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Post-Challenge Reflection: April 8th

Wow! I have completed the welfare food challenge! I can say that it was certainly a challenge, but I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to experience it. Even though I made sure to use the food wisely, I am amazed with how much food I have left over (which is shown in the picture above). If I needed to, I am sure this could last me almost another week. I think my best and most enjoyable purchases were the crackers, cheese, and oatmeal, because I never got sick of these foods and most of the time looked forward to eating them. 

I truly believe that this challenge was all about “mind over matter”. This is because I knew I could physically get through this week, but mentally I struggled. During this pandemic time makes for a very unique scenario, as I am staying at home all day and I feel like all I have done in the last few weeks is eat, sleep, homework, repeat! I think the fact that I was not busy or distracted at school, work, or with friends made this more of a challenge, because at home it is difficult to think about anything other than food. However, my body seemed to adapt to the situation very well, and by the end of it I feel like I could survive off one meal a day. I found it most difficult when I had to see the rest of my family eating a variety of delicious and flavourful foods, but most times I was happy with how tasty my meals were. With this food challenge, I think I gained some will power and mental strength. I am thankful that I am now able to understand and reflect on the struggles that those living below the poverty line endure on a daily basis. This has changed my point of view on budgeting, and I will certainly never take healthy, tasty, and flavourful food for granted.

Without a doubt, I will use these skills that I have attained with this challenge in the future, for when I move out on my own and have to by groceries on a budget. It makes me happy that I am able to learn and reflect on this challenge and use these skills when I need in the future. I have learned some very valuable lessons throughout this week and I am grateful that I was able to reflect on some interesting topics that will stay with me forever.

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Seventh Day of Challenge: April 8th

Today is the last day of the food security challenge and I am so excited to be done! I woke up early this morning for a conference call for school, but I was still pretty tired after so I decided to head back to bed for a few hours. I then woke up in the middle of the afternoon (I must have been tired!) so that is why my first meal of the day was crackers, cheese, and eggs. Later on in the evening, I cooked my other pack of rice and heated up the leftover beans, and I had these two for dinner. I think my body is adapting to this challenge because I am not hungry today, I almost had to force myself to eat dinner because I had no appetite! But in the end, I did not end up eating all of my dinner. 

Throughout this week I have been making a conscious effort to drink a glass of water with each meal and then I have been refilling a bottle of water a few times a day. This is quite the change and improvement for me, because normally I do not drink nearly enough water. I am very thankful for the easy accessibility we have to water for drinking and cooking purposes, because looking back I would not have been able to cook half of my food if I did not have clean and safe water. In low-income countries, clean water has some priorities, with drinking and cleaning being first. (Sorenson, Morssink, & Campos, 2012). Unfortunately, with a limited amount of water, personal hygiene and sanitation are not the upmost priority (Sorenson et al., 2012). Lack of sanitation can then result in related illnesses, which may lead to poverty and debt (Sorenson et al., 2012). With limited access to water, communicable diseases also become a concern. 

With all of these reasons in mind, this is why I need to remember how privileged I am to have unlimited access to clean and safe water, as I think I often take this for granted. This challenge has allowed me to reflect on how much water I need to use and drink, and this is certainly not the circumstances for those living in poverty.

Reference 

Sorenson, S. B., Morssink, C., Campos, P. A. (2012). Safe access to safe water in low income countries: Water fetching in current times. Social Science & Medicine, 72(9), 1522,1526. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.ardc.talonline.ca/loginurl=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=104895803

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Sixth Day of Challenge: April 7th

I am so close to finishing this challenge and I am feeling much more encouraged and determined to get this done! I spent most of the day working on school, as I have an assignment due, but in between I made sure to eat! For breakfast, I had oatmeal and I think my taste buds are actually adapting to the texture and flavour, because I am still enjoying this meal! Then I did not get hungry again until later on in the day, so for dinner I treated myself to grilled cheese AND mr. noodles soup. I realized that I still have a lot of food left, so that is why I ate both for dinner, which I was pretty excited to have such a variety of food. It almost felt like I privilege after the meals I have been eating throughout this week. 

