Food Security and Hunger

1
Food Security and Hunger

• Hunger afflicts one in every seven people on
  Earth.
• (World Health Organization, 2003)

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What to think about......

• How can we be sure that we have enough good food?
• How can we be sure that those in the developing
  world will have enough as well?
• What are some of the other problems associated
  with the food trade? (local jobs in food
  production lost, pollution from transportation,
  farmers paid poorly, pesticides and herbicides
  used, large amounts of water needed, people are
  growing food for export rather than to feed their
  families, etc.)

3
What is food insecurity?

• Food Insecurity is a complex and rising problem.
  It takes many forms, from food scarcity to lack
  of nutritious food. It plagues people around the
  globe, spanning continents and crossing borders.
• The same factors that cause food insecurity the
  environment, economics and politics, are also the
  keys to solving the crisis.

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WHO World Health Organization

• Food security is built on three pillars
• Food availability sufficient quantities of food
  available on a consistent basis.
• Food access having sufficient resources to
  obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet.
• Food use appropriate use based on knowledge of
  basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate
  water and sanitation.

5
Food Security in Canada

• A Canadian perspective looks at defining
  situations of zero hunger, a sustainable food
  system, and healthy and safe food they look at
  the ideal result and steps needed to be taken to
  get there (Food Secure Canada 2006).
• Zero hunger is when all people at all times must
  be able to acquire, in a dignified manner,
  adequate quantity and quality of culturally and
  personally acceptable food (Food Secure Canada
  2006).

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• A sustainable food system means that food in
  Canada must be harvested, produced, processed,
  distributed and consumed in a manner which
  maintains and enhances the quality of land, air
  and water for future generations, and in which
  people are able to earn a living wage in a safe
  and healthy working environment by harvesting,
  growing, producing, processing, handling,
  retailing and serving food (Food Secure Canada
  2006).
• Healthy and safe food ties into a sustainable
  food system, one does not work without the other.

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Hunger in Canada

• Although Canada is one the wealthiest countries
  in the world, 9 or 2.7 million Canadians are
  considered "food insecure"(Canadian Community
  Health Survey, 2004).
• This means that many Canadians are not sure where
  their next meal is coming from or if theyll have
  enough resources to prepare a sufficient and
  nutritious meal for themselves or their families.

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Following, are a few groups whom the Food Banks
Canada label as being more vulnerable to food
insecurity

• Income Assistance Recipients - People who receive
  income assistance as their main source of income,
  make up over 50 of the clients at food banks.
  This may suggest that welfare rates in Canada are
  not enough to ensure food security for low-income
  Canadians, which, according to the National
  Council of Welfare, continue to fall below
  poverty lines.

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• Working Poor - The second largest group of food
  bank clients are people with jobs, at about
  13.1. Due to low wage incomes, they are unable
  to meet basic needs for themselves and their
  families, even with full-time jobs.  Seniors -
  About 7.1 of food bank clients are seniors.

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•  Children - Children under 18 represent
  approximately 40.7 of food bank clients in
  Canada, and the situation of child poverty has
  not improved since 1989 when Canada had made an
  all-party resolution to end child poverty. This
  representation is directly tied to the level of
  household income, 50 of recipients are families
  with children. Lone Mothers - According to
  Statistics Canada,1 in 4 of Canadas lone-parent
  or single-parent families, are headed by women
  41 of whom, in 2001, were living below the
  poverty line.

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Why does hunger and food insecurity exist?

•  Unequal distribution of food globally and
  locally Societal treatment of food as a
  commodity Inadequate resources to produce food
  in a sustainable way Limiting trade
  restrictions and government policies on food
  exportation and importation Poverty

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Approaches to Address Food Security Issues

• Short-Term   Capacity Building Redesign Food
  Security

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Short-Term

• Short-term relief strategies are the first level
  on the Food Security continuum. 
• This level represents emergency programs such as
  charitable food distribution agencies which
  intervene to prevent hunger and famine in times
  of environmental, societal or personal crisis.
• Food banks first arose in Canada during a period
  of large scale unemployment and recession in 1981
  in Edmonton, AB as an emergency measure, with
  the expectation that when the crisis was over,
  the program would fold.

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Examples of Short-Term

• Babies First/Steps and StagesPregnant women and
  families with children under 18 months have
  access to a food cupboard, food vouchers,
  nutritious snacks and lunch at these CPNP/CAPC
  drop-in programs at the Ontario Early Years
  Centre. Soup KitchensUsually held in a church
  basement or other community building where the
  community provides free food to people living on
  the street or who are in need.
• Can you think of a few other examples?

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Capacity Building

• The second rung along the food security continuum
  is a capacity building approach. 
• Strategies in this category reflect an effort to
  bridge gaps between the community and public
  policy, and to build-up the capacity of
  individuals to improve or control their own
  food-provision situation.
• The Community Food Security Movement combines
  components of food security with community
  strategies that ensure all members of the
  community have an affordable and quality food
  supply.
•  Give a person a fish, and you feed them for a
  day teach a person to fish, and they can feed
   themselves for a lifetime. 

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Examples of Capacity Building Strategies

• Community Kitchens (Peer-Led) Collective
  Kitchens are a place where people can meet to
  cook food for themselves and/or their families.
  Prices are kept low as meals are planned based
  around supermarket specials. Community Members
  may meet twice a month - once to plan and once to
  cook 3 to 5 meals to take home.  Collective
  Kitchens are often supported by a variety of
  service clubs and community organizations so the
  cost to participants is minimal.

