Inflation

I know inflation is happening all around the world, but it’s occurring in gastronomical proportions here.  For example, chicken went from $2/kg to $2.75/kg and chili peppers from 20 cents/kg to $2/kg.  It might not seem like much, but when you think about the daily budget for food of an underprivileged individual—60 cents—the inflation is killer.  There are people who earn $1.70 a day as daily wage labourers and they get called for farm work based on the season.  If there’s no work to be done in the fields, they don’t have any income.  Shepherdesses earn even less. 

Living here makes me appreciate the Canadian government’s support system even more.  People earning below a certain amount get child benefits and many people enjoy free medical care.  There are food banks and different organizations reaching out to the less privileged.  Here, if your husband deserts you or if your wife dies, you’re on your own.  You gotta just etch out a living for you and your children.  Some do daily wage labour.  Some go into the forest and collect edibles to sell on the street.  Some herd buffalo.  And some—the ones that are really sick and unable to get medical help—beg their friends and relatives for relief. 

For some, inflation is just a pinch, but for those living in poverty, inflation is a deep gash.

(sorry it's sideways.  It uploaded this way and there's no function to turn it around)