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Learning Objectives
- To examine changing food trends in Canada.
- To identify the various populations in Canada that have unequal access to food.
- To recognize the physical and emotional effects of food insecurity.
- To understand the societal effects of food insecurity.
- To consider different theoretical perspectives that address unequal access to nutritious food.
- To evaluate strategies of resistance at the governmental, organizational, and individual levels.
Summary
Introduction
Food security is perhaps the most important kind of survival capital; its absence means the risk of death. Households with food insecurity, the opposite of food security, do not have consistent access to enough safe and nutritious food.
Theoretical Perspectives on Access to Nutritious Food
Wealthy people tend to eat better than low-income people. “Foodies” display a refined interest in food and concern for environmental sustainability, organic cultivation, and fair labour practices. Some businesses offer products that align with these values. However, less privileged people often cannot engage in the same degree of ethical eating, largely for financial reasons.
Access to food is also a survival need. Functionalists focus on the social role of food security and insecurity. Thomas Malthus argued that human populations grow much faster than the food supply. As a result, occasional periods of starvation act as a form of population control. Structural functionalists argue that the threat of starvation and the lure of prosperity induce people to work hard, which benefits themselves, their families, and society as a whole.
Conflict theory sees poverty and starvation as socially harmful side effects of global capitalism. Multinational corporations (including agribusinesses) build up huge profits that are grossly out of line with the payments they offer employees. This unequal distribution of wealth means that people suffer food insecurity in societies that produce a food surplus. Food insecurity is also common in poor nations. These nations often focus on producing a particular agricultural crop and import most other food. Many local people cannot afford to buy either the food that is produced locally for exportation or the food that is produced elsewhere and imported.
Symbolic interactionists focus on the ways that people make sense of hunger and plenty. For example, they study the ways we interpret malnutrition, eating disorders, and obesity. They also study the ways that people who are hungry, malnourished, obese, or inclined to consume unhealthy foods are stigmatized.
Feminists note that women have a particular concern with food insecurity, as they are almost always responsible for taking care of nutrition in households. Many societies also expect women to sacrifice food when it is scarce so that their partners and children can eat enough.
Present-Day Food Insecurities
All humans need to eat roughly 2,300 calories a day and require variety in their diet. A person who doesn’t eat enough of the right foods almost immediately feels hunger, which is painful and makes focusing difficult. A poor diet resulting from food insecurity can also cause or contribute to diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses. Besides these physical complications, food insecurity can produce social and psychological problems, including feelings of deprivation, a preoccupation with food, anxiety, and the loss of social benefits that people gain from sharing food. Food-insecure people may also feel social shame when trying to get food.
There are vast differences in food consumption patterns around the world. Culture deeply influences the kinds of food people choose. There are also differences in food availability. In poorer nations, food shortages mean there aren’t enough calories for everyone to meet their daily requirement. Canada, on the other hand, has enough food for each person to eat an extra 1,200 calories a day. Despite this surplus, food consumption in Canada is not equal, and many of the surplus calories available to Canadians are derived from “foods” we probably shouldn’t be eating at all. Many vulnerable populations in Canada are struggling to access enough of the right food.
Finally, we know that industrial agriculture, particularly meat production, is responsible for a significant percentage of greenhouse gas emissions that have contributed to the climate crisis. If we are to limit climate change, most of us will have to dramatically change our diets.
Changing Trends in Access to Nutritious Food
Our methods of growing and delivering food are becoming increasingly efficient, yet more households in Canada are struggling with food security. One way of seeing changing trends in food insecurity is by looking at the number of people accessing food banks. Many people think that food bank clients are homeless, but 89 per cent of the single-person households accessing food banks are rental or social housing tenants. Another misconception is the belief that social assistance or old age pensions are enough to cover basic living costs, including food expenses. However, nearly half of the households accessing food banks are recipients of social assistance. Another commonly held belief is that it is only single parents who seek support from food banks. Single parents are overrepresented in the population seeking help from food banks, but households with two parents make up nearly 20 per cent of the families helped by food banks. More than 30 per cent of food bank users are children.
