We Need Food Policy Action for Health Equity

This opinion article by Diana Bronson (Executive Director of Food Secure Canada) has been published on Upstream : full version avaiable here.

"We all have a personal food policy that speaks to our health, our income level, our ethical and cultural priorities. Yet if we were to look at our country, we would find it deeply divided when it comes to food.

Four million Canadians are don’t have reliable access to food, and the situation is getting worse as food prices rise and Canada remains dependent on imports from the south. More than two thirds of those living on social assistance are food insecure, which means our policies so far are not working.

The biggest cause of food insecurity is poverty, which we know has other impacts on Canadian health. Rates of food insecurity are twice as high among visible minorities, and in remote northern communities it’s become an urgent crisis. It may surprise some to learn that sixty per cent of food insecure people are actually working — just not earning enough money.

Something is clearly wrong, and when one in eight Canadian jobs is involved in the food sector, policy action should be a priority for our leadership. With so many urgent food issues, Canada might finally be ready for a national food policy."

To read the full article, visit the Upstream website.