Grant: Operating Grant: Programmatic Grants to tackle health and health equity

Household food insecurity refers to the inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints. This problem, currently affecting about 8 percent of the Canadian population, poses serious threats to individuals' physical, social, and mental health. Most responses to household food insecurity are community-based, including food banks, soup kitchens, and a variety of gardening, cooking, and food buying programs. The limitations of these initiatives are widely recognized, but we lack the knowledge base to implement more effective responses. To address this knowledge gap, we have brought together an international, interdisciplinary team of researchers, working in partnership with key federal departments and several national non-governmental organizations with an expressed commitment to the reduction of household food insecurity. Our program of research is designed to identify viable and effective policy interventions to reduce household food insecurity in Canada. Through analyses of available Canadian and US survey data, we will identify the conditions that give rise to problems of household food insecurity in our country, determine the impact of various policies and programs on this problem, and estimate the health care costs associated with household food insecurity currently. Our research will provide decision-makers working at the federal, provincial, and territorial levels of government with tangible options for action to reduce food insecurity.