The figures make for a pretty grim picture about the economic livelihood of St. Albert and its families.
Last year, the St. Albert Food Bank handed out almost 1,700 hampers, its highest level ever. Consider the inverse relationship that as need grows, donations dwindle. This results in the diminishing size of the hampers themselves. More people in the city are getting less. When the agency did its annual hunger count in March, it learned that it was serving 653 people, 363 of which were children. It's unsettling to think that your neighbours' kids are going without enough food and proper nutrition.
It's even more unsettling when you've got nowhere else to go to put a meal on the table for your family. The food bank's mission says no one goes hungry but says nothing about staying healthy. That's how the system works. It is a matter of survival; luxury and comfort don't matter.
It's even worse if you actually care about nutrition. The food bank always asks for non-perishable donations whenever it has its annual drive or wherever you see its donation bins. 'Non-perishable' makes a lot of sense when you think about it financially. The food has to stay stable on the shelf for an indefinite period of time.
It's an entirely different picture when it comes down to eating it. It means your can opener gets quite a workout.
A matter of survival
Suzan Krecsy, executive director at the St. Albert Food Bank and Community Village, admits the main objective is just to put food in a client's stomach. She knows that healthy eating is a struggle with a standard food hamper but insists there are ways to prepare some decent meals.
"Processed food is extremely challenging to work with but it is what we have. To be able to help the clients understand what best they can do with it is what we want to do."
To that end, the facility has recently renovated to feature a community kitchen. The concept is not necessarily new except that it is located in the one spot where it can help create the most benefit for the people who need it.
"I had dealings with community kitchens in Ottawa when I was running the food bank there. I thought it was just such a good idea and saw some really positive things coming out of it," she explained before talking about the genesis of its current location. "Here in Alberta, there aren't a lot of community kitchens that are actually attached to a food bank. The mandate of the [Alberta Food Bank Network Association] is to get them to blend more because it just makes sense. That's what we're trying to do here."
What she is trying to do is establish a solid centre of wellness and she's doing it with the help of a growing team of experienced professionals. Community liaison worker Fay Lucy has only been on the job in St. Albert since the beginning of the year but she has already seen many clients and made hundreds of referrals. She said the only way for real and lasting positive change to occur is for a group of committed individuals to act together.
"[I must emphasize] how important it is to work as a collective in the community, to stay on line with all other agencies and when we're working with individuals they keep a clear pathway and each agency knows what their [part] is and that we work together to create wholeness."
She mentioned that this city is already very good at having a collaborative nature between social service agencies.
"It's important because more and more people are coming."
As for helping people in the kitchen, community nutritionist Kelly Deis will conduct a series of six kitchen workshops starting in the fall. The plan is to show people how to get the most value from their grocery budget and the food hampers with the hope that one day they won't even be clients, that they will be buying all of their own food and that they will be planning their eating better and healthier.
A few weeks ago she ran through a test scenario by getting a small group of students to work on creating meals out of hamper items and then learning how to make just one from the ingredients: pasta fagioli, an Italian soup made with macaroni noodles and beans. The real trick to food economy, Deis stated, is planning and not just coming up with a grocery list. Of course that's a critical tool to help you avoid frivolous impulse buys but it's more important to put all of your groceries on the table and make a list of your meals before you even put your food away.
Can one man survive on food hamper alone?
To give fair insight into what it's like to have the assistance of the food bank, I have embarked on a dietary adventure. Using the items in one basic hamper weighing approximately 15 kilograms, I will spend the next few weeks trying to eat beans for supper, macaroni at lunch and occasionally prepare myself a substantial meal that will last for several sittings. The first of these meals was the pasta fagioli.
Pasta Fagioli
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 diced onion
2 or 3 sliced carrots
2 or 3 sliced celery stalks
1 can (540 ml) white kidney beans, not drained
1 can (540 ml) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
4 c. chicken broth
4 c. water
2 c. diced tomatoes
1 – 2 tsp. salt
tsp. pepper
1 c. pasta shells or macaroni elbows
tbsp. chopped fresh parsley or 1 tbsp. dried parsley
2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil or 1 – 2 tbsp. dried basil
In a large saucepan, heat oil. Add garlic, onion, carrots and celery. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 10 minutes or until onions are tender.
Dump entire contents of the can of white kidney beans into a bowl. Partially mash with a potato masher or fork, and then add to saucepan along with the drained red beans, broth, tomatoes, water, salt, spices and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer for almost 45 minutes. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until pasta is tender.
The results
I knew that I had to be creative so substitutions were necessary. Two cans of chicken noodle soup replaced the broth and pinto beans stood in place of the red kidney beans. I had to dice my own stewed tomatoes and spilled a whole bunch of pepper in the pot but otherwise everything went according to the recipe. I'm not a huge fan of beans but it's a decent meal that will likely last for four decent-sized sittings. That's lunch for a week right there and it sure beats the microwave macaroni and cheese package I received. I'm not the fussiest eater but I can already feel the effects of all of those prepared and processed foods on my body. It has already affected my mind. I see the contents of the hamper laid out on my table and all I see are chemicals and preservatives. This is mostly unhealthy food. I don't even want my kids to touch it.
It is a fact of life that beggars can't be choosers. This is the food I have to eat whether I want to or not, even though it's just for a few weeks. At the end of this period a wrap-up article will follow to describe in more detail what my experience was like but I can tell you that it has opened my eyes and churned my stomach already.
