Food for all is feasible. What does this mean?

Food for all is feasible. What does this mean, how do we get there, and what do we do about it?

We’re in a crisis. In Nova Scotia, almost 1 in 3 people live in food insecurity (source). At the same time, there is lots of food but a very high cost of living. As the cost of living increases, people have less money to spend on food (source).

The facts are:

• Nearly 46.5% of all food in Canada is wasted (source)
• 18% of food bank users in Canada reported employment as their primary source of income (source)
• 33% of food bank clients are children (source)
• 32% of food bank clients are newcomers to Canada (source)

Food insecurity is not about a lack of food or an issue of individual laziness, it’s a systemic poverty issue and a food redistribution issue. There is data to show that when policies are implemented that create more affordable housing and provide better income assistance, that this targets the root cause of food insecurity. (Source here and here).

In addition to providing food relief however we can, education, discussion and advocacy are parts of this puzzle as well. We need to be discussing this within our communities to dispel the many myths about food insecurity, and we need to make sure our politicians are prioritizing this in their policies.

If you’d like to wear or promote this message, you can purchase any of our FOOD FOR ALL merchandise with 100% of profits going to Nourishing Communities, where we provide market money to food insecure households to shop anonymously and with dignity of choice at our farmers’ markets.