Research Publications

PROOF’s research continues to advance the understanding of food insecurity in Canada. This page lists publications by PROOF investigators on topics ranging from the relationship between food insecurity and health to the impact of public policies on food insecurity. Contact us for assistance accessing papers.

2023

Wang, Y., St-Germain, AA.F. & Tarasuk, V. Prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of food insecurity among post-secondary students and non-students of similar age in Canada. BMC Public Health. 23, 954 (2023).

Liu, R., Urquia, M. L., & Tarasuk, V. (2023). The prevalence and predictors of household food insecurity among adolescents in CanadaCanadian Journal of Public Health, 1-11.

Men, F., & Tarasuk, V. (2023). Employment insurance may mitigate impact of unemployment on food security: Analysis on a propensity-score matched sample from the Canadian income survey. Preventive Medicine.

Men, F., St-Germain, A. A. F., Ross, K., Remtulla, R., & Tarasuk, V. (2023). Effect of Canada Child Benefit on Food Insecurity: A Propensity Score− Matched Analysis. American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

2022

Men, F., & Tarasuk, V. (2022). Classification Differences in Food Insecurity Measures Between the US and Canada: Practical Implications to Trend Monitoring and Health Research. The Journal of Nutrition. 152(4), 1082–1090

Men, F., Urquia, M. L., & Tarasuk, V. (2022). Pain-driven emergency department visits and food insecurity: A cross-sectional study linking Canadian survey and health administrative data. CMAJ Open, 10(1), E8.

Tarasuk V, Fafard St-Germain A, Li T. Moment of reckoning for household food insecurity monitoring in Canada. Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can. 2022;42(10):445-9.

Tarasuk, V. & McIntyre, L. (2022). Reconsidering Food Prescription Programs in Relation to Household Food Insecurity The Journal of Nutrition.

2021

Dhunna, S., & Tarasuk, V. (2021). Black–white racial disparities in household food insecurity from 2005 to 2014, Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 112(5), 888–902.

Hussain, Z., & Tarasuk, V. (2021). A comparison of household food insecurity rates in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2011–2012 and 2017–2018. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 113, 239–249

Hutchinson, J., & Tarasuk, V. (2021). The relationship between diet quality and the severity of household food insecurity in Canada. Public Health Nutrition, 1-14.

Men, F., Elgar, F. J., & Tarasuk, V. (2021). Food insecurity is associated with mental health problems among Canadian youth. J Epidemiol Community Health. 75(8):741-748

Men, F., Fischer, B., Urquia, M. L., & Tarasuk, V. (2021). Food insecurity, chronic pain, and use of prescription opioids. SSM-Population Health, 14, 100768.

Men, F., & Tarasuk, V. (2021). Food insecurity amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Food charity, government assistance, and employment. Canadian Public Policy, 47(2),202-230

Men, F., Urquia, M. L., & Tarasuk, V. (2021). Examining the relationship between food insecurity and causes of injury in Canadian adults and adolescents. BMC Public Health, 21(1).

Men, F., Urquia, M. L., & Tarasuk, V. (2021). The role of provincial social policies and economic environments in shaping food insecurity among Canadian families with children. Preventive Medicine, 148, 106558.

2020

Fafard St-Germain, A.-A., & Tarasuk, V. (2020). Homeownership status and risk of food insecurity: Examining the role of housing debt, housing expenditure and housing asset using a cross-sectional population-based survey of Canadian households. International Journal for Equity in Health, 19(1).

Mah, C. L., Knox, B., Lynch, M., & McIntyre, L. (2020). Who Is Food Insecure? Political Storytelling on Hunger, Household Food Choices, and the Construction of Archetypal Populations. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition. 17(1), 108-125.

Men, F., Gundersen, C., Urquia, M. L., & Tarasuk, V. (2020). Association between household food insecurity and mortality in Canada: A population-based retrospective cohort study. CMAJ, 192(3), E53–E60.

Men, F., Gundersen, C., Urquia, M. L., & Tarasuk, V. (2020). Food insecurity is associated with higher health care use and costs among Canadian adults. Health Affairs, 39(8), 1377–1385.

