either an ‘unhealthy diet or going _ hungry, $498 Flo Shéppard of the Northern Health Authority.” tions indicating it costs $643.22 a + GOOD FOOD and a proper diet doesn’t come cheap, according to a group of nutritionists. They say a family of four here needs to spend $623 a month to eat right. But income supplements no langer come anywhere near that amount. Meal - Welfare families are undernourished because the government simply EOPLE ON limited in- come don’t have enough’ money to eat properly, says a local nutritionist. And that leaves them with She was commenting on a re- port released this month by two dietitian and nutritionist organiza- month to properly feed a north- western family of four consisting of a husband and wife who are both 35, a 13-year-old boy and a seven-year-old daughter. But. that $643.22 is unattain- able for a family of four on wel- fare. They would have to use use their entire maximum income as- OO A special report by Rod Link FOOD BANK workers have been stockpiling food in recent months in anticipation of greater demand this winter. does not give them enough to eat properly, a local nutritionist says limited or fixed income, it is just as difficult to find money for rent and for other items, the nutrition- ist said, “If you think about having to pay $30 for activities at school, it said Sheppard of choices’ limited income people face.’ The report by the B.C, region of Dietitians of Canada and Com- B.C, noted that while the cost of food this year is about the same as it was in 2001, culs to income assistance make it more difficult than ever for families to cope. The report worries that people are forced to take money for food and pay the rent instead. “Recent culs to income assis- sistance of $401 — which Victoria lance rates target one-parent fa- comes down to going hungry,”, munity Nutritionists Council of . says is to cover food and other living costs ~ plus the B.C, Fami- ly Bonus of $115 per child, and still not spend enough. And the $643.22 nutritionists say is needed doesn't include food stuffs such as ketchup, coffee and canned soup. “ They're classified as conve- “‘nience foods and don’t carry a hearty. nutritional value, said Sheppard. - ~ Spices are missing from the 66- food basket as well, she said. "You'll find that the basket does include strawberry jam and . bagged, frozen french fries. It was ‘also. based on consumption data,” Sheppard continued, ~~ Also missing from the list are household. cleaning supplies and --personal or family care items such as toothpaste. Personal care costs could add upward of $100 to a four-member “This report shows that the in- ability to buy adequate food is a result of not enough money,” Sheppard said. “The argument that hunger is _ because individuals and families on fixed and limited incomes lack budget budgeting and food pre- paration skills is not valid.” may not have enough money to buy the small plastic containers so they could take it there,” said Sheppard. “When you look at food and income, you have to understand people may only have one pot. They may not have a blender or a microwave or a place to store “The argument that hunger is because individ- uals and families on fixed and limited incomes lack budgeting and food preparation skills is not valid. Hunger is the result of too few resources.” “Hunger is the result of too few resources,” she said. Even if people had money to buy enough food, they may not have the facilities or implements to use it. “Let's say you could buy a large size yogurt and you wanted it for your kids for school. But you food.” Sheppard said a person’s or fa- mily’s abilily to provide food may often lead them to a food bank. “More and more the week be- fore the food bank, that- family could be eating noodles and to- mata soup,” she said. As difficult as it is to eat on a milies. What this family receives for housing and all other non- housing costs was cut by over $100 a month,” it said. ; “No consideration is given to age or number of children in the family when it comes to the assis- tance provided to cover food, clothing transportation and medi- cal expenses.” The report also focuses on the effects of hunger on children. “Poorly nourished children ex- hibit poorer growth and develop- ment, poorer academic achieve- ment and more health and beha- vioural problems,” says Jeri Man- ley, the chair of the committee which produced the report. The monthly northwestern food cost of $643.22 a month is an average based on buying the same items in Masset, Queen Charlotte City, Prince Rupert, Terrace, Ki- timat, Hazelton, Smithers and Houston. family’s monthly expenses. HOW MUCH money does a family of four need to buy an adequate and proper amount of food each month? Dietitians and nutritionists who assembled ‘the information first looked at nutritional needs using a 1998 federal list called the National Nutritious Food Basket, according to a study on food casts released last month. ‘They then assembled a food basket of 66 items which may nol exactly fit a complete profile of healthy eating as it also reflects common consumer choices. “Convenience foods such as canned soup and ketchup were excluded as was coffee, lea - and spices. More expensive foods were also eliminated as was the cost of eating out and “foods that contain little or no nutritional value. "The $643.22 cost for the northwest is an average laken from visits to food stores across ‘the region. For sake of comparison, the figure jg just $14.42 higher than was the average pro- . vince-wide cost of the same food basket. Costs -were kept low by including sale-priced items. Northwest nutritionist Flo Sheppard said nu-, tritionists are reluctant to release exactly what was bought because not all of the items are what they consider healthy choices. “We had to be somewhat realistic,” she said. “We don’t want this to become a list telling people this is what you should buy.” At the same time, nutritionists and dieti- tians don’t want the list taken as gospel by so- cial service agencies providing income assis- tance. “We didn’t want it to become a matter of ‘here's your money and here’s your list,’” said Sheppard. But an appendix to the study does list the kind of food, if not the quantity. Here is the breakdown: Wi 2% mitk, fruit-flavoured yogurt, medium cheddar cheese, processed cheddar cheese slices, partly skim mozzareila cheese, vanilla. ice cream. W round steak, stewing beef, regular ground beef, pork loin chops, chicken legs (no back), sliced cooked ham, frozen fish fillets (cod, ‘haddock, sole, Boston blue fish or Alaskan — pollock depending on availability), canned pink salmon, canned flaked