Food bank usage is not a perfect sign of how many families experience food insecurity in Canada, as some find other ways to cope. Also, food banks are not equally distributed across Canada; they are harder to find in the North, despite the higher need for them. In the past few decades, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease have been on the rise in Canada. The rise in prevalence of these diseases is another clue that people aren’t eating enough of the right foods.
Food prices are rising faster than the rate of inflation. Most of this increase comes from the rising cost of fresh produce. Studies have shown that the prices of unhealthy foods are less likely to increase, causing people to gravitate towards empty calories. Household food insecurity is also affected by macroeconomic factors like war and conflict. Impeded access to oil in Middle Eastern countries can affect food costs in Canada. Likewise, global climate change affects the cost of food. Domestically, small, independently owned farms that grow diverse crops are being squeezed out by large, single-crop farms operated by agri-business corporations. This reduces competition, drives up prices, and makes Canadians overreliant on a few food providers.
Low-Income People in Canada
Low or no income is the root of most food insecurity. One common reason a person might experience food insecurity is unemployment. Not surprisingly, food bank use correlates with unemployment rates. However, many people work full time and yet are members of the working poor, meaning that they struggle to meet their basic needs.
Many Canadians get income from social assistance programs. These programs do not provide enough to allow recipients to live comfortably and eat enough nutritious food. Historically, the prevailing belief has been that social assistance should not exceed the amount that could be earned from a minimum wage job. This belief is founded on a functionalist notion that people are uncomfortable living in poverty and will therefore be motivated to seek employment. Another belief is that many people on social assistance are not motivated to seek work when the work available to them pays minimum wage and minimum wage is low. Instead of focusing on the rates of social assistance, many Canadians are calling for increases in minimum wage and childcare subsidies to encourage people to return to work. A third belief is that focus should be placed on social assistance rates. Proponents believe low social assistance rates are preventing people from securing employment, as days are spend “managing” poverty and expenses related to job hunting may be unaffordable.
Episodes of food insecurity often result from cost increases or unexpected expenses. Between December 2017 and December 2018, food prices rose throughout all of Canada. Rent and mortgage payments can also be an enormous drain on a person’s income, and the more people must spend on their housing, the less they spend on food. In 2014, 12 per cent of Canadian households were food insecure. These households were further classified as being marginally (3.7 per cent), moderately (5.5 per cent), or severely (2.7 per cent) food insecure.
Obesity is now a problem experienced by the poor in economically developed countries. Fruit and vegetable consumption is influenced by household income. Typically, healthier food costs more at the grocery store, while food received from food banks tends to be unhealthier. In low-income neighbourhoods, food availability may be an obstacle to healthy eating. However, studies suggest that neighbourhood-level factors such as access to healthy food choices are generally less relevant than household-level factors. Most people live physically near the food they need. The main problem is that low-income people can’t afford nutrition.
Young People in Canada
The population group in Canada most likely to be food insecure is families with children. Childhood hunger has been linked to depression, poor academic performance, cognitive delays, and negative effects on psychosocial development. Children who experience food insecurity are also prone to obesity, which can lead to many other health problems.
External coping strategies, including breakfast programs, food banks, and other food programs, target childhood food insecurity outside of the home. In the home, parents may use internal coping strategies such as skipping meals to feed their children, compromising on the quality and variety of food, “stretching out” food, or relying on friends and family for support. Studies have found that parents of children experiencing food insecurity are more likely to use internal coping strategies than seek the help of a food bank or other charity. Many sociologists suggest that income supports are a practical way to decrease levels of childhood hunger.
Women in Canada
Women are uniquely vulnerable to food insecurity. They are much more likely than men to be responsible for carework and nutrition, and the weight of these tasks and food insecurity is especially evident in households headed by single mothers. Single mothers often forgo their own nutritional needs when there is a scarcity of food in the home in order to feed their children.
Seniors in Canada
One main income source for seniors is personal savings and earnings, including RRSPs, CPP, and employee pension plans. The government provides a second income source through OAS and the GIS. Canada has one of the lowest elderly poverty rates among OECD countries, in part due to these income supports. However, 7.4 per cent of elderly, unattached Canadians are still struggling to meet their basic needs for safe, nutritious food.