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• Community Gardens A Community Garden is a
  cooperative venture in which families, groups or
  individuals get together to grow their own
  vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers on public
  or private land. There are several sites located
  around the city to garden. Gleaning The
  ability to pick fruits and vegetables for free.
  Farmers donate their extra produce and local
  churches pay for the bus transportation. Because
  produce ripens quickly and farmers are never sure
  when they will have any excess, gleaning trips
  are usually organized on short notice. Last year
  tomatoes, corn, strawberries and raspberries were
  some of the fruits and vegetables gleaned by
  community members. This is a fantastic way to
  ensure that foods will not be wasted that cannot
  be sold from farmers. It also offers healthy,
  fresh products for citizens but is limited
  because it is organized on short notice

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Structural Redesign

• The redesign approach is the most effective
  strategy for attacking the core issues of
  poverty, food system sustainability, and
  promoting the connection between health and
  social environment.
• Several recent structural redesign
  commitments,(within the past 15 years) which the
  Canadian government has made, include the World
  Declaration on Nutrition and the Plan of Action
  for Nutrition (1992), the World Summit for Social
  Development (1995), the Declaration on World Food
  Security (1996), Canada's Action Plan on Food
  Security (1998)  and the Declaration on World
  Food Security Five Years Later (2002). All of
  these target the appropriate issue within the
  social structure, however they have not yet been
  fulfilled and a large proportion of Canadian
  citizen's continue to live marginally (3).

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Nutritious Food Basket

• The National Nutritious Food Basket (NNFB), which
  is a list of 66 food items that has been
  validated for use in Nova Scotia to estimate the
  cost of a basic, nutritious diet, was used to
  survey 43  randomly selected grocery stores and
  an additional 14 more under the supervision of
  the Nova Scotia  Nutrition Council.  In 2002 it
  was found that the cost of the NNFB for a family
  of four was 502.79, a   price which many Nova
  Scotians cannot afford, especially those living
  on Income Assistance or earning
   minimum-wage.   lthttp//www.nsnc.ca/Research20Pr
  oject20Reports/FoodCostingReport2002.pdf

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Centre for Studies in Food Security

•  Issues of income, health, the evolution of
  the food system, including ecological
  sustainability social and cultural diversity.
   News, food security course, conferences,
  publications, resources.   www.ryerson.ca/foodse
  c

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Youth and Food Security

• Youth play an enormous part in the issue of food
  security, as they are what keep the awareness and
  aid continuing for future generations and they
  will be a significant part of the work behind the
  complete elimination of hunger, not only on a
  local community bases, but also on the large
  global scale.
• Without their interest in the improvement of the
  well being for all mankind, initiatives such as
  food banks, community relief programs, etc.,
  would not continue and would eventually fade out.
  
• Todays youth are becoming more and more distant
  from the problems that we all face today as local
  and global communities, one being hunger.

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Pick an organization and make a poster explaining
what they do.

• Organizations and Resources
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Food Security
  Bureau www.agr.gc.ca/misb/fsb/FSB2eng.html
• Campaign 2000 http//www.campaign2000.ca/
• Campaign Against Child Poverty
  http//www.childpoverty.com/
• Canadian Council on Social Development
  http//www.ccsd.ca/
• Canadian Association for Community
  Service-Learning http//www.communityservicelearn
  ing.ca/
• Canadian Association of Food Banks
  http//www.cafb-acba.ca/
• Canadian Food Security Network
  www.ryerson.ca/foodsec/fd.htm
• Community Food Security Coalition
  http//www.foodsecurity.org/
• Daily Bread Food Bank http//www.dailybread.ca/
• Dietitians of Canada http//www.dietitians.ca/
• End Canadian Poverty http//www.endcanadianpovert
  y.ca/
• Food Security Assembly http//www.foodsecurityass
  embly.ca/
• Food Secure Canada http//www.foodsecurecanada.or
  g/
• FoodShare http//www.foodshare.ca/
• National Anti-Poverty Organization
  http//www.napo-onap.ca/
• Santropol Roulant http//www.santropolroulant.org
  /
• Second Harvest http//www.secondharvest.ca/
• The Stop Community Food Centre
  http//www.thestop.org/

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Homework Questions

• Volatile Food Prices Read article
• http//www.npr.org/2011/06/22/137324767/volatile-f
  ood-prices-grab-g-20s-full-attention
• Follow-up Questions
• Why are politicians becoming more involved with
  the issue of food insecurity?
• The radio broadcast reports that many
  organizations predict food prices to double in
  upcoming years. If this happens, what do you
  think the political effects will be?
• What about the humanitarian effects?

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• aim broad, long-term, important goal
• chutney spicy relish made from fruits, sugar,
  vinegar and spices
• co-ordinate to manage activities by working
  together with others
• curing to preserve meat or fish by smoking,
  drying or salting
• cyanide a very poisonous chemical found naturally
  in cassava
• environment the natural habitat of soil, climate,
  vegetation and living things
• genetic variability the natural variation between
  plants (or animals) of the same species that
  causes differences in height, colour or yield,
  for example
• grains the seed or fruit of cereal crops
• hybrid high-yielding offspring produced by
  breeding two different varieties of cereal (or
  livestock). Retaining seed from a hybrid crop for
  planting will usually give poor results.
• jam sweet spread made from fruit and sugar

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• kiln special oven used to process foods by
  smoking and drying
• objective measurable activity which contributes
  towards achieving the main aim
• pickle vegetables preserved in spices and vinegar
  
• potassium metabisulphite a preservative
• resource something needed to achieve an
  objective money, information, human skills or
  natural products
• shea butter oil obtained from the fruit of the
  shea butter tree
• tarpaulin heavy waterproofed canvas material
• traditional crops crop varieties which have been
  passed down from one generation to another