Shirley A. Russell
Dear Mr. Editor:
Thank you for allowing me this space in our paper. I felt that many residents of our area, if not all, would find considerable interest in my subject.
My goodness, haven’t we gotten ourselves into quite a mess! Here we are with a government who finally decided not to carry out the great gender issue. I think we can assume that both genders will continue to stand on guard for Canada!
When we see the government members on television exchanging cases of beer, taking trips on government jets for less-than-major reasons, dining on sumptuous feasts, etc., one wonders why we have to tighten our belts to the point that our belt buckles clang against our spinal bones.
Why, indeed? Well, our national debt is growing nearly to the point that our quadruple great-grandchildren may still be paying for it.
It appears to me that some intelligent decisions and planning must take place NOW!
One of the things that the government has done foolishly is to cut the budget drastically for long-term care facilities. Do you know that the government actually thinks that a senior citizen who is in need of solid nutrition, due to their many physical issues that they have at this stage of their lives, can live on $7 a day, that is, for all three meals?
I don’t think so.
I ask myself, “What kind of warped mind thought up this fallacy?” I can see clearly the honourable member sitting at his desk conjuring up these flights of fancy.
Not even a church mouse could live on $7 a day!
I don’t think that this is any problem with the foods we eat for breakfast here at Rainycrest, such as cereals (both hot and cold), toast, eggs, bacon, juice, coffee, and tea.
For our other meals, large amounts of vegetables and fruits are consumed every day. They are one of the most nutritious food groups that we eat.
For lunch every day, we have hot, homemade soup, which is delicious. Desserts are either fruit or a light mousse or pudding, Jell-O, and ice cream, which we all quite enjoy.
Now we come to what most of us think is the most important part of our day’s meal—the meat! But due to the drastic budget cuts, little money is left to spend on any kind of meat. This makes it rather difficult to insert it into the menu.
Now, the big question is where do we get this meat? Well, it seems there are some companies that sell lower-grade varieties. Let’s take chicken, for example. You can send away for ‘X’ number of boxes of frozen chicken breasts; lower-grade chicken breasts sold in bulk for a greatly-reduced price.
So what’s wrong with that, you ask? The question is, no matter what kind of dish this chicken is use it, it’s awful! It’s dry and stringy. You can take a piece of this chicken and put it in your mouth and start chewing. You won’t be done before the budget is balanced!
Now let’s move on to turkey. I can recognize a turkey when I see it, but I have not seen or heard a familiar face or gobble since I’ve been here. The only thing I’ve seen is a slab of God knows what!
I think it is known as a turkey roll. Well, that turkey can neither rock nor roll. As far as dark meat is concerned, this tale of our fowl is most foul!
And now, our most beloved beef on the hoof. There are not many people, except vegetarians, who don’t like to sink their teeth—even those who don’t have any—into a succulent, juicy piece of tender steak. And, of course, who doesn’t love a gorgeous prime rib roast?
Relax, don’t panic! None of us have seen one since we’ve been here!
From time to time, we get veal, which is usually tender enough to chew. Not so with the beef. It, too, is dry and stringy and largely unchewable. Tyrannosaurus Rex would do well to chew it, but nobody else would!
The final fate of all this unchewable beef and chicken? It goes in the garbage here at Rainycrest because very little of it is eaten. It is wasted and left on the plates.
Now, there must be a solution to this. Why can’t Rainycrest buy its meat and chicken locally? How nice it would be to support our local farmers—and know where our meat comes from. We could buy Grade ‘A’ meat which the residents would love and it would be so good for them.
Gosh, I can hardly wait.
The pioneers of this district should not be forced to end their years eating substandard food. The staff of life has too many cracks in it already. Therefore, the government, now and in the future, needs to reassess their decisions and allow long-term care facilities a more generous allowance for food, per resident, per day.
This is the other issue that needs to be addressed. Rainycrest needs to be able to increase the number of actual workers who look after patients. They are drastically under-staffed!
The government must put more dollars into this endeavour immediately!
Interesting to note, these government people will one day be in homes such as Rainycrest.
Thank you for the opportunity to bring these facts to your attention. Perhaps you might want to talk to your Member of Parliament about these issues.
Sincerely,
Shirley A. Russell
Fort Frances, Ont.
