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Times Advocate, 1995-11-22, Page 6Page 6 Times -Advocate, November 22, 1995 Feature Exeter residents survive social assistance diet 1 AN ing nn Less: .\ series by Brenda Burke It can be done. Ac- cording to Bruce Shaw, Bob Bart and Donna Pridham, living on a $23.25 diet week, which works out to $3.32 per day, is possible. These figures are based on a recent Toronto Star article describing how the Food Bank convinced II single Metro residents to live on a' welfare gro- cery budget for one week. After deducting $325 for shelter allowance, the average single per- son living on social assistance is left with a living allowance of $195 a month to cover food, clothing, tel- ephone, cable TV, transportation and personal care. After deducting $4.75 for basic telephone service. S3.50 for basic cable service, $ 1.75 per laundry load, $5 for personal hygiene items, $3 for clothing and $2.50 for household items, that leaves exactly $23.25 a week for food. And that's very close to what Bart, Shaw and Pridham spent on ;roceries for a week in November while on the experimental diet. Bart spent $23.76, Shaw's grocery bill came to $24.55 between two separ- ate trips to the grocery store and Pridham forked over a total of $22.76. But living within Social Services Min- ister David Tsu- houchi's new welfare re- quircments was accomplished without crisis by the three Exeter participants who admitted they had their doubts when first asked to take part in the test. By their diet's end, how- ever, all seemed content and a little surprised at their success. And. everyone had lost a pound or two. Shaw, ad- mitting he'd of- ten spend more than $23 on one meal, said the diet altered his lifestyle for the week. "Probably for the first time in my working life," he said, "I'm eating three meals a day." Normally he would skip breakfast and lunch and compensate with a hefty supper at night. "I've had to cook meals for my- self and I like it," said the 53 -year- old high school principal who ad- mits instead of cooking meals for himself, he usually eats in res- taurants or at friends' homes. Now that the diet is over and he's lost four pounds, Shaw.may try having breakfast and lunch on a regular basis. Although he admitted he was more concerned about surviving than nutrition while on the diet, if he had to do it all again, he'd make some chang- es. "One thing I'm learning about is fat," he said. You can flavor food without fat...If 1 were doing this again I would put emphasis on salads." "If 1 were on this long term," he added, "I'd be buying lots of poul- try." Despite the fact Shaw fa- vors snacks and desserts, he said he didn't have cravings throughout the week. Although the diet taught h:nt about nutrition, price -comparing, creative cooking and self-discipline, he attributed some of his success to the far', he is " a sensible shopper," who's "ca- pable of cooking." Also, he's had a few years of experience working in a grocery store. Shaw made large amounts of meals .he loved such as spaghetti, chili and wieners and beans. "I haven't had (weiners and beans) since I was a kid," he said. Living on Less is a special pro- file series featuring people af- fected by government cutbacks. If you have been affected by any type of government cuts and would like to be interviewed, contact the Times Advocate. If requested, anonymity will be provided. ..... ,. a MM. rw=. Bob Bart displays his grocery choices for the $23.25 -a -week social assistance diet. which is normally a time for him to enjoy snack foods, was postponed during the week of the diet. Shaw engaged in a one -day eat- ing hinge when his diet was over and was disappointed with the re- sulting uncomfortable feeling com- pared with feeling "better than nor- mal" while on the diet. L"I hope there's some long-term changes to make to my eating hab- its," he said. In contrast to the Toronto diet participants, who felt de- pressed and le- thargic while on the diet, Shaw felt great. "I've proven it to myself," he said, adding the Toronto people were either "predisposed to this being a neg- ative experience or else they made some had food choices." As a related experiment of his own just be- fore trying the experiment, Shaw made three calls to people he knew and pretended to ask for odd jobs. When 15 min- utes had passed, in theory he'd come up with an extra $60 he could have add- ed to his grocery budget. As with Shaw, the strict food budget also brought Bart to eating regular meals. He al- ternated be- tween eggs, oranges and french toast for break- fasts and included one morning sta- ple that wasn't part of his grocery budget - coffee. He wanted to buy coffee at the beginning of the week but after 45 minutes of planning out his week's menu and shopping for his choices, Bart found he had no money left. "If I had to buy coffee," he said, "I don't think I could've done (the diet.)" Instead he bought a variety of foods to last him through lunches and suppers including • favorite Bruce Shaw stirs his homemade chill. "1 love it." Breakfasts consisted of orange juice and Shreddies withapananas and for lunch he had apples with carrot sticks nearly every day. Snacks and alcohol were virtually eliminated from his diet. He later admitted buying 99 cent weiners was "an impulse