Men, F., & Tarasuk, V. (2020). Severe food insecurity associated with mortality among lower-income Canadian adults approaching eligibility for public pensions: a population cohort study. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-9.

Tarasuk, V., Fafard St-Germain, A.-A., & Loopstra, R. (2020). The Relationship Between Food Banks and Food Insecurity: Insights from Canada. Voluntas, 31(5), 841–852.

Tarasuk, V., Gundersen, C., Wang, X., Roth, D. E., & Urquia, M. L. (2020). Maternal food insecurity is positively associated with postpartum mental disorders in Ontario, Canada. Journal of Nutrition, 150(11), 3033–3040.

2019

Brown, E. M., & Tarasuk, V. (2019). Money speaks: Reductions in severe food insecurity follow the Canada Child Benefit. Preventive Medicine, 129.

Fafard St-Germain, A.-A., Galloway, T., & Tarasuk, V. (2019). Food insecurity in Nunavut following the introduction of Nutrition North Canada. CMAJ, 191(20), E552–E558.

Jessiman-Perreault, G., & McIntyre, L. (2019). Household food insecurity narrows the sex gap in five adverse mental health outcomes among canadian adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(3).

McIntyre, L., Patterson, P. B., & Mah, C. L. (2019). The application of ‘valence’ to the idea of household food insecurity in Canada. Social Science and Medicine, 220, 176–183.

Men, F., Gundersen, C., Urquia, M. L., & Tarasuk, V. (2019). Prescription medication nonadherence associated with food insecurity: a population-based cross-sectional study. Canadian Medical Association Open Access Journal, 7(3), E590-E597.

Tarasuk, V., Fafard St-Germain, A.-A., & Mitchell, A. (2019). Geographic and socio-demographic predictors of household food insecurity in Canada, 2011-12. BMC Public Health, 19(1).

Tarasuk, V., Li, N., Dachner, N., & Mitchell, A. (2019). Household food Insecurity in Ontario during a period of poverty reduction, 2005–2014. Canadian Public Policy, 45(1), 93–104.

2018

Dachner, N., & Tarasuk, V. (2018). Tackling household food insecurity: An essential goal of a national food policy. Canadian Food Studies/La Revue canadienne des études sur l’alimentation, 5(3), 230-247.

Fafard St-Germain, A.-A., & Tarasuk, V. (2018). Prioritization of the essentials in the spending patterns of Canadian households experiencing food insecurity. Public Health Nutrition, 21(11), 2065–2078.

Gundersen, C., Tarasuk, V., Cheng, J., De Oliveira, C., & Kurdyak, P. (2018). Food insecurity status and mortality among adults in Ontario, Canada. PLoS ONE, 13(8).

McIntyre, L., Jessiman-Perreault, G., Mah, C. L., & Godley, J. (2018). A social network analysis of Canadian food insecurity policy actors. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, 79(2), 60–66.

McIntyre, L., Patterson, P. B., & Mah, C. L. (2018). A framing analysis of Canadian household food insecurity policy illustrates co-construction of an intractable problem. Critical Policy Studies, 12(2), 149–168.

Tarasuk, V., Cheng, J., Gundersen, C., de Oliveira, C., & Kurdyak, P. (2018). The Relation between Food Insecurity and Mental Health Care Service Utilization in Ontario. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 63(8), 557–569.

Tarasuk, V., Li, T., Mitchell, A., & Dachner, N. (2018). Commentary-the case for more comprehensive data on household food insecurity. Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada: research, policy and practice, 38(5), 210.

Orr, S. K., Dachner, N., Frank, L., & Tarasuk, V. (2018). Relation between household food insecurity and breastfeeding in Canada. CMAJ, 190(11), E312–E319.

2017

Gundersen, C., Kreider, B., Pepper, J., & Tarasuk, V. (2017). Food assistance programs and food insecurity: Implications for Canada in light of the mixing problem. Empirical Economics, 52(3), 1065–1087.

Jessiman-Perreault, G., & McIntyre, L. (2017). The household food insecurity gradient and potential reductions in adverse population mental health outcomes in Canadian adults. SSM – Population Health, 3, 464–472.

