Food banks and the business of poverty
moneyrelations :: Nov.12.2007
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Last week, the Ontario food banks made headlines. These were some that caught my eye:
Fewer turning to food banks in Ontario, report finds - Toronto Star
Cdns. Going Hungry Especially In Ontario - CityNews.ca
Kind of confusing, isn’t it? Both articles point to the Ontario Hunger Report 2007 by the Ontario Association of Food Banks.
From CityNews.ca:
The report put out by the Ontario Association of Food Banks said the total number of food bank users has fallen just over four per cent from last year, but is up more than eight per cent from 1997.
From the Toronto Star:
The report by the Ontario Association of Food Banks found about 318,500 people each month – mostly a collection of working poor families, seniors, single parents and disabled – turned to a local food bank in the province this year, a drop of 3.6 per cent from the 330,000 who used food banks each month last year.
I’m scratching my head on this one but I get the gist even if the numbers don’t match: food bank use was down for Ontario from last year. I just find it funny how the media spins it in the headlines.
Nationally, the HungerCount 2007 report came out in parallel by the Canadian Association of Food Banks and the headlines for that were not as ambiguous.
I made a search for canada “food banks” and limited my search to Canadian articles in the range of Nov. 8 - Nov. 11 and here is a sampling of the headlines:
Canadian food bank use still ‘unacceptably high’ - National Post
Working poor rely more on food banks - Canada.com
Economic boom offers no relief to food bank - Montreal Gazette
New Canadians make up one-third of food bank users - CTV.ca
What stood out most to me was the National Post article:
Food banks, once considered an emergency solution for those needing short-term help, have become a permanent part of the social safety net.
“It’s a shame we made a business out of poverty,” said Peter Tilley, executive director of the Ottawa Food Bank.
I can’t agree more. At first, I was going to write a scathing article about the business of poverty but I had the weekend to think about it. I have never been exposed to poverty although I wouldn’t be surprised if I did live below the “so-called” poverty line as a kid. Yeah, I was an immigrant, and my mom was a widow with 3 kids all under the age of 11. No sob story here. We sucked it up and made it work. And I never went hungry or didn’t have a roof over my head.
When I read these stories, it really upsets me. I don’t know who I should be most pissed off at: the media, the system, or the abusers. Yes, we need social programs to help the less fortunate. I totally understand medical emergencies nor would I ever deny a hungry kid. I’m a huge wuss, read my panhandling story. I just don’t get the continual dependence. I have friends who have worked at various social programs and they report that most of the time, it’s due to poor money management and budgeting. It’s time to wake up folks! You’re not doing yourself or your kid any favors. Stop thinking you deserve crap when you can’t afford it! And the media isn’t helping with these headlines by decrying how “poor” we are despite the economic boom. Yeah, I know housing has gone up in the major cities. Here’s a solution: try moving.
I don’t know each and every situation out there and I don’t have the brain capacity to rectify all the social problems ailing us. However, I will note that Canadians probably aren’t as badly off despite what others make you think.
Charity ::
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Most people don’t set out to have poor budgeting and money management skills. If even well-educated people with good salaries can struggle with credit card debt, then what hope do the ill-educated or the less intelligent on lower salaries have (for example).
Hi plonkee,
I agree that there is less room for error on a lower salary scale with no financial management skills. It’s a really difficult situation. Like with the sub-prime issue in the States, I want to say no bail out. However, when people are hungry, that’s a social and moral issue.
I really don’t know what to say. I think there are social workers to help out with financial skills but it really is up to the individual to change. It can’t be a good thing for pride sake’s to go to a food bank, but when that is stripped of you, it becomes a safety net.
oh boy. I absolutely definitely don’t think it’s about money skills at all. As part of my pro-bono work (well, I do get a small stipend but not much) I do a lot of workshops with people who are on income assistance, and one thing I can say: they are genuinely STUCK in really lousy, hopeless situations.
Some facts:
1. Income assistance in Vancouver = $500 a month. They get subsidized housing for $350 or so per month, which gets taken from the $500. That means $150/month left for Everything else - groceries, clothing etc. So here’s how the system creates dependency: if you go get a job, it’s deducted dollar for dollar immediately, plus you lose your low-cost housing. The system creates dependency, not because the people become dependent, but because the system penalizes any effort to move off. So if you have a kid (and lots do) you need to pay for childcare, or even just need to spend $100 (at best, even in value villages) for a set of work clothes, and need to buy bus passes — for an entry level job (and that’s what most people would only have a hope for) you’re net “benefit” is negative. Let’s give a year of keeping your measly $500/month and subsidized housing, give lots of support in that first year, then gradually wean you off rather than make you leap off the financial cliff by getting a job.
