Right in the centre - Fixing the problem

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Published on Thursday, September 5, 2024

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

Twice a year, we can be assured that food and nutrition shortages are raising their ugly head in communities across Manitoba. Each Christmas season, we are reminded of an ever increasing need for food and money donations to the local food banks and hamper programs. Now that schools are back in session, we are reminded of an increasing number of students who go to school hungry. To both these situations, I say let’s wholeheartedly support them and make sure no one goes hungry. It’s just the right thing to do.

In a food exporting province, that scenario is a bit ironic. But it’s not the supply that is wanting, it’s the affordability that seems to be the problem. There is no doubt that food has become much more expensive.

However, while we are feeding the needy, it’s important that we look at the way family or individual budgets are not meeting the nutritional requirements.

Genuine shortages of money may be the problem but it’s not the whole answer. Let’s take a look at how these tough situations can be made better. Maybe “tough situation” is a wrong description, perhaps tough decisions might be a better response. Making financial decisions can be tough, but maybe not as tough as we think.

I believe there are a lot of kids’ situations that could be improved by families spending money a bit smarter. How many cups of take-out coffee are being bought, or take-out food for that matter? Is the grocery cart loaded with good food and ingredients to make good food? I truly hope that grocery carts for homes that need to have their kids fed by school programs and food banks, don’t have bags of dog and cat food in them. Hopefully, there aren’t cases of bottled water, pop, cigarettes and alcohol in the shopping cart either. In addition, take a walk up and down the store shelves and make a list of what we can really use and it will likely be a lot shorter list than what is available.

While sitting around the kitchen table and pondering how to afford more and better food, is there an expensive vacation bill among the various bills and payments due. Are there two car payments or one. Are the chosen vehicles fancier and decked out beyond family needs.

On a side note, one of my sons says that he won’t take climate change people seriously until there’s clothes line being used regularly in every backyard. Using a clothesline would save a significant amount of electricity.

But back to the food chain. As we read this column, there are literally tonnes of apples falling on the ground that are not being made into canned apples sauce, pie filling or juice. There are likely more vegetables being left to rot in the ground than what are being harvested. 

In towns and cities across Canada there are hundreds of thousands of 5-7 pound packages of meat strutting around our parks, lakes and fields. They are called Canada Geese and it certainly can’t be argued that we are short of Canada Geese.

The same could be said about white-tail deer. Autopac could save some collision money by putting a bounty on harvested deer if they are delivered to a food bank. 

Not everybody can or should raise chickens but it can be done and is being done by many families. Too bad small towns won’t let families have half a doxen laying hens. Oh, sorry, chickens smell bad.

If families could get rid of unproductive debt, there would be more money for food purchases, food preparation and even food production

How about farm yards, huge lawns and parks. Many of us older farm people can remember when front yards and gardens were small fenced areas and the horses, cows, sheep and pigs grazed the areas around a farm yard where we now grow and mow acres of grass. Those wide expanses of grassy areas are pretty but totally unproductive.

So what’s the point of all this? First, feed the kids, feed the poor, but for the sake of all of us in our communities let’s look at more economical, practical and productive ways of saving money, producing food and increasing economic and food security in all our homes.