With the holiday season upon us, charitable food drives are in full swing. There’s been lots of talk in the media about how the need at food banks is greater right now due to COVID-19. It’s easy to throw a can of baked beans, a jar of peanut butter or a box of macaroni & cheese in the food bank bin. But does this really help to reduce hunger in our communities?
To start, let’s clarify some terms. ‘Hunger’ is a feeling of discomfort from not eating enough food. ‘Food insecurity’ is inadequate or insecure access to food because of financial constraints. Poverty is the root cause of food insecurity. People experiencing food insecurity:
- worry about having enough food
- do not have suitable quality or variety of food, or
- have reduced food intake and may not eat for a whole day or more due to lack of money (this extreme is how we commonly use the term ‘hunger’ when we mean severe food insecurity)
Food insecurity is an urgent public health problem and a serious human rights and social justice issue for local, provincial and federal governments. In 2017-2018, 1.7 million Ontarians or 13.7% of Ontario households did not have enough money to buy food. Food insecurity has worsened with COVID-19 job losses, business closures and work stoppages with one in seven Canadians (14.6%) reporting food insecurity in May 2020. Food insecurity affects Black and Indigenous households at alarmingly higher rates of close to 30%. Click here for more information on how food insecurity is defined and measured in Canada.
We feel emotional thinking about others in our communities being hungry, but it is the persistent food insecurity from poverty that should elicit our greater concern.
Why should we care?
Adults, children and youth who are food insecure are more likely to have poor health and serious mental health problems that increase health care costs. Every person deserves to have enough income to meet their basic needs and be physically, mentally and socially well.
How have communities responded to the problem of food insecurity?
With the gradual erosion of social programs in Canada, a variety of community-based charitable food programs have emerged. There are now food banks in every province and territory, with a network of over 5,000 emergency food programs including food banks, soup kitchens and various meal and snack programs.
Food charity is very much a part of the problem of food insecurity in rich societies. While charitable food programs may provide short-term relief of hunger, they do not reduce food insecurity at all. Food charity is ineffective because it:
- undermines people’s dignity
- offers only temporary relief – food insecurity does not go away
- has limited reach – 4 out of 5 food insecure households do not go to food banks
- has limited operating hours and restricts the number of visits and the amount of food provided
- does not meet people’s daily need for nutritious food
Food insecurity is an income problem; it is not a problem that can be solved by redistribution of food by governments and charities no matter how much we try to build better food banks. In fact, food banks have been counterproductive because their existence creates the illusion that food insecurity is being taken care of by the community. We’ve become so conditioned to raising more money and getting more food on to food bank shelves that we lose sight of poverty being the root cause of food insecurity. The prevalence of food charity allows governments to neglect their obligations to ensure income security for Canadians, leaving community-based charities attempting to fill the gap.
The media perpetuates this problem by drawing attention to food drives. By promoting food drives as an integral part of the festive season, food insecurity is framed as an issue for charity, not politics, strengthening the public perception that food charity is acceptable, necessary and adequate to address the problem of food insecurity. High profile, public food drives use messaging that reinforces the notion that food charity makes a difference in the lives of those living with food insecurity. Calling on the public to participate in food drives in an effort to ‘give back to the community’, ‘join the fight against hunger’ and ‘participate in the spirit of holiday cheer’ feeds into the age-old philosophical ideal of feeding the hungry. High profile community members, such as politicians or celebrities, are often used to reinforce these messages and create a bigger media story.
If food charity is not the solution to food insecurity, then what is?
To effectively reduce food insecurity, low-income households need more money in their pockets. Federal and provincial governments must consider policy options that will enhance income security and reduce poverty levels to alleviate food insecurity. Effective solutions increase incomes through:
- a basic income guarantee
- jobs with liveable wages and benefits
- adequate social assistance rates
- affordable housing
Various sectors have a role to play in promoting income security as an effective response to food insecurity.
The media can focus more on supporting campaigns and covering more news stories raising awareness about the root cause of food insecurity, which is poverty, and present the benefits of a basic income guarantee, the need for more jobs with livable wages and benefits, and greater access to affordable housing.
Individuals, community groups, and organizations can help raise awareness about food insecurity by:
- Learning more about why food insecurity is a serious problem at: odph.ca/centsless
- Becoming a member of, donating to, or volunteering with Basic Income Canada Network
- Donating or volunteering with national, provincial or local poverty reduction advocacy groups, such as Make Poverty History www.makepovertyhistory.ca or Canada Without Poverty www.canadawithoutpoverty.ca
- Contacting or meeting with local politicians at all levels about their concerns with the food charity response to food insecurity and the potential benefits of a basic income guarantee. Use the ODPH letter template available at odph.ca/what-can-you-do for key points.
- Supporting campaigns and signing petitions for adequate income security and affordable social housing.
Ontario Dietitians in Public Health is the independent and official voice of Registered Dietitians working in Ontario’s public health system. ODPH provides leadership in public health nutrition by promoting and supporting member collaboration to improve the health of Ontario residents through the implementation of the Ontario Public Health Standards.
The ODPH Food Insecurity Workgroup has developed an updated position statement and an accompanying infographic to increase awareness about the growing problem of household food insecurity in Ontario and the urgent need to advocate for effective responses. For more information, please visit https://www.odph.ca/centsless.