An interview with a mother who received The Gift of Good Food in 2015
›› Mila Czemerys & Kathryn Juricic
What does good food mean to you?
It means something healthy for my kids to eat. I can go down to the dollar store and buy a chocolate bar for my kid for 99 cents. Or, I can go in the fridge and get the cucumber that came in the Good Food Box and give my kid a few slices of that and she loves it! The peppers, if she could eat them like an apple, she would because she loves them so much. I love the fact that I can give my kids healthy snacks rather than junk food.
How has having the Good Food Box changed things for you?
We eat a lot healthier. My older daughter was concerned because her doctor told her she was obese—but she wasn’t. She’s so excited because she’s been eating healthier. She’s actually lost weight and she feels really good about herself. So you know, it’s all about the health… getting healthier. We ate a lot of bad bad stuff—the processed stuff—because it was the cheapest so when we got the Good Food Box is was just awesome!
How did you feel when your family was selected to receive The Gift of Good Food?
Stoked! It was awesome. When [I found out] I was like, “Oh my gosh really? That is so cool!” Because when I go to the grocery store and I look at the prices of vegetables, I’m just like, “Ahhh! That will last maybe three days and then it goes bad.” That will go bad in three days. Or I could go buy that. Okay, it’s not as healthy but it will last 3 weeks.” So vegetables go by the wayside a lot. But when [I was] told that [this was paid for] for a year I was just stunned. I was stunned and so excited… that my kids would actually have vegetables in the house to eat for a whole year.
I’m interested to hear how your kids have taken to the Good Food Box?
When we get the Good Food Box, the first thing my little one does is she’ll see if there is a cucumber. The first time we got one, she wanted some cucumber. The cucumbers are wrapped in that cellophane. One of the things my mom used to do is she would snap it in half to break the plastic and then she would unpeel the plastic and cut it up from there. The first time my daughter, my little one, saw me do that she was like, “Oh my god, you’re like a super hero!” Because I could break it in half and then I taught her that she could do it. And now every time [we] get the Good Food Box, the first thing she does is look for the cucumber. She can snap it in half and just rip the plastic off and eat it like that. She doesn’t chop it, she just wants to eat it right away.
My older one, of course, she just loves having something that she can eat quickly but isn’t going to make her feel like she just ate something that will put ten pounds on her, you know. Not to say her whole life is her weight but it makes her feel better that she can eat something healthy instead of something junky.
Why should people make a donation?
Oh my gosh, first of all, to all the people that have already donated, thank you so much! Without programs like this, there are so many wonderful things that families like mine go without. My kids were eating junk. In the last year, they’ve eaten healthier than they have in their entire lives. Kids need that. It’s so easy to access quick food that is so bad for you and the world is just making it easier and easier to get the bad stuff. So when you have programs like this where it makes the good stuff easy to access, it’s just awesome. And I love it, I love this program. I’m so glad you guys do this.
Do you have any final thoughts?
Me and my two girls get the Good Food Box every two weeks. I get that Good Food Box and I see healthy eating for my children. For my older one, she sees tasty food that isn’t going to put tons of pounds on her. [For] my little one, it’s like Christmas. She will go through it and see what tasty things she can find in there and she’ll ask, “Mommy, can I eat it now?” Basically it’s a gift. It’s like a little Christmas gift every two weeks for my family. And we love it.
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You can donate to The Gift of Good Food at www.thegiftofgoodfood.ca/donate or inquire with us to start a fundraising group (250) 381-1552 ext. 100.
