Mennonites raise awareness about welfare rates

June 18, 2014 | Young Voices
Rachel Bergen | Young Voices Co-Editor
Steinbach, Man.

Kyle Penner had one apple in his fridge and some leftover potatoes from his meagre meal the night before for lunch. After nearly a week of living on about five dollars worth of food a day, he says he started to look at his food differently.

The 30-year-old associate pastor of Grace Mennonite Church in Steinbach took part in a food security challenge May 26-30 to raise awareness about Manitoba’s Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) rates—specifically the amount allotted for food.

Nearly 35,000 Manitobans live on welfare. A single person’s daily food and basic needs allowance amounts to about $3.96. Their total income for the month for everything, including rent, is $750. People with children get marginally more.

The challenge was a bit easier. Participants could spend $5 a day on food and could use a cheat list. They were able to choose five of the following foods out of their cupboards to supplement their diets: oil, salt, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, ketchup and soy sauce.

In total, 10 people participated in the challenge which was a part of Grace Mennonite Church’s three-year plan of talking about local, national, and global issues.

Even with these “cheats,” Penner says it was a rough week.

Each morning, he ate a piece of toast with peanut butter and a banana. For lunch he ate leftovers from the last day’s supper, or part of a can of soup. And for dinner he ate some potatoes, rice and corn. He was able to have one glass of milk and one and a half apples a day as well.

“I didn’t get close to following the Canadian Food Guide,” he says.

Penner also noticed his worldview shifting as the week progressed. “It went from one of abundance to one of scarcity. If I had something today, I might not be able to have it tomorrow,” he says.

The participants blogged along the way and their website received more than 1000 views.

Alyssa Lord, 20, also participated in the challenge. She says she’s seen poverty in many contexts, but has never been poor, so she took part in the challenge to understand what it’s like.

Lord says she got a taste, but knew she could continue as normal after the five days were up.

“I can’t say that I know how every person on social income feels. I don’t. I did it for five days and knew that on Saturday my life and spending choices would continue as normal. It did open my eyes and I’m thankful for this learning experience,” she says.

Most days Lord went to sleep hungry with no hope that the next day would be any better. She says it helped her identify with the people she volunteers with at the Steinbach soup kitchen.

Penner says that when he talked to some of the people who eat at the soup kitchen, they appreciated the effort the participants were making to stand in solidarity with them.

Jeanette Sivilay says her interest in food security at home and abroad inspired her to help organize and participate in the challenge. The 26-year-old who works at the Canadian Mennonite University urban farm says she came to understand how easy it is to compromise your health to meet your budget.

“I really wanted to eat as nutritiously as I could, and that took more planning than I realized,” she says. “But for folks living on EIA, the food budget is the easiest one to dip into for other essentials—the goal is to get full, not to eat healthy, or to eat for enjoyment. There are deep, systemic issues at play in regards to the low levels EIA,” she says.

Grace Mennonite Church supplies 90 percent of the local food bank’s rice and many members of the church volunteer there. They hope to move forward with more compassion as they work towards food security projects they’re already involved in.

--Posted June 14, 2014

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