Good food markets tackle food insecurity
In the news:
- Why it costs more to eat, Globe and Mail, August 20,2009
Even though the overall consumer price index has fallen by 0.9% year over year, Canadians are feeling the pinch as food inflation persists. Statistics Canada reported that food prices were 5.6% higher in grocery stores in July than they were a year ago, and 3.4% higher in restaurants.
FoodShare works with communities to improve access to affordable food,from field to table.
According to new University of Toronto research*:
- Two out of three Toronto families in low-income neighborhoods are unable to get the food they need.
- In 1 in 10 families, there were adults who had gone whole days without eating because there wasn't enough money for food.
- … for almost a third (28 percent) of low-income families, the level of food insecurity is so severe it qualifies as food deprivation.
* Published in the April 2009 edition of the Canadian Journal of Public Health.
Food insecurity is about people who regularly cut back or skip meals… it's about parents who don't know if they can feed their children even if they forego food themselves… and it's about the elderly who can neither access nor afford the food they need for adequate sustenance. While food insecurity is most prevalent among people on social assistance, it's also a fact of life for over 50% of the working poor. And it has a host of short and long-term physical and psychological implications – among them, hunger, malnutrition, and learning and development issues.
Working with and for the community
Good Food Markets is one of three Good Food programs run by FoodShare Toronto, a United Way agency committed to making fresh, nutritious food more affordable and available to people in low income neighbourhoods. Through the Good Food Markets initiative, Food Share works with community partners to set up local food markets that offer access to affordable produce and help residents improve their personal and family diets. FoodShare launched the program in 2006 and by 2008 there were 17 Good Food Markets in ten priority neighbourhoods and four inner suburbs. The results are impressive and encouraging:
- More adults and children are eating more fruits and vegetables (52%)
- More people are preparing home-cooked meals (35%)
- A significant number are feeling healthier (37%)
- Many are getting to know more of their neighbours (47%), and
- The community itself is gaining the skills it needs to help itself
A recent study by the University of Toronto on food scarcity suggests two out of three families in the city's lowest-income neighbourhoods are unable to get enough to eat. One of the study's conclusions—the need to eliminate the root causes of poverty—echoes a key United Way objective. We continue to work with partners and stakeholders in the public and private sectors to achieve this goal and we know that hunger can't wait. In an economy that continues to weaken, support of a community-based approach to food security with an initiative such as FoodShare's Good Food Markets is vital in ensuring access to good, healthy and affordable food for everyone.
Good food markets tackle food insecurity was a Feature Story in our quarterly newsletter, Community Matters: Summer 2009