light water packed iuna, large eggs - one dozen, canned baked Food basket cost based on federal list beans in tomato sauce, dried navy beans, white pea beans, peanut butter. @ white bread, whole wheat bread, hot dog/hamburger buns, all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, dry macaroni or spaghetti, long grain white rice, macaroni and cheese dinner, regular cooking oatmeal, salted soda crackers, social tea cookies and two popular cereals. @ oranges, canned unsweetened apple juice, frozen orange juice concentrate, toma- toes, canned whole tomatoes, tomato juice, potatoes, frozen French fried potatoes, pears, green grapes, canned fruit cocktail, bananas, Macintosh apples, Sultana raisins, iceberg (head) lettuce, romaine lettuce, frozen mixed vegetables, canned corn, canned peas, brocco- li, cabbage, carrots, celery, field cucumber, . onions, green pepper, rutabagas. Wi a margarine with at least 60 per cent mono and polyunsaturated fats, butter, canola oil, mayonnaise-type salad dressing, white sugar, strawberry jam.. - : "The entire study called the Cost of Eating in B.C. is on-line at www.dietitlans.ca. Follow the links beginning at ‘newsroom’. ~ ~ The Terrace Slandard, Wednesday, November 20, 200 -AS CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag They missed this one Dear Sir: Next to the forest industry the largest contributor lo ° the Terrace economy has always been government - services. For decades Terrace was promoted as the distribution center for the northwest and every local council for the past three decades has promoted the city as the location for government offices. Government services are not cyctical as is foresiry so it was a good buffer to the fluctuations in resource industry activity. : : | have found it surprising that in an election year council has not seen fit to express any concern about what is being done lo government services. Incumbent candidates at the all candidates meeting admit that our health care and educational services are worse now than they have ever been. Yet that is all you hear. Do we no longer value having government services in Terrace? Do the salaries of government workers and ail those office rents being paid by government not mean anything? Is Terrace now only going to be a private sector distribution center that follows the rise and fall of forestry and the rest of the market place? We may not be able to rely on Kitimat as things took. Surely our community officials could set party politics aside in the interests of Terrace and work to protect our access to povernment services. Helmut Giesbrecht, Terrace, B.C. It’s all about words Dear Sir: Claudette Sandecki's trauble with fancy-ward novels (column, Nov. 6, 2002) is not so much comic as potentially tragic. Her denigration of novels over language, let alone other matters, shows the stifled discontent of wannabe censors splenetic over what they can’t understand. Such censors have a long history, of course. Jesus’s poetry confused everybody, and still does many; the Catholic church has its Jrdex; and Salman Rushdie still has to watch out for the more fanatical among his coreligionists. America banned the greatest novel of all time, James Joyce’s Ulysses, for its merry absurdity and Molly Bloom’s soliloquy, which should be required reading for any married woman. And would any of them understand how the crazy film Pulp Fiction is actually one of the strongest statements on family values we have seen recently? To recognize that requires irony, of course, a capacity beyond most censors and fundamentalists. Sandecki is no censor, but her objection to language begins the argument for it: after demonizing the text critically, she can then claim it valueless, then dangerous. But before proceeding too far, she should consider her own capacity to judge, which is compromised even in her own writing when she uses the mixed metaphor of “unearthing” her “dog's orange hockey. ball after a snowstorm.” If she’s digging through brown snow, she better ‘pay ‘atlention ‘to’ something other than her dog’s ball. se And if Annie Proulx's presentation of the _ upholsterer offends het, she should consider that - Proulx was writing an example of a flighty -upholsterer, which, of course, we ail know Sandecki is not. As to the rest of it, Sandecki treats literature like journalism or. even the “how-to” manuals that self- help types crave in all their neurotic justs. This is like putting Picasso or Pollock beside Norman Rockwell or Elvis in velvet. If Sandecki would like to know the difference, maybe even come to value it, there are courses at the college that will help. At the feast, she would leam that fancy words can do more than irritate her. David Heinlmann, Terrace, B.C. Too much German guilt Dear Sir: E must protest your paper’s inclusion of Hubert Beyer’s column, It’s like the Nazis all over again, (Nov. 13, 2002) in our local newspaper. Beyer’s German guilt for the holocaust has completed clouded his brain to the reality of the Israeli-Palestinian situation. Editorial columns must be truthful, objective and balanced. Beyer has demonstrated that he has none of these qualities. His columa is a waste of time to read and therefore a waste of space in our newspaper. Surely you could find a more intelligent editorial column to include in its place. Your paper would be doing your readers a service by replacing this column. Gary Mills, Terrace, B.C. Free trade doesn’t work Dear Sir: It would be nice if some of our bureaucrats could explain why free trade is so good for us people who are unemployed. Unless you are fortunate to have a steady government job, it doesn’t make much difference if something you want or need to buy goes from $200 to $50. ; Most of the products that are much cheaper now come from Mexico or some Pacific Rim country where the working people are being exploited into living In next to slave wages. Canadians should not be expected to do the same. Henry Ford years ago had the right idea. He raised his employees wages by double which allowed them to buy a car, a Ford of course. If the problem was put up to any union it would be . simply called scabbing and their products would be boycotted. Anyway it’s nice to know our government thinks free trade is working. We are surely not, Allan Kennedy, Terrace, B.C. About the Mail Bag : The Terrace Standard welcomes letters. Our address Is 3210 Clinton St., Terrace, B.C. V8G 5R2. You can fax us at 250-638-8432 or e-mail us at standard@kermode.net. No attachments, please, We need your name, address and phone: number for verification. Our deadline is noon Friday ornoon’ Thuraday If It's a long ‘weekend.