Living on $3 a day

It was tough to live on a $21 food budget for one week, but we did it – four VCH Health Protection Environmental Health Officers participated in the Welfare Food Challenge.

Planning and frugal shopping were vital to this challenge. We were able to shop for the lowest prices. One person was able to team with her partner. $42 goes further when the food was shared between partners.

As we became fixated on food, some went through coffee withdrawal and one person ate mashed potatoes for the majority of his meals. Others craved meat and some variety.

In order to make a decent meal on a $3/day budget, we made our food from scratch. People on welfare don’t always have access to a kitchen, but we all do. Eating canned soup or instant noodles for every meal is not a viable option.

Meat, vegetables and fruits were not in our budget. We all ate large portions of carbs for most meals since that was the cheapest food group we could afford.

Social gatherings were a challenge. We did not want to go out for coffee or dinner with friends and family because we couldn’t eat or drink anything other than water. Everything costs money!

We know that this challenge was meant to bring awareness to the problems people face on welfare and it is sad that we barely lasted one week. We all finished the challenge but did not meet Canada’s Food Guide guidelines nor did we enjoy the challenge.

On a brighter note, we were able to raise more than $500 for the Vancouver Food Bank.