Ontario government hands out food cards to ice storm victims who lost food

ok, there are two sides of the fence here...
www.citynews.ca...

It could have been a lot worse (considering yet another storm is headed this way AGAIN). Will people be prepared this time??


1. people lost food due to spoilage during the hydro outage pre-Christmas til now. ok, gottcha.

2. I understand (kinda) how because even eggs/milk can freeze in below 0 temps (if you put it outside), but $100.00 loss?

So some people are p'd off that welfare people are getting an extra $100 bucks in gift-cards to make up for this loss.

I am on the fence, I guess. I (personally) wouldn't have 'lost' any food, I would know how to store it (even if it were such delicate food) outside safely. We are talking here about the City of Toronto and area and there are no bears (even racoons and skunks are currently hibernating) Perhaps others didn't know how to store it? Some tend to think these people are 'jackin' the system for extra funds. Although there is the argument that some/many lived in apartments without balconies.

So. How do you properly store food (in the city) in such circumstances?

This is an important question for those of us denying the Global Warming cues and prefer to think just the opposite is occuring (especially when you live in this climate 6 months of the year).

Survivalists out there have opinions?

my suggestions:

1.meat/frozen leftovers: hang in tree (how to avoid squirrels and birds (IF you have the property to do so), if not, well....???
2. milk/eggs: suggest mixing (lightly to avoid air) and freeze in small batches (lasts a year)
3. Bread: dog/cat crate hung up, locked tight from critters and it should be ok outside, frozen.

any other suggestions?? Survivalists out there have opinions? or good websites?

Are people really upset that poor people are being helped in a time of need such as this?

REALLY?

reply to post by captaintyinknots


yes, actually many are writing into the comment sections of news to moan and complain.

Canadians love to do that, lol.

dianashay
reply to post by captaintyinknots

 

yes, actually many are writing into the comment sections of news to moan and complain.

Canadians love to do that, lol.

Wow, I thought canadians were supposed to care more about their brethren than americans....

Its never a bad thing to help someone in a time of need.

reply to post by captaintyinknots


ok, perhaps what you don't understand is that 'here' the welfare peeps have it pretty good, compared to the US.

the payments for a family are poverty level but still 'not bad',

the community outlets are still available (warming shelters, with food, were available during this outage)

families (and others) receive GST, HST (every 3 months) and child tax benefit payments alone (ranging from $60 to $400/month, depending on how many children).

I am not advocating either side, since I don't have a horse in the race but I do know some on the system who live better than I do. I don't have a flat nor a bigscreen tv, I don't have a cellphone, nor do I drive. I know some on the system who have all of the above and still go to churches and to local 'other(s)' charities for free xmas turkeys and food banks all year long.

sorry, but my pity purse is empty but aside from all that, the question is how to avoid losing food during a crisis.

captaintyinknots
Are people really upset that poor people are being helped in a time of need such as this?

REALLY?

No.
But it made no sense to me either that people would put their food in the garbage due to spoilage, rather than just put it outside in the snow when the power went out, to keep it good.

We're supposed to be smart.
Unless they're in an apartment, without a balcony, the food should not have gone bad.
Even milk and eggs, put in a cooler first to keep it from freezing then put cooler in the snow.

I survived an entire winter without a fridge before, just a cooler in the snow.

reply to post by snowspirit


I think this proves the point that people did not expect the hydro to be off for so long (the final 100 out of thousands of homes just got power today).

I do do have a deep freezer and would have eventually taken things down there (quick-like) or hung stuff from a tree (lot of strays around here) but I am CHEAP lol. I think others would have sat it out and let it rot knowing that someone would come to their rescue somehow, someway. We are spoiled like that.

THAT has to stop. This is Canada afterall, the outside world is a FREE FRIDGE--USE IT!

*edit: although I have to add that snow is not a good refrigerator, it is actually too warm and acts like an insulator. You have to dig deep to get to an icy layer or close enough to (or deeper) than the ground, while avoiding rodents like field mice etc from getting into it.

captaintyinknots
Are people really upset that poor people are being helped in a time of need such as this?

REALLY?

Welcome to earth. *eye roll*

My first thought was exactly the same as you posted, so S for you.

People lose their food, regardless if they could have put some of it outside, and because they are helped out people get their undies in a wad?

As another has stated, they get good enough help as it is. While that might be true, needing food is kinda of IMMEDIATE thing. "You get enough help as it, you don't need food." Goodness the logic and inhumanity of some people.

reply to post by Liquesence


well, just look at the comments on the page.

most likely they are Toronto residents paying taxes for those very people. Perhaps they lost food too and have no outlet to get their money back.

So I remind people to keep in mind the actual premise of this thread,

food storage for extreme cold weather (in the city).

Keeping in mind that most are unprepared, have the 'normal grocery material' and did not already prepare by dehydrating their food by natural or electric (artificial) means beforehand.

reply to post by dianashay


Reading your posts I'm going to call B.S. and say you do have, if not a horse in this race, than definitely an agenda that doesn't have so much to do with cold weather "survival tactics", as it does with whining and boobing about that hundred bucks, while trying to look like you aren't whining and boobing.

reply to post by redhorse


I don't live in Toronto but I do know many who access the freebees (as I have said) yet live it up.
that is as close to not having a horse in that race as I can get.

I can say though that after a day and some I would have for sure put my food outside, especially since Rob Ford did not call for a State of Emergency (and we all know how efficient he is lol) and did not call in emergency personnel (aside from the poor Hydro linesmen who had to work night and day through Christmas).

That is just common sense, no? Take care of your own, so darn simple.

I'm actually kind of surprised the people are getting help. Our system doesn't always allow for welfare, even if/when needed. Often people have to rely on insurance to pay out, and deductibles would cost more than that.

Also, $100 worth of food isn't very much. That's only about a bag full.

It's a good thing for those that really needed the help


I do hope for the next storm, that someone tells people to put their food outside, and how to store it properly out there.

reply to post by snowspirit

I do hope for the next storm, that someone tells people to put their food outside, and how to store it properly out there.

is what I hoped to accomplish here,

a safe, sensible means to preserve food for the short-term in emergencies such as this...from experts or others with experience.

*the only problem is that people would have to know beforehand, because obviously they had no tv or radio (except at the warming centers).

Personally, if I was homeless or on benefits, I'd no longer live anywhere it snows, that's for sure.