On the topic of variety, I thought it would be interesting to see how well people under the poverty line can relate to the variety of the Canada Food Guide. The new and improved Food Guide provides rules and recommendations through evidence-based information that is an impressive document (Saul, 2019). Unfortunately, these rules and recommendations are too far out of reach for people living in poverty, and this results in feelings of inequity amongst this population, as every Canadian should be able to relate to and follow the guidelines of the guide (Saul, 2019). This issue arises thoughts that every Canadian should have enough money and the chance to access food that is best for their health and the health of their families (Saul, 2019). 

This relates back to my first post, which explained how expensive healthy and nutritious foods can be; therefore, being out of the picture for those living below the poverty line. This makes sense that many Canadians cannot afford to follow the Canadian Food Guide, because of the amount of vegetables, fruits, dairy, and meats that are suggested. All of these foods are the most expensive products that I saw when shopping for my challenge, which is why I stayed clear of them because I could not afford them with my budget. 

These past few days, I have been feeling much more energized, which has helped a lot in getting school work completed. It amazes me how much food can impact our energy levels and health.

Reference 

Saul, N. (2019, January 29). The new Canada food guide highlights the biggest obstacle to healthy eating - poverty. Maclean’s. Retrieved from https://www.macleans.ca/society/health/the-new-canada-food-guide-highlights-the-biggest-obstacle-to-healthy-eating-poverty/

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Fifth Day of Challenge: April 6th

I slept in quite late this morning, as I was up way later than I should have on my phone. The first thing I decided to eat was eggs and toast. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this meal as much as I did the first time. I think this is because I have been eating more eggs than I normally do, which is resulting in me getting sick of them. Shortly later for dinner I cooked a can of minestrone soup. The soup was very flavourful and had may veggies and noodles, which seemed to fill me up!

Today I had mixed emotions, I am so happy to be over half way done this challenge, but I feel that 2/3 more days of eating like this is a challenging thought. I feel that I am letting the idea of these foods get to me, and I am feeling very down and hopeless. This lead me to think about how the lives of people below the poverty line affect their mental health, in relation to the food they eat, the environment they live in, etc. There is a direct correlation between poverty and health, as poverty is a great risk factor for poor physical and mental health (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2020). Surprisingly, it actually goes both ways, as people with mental health problems can also drift into poverty (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2020). The main reason behind poverty being associated to poor mental health, is that economic difficulties usually result from a significant loss (death, divorce, or job) and this often leads to a compromised life which has an impact on mental health (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2020).

This helps me to understand why I am feeling like this, as I feel I have “lost” my proper nutrition, but people living below the poverty experience much more serious and difficult situations than I am in right now. This is a difficult time in our world with the pandemic and it makes me concerned for these vulnerable populations loosing their main source of income. In addition, some of these people may not even have a place to live right now, if the shelters and resources are closing to maintain proper social distancing. It is so sad to me that this population is normally already in such a vulnerable position, that now with a pandemic happening and our world changing, they become even more at risk.

Reference 

Canada Mental Health Association. (2020). Poverty and mental illness. Retrieved from https://ontario.cmha.ca/documents/poverty-and-mental-illness/

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Fourth Day of Challenge: April 5th

Today I woke up ready to tackle the day! I started the day off with a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. I decided I wanted to make better use of my full carton of eggs, so I decided to hard boil half of them. I found this to be a great alternative to cooking them for breakfast, as it gives them a different texture and flavour and makes for a better snack or lunch! Lunchtime came around so I prepared myself a plate of crackers, cheese, and hard boiled eggs. I was very pleased with this lunch, as this is something I would normally have, and it had many flavours and tasted good. For dinner, I cooked rice and beans, and from coming from the dollar store, both were surprisingly tasty and nutritious, with this meal being high in carbs, fibre, and protein. I was surprised with how many leftovers I had, as I only used about half of each full portion; therefore leaving me with a whole other meal. 

