Article about needlework etc - Page 10

>>>>When we see young (and not-so-young) mothers with a couple of children
>>>>in tow who fill their supermarket trolley with ready-prepared food
>>>>(burgers etc) and tinned produce Maureen often comments that with what
>>>>they spent they could buy a couple of joints of meat and some fresh
>>>>vegetables and, for the cost of an hour or two in preparation, give
>>>>their family several decent, much healthier and tastier meals.
>>> The one that bugs me is to see that mother/father with a carton of
>>> potato salad, the price of ready-made salad is about 10lbs of spuds
>>> and a jar of mayo and whatever else one likes to add to it.
>>I wonder??? 10 lbs. of potatoes is probably about $4 to $5. I buy one
>>at a time for baking so I'm not sure! A jar of mayonnaise here is
>>around
>>$3. Now how does one figure in the time it takes to peel all those
>>potatoes, cook them, dry them and add all the ingredients necessary to
>>give
>>it a really good taste?
>>Given the fact that so many families are made up of people who work full
>>time and don't get home until 6 or 7 p.m., how can you figure the real
>>cost
>>of 10 lbs. of potato salad?
>>I'm not advocating using prepared or fast food or saying that mothers must
>>stay home and take care of home and hearth. That's a whole other
>>discussion.
>>Just thinking about it.
> I don't like myself much for noticing it but it is clear that most of
> these carts are pushed by people on welfare! They aren't working and
> could take all day, every day, to make potato salad non-stop.

>Some people on welfare live in circumstances that make cooking really
>difficult. They might not have a working oven; sometimes they are cooking
>on hotplates. Microwaves are pretty cheap compared to electric ranges. One
>of the great things our foodbank does is offer kitchen facilities, so people
>can actually cook with proper working stoves and good pots and utensils.
>They also have the help of the local Home Economists organization, as some
>people, especially if they are from several generations of welfare, had no
>one who had skills to pass to them. Many are glad to learn how to take the
>assortment of vegetables they might get and turn it into a good soup that
>will last several days.
>Dawne

> On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:26:48 -0600, "Dawne Peterson"

>>Some people on welfare live in circumstances that make cooking really
>>difficult. They might not have a working oven; sometimes they are cooking
>>on hotplates. Microwaves are pretty cheap compared to electric ranges. One
>>of the great things our foodbank does is offer kitchen facilities, so people
>>can actually cook with proper working stoves and good pots and utensils.
>>They also have the help of the local Home Economists organization, as some
>>people, especially if they are from several generations of welfare, had no
>>one who had skills to pass to them. Many are glad to learn how to take the
>>assortment of vegetables they might get and turn it into a good soup that
>>will last several days.
>>Dawne
>
> We have a programme too (for those who will take it) to basically
> teach them how to cook good, nutritious meals made much more cheaply.
> They are not exactly lining up to take the course though, it's
> depressing.
>
> I know it is not pc but some of these are second and third generation
> welfare cases; they have grown up with role models who displayed no
> work ethics and no basic housekeeping skills. It's not realistic to
> think they will develop those skills from thin air.
>
> I am not condemning, just stating and totally at a loss to know how to
> remedy it.

>>>Some people on welfare live in circumstances that make cooking really
>>>difficult. They might not have a working oven; sometimes they are
>>>cooking on hotplates. Microwaves are pretty cheap compared to electric
>>>ranges. One of the great things our foodbank does is offer kitchen
>>>facilities, so people can actually cook with proper working stoves and
>>>good pots and utensils. They also have the help of the local Home
>>>Economists organization, as some people, especially if they are from
>>>several generations of welfare, had no one who had skills to pass to
>>>them. Many are glad to learn how to take the assortment of vegetables
>>>they might get and turn it into a good soup that will last several days.
>>>Dawne
>> We have a programme too (for those who will take it) to basically
>> teach them how to cook good, nutritious meals made much more cheaply.
>> They are not exactly lining up to take the course though, it's
>> depressing.
>> I know it is not pc but some of these are second and third generation
>> welfare cases; they have grown up with role models who displayed no
>> work ethics and no basic housekeeping skills. It's not realistic to
>> think they will develop those skills from thin air. I am not condemning,
>> just stating and totally at a loss to know how to
>> remedy it.
> In one of the small towns in which I lived for a few years, they had a
> very interesting way of dealing with it. Being a small town, there was
> only one community food bank. If a person with a full food stamp
> allotment came in for a third month in a row, she (it was usually a she)
> was referred to free local nutrition classes, and was not permitted to
> have subsequent distribution from the food bank unless she had proof she
> had been to the class. They had to at least learn *something* at those
> classes!

> "Olwyn Mary" wrote
>>>> Some people on welfare live in circumstances that make cooking really
>>>> difficult. They might not have a working oven; sometimes they are
>>>> cooking on hotplates. Microwaves are pretty cheap compared to electric
>>>> ranges. One of the great things our foodbank does is offer kitchen
>>>> facilities, so people can actually cook with proper working stoves and
>>>> good pots and utensils. They also have the help of the local Home
>>>> Economists organization, as some people, especially if they are from
>>>> several generations of welfare, had no one who had skills to pass to
>>>> them. Many are glad to learn how to take the assortment of vegetables
>>>> they might get and turn it into a good soup that will last several days.
>>>> Dawne
>>> We have a programme too (for those who will take it) to basically
>>> teach them how to cook good, nutritious meals made much more cheaply.
>>> They are not exactly lining up to take the course though, it's
>>> depressing.
>>> I know it is not pc but some of these are second and third generation
>>> welfare cases; they have grown up with role models who displayed no
>>> work ethics and no basic housekeeping skills. It's not realistic to
>>> think they will develop those skills from thin air. I am not condemning,
>>> just stating and totally at a loss to know how to
>>> remedy it.
>> In one of the small towns in which I lived for a few years, they had a
>> very interesting way of dealing with it. Being a small town, there was
>> only one community food bank. If a person with a full food stamp
>> allotment came in for a third month in a row, she (it was usually a she)
>> was referred to free local nutrition classes, and was not permitted to
>> have subsequent distribution from the food bank unless she had proof she
>> had been to the class. They had to at least learn *something* at those
>> classes!
> It works a bit differently up here--there are no food stamps. A person on
> welfare gets a basic monthly cheque, and works out their own costs from
> there. So there is no controlling how they spend it, unless they are
> totally off the rails. The Food Bank here takes people on referral, which
> might be through Social Services, but might also be through a church or
> other community organization, so it doesn't only serve welfare people.
>
> Some of the takeup on its cooking and shopping programs are from people who
> are not welfare recipients, but are making a transition from a time when
> they never had to think about what they bought or spent (so, run into the
> grocery store and pick up the precooked meals, stop for takeout etc) and now
> have to learn how to stretch a much smaller income (job loss, family breakup
> etc).
>
> The Food Bank itself provides a lot of canned goods, because for safety
> reasons it solicits non-perishable donations from the public. So sometimes
> the basic food basket in a way encourages the non-cooking that people are
> used to.
>
> It is a hard thing to be hungry, and sad that for many people, the solution
> is still to eat a lot of "fill up" stuff with limited nutritional value.
>
> Dawne
>
>
>