Over 70 community members filled Innovation Guelph on Oct. 19 for an event focused on the importance of income-based responses to household food insecurity.
Keynote speaker Valarie Tarasuk, principal investigator with PROOF Food Insecurity Policy Research, stressed that the problem is avoidable.
“There are way too many people in our communities who are struggling to afford the food they need,” she said.
“The research on this problem is clear: food insecurity is preventable. Interventions that improve the adequacy and security of incomes for those at the very bottom of the income spectrum also improve their food insecurity.”
Based on recent statistics from the Canadian Community Health Survey, approximately 14 per cent of households in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph experience food insecurity.
In comparison, Ontario’s household food insecurity rate was 12.1%. While these rates remain high, critical work is being done in the community to address the issue.
Randalin Ellery, coordinator with the Guelph and Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination said, “There are incredible programs in our community that support individuals to access emergency food in a dignified and inclusive way – The POD cold storage and distribution initiative, the North End Harvest Market, and the Guelph Youth Farm are all great examples.
“However, we need to ensure that alongside this work, we’re advocating for a multi-pronged, income-based solution that address the root causes of household food insecurity. This includes living wage policies, increased social assistance rates, increased investments in affordable housing, and a Basic Income Guarantee.”
The event’s other keynote speaker, Mike Balkwill, provincial organizer of the Put Food in the Budget campaign, took Tarasuk and Ellery’s message a step further.
“Income security is the only policy that leads to food security,” he said. “Food banks and other forms of food charity do not. Poverty in Ontario is growing. The Liberal government’s poverty reduction strategies have not worked because they failed to raise social assistance rates.
Health and dignity
“People who volunteer and donate to food banks must demand that social assistance rates be raised to levels that guarantee people lives of health and dignity. Unless the rates are raised to adequate levels food banks will require people to volunteer for another 30 years of service.”
The event also included a Theatre for Living performance, facilitated by Zoe Barrett-Wood. The performance included community members showcasing the experiences with household food insecurity.
The event was co-hosted by the Guelph and Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination, The Seed, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health and the Guelph Community Health Centre.