On the topic of nutrition, I am curious how many nutrients I need for my body type, because this week I certainly feel that I am malnourished as a result of being under my daily recommended nutrient values. I took a screenshot from the Government of Canada website regarding the guidelines of daily values of nutrients. I want to focus on fat, sodium. carbohydrate, and fibre, as I feel these nutrients have the most direct impact on our health (Government of Canada, 2019). In addition, I found that the average woman should consume 46g of protein per day (Gunners, 2018).

1 pack of oatmeal = 2g of fat, 170mg of sodium, 34g of carbohydrate, 3g of fibre, 4g of protein 

per 8 crackers = 3.5g of fat, 200mg of sodium, 11g of carbohydrate, 0g of fibre, 2g of protein

per 30g of cheese = 7g of fat, 210mg of sodium, 1g of carbohydrate, 0g of fibre, 7g or protein

1 large egg = 5g of fat, 70mg of sodium, 0g of carbohydrate, 0g of fibre, 6g of protein

per 42g of rice = 2g of fat, 380mg of sodium, 31g of carbohydrate, 0g of fibre, 3g of protein

per 125mL of beans = 1.5g of fat, 430mg of sodium, 31g of carbohydrate, 7g of fibre, 8g of protein

total = 21g of fat, 1460mg of sodium, 108g of carbohydrate, 10g of fibre, 30g of protein

Compared to the table above, I am under all of the daily values of nutrients, especially in fat, carbohydrate and fibre. From nursing, I know that carbohydrates are needed to be converted into energy; therefore, explaining why I have not had as much energy as I usually do. I had my suspicious that I was under undernourished, but this really surprises me because of the diverse meals that I had and the amount of food that I ate. However, I am now able to relate to the malnourishment that occurs amongst the population below the poverty line.

References

Government of Canada. (2019). Percent daily value. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/understanding-food-labels/percent-daily-value.html?wbdisable=true

Gunnars, K. (2018). Healthline. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-much-protein-per-day

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Third Day of Challenge: April 4th

Today I knew I had to get up and get some school work done so I made sure to have a good night’s rest and I got up and out of bed at a decent time (especially compared to the last few days!). The first thing I did was made myself some oatmeal with chunks of banana. This meal did not taste as good as I remembered it did the first day of the challenge, but I think part of this reason was because I added way to much water to it! I then went on to work on some homework and in the middle of the afternoon I felt hungry so I heated up a smaller bowl of the leftover macaroni and vegetables... and I still have more leftovers left which makes me happy! Then dinner time came around and I was looking forward to making myself some grilled cheese, so that is what I had for supper. Unfortunetly, I did cheat and have to use some margerine to cook my grilled cheese properly and I used some ketchup for a dipping sauce. I was content with my dinner as it was tasty and filled me up!

After supper, one of my best friends delivered a box of timbits to my door step for my family and I, as a little pick me up during these quarantine days. I found it so hard to resist these tasty little treats, so I decided to have just a few of my favourite ones. These timbits were probably the most flavour I have consumed in the last few days, which made them taste like the best timbits I have ever ate! My will power is not strong when it comes to sweet treats, and I do feel guilty for giving into them. This leads me to wonder, how many people living below the poverty line accept whatever food or treats come there way? I know I have always wanted to buy a handful of fast food gift cards to give to homeless or underprivileged people that I may come across; however, I have never made food to directly give to them, other than donations to the food bank. Each month, there are 850,000 Canadians that rely on food banks as there many source of food (CanadaHelps, 2020). Food banks in Canada do not only provide food, but they educate and provide resources for those at-risk with the hopes to eradicate hunger (CanadaHelps, 2020). There are many resources on this website that I found on CanadaHelps.org, where they provide information on food banks across Canada, donations to food banks, and organizations that conduct international food charities. 

