PROOF principal investigator, Dr. Valerie Tarasuk, recently discussed food insecurity in Canada with the Global Solidarity Alliance for Food, Health and Social Justice as part of their Rights Not Charity podcast series. Through Canada’s monitoring of food insecurity over the past 15 years, it’s become clear that our social safety net needs to be strengthened to protect Canadians from being food-insecure.
Show highlights:
- How food insecurity is defined and measured in Canada
- The extent of household food insecurity in Canada and who is most impacted
- How food insecurity is rooted in social and economic disadvantage, systemic racism, and the legacy of colonialism
- What food insecurity says about Canada’s social safety net and the need to strengthen it so that it is accountable for ensuring all Canadians have enough money to afford basic needs
“So we’ve got these lightning rods, like the fact that the mere presence of a child under the age of 18 in a household is enough to trigger an increased risk of food insecurity. Or the receipt of social assistance or employment insurance benefits is enough to increase risk. Those tell us that the safety net isn’t as good as it needs to be.”
Listen to the episode (9 min 38 sec) below:
Read the full transcript at: https://rightsnotcharity.org/2021/07/what-does-hunger-look-like-in-canada/
About:
The Global Solidarity Alliance for Food, Health and Social Justice (GSA RightsNotCharity) is an alliance of individuals and organizations across Canada, the US, and the UK that advocates for the realization of the right to food.
