Transcript PPT HERE - Mrs. Standish

Hunger afflicts one in every seven people on
Earth.
(World Health Organization, 2003)
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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.)
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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.
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.
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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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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
they’ll have enough resources to prepare a
sufficient and nutritious meal for themselves
or their families.
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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 fulltime 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 Canada’s lone-parent or singleparent families, are headed by women; 41% of
whom, in 2001, were living below the poverty
line.
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• 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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Short-Term + Capacity Building + Redesign
= Food Security
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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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Babies First/Steps and Stages
Pregnant 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 Kitchens
Usually 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.
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Can you think of a few other examples?
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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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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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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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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 minimumwage. <http://www.nsnc.ca/Research%20Projec
t%20Reports/FoodCostingReport2002.pdf
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• 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/~foodsec
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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.
Today’s 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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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.communityservicelearning.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.endcanadianpoverty.ca/
Food Security Assembly: http://www.foodsecurityassembly.ca/
Food Secure Canada: http://www.foodsecurecanada.org/
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/
The Student Food Network: http://www.studentfood.ca/
Volatile Food Prices – Read article
 http://www.npr.org/2011/06/22/137324767/vo
latile-food-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
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objective measurable activity which contributes towards
achieving the main aim
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pickle vegetables preserved in spices and vinegar
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potassium metabisulphite a preservative
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resource something needed to achieve an objective:
money, information, human skills or natural products
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shea butter oil obtained from the fruit of the shea butter
tree
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tarpaulin heavy waterproofed canvas material
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traditional crops crop varieties which have been passed
down from one generation to another