2. The people in my workshops, not all, but many, have genuine barriers to working. I don’t explore that deeply with them, since it’s not my role, but it’s really obvious — they clearly struggle with basic things like presentation, ability to communicate, basic life skills. Many have mental health issues - one guy had been a commercial pilot all his life, til bi-polar struck. It took him down, literally. He got well, went back and it struck again. Three episodes in two years, and his pilots licence was permanently revoked. He lost all his money (when you’re in the manic phase, you spend in wild abandon), he lost his family and house, and now is living on $800 a month (he gets $800 instead of $500 because of the documented illness) and is trying to figure out how he’ll manage his retirement (he’s now 65) on $800/month for the rest of his life.
3. People I see on my street, panhandlers, had a hell-life from day 1. I’m not being bleeding heart here. They got F*d, literally, from foster parents. They were not the bright kids in the class, gave up, dropped out and hit the streets at 13 years old. They were the kids in our classes who sat at the back, quiet, were picked on. They got themselves addicted and are now mal-nourished, self-abusive spectres of human beings who live from hit to hit, and have an average life expectancy of 40 years old.
These are the people using the food banks. I would too, if I had $150/month after my housing was paid for.
In short, it has nothing to do with freaking budgeting skills, and I’m disgusted (can you tell?) with anyone in social work who is saying so. They should know better.
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for your perspective. I do not have your experience with working with the disadvantaged. Here’s what I know from my experience.
Like I said, I’m an immigrant so I know a lot of other immigrants who worked their way up. A friend of mine as a kid used to live in one small room along with his parents and another brother. I didn’t explore it that much with him as I didn’t want to embarrass him but from what I learned, they had a chamber pot in that room.
After school, he used to go help his mom who was a cleaning lady at a hotel finish up (she was always slow). After that, he used to come home to cook dinner.
Both he and his brother now make over 6 figures.
Compare this to my programmer friend who I had mentioned earlier before. He grew up in the projects of Toronto and he always said his mother had no money management skills. He said that one time after her social assistance cheque came through, she bought curtains instead of buying groceries. Obviously, he was pissed. I don’t know if she had psychological issues but he always described her as an unfit mother.
Then again, he also said that he used to play “Olympics” at home and would use broom handles to throw as a javelin into the wall… so it was just pure chaos.
Another less fortunate friend also said that as a kid, she would break her glasses because she didn’t like them so her parents would have to buy her a new pair.
I am absolutely appalled by this behavior as I would NEVER burden my mom unnecessarily. Instead of helping out, two of my friends chose to be destructive. I can turn this into “when I was young” stories but seriously, with my paper route at 12 (I might have started younger with flyers), I bought my own clothes, bike, glasses, bus passes. My brothers and I did what we could to help out. My mom left early in the morning (6 am and came home late at night 10 pm). No one ever babysat us (my brothers are 4 and 5 years older than me). The first friend I described also had the same self-reliance.
If you ask my mom, I’m positive she will say she can live on $150/mo.
My point is that it takes effort on everyone’s part. If you’re a kid, then you BETTER mature fast. It’s about how much you can endure and what your expectations are. We didn’t expect much. This means no new curtains and air conditioner (as reported by said social worker). Should we have lived that way as a kid? Probably not, but it built character.
Granted, I come from a family with no issues. However, as plonkee mentioned, even with high paid individuals, you get into debt issues. Is it that hard to imagine lower income families won’t have money management issues as well? You describe the extreme cases, I describe the abusers and those are the ones I have fault with.
I swear, Canada is a land of opportunity.
wow - thanks for sharing your amazing story. I’m really impressed at your tenacity and grittiness and determination. If you don’t mind, I’d like to guest post your comment above on my blog. If you do mind, please tell me asap and I’ll take it down immediately. But I found it really inspiring, and want to share it with my readers!
LOL, no problem Nancy. I actually don’t think that I had any hardships in my childhood compared to others. As you pointed out, there are for more serious issues than mine with drug addiction, foster homes, etc.
My childhood was based on necessities. I had no Xmas presents, ski trips, parties like my richer friends but on the other hand, I did have a solid financial foundation. I had mutual funds, lol.
Maybe that’s why I’m such a flake now. It might sound on my blog that I’m a spend-thrift with all these money making schemes but I’m just trying to explore those intangible characteristics that I didn’t learn in my childhood through networking.
Oh well, it works for me, lol. But I do know that if I have to bear down, it’s not that big of a deal.
And btw, thank you really for explaining your perspective. I freely admit I’m an idiot so I want other people to challenge me. I question everything and I just want to learn from every side.