McIntyre, L., Patterson, P. B., Anderson, L. C., & Mah, C. L. (2017). A great or heinous idea?: Why food waste diversion renders policy discussants apoplectic. Critical Public Health, 27(5), 566–576.

McIntyre, L., Wu, X., Kwok, C., & Emery, J. C. H. (2017). A natural experimental study of the protective effect of home ownership on household food insecurity in Canada before and after a recession (2008-2009). Canadian Journal of Public Health, 108(2), e135–e144.

McIntyre, L., Wu, X., Kwok, C., & Patten, S. B. (2017). The pervasive effect of youth self-report of hunger on depression over 6 years of follow up. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 52(5), 537–547.

St-Germain, A.-A. F., & Tarasuk, V. (2017). High vulnerability to household food insecurity in a sample of Canadian renter households in government-subsidized housing. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 108(2), e129–e134.

2016

Huisken, A., Orr, S. K., & Tarasuk, V. (2016). Adults’ food skills and use of gardens are not associated with household food insecurity in Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 107(6), e526–e532.

Li, N., Dachner, N., & Tarasuk, V. (2016). The impact of changes in social policies on household food insecurity in British Columbia, 2005–2012. Preventive Medicine, 93, 151–158.

McIntyre, L., Dutton, D. J., Kwok, C., & Emery, J. C. H. (2016). Reduction of food insecurity among low-income Canadian seniors as a likely impact of a guaranteed annual income. Canadian Public Policy, 42(3), 274–286.

McIntyre, L., Kwok, C., Emery, J. C. H., & Dutton, D. J. (2016). Impact of a guaranteed annual income program on Canadian seniors’ physical, mental and functional health. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 107(2), e176–e182.

McIntyre, L., Lukic, R., Patterson, P. B., Anderson, L. C., & Mah, C. L. (2016). Legislation Debated as Responses to Household Food Insecurity in Canada, 1995–2012. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, 11(4), 441–455.

McIntyre, L., Patterson, P. B., Anderson, L. C., & Mah, C. L. (2016). Household food insecurity in Canada: Problem definition and potential solutions in the public policy domain. Canadian Public Policy, 42(1), 83–93.

McIntyre, L., Tougas, D., Rondeau, K., & Mah, C. L. (2016). “In”-sights about food banks from a critical interpretive synthesis of the academic literature. Agriculture and Human Values, 33(4), 843–859.

Sriram, U., & Tarasuk, V. (2016). Economic Predictors of Household Food Insecurity in Canadian Metropolitan Areas. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, 11(1), 1–13.

2015

Kirkpatrick, S. I., Dodd, K. W., Parsons, R., Ng, C., Garriguet, D., & Tarasuk, V. (2015). Household food insecurity is a stronger marker of adequacy of nutrient intakes among Canadian compared to American youth and adults. Journal of Nutrition, 145(7), 1596–1603.

Loopstra, R., Dachner, N., & Tarasuk, V. (2015). An exploration of the unprecedented decline in the prevalence of household food insecurity in Newfoundland and Labrador, 2007-2012. Canadian Public Policy, 41(3), 191–206.

Sriram, U., & Tarasuk, V. (2015). Changes in household food insecurity rates in Canadian metropolitan areas from 2007 to 2012. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 106(5), e322–e327.

Tarasuk, V., Cheng, J., De Oliveira, C., Dachner, N., Gundersen, C., & Kurdyak, P. (2015). Association between household food insecurity and annual health care costs. CMAJ, 187(14), E429–E436.

2014

Loopstra, R., & Tarasuk, V. (2014). Food bank usage is a poor indicator of food insecurity: Insights from Canada. Social Policy and Society, 14(3), 443–455.

Mah, C. L., Hamill, C., Rondeau, K., & McIntyre, L. (2014). A frame-critical policy analysis of Canada’s response to the World Food Summit 1998–2008. Archives of Public Health, 72(1), 41.

2013

Emery, J. C. H., Fleisch, V., & McIntyre, L. (2013). How a guaranteed annual income could put food banks out of business. SPP Research Paper, (6-37).

Emery, J. C. H., Fleisch, V. C., & McIntyre, L. (2013). Legislated changes to federal pension income in Canada will adversely affect low income seniors’ health. Preventive Medicine, 57(6), 963–966.