EDMONTON – How much do you spend on food every day? Do you think you could manage with just $1.75?
That’s what Mayor Don Iveson and other City of Edmonton staff are trying to do for five days. Their efforts are part of the international Live Below the Line Challenge, an initiative meant to deepen people’s understanding of the reality faced by more than one billion people living in extreme poverty around the world.
The $1.75 food budget has left much to be desired.
“We had steel-cut oats again for breakfast this morning,” Iveson said on Tuesday. “And I’m really starting to hurt without the coffee on day two here.”
“Last night I stood with the fridge open and I just looked at it,” he added.
Iveson also admitted he was a bit sad about having to miss out on the spread being served at The Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts Monday night.
But it’s all for a good cause.
“You know, it’s really giving me perspective of people who have very limited resources in where they get their food, and people who don’t have ready access to food all the time,” he said.
READ MORE: Food insecurity: Millions of Canadians struggle to put food on the table
“The money we raise through these efforts goes towards Raising the Village, an organization that helps local governments tackle some of their most pressing issues. I see it as one local government helping another!” Iveson wrote on his fundraising page.
As of Tuesday evening, Iveson was $50 shy of the halfway mark to his $1,000 fundraising goal.
Ward 1 Councillor Andrew Knack is among those doing the Live Below the Line challenge with the mayor.
WATCH: Knack talks about the initiative on Global Edmonton’s Morning News Wednesday:
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