July 2009 - Our Voice in Action

Do the Math!

by Tracy Woloshyn, Chair, OPHA Food Security Workgroup

Could you live on social assistance? What choices would that allow you?

Before the last provincial budget, a long list of agencies, including OPHA and alPHa, advocated as part of a campaign called Put Food in the Budget for a Healthy Food Supplement of $100 per month for adults receiving Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support. Because the March 26, 2009 budget passed without including the Healthy Food Supplement, more action is needed.

The Stop Community Food Centre offers an intriguing activity called Do the Math. It invites you to take a survey, in which you decide if each budgetary item is necessary and how much you think these would cost you each month. Then, the budget you develop is compared to what a single person on social assistance receives each month.

If you are convinced that social assistance is inadequate to live with health and dignity and that this must be raised to policymakers, you are encouraged to send a copy of a pre-written letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty. Or, if you prefer, you can write your own message directly to relevant ministers. Also, you can use the provided template to invite others to “Do the Math”.

Why do we care?

The study “Sick and Tired” (Community Social Planning Council of Toronto, Wellesley Institute, U of T) found that people on social assistance had worse health on 38 of 39 indicators when compared with the non-poor. The 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey revealed that 60% of Ontarians on social assistance were food insecure. Health units across Ontario monitor annually the cost of a Nutritious Food Basket (NFB); year after year, when the cost of the NFB is added to the cost of housing, it is found that low income Ontarians – including those on social assistance – can’t afford foods that make up a healthy diet.

So, Do the Math to show that we Do Care!

 

OPHA Supports FoodShare’s Most Recent Project Proposal

FoodShare Toronto has submitted a proposal to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for funding to support a project designed to create economic opportunities and deep, long-term food system change by modeling projects that build the Ontario food economy. FoodShare proposes to develop a new model called The Good Food Café, consisting of five elements:

  • A school-based café serving healthy, affordable, delicious foods from local and urban farms to high school students;
  • A street food cart serving the same foods;
  • Support for connecting urban farmers profitably to purchaser;
  • Employment training and job creation in all activities;
  • Support for others to replicate project successes.