A single adult on social assistance in Ontario receives a total of $590 each month, a far cry from the estimated $1,400 required - as tallied by those who weighed in at The Stop Community Food Centre's interactive website.
The budgetary exercise, which asks visitors to the website to add up the monthly expenses they think are necessary for a single person on social assistance, illustrates that after paying for housing, clothing and transportation, most people have nothing left for food. Instead, they are forced to rely on food banks and drop-in meals to survive. Valued at approximately $25, a typical food hamper, handed out by The Stop monthly contains enough food to last just three days. Yet, it is not uncommon for recipients to stretch those three days to five, which means they are only eating one meal a day. Nonetheless, 10 prominent Torontonians have agreed to live exclusively off the contents of a food hamper for one week as part of the anti-poverty organization's 'Do the Math' campaign.The second phase of the campaign, launched Tuesday morning at The Stop, aims to highlight the failure of the province's current social assistance rates to support healthy, dignified lives. "Social assistance rates are at an all-time low," said Nick Saul, executive of The Stop, which has been on the front lines of hunger for the last 30 years. An advocate for healthy eating for all, The Stop serves 16,000 people a year at its two community sites. "The Liberal government says it wants to do something, but has been stubbornly neglectful," said Saul. "Inflation has increased by 30 per cent - the government has done nothing to support the most vulnerable."Breakfast and lunch programs are a lifeline for thousands and thousands of people across the province, said Saul. "Food charity is not the answer to the crisis of hunger and stress that Ontarians face," he said. "We see it play out every single day, the kind of stress that exists is intense. It's absolutely ridiculous the choices people on low incomes have to make."The campaign does not strive criticize food banks, rather it aims to point out that they cannot be a substitute for decent income support programs. Participants of the campaign, who include author Naomi Klein, media executive and public policy advocate Michael McMillan, Councillor Joe Mihevc, musician Damian Abraham and Toronto Medical Officer of Health Dr. David McKeown, want to draw attention to the impossible choices hundreds of thousands of Ontarians on social assistance face.Councillor for St. Paul's, Mihevc, who is participating with his family, said he believes Toronto needs a city-wide conversation about poverty and hunger. Toronto is a tale of two cities, he said. â?¨"One is well fed, the other piece is hardly getting enough to sustain themselves," said Mihevc.His daughter Catherine, a Grade 6 student at Humewood Community School, said she is looking forward to taking part in the campaign, but has reservations as she picked up her family's hamper. "It'll be fun, but I think it'll be kind of scary," said the 11-year old. "I really feel this is just one thing I can do to help people who are really in need. I'm excited, but kind of nervous."A town hall meeting will be held April 13 at Wychwood Barns at 7 p.m. where participants will share their experience. Visit www.dothemath.thestop.org for details.