the previous week. The least expensive items I bought are the ones that lasted until the end of this challenge, but not having to replace these items would allow me to buy something else in its place. Welfare checks are issued on a monthly basis. This allows the recipients the opportunity to buy larger quantities and take advantage of bulk pricing. This being said, fresh foods are the most expensive items on a grocery list. I wouldn’t have been able to afford anything close to what I got for fresh produce if it wasn’t for my hookup that let me know when the dollar bags would be put on the rack. These foods often are not ideal for bulk purchases because they will not last through the month –or even the week— like dry goods do. My bananas didn’t even last the full week before there were parts of them I couldn’t eat. Fresh produce, dairy, meat and baked goods are essential in order to meet an individual’s basic nutritional needs, but many people living on social assistance can’t afford many of these fresh items. I went this entire week without having any dairy, if I lived like this for a long period of time how would I get my calcium intake? Living on a budget as strict as those living on welfare do would make it difficult to ensure proper nutritional intake. These people are neglecting to give their bodies the nutrients they need because they must sacrifice certain food groups for other less expensive options. This budget is not ideal for those relying on it. It was hardly enough to last me the week. I couldn’t imagine the struggles of those who actually rely on social programs to survive, face each day. I’m sure many people go to bed hungry each and every night hoping that soon they’ll find a way to support themselves without having to rely on social assistance.