Seniors often develop health problems that require specialized diets, and those with food insecurity are less able to satisfy the dietary needs recommended by their doctors. Moreover, nearly half of our provincial healthcare budgets are spent treating chronic conditions, and nearly half of those conditions are considered avoidable through lifestyle changes, safe housing, and nutrition. These chronic, preventable health problems are concentrated among seniors, so ensuring they’re eating well and staying healthy benefits us all.
Indigenous Peoples in Canada
Indigenous Peoples in Canada are overrepresented in statistics describing food insecurity, and this is especially marked among Inuit. Traditionally, the diet of Inuit in Northern Canada comprises mainly country food: foods harvested and hunted from the surrounding area. Hunting and gathering traditions continue to play a role in Indigenous diets. However, one barrier to traditional food gathering is the cost of hunting and fishing: gas, hunting transportation, and ammunition can be costly. Another is increasing contaminants in country food, especially in the North. Moreover, the skills required to effectively hunt and gather nutritious country food are under threat, as more people are getting their food from other sources. Finally, the changing climate is yet another barrier to traditional hunting and gathering, especially in the Far North.
As a result of these barriers, many traditional food alternatives have been replaced with processed and less nutritious food shipped from the south. Processed foods tend to survive the trip to northern communities much better than fresh produce, and so the markets in the North often only offer low variety and poor-quality foods. Food costs are extremely high in isolated northern regions, due to the expenses of transportation and storage and the lack of competition in food provision. There are some income supports to help offset some of the added costs of living in isolated northern communities, but they are not enough.
People with Disabilities in Canada
Disability is consistently associated with an increased risk of food insecurity. Canadians with disabilities are vulnerable to being under- or unemployed. Some people with disabilities may face barriers when getting and preparing food. For some individuals, their disabilities produce pain, weakness, or fatigue, which can be a barrier to healthy eating. Others may have specific and unique nutritional needs that can be challenging to meet, or have specific medical needs that divert funds away from food. Commonly reported barriers to food security include the cost of food or the lack of accessible features at food stores. Some individuals with disabilities may choose to shop alone and face the difficulties associated with shopping themselves, while those who seek help commonly report feeling like a burden. Ultimately, a lack of enough nutritious food can have negative effects on a person’s health and can worsen an existing disability, while greater food security could make living with an impairment more manageable.
Consequences of Unequal Access to Nutritious Food
Food insecurity is an enormous challenge for those who experience it, and it also has harmful effects for society as a whole. Food insecurity leads to health problems, and sick people are often unable to work and need medical care. Older adults and chronically ill people deprived of food are more likely to die prematurely, while hungry children do not learn as well as well-fed children. Food deprivation also affects family rituals such as regular mealtimes. Families that sit down together for at least one meal a day tend to be better functioning than families that do not, and poorly functioning families are more likely to break up and less likely to socialize their children effectively. In sum, hunger is socially structured and has deep social effects. Food-insecure people experience social exclusion, which erodes social cohesion.
Strategies of Resistance
An example of a government-level response to food insecurity is the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP). It partners with local agencies to provide them with the reliable government funding they need to help low-income, young, or otherwise disadvantaged expecting mothers with prenatal programs. The main goal is supporting pregnant women so they and their babies can preserve a healthy diet and environment.
At the organizational level, the Interfaith Food Bank Society of Lethbridge launched several education programs within the food bank to support those in need. These programs teach skills related to grocery shopping, meal planning, and cooking nutritious meals on a limited budget. They also run a community garden and help food bank clients source meat sustainably from local partners.
Finally, at the individual level, William Hyndman founded Nunavut’s first Country Food Market, a market that allows hunters to sell their meat to residents. This market has increased the variety and quantity of country foods available to the community. Residents who cannot hunt on their own can still consume it. Hunters can use the money they earn to offset the cost of their fuel and hunting supplies. However, some feel that hunted food should be shared, not sold, and there have been efforts to develop a model that compensates hunters in a different way.