Reference 

CanadaHelps. (2020). Donate to food bank charities in Canada. Retrieved from https://www.canadahelps.org/en/donate-to-food-bank-charities-in-canada/

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Second Day of Challenge: April 3rd

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Today I woke up before noon, but this time I laid in bed and relaxed until I felt hungry for breakfast. When I got up I decided to cook two eggs and toast for breakfast. I was not looking forward to eating them plain (with no seasoning or spread), but I was actually quite content with how it tasted... not as plain and bland as I anticipated it to be! I found myself to have more energy today which resulted in me having more motivation to work on school throughout the afternoon and into the evening. I had a late supper and was not actually that hungry, so I decided to cook a package of my mr. noodles, which I was actually excited for as I really enjoy these noodles on special occasions!

Over the past few days, I have found it really important to listen to my body and eat only when I am hungry. I have actually heard this to be a great weight loss tip as well, and it makes sense! I think we are so privileged to have easy accessibility to foods that we often feed ourselves when we are not even hungry or just out of boredom (I know that I am guilty for that). With a limited amount/choices of food, I have been able to listen to my body and eat only when I feel necessary. Those people living below the poverty line can probably relate to this, as I am sure most of them do not have “scheduled meals” like we are used to. It is suggested to always listen to your body, as it will tell you when it is hungry and keep on reminding you through headaches, stomach growling, and obsessive thoughts about food (National Eating Disorders Association, 2012). This is important to assure that you are not just eating out of boredom, stress, or loneliness (National Eating Disorders Association, 2012). During this challenge, I have been able to reflect on this the most because with my limited amount of food I am making sure to only eat when I feel hungry. This has alleviated me from eating out of boredom (especially during these quarantine times) which has resulted in me only needing to eat 2 or 3 small meals a day.

I still felt quite tired today, but I definitely had more energy than yesterday. I did notice I felt a bit more sensitive and moody today, especially when the rest of my family had one of my favourite dinners... homemade bbq flatbread! However, I need to remember that just because it feels like my world is so unfair right now, does not mean that other people have to suffer. I think I am accepting and adapting to this challenge more and more every day. 

Reference

National Eating Disorders Association. (2012). Listen to your body. Retrieved from https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/sites/default/files/ResourceHandouts/ListentoYourBody.pdf

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First Day of Challenge: April 2nd

Today I actually ended up waking up well past noon; therefore allowing me to skip a meal as I was not hungry for all three. I think I slept in so much this morning because I was somewhat dreading the beginning of this challenge. I live with my family, so naturally I was being a drama queen and giving them a hard time about the endless variety of delicious foods they had to choose from. 

However, as the day went on I realized that it was not as bad as I assumed it was going to be. This maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal is a similar breakfast to what I would normally have, but this time I decided to add one banana in hopes to fill me up a little bit more. As for dinner, I made the white cheddar macaroni and added half of the canned vegetables to it. I only ate about 1/3rd of the box of macaroni, which I was quite happily surprised with because I have another two meals left out of that! 

Unfortunetly, I did cheat and added margarine to my macaroni to made it easier to mix in the cheese powder. I assume that most people buy condiments maybe once every two months; although, if people below the poverty line only have a certain amount of money to spend on essential food items, they probably live without these. It is dawning on me that the essential condiments are so under appreciated; they are what add flavour and texture to our foods! I did not plan on buying any condiments because I did not want to “waste” my money on them, but I am realizing now how important they really are!

It is fascinating to me how I am using sleep to divert the problem of eating these foods. Perhaps this is what people below the poverty line experience as well. Do they not have fulfilling jobs because they do not have enough energy from the food they eat and then choose to sleep over work? It is a bit of a vicious circle when I really analyze it. However, I as surprised to find that it actually seems to be the opposite as poor sleep quality is strongly correlated with poverty, especially amongst minorities (Patel, Grandner, Xie, Branas, & Gooneratne, 2010). Some factors that may affect sleep include health behaviour, psychosocial circumstances, and environment (Patel et al., 2010). These sleep disparities are shown to be a health risk factor as there is a link between sleep and mortality (Patel et al., 2010). For this reason I am looking forward to see how my sleep and energy levels change and fluctuate over the week. 

