Karen Hutchinson – Caledon Countryside Alliance and Eat Local Caledon

Sharing her experience from earlier in the week.

 Monday and Tuesday’s meals can be summarized as oatmeal, pita, vegetables, apples and eggs.  Both mornings I had oatmeal with cranberries/blueberries, maple syrup and milk for breakfast with a combination of vegetables, eggs, pita for lunch and dinner.    Monday I was hungry when we got home from the Week launch and then dropping off a rototiller at the community farm, so I just had oatmeal again for lunch.  Then  two eggs, pita and frozen vegetables for dinner and a couple of apples in between.  Tuesday I had half a can of beets, a bowl of the frozen mixed vegetables, which have both green and yellow beans as my pre-dinner and then plain pasta with some canola oil as my dinner.   Oh and by the way, I made regular dinner for my family both nights – with no tasting!

I also had coffee with lots of milk on both days – coffee is my specialty item and I do recognize it wouldn’t normally be in the budget.  I have also padded my diet with some of my favourite foods – apples (and by the way the discount apples have been perfect), cucumbers, eggs, pita, and oatmeal.

Then I was off with my son to a book launch downtown at the King Edward Hotel.  Normally, I would have enjoyed the wonderful food floating around the room.  As a foodie, it was hard, but I was okay with it.  It struck me that if I truly had limited food resources; I probably would have eaten about three days’ worth of food at the event.  I did make a mistake – I had sparkling water with lime – 2 glasses.  I should have had the still water and no lime to be true to the campaign.  Normally I would have had the wine!!

We really don’t know what a privileged society we live in with is so much abundance around us, but for some it really isn’t accessible and for the rest of us, we take it for granted.  Food is a right and we need to honour that more often than not.