thing." He only felt hungry on the first day of the diet. And when people offered him food, such as hot choc- olate, donuts and entire meals, he had to turn them down. Luckily, his regular poker night, items such as french fries and mac- aroni and cheese. He also pur- chased a whole chicken, which pro- vided him with five meals including homemade soup. "I just bought stuff I knew I need- ed for the week," he said. Some of his food choices were based strictly on price. For ex- ample, he purchased french fries at - 79 cents a bag instead of a bag of potatoes at $1.29. Not only did he save money for other items, he didn't end up buy- ing something he would not use and later throw out. And, like with many of his food choices, Bart opted for the cheaper version of wieners instead of the more ex- pensive brand he normally buys. "If I was on welfare, I could do this," he said the day he pur- chased his grocer- ies. "Whether I can do it or not personally, I don't know." The 44 -year-old meat manager at- tributes much of his diet success to the fact he's had 25 years of gro- cery store ex- perience. Not everyone thinks of going to the butcher, he said, to get meat cut up in cost-saving ways. Shedding about three pounds and having only five oranges left by his diet's end, Bart felt he did well with the four bags of groceries he started out with. Physically he felt the same as he did before going on the diet and admitted, although he wasn't hun- gry all week long, he did miss his nighttime snacks of chips or "a couple of chocolate bars." Instead, he chose to eat oranges and wait it through. Although he made it through the diet, Bart admitted he wouldn't want to carry on the practice for more than a week. I wouldn't want to be on welfare," he said. "1 wouldn't want to do it every week. I don't think 1 could because I'm used to having better quality food." At the diet's be- ginning, he said, "I had that negative attitude," but tried it "to see if it could be done." Before he pur- chased the grocer- ies, friends and co- workers - also thought the diet wasn't possible but once they saw the articles he bought after careful plan- ning, many, as well as Bart himself, changed their minds. Reflecting on the diet later, Bart said he felt there are lots of simple ways for welfare recipients to cut back ,xpenses and added learning how to plan meals helps. He did mention, however, that even if he hadn't planned out his meals, he would have been success- ful with the diet. He also feels a general change in attitudes towards social assistance will help; he gets frustrated when people say they can't afford cable, yet they buy cof- fee. at 61, attributes her diet success to the fact she makes a habit of plan- ning and preparing meals, shopping economically, freezing food, mak- ing homemade soup and pre- servatives and saving bean juice for stew to make it last for days. "What's the point of buying a can of beef soup. You're paying more," she said. "I think the secret is to sit down and plan your meals...Smart shopping and coupons is the right answer," she said, adding it was challenging to make meals near the end of the week when she was run- ning out of items. With bologna, apples, crackers, eggs and a few vegetables left, Pridham said she purchased a few things she had no use for. "Why did I buy milk when I don't like milk? Why did I buy soda biscuits when I didn't make soup,?" she said, adding, "I still pretty well bought the stuff liked." Without planning, she admitted, she never would've been able to succeed with the diet. When asked if the experience had taught her anything. Pridham said shook her head. "I'd been down that road when I was a kid," she said. 'Although she said she "felt al- right" while on the diet, she lost about two pounds and complained of headaches, yet wasn't sure whether or not a cold was causing them. As with Bart, she too received negative reactions from people at the .beginning of her week's diet. "I didn't think I could do it," she said, recalling paying $35 a week on groceries for herself and her husband 40 years ago. "If you don't have it, you don't spend it," she said, add- ing, "I figure if people want those luxuries they're not go- ing to sit on welfare." "I'm not say- ing you should cut out every- thing," she con- tinued. "We're all human be- ings and I think we all want to do little things...lf it can be worked out in your budget, then go for it." Donna Prldh am sits down to one of her last diet meals. Coffee is one of the things Don- na Pridham did without when she agreed to go on the social as- sistance budget diet. She also avoided using extra spices to flavor her food. "The only thing I wanted to do was go down to the (restaurant) and have coffee but I didn't," she said, admitting she turned down a few other offers to go out for supper. Remembering hard times during the post Depression Days, Pridham, Did the diet participants eat nutritious meals? Check page 7 to find out. Next week, Living on Less will fo- cus on stu- dents of the Huron County C.O.P.E. (Cooperativ e Op- portunities Providing Education) program, many of whom are rely on social assistance while they complete their educa- tion and receive job train- ing. A look will also be taken at how the Huron County Christmas Bureau can help the children of such students.