I am feeling run down and tired, but I think that is from the busy week I had before this. I have slept a great amount today but I am also making sure to eat my meals. Towards the end of the day, I have a bit of a headache, but I need to remember to drink enough water because I think I am dehydrated. I did not have much energy to work on school today, so hopefully tomorrow I feel more encouraged to do so!

Reference

Patel, N., Grandner, M. A., Xie, D., Branas, C. C., Gooneratne, N. (2010). “Sleep disparity” in the population: Poor sleep quality is strongly associated with poverty and ethnicity. BMC Public Health, 10(1), 475-485. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.ardc.talonline.ca/loginurl=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=104917258

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Pre-Challenge Reflection: Wednesday, April 1st

I have been trying to plan and prepare for this challenge for a number of days. However, it has surprisingly caused me some stress and anxiety to even think about going to the grocery store... so I brought my mom with me to help! I think I felt these emotions because I knew how challenging it was going to be to find enough food to last me the week with this budget. I made a list of cheaper foods that I had an idea to buy for each meal and used that as foundation to reference back to. My goal was to reach a budget between $18 to $21 to match what people below the poverty line are allocated for food expenses.

We started our shopping trip off at Dollar Tree, where we surprisingly found many perishable foods including: bread, rice, crackers, and beans for $1.25 each! I was so excited that I found bread for this cheap because I know it is close to three times that price at grocery stores. Originally, I did buy tuna from here but I decided to remove it at the end of the shopping day because I went over my budget amount and thought I could do without the tuna. I ended up spending $6.31 at Dollar Tree. 

We then made our way to Superstore, and even though we were worried there was going to be a limited amount of food due to the pandemic, we were happily pleased with the stock on the shelves. Superstore is where I bought the rest of my essentials: mr. noodles, oatmeal, macaroni, canned mixed vegetables, soup, eggs, cheese, and bananas. Originally, I did buy apples from here but I decided to remove them as well, because I wanted to keep my budget amount under $21. I ended up spending $14.24 at Superstore.

At the end of the day, I spent a a total of $20.55 on food for the week. During the shopping I was quite stressed an overwhelmed but my mom and I tried to rationalize the best choice in foods, and I am happy with what I ended up with. While shopping I quickly realized that I could not buy what I wanted, but what I could afford. For instance, I wanted to buy hummus for my crackers, as this is a lunch that I often have, but it came to just over $3 which resulted in me having to put it back on the shelf. Nonetheless, I was still somewhat surprised with the amount of food I got for this amount; especially because I easily spend $20 on one meal at a restaurant, let alone food for the whole week. 

I also found it quite interesting that I did not get any fresh vegetables or fruits (other than bananas), because they are much more expensive compared to the packaged and processed foods. This leads me to understand why the low-income population are at greatest risk for developing diet related health conditions, such as diabetes and obesity, as most of the foods I could afford are not healthy or nutritious (Daniel, 2020). With healthier foods having higher prices, this keeps shoppers from buying these nutrient filled foods such as fresh produce and fish, meats, and nuts (Daniel, 2020). For many families of the low-income population, affordability of foods is often based on whether or not it will last until the next source of income received, which is usually monthly (Daniel, 2020). 

This week will be challenging for me because I feel as though I am so adapted to the easiness and accessibility of walking into the pantry or fridge and having the option to eat a variety of foods; compared to now only having a few options to choose from. I have a bad habit of buying Tim Hortons or Starbucks whenever I am out and about, but being stuck inside during this quarantine might come to my advantage! I am a bit uneasy and unexcited to eat these bland choice of foods; however, I am encouraged to experience and relate to what others below the poverty line endure in regards to food and nutrition. I think this challenge will be a very eye opening experience for me (the shopping portion already has been) and I am happy to be able to document it along the way!

Reference

Daniel, C. (2020). Is healthy eating too expensive?: How low-income parents evaluate the cost of food. Social Science & Medicine, 248. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.ardc.talonline.ca/loginurl=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=142004871