Colin Johnson, Archbishop of the Diocese of Toronto decided to try living on the sorts of food found in the typical Toronto food bank both as a spiritual exercise and as a way of understanding better what it was like to live off the sorts of resources available to a family who have no where else to turn.
He wrote up reflections for each of the three days he kept the diet; starting with one the night before when he puts this act into his personal context as a a “foodie” and one who carefully watches his diet.
This is the entry from his last day on the diet:
“Today, I hit a wall. I flew to attend meetings in New York this morning. (I avoided the snacks and stuck with the water.) By late afternoon I felt exhausted, my head ached, I had difficulty paying attention. It was not because of lack of sleep or even the travel. The trip was short and I regularly travel much more extensively without this impact. I finally had to break the diet and eat something that was more than carbohydrate, salt and fat. And within a short space, I felt better again.
The point of going on the diet was not to see if I could survive. I have fasted with less food. It was to make me think about, and pray about, what being in such a situation might mean for a person — and for the society that allows this to happen.
What have I learned? Poverty reduces healthy choices. Your diet is limited, essential nutrients are absent, sodium and fat intakes are high, protein is low …
The social assistance payment to a single person in Toronto is now $585 per month. Rent, food, transportation alone cannot be covered. And that is before any other basic necessities like laundry soap or adequate clothing.”
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