The federal government has responded to the macroeconomic downturn and concerns about affordability through various policies from tax breaks to funding for food provisioning programs. However, none of these policies are likely to address the long-standing problem of food insecurity.
At its core, this is about households that cannot reliably afford to eat because of inadequate or precarious incomes. The recent downturn appears to have worsened the problem, but even before grocery prices surged, millions of Canadians still lacked the income needed for basic necessities to be food secure.
In a new op-ed published in TheFutureEconomy.ca, PROOF Founding Investigators Drs. Valerie Tarasuk and Lynn McIntyre challenge the framing behind Canada’s recent affordability measures and make the case for a different approach.
The evidence is clear: what reduces food insecurity is policy that improves incomes for low- and modest-income households. Food-based responses or policies to bolster agricultural industry do not.
Tarasuk and McIntyre call for a National Food Security Strategy built around income adequacy, with binding, measurable targets.
Commentary
A National Food Security Strategy Must Address Income
June 1, 2026
The federal government has responded to the macroeconomic downturn and concerns about affordability through various policies from tax breaks to funding for food provisioning programs. However, none of these policies are likely to address the long-standing problem of food insecurity.
At its core, this is about households that cannot reliably afford to eat because of inadequate or precarious incomes. The recent downturn appears to have worsened the problem, but even before grocery prices surged, millions of Canadians still lacked the income needed for basic necessities to be food secure.
In a new op-ed published in TheFutureEconomy.ca, PROOF Founding Investigators Drs. Valerie Tarasuk and Lynn McIntyre challenge the framing behind Canada’s recent affordability measures and make the case for a different approach.
The evidence is clear: what reduces food insecurity is policy that improves incomes for low- and modest-income households. Food-based responses or policies to bolster agricultural industry do not.
Tarasuk and McIntyre call for a National Food Security Strategy built around income adequacy, with binding, measurable targets.