Household Food Insecurity in Canada

An Update from the PROOF Research Project

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Household food insecurity, defined as inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints, affected 4 million Canadians in 2012. The consistent monitoring of food insecurity through the Canadian Community Health Survey since 2005 has furnished a wealth of data about the extent and nature of this problem.  In this webinar, we will examine socio-demographic, temporal, and geographic patterns of household food insecurity in Canada, with a particular focus on local and regional variation. We will also share results of a social network analysis of food insecurity policy actors across the country. This will set the foundation for a conversation on what national household survey data can reveal about the roots of this problem and the priorities for action now.

Presenters

Valerie Tarasuk
Valerie Tarasuk is Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto.  Her research is focused on food insecurity and food policy in Canada, and she is the Principal Investigator on PROOF, a 5-year program of research to identify policy options to reduce household food insecurity (http://nutritionalsciences.lamp.utoronto.ca). Her recent work includes analyses of population survey data to elucidate the health, nutritional, and sociodemographic correlates of household food insecurity in Canada, an examination of food assistance in Victoria, Edmonton, Toronto, Quebec City and Halifax, and a study of housing, neighbourhood characteristics and food access among low-income Toronto families.

Catherine Mah

Catherine Mah is a Fellow in Mental Health and Food Security at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Head of the Food Policy Research Initiative at the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit.  Catherine is also an assistant professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health  at the University of Toronto.    Her research is primarily focused on food policy and food systems, and deliberative approaches to policy analysis. Catherine is engaged in research partnerships with Toronto Public Health and the Toronto Food Strategy, and is member of the Toronto Food Policy Council.  Recent work includes an examination of principles governing food advertising to children.