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6 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday February 18, 2009 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: NEIL OLIVER Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of Media Group Ltd. DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager Food for thought We hope residents had some fun this past Family Day and used the opportunity to sit around the dinner table enjoying good food and good conversation. However, we know from statistics that `good food' is not always forthcoming for everyone in Halton, especially when you consider some 32,000 residents can't afford the very basics of a sound diet. The 2008 Halton Nutritious Food Basket Survey, presented in a report to the region's health and social services committee, said seven per cent of Halton residents can't afford appropriate food. The survey measured the cost of an adequate diet based on 66 common food items. A public health dietitian, who presented the report to the committee, pointed out the obvious -- poverty invariably results in poorer eating habits with food purchased that is higher in fat and sugar. Just last week, the Heart and Stroke Foundation released its annual report on Canadian's Health. In it, the foundation looked at the specific cost of what it calls basic healthy foods. The cost of staples, such as apples, potatoes, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, milk, cheese, lean ground beef and peanut butter, were compared across the country and, not surprisingly, prices ranged from city to city and province to province. The price of a bag of six apples can range anywhere from 90 cents in Peterborough, Ontario to $5.02 in Calgary, Alberta. Or a 2.7 kg bag of potatoes can cost as much as $4.99 in Peterborough but as little as $1.50 in Toronto. However, on the less healthy side of eating, prices appear consistent. Chips, pop, cookies and other snack foods show little price change across the country. So, is it any wonder then, that people who are struggling to make ends meet can't afford a proper diet. With the economic downturn, this situation will just go from bad to worse. When you look at the numbers -- numbers that are sure to increase -- we must do what we can to support all the healthy eating programs within Halton, particularly in our schools. Providing students with a nutritious breakfast or snack is a good start. Our governments need to do more to address all the barriers to healthy food. We need to do more as a society. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Re: Catholic trustees eyeing standardized resting, Oakville Beaver, Feb. 6 It was with great concern that I read about the possibility of standardized religion testing in the Catholic Schools in Oakville. The article clearly states that the curriculum would not be changed in response to the test results. It also states that superin- Standardized religion testing will not benefit Catholic students tendents and the director of education do not feel that it will benefit the students, and would not evaluate all that the children learn in their Religion classes. These two things indicate that the testing would have no benefit for the students preparing for, stressing over and writing the test. I have some suggestions for the trustees that would like to have a better understanding of the religious facts that students are learning: read your child's text book, talk to your child's teacher or principal, or, should your child not be attending a HCDSB school, ask to read the curriculum. Another thing that is not mentioned anywhere is what the cost would be for this testing, and why the money should be spent on something that will not benefit the students in any way. Surely there are many other things the board could spend this money on which would directly benefit the students involved. MELISSA BOOTE Where's dad in Family Day advertisements? This month while out taking my kids to skating and ballet lessons I have observed several posters advertising Family Day activities at local community centres such as Iroquois Ridge. Tonight, while reading the Oakville Beaver, Feb. 13 edition, I saw another advertisement for Family Day, sponsored by the Town of Oakville. These advertisements usually depict a happy looking boy and girl, obviously siblings and a smiling mother. I couldn't help but notice that something was missing -- where is dear old dad? Are fathers not important enough to be included in the family nucleus or have we been relegated to second class citizens? Now I know there are some deadbeat dads out there, but there are also some good dads, too. There is a stay at home dad, who drops his kids off at my son's daycare everyday, and a dad, who lives across the street from me who will be driving his son to three minor hockey games on Monday. Now I know these are things that moms do as well, but at least she gets some recognition, whereas dad has been left out of the poster and in the cold. Now if I said that the father in that poster wasn't there because he was at work earning a paycheck to support the family, that would cause someone to decry a sexist foul. I'm sure that if the poster had only two smiling kids and a dad, that there would be some sort of uproar by some mother somewhere. We are men, hear us roar! MARK LEINWEBER This week's poll This week's question is: Should Canada : · pull its military mission from Afghanistan in 2011; · extend its military mission beyond 2011; · get out sooner. To vote, visit oakvillebeaver.com Last week's poll: Do you think the province's latest contract offer to the elementary school teachers is: · Fair 14.29% · Unfair 0% · Overly generous 85.71% Total votes: 35 votes The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error,that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item,together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.