Grant: Operating Grant

Food insecurity is a serious public health problem in Canada, affecting 9.2% of households. In the 1980s, communities responded to emerging problems of food insecurity by establishing food banks and a myriad of charitable meal programs. The initiatives were construed as temporary, 'emergency' responses to needs arising from the economic recession of that period, but demands for charitable food assistance did not abate as the economy improved. Charitable food assistance programs are now deeply entrenched, but there are grave concerns about their adequacy and effectiveness. Although we recognize that the root causes of income-related problems of food insecurity do not lie at the community level, communities continue to be charged with the task of developing initiatives to help people meet basic needs. We plan to work with collaborators and advisory groups in Halifax, Quebec City, Toronto, Edmonton and Victoria to chart the full scope of charitable food provisioning activities currently and assess each community's capacity to recognize and respond to problems of unmet food need. Through this collaborative process, we hope to develop mechanisms to improve the 'nutrition safety net' in the participating cities. Our research will also help to define the infrastructure and program and policy supports necessary to construct a more effective system of 'front-line' response to severe food insecurity.