QUESTION PERIOD — Health
Food Security
November 4, 2020
My question is for the Government Representative, the Honourable Senator Gold. At the end of September, the organization Community Food Centres Canada produced an extensive report entitled Beyond Hunger: The Hidden Impacts of Food Insecurity in Canada. Food insecurity is something we usually associate with foreign developing countries, failed states and the work of the United Nations World Food Program, but the reality is that it is unfortunately a feature of Canadian society as well. Even before the pandemic, millions of Canadians were unable to find enough food, or were worried about running out of food because of a lack of resources. This affects the physical and mental health of individuals as well as families, and contributes to social isolation.
Food insecurity is not a question of availability or distribution of food, but it is mostly about poverty. The number of fellow Canadians experiencing such food insecurity has now skyrocketed by 39% due to COVID-19. As has been the case with the pandemic statistics themselves, the impact is most significant for marginalized and racialized Canadians, and those in the North. While there is much attention being paid to the matters of accountability for past COVID-19 spending and fiscal management of a recovery, these social and human costs could fall by the wayside. Does the government have a national strategy or plan, or are they working on one, to confront the effects of food insecurity made worse by this pandemic?
Thank you, honourable senator, for raising this issue. The government knows that food systems are integral to the well-being of individuals, families and communities and, indeed, the strength of our economy. Even before the pandemic, in June of 2019, the government launched Canada’s first-ever food policy to serve as a road map for a healthier and more sustainable food system and supported it with a significant investment of $134 million in Budget 2019. It’s a collaborative, coordinated approach between government stakeholders and community efforts in a number of different areas to support, generally speaking, food security both in northern and Indigenous communities.
To help address the food insecurity that has been made worse by the pandemic, in April the government invested $100 million for food banks and other local food organizations. More recently, in October it added another $100 million because the government acknowledges and understands the demand is high.
Senator Gold, all solutions to public policy problems need to be evidence-based. Therefore, to obtain the most accurate understanding of the state of food insecurity in Canada today, would the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development consider instructing Statistics Canada to explore the creation of a targeted basket of statistical indicators to define, measure and track food insecurity for analysis?
Thank you, honourable senator, for your question, and for the advanced notice that you provided my office for this question. I was able to make inquiries, but have not yet received a response. When I hear back from the government, I will report back.
