What Can You Eat for $26/Week?
The Welfare Food Challenge invites British Columbians to spend just $26 for a week's worth of groceries, symbolizing the amount of money the average welfare recipient has left to spend on food once other essentials are taken care of.
Registered Dietitian Erica Kang decided to take part in the challenge, and shared her thoughts in The Prince George Citizen. At the grocery store, Kang first noticed how much longer it was taking her to shop, despite leaving with much less food than she was used to. She noted that it took her 45 minutes because she was checking and double-checking the aisles, looking for the best deals.
Kang struggled in the produce section, unsure whether to spend more for fresh items or go with the much cheaper but less healthy canned goods. She tried her hardest to choose staples like rice, beans and milk over processed foods, but had to make some sacrifices, such as getting white bread instead of whole wheat.
Once she took her groceries home, she began to worry if she had enough food to make it through the week. She was eating much smaller portions than she was used to, and felt hungry and sleepy all the time. She determined that she was consuming 1500 calories per day, compared to the average of 2300 she should have been eating. Additionally, she was becoming deficient in potassium, iron, vitamin D and vitamin E. At the end of the week, she had lost 5 pounds.
The Welfare Food Challenge is an excellent way to raise awareness about food insecurity. It would be great to see more registered dietitians taking part in these challenges to gain empathy and an understanding of what so many of their patients go through on a daily basis.
- AP
Registered Dietitian Erica Kang decided to take part in the challenge, and shared her thoughts in The Prince George Citizen. At the grocery store, Kang first noticed how much longer it was taking her to shop, despite leaving with much less food than she was used to. She noted that it took her 45 minutes because she was checking and double-checking the aisles, looking for the best deals.
Kang struggled in the produce section, unsure whether to spend more for fresh items or go with the much cheaper but less healthy canned goods. She tried her hardest to choose staples like rice, beans and milk over processed foods, but had to make some sacrifices, such as getting white bread instead of whole wheat.
Once she took her groceries home, she began to worry if she had enough food to make it through the week. She was eating much smaller portions than she was used to, and felt hungry and sleepy all the time. She determined that she was consuming 1500 calories per day, compared to the average of 2300 she should have been eating. Additionally, she was becoming deficient in potassium, iron, vitamin D and vitamin E. At the end of the week, she had lost 5 pounds.
The Welfare Food Challenge is an excellent way to raise awareness about food insecurity. It would be great to see more registered dietitians taking part in these challenges to gain empathy and an understanding of what so many of their patients go through on a daily basis.
- AP
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