Introduction
Have we become desensitized to food insecurity? ... let’s talk about that because the facts matter.
What’s at Stake?
Food insecurity affects almost 7 million people in Canada and that is directly. What about all the good people who are missed in the statistics – there are always those – and the good people who are just struggling by?
There are millions in our country who are facing food insecurity. Each day they go to bed hungry and what do our leaders do?
Six thousand dollars per night for a hotel room for our Prime Minister? I hope he enjoyed the juice. Traipsing off to New York for a conference and handing out $13 billion to make EV batteries? And a short while ago, there was a $600 million handout to a country in Asia, and millions more.
What has Government Done?
$200 million was given to food banks at the start of the Pandemic, and give them credit, there have been further investments.
However, meeting the needs has been pale in comparison to the foreign and corporate handouts. $13 billion for a EV factory while people face hunger every day.
And $600 million and more to foreign governments to help them solve their problems when we have serious unmet needs at home?
What are the priorities? Is it the good people of this country or is it something else? For me, the priority should be addressing the most basic needs of our good people, food and shelter.
What do you think?
What is Food Insecurity?
Food insecurity is not just about having enough good quality food to eat, it is much more than that.
Food insecurity is an important benchmark of deprivation and a social determinant of health. It is associated with a host of health conditions including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, anxiety and depression, chronic pain, infectious diseases, and premature death and much more.
Food insecurity leaves people with fewer resources to manage chronic conditions, eventually leading to more frequent hospital stays for numerous health conditions.
What Should Government Do?
I do not profess to have the answers and my objective is to provide trusted information, not tell the populace what to do. That is up to each to determine by looking at the facts. What should government do?
There are few options:
Food insecurity is an income issue – people do not have sufficient income to address their food needs. Social Assistance support has fallen far behind and so have minimum wages.
Government spends billions on corporate and foreign largess. Is this appropriate whenmillions of our good people are going to bed hungry each night.
Final Thoughts
Food insecurity is a policy decision. We must shift our understanding of food insecurity and demand policy action from governments, because food banks cannot solve the problem alone with just periodic handouts.
What do you think? Drop us a comment on our website at www.sustainablecirculareconomy.ca
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