Dear Prime-Minister,
I’m sending you this letter to express my gratitude for the strides you’ve made in combating the nation’s food insecurity issues. I strongly urge you to move forward in achieving the extent and possibilities of the Food Policy for Canada in light of the numerous obligations placed on your shoulders so that the country may be enhanced. The reformation of our food systems can have positive effects on the citizens of Canada as well as significant pathways toward attaining the Sustainable Development Goals by the year 2030. The urgently required transformation of the food system must focus on resolving the numerous structural inequalities, the global warming crisis, and other related environmental issues.
It is important to emphasize that, in Canada and other high-income countries, food insecurity and inadequate access to food are important determinants in determining one’s degree of health. It has been repeatedly demonstrated, according to (Lee, Shen, & Nishita, 2022, p. 739), that a lack of food security is constantly linked to a variety of physical and mental health problems as well as greater costs for adult healthcare. Families with children, single-parent homes, and those whose main source of income is government assistance such as welfare are at a higher risk of suffering food insecurity.
Even though food is at the core of some of Canada’s most important policy topics, millions of people lack access to enough healthful food. This suggests that the employment of one in eight Canadians is a significant factor in determining health care expenses and is essential to our environmental policy and the fight against climate change (Ed. & Ed., 2020). Even though food-related issues are interconnected, Canada lacks an integrated and coordinated plan to ensure that the food system supports sustainability, fairness, and health. By establishing a comprehensive policy framework that utilizes food systems as a lens to look at environmental sustainability, health promotion, economic growth, and social justice concerns, a national food strategy, (Mills, 2021, p. 200), may be able to address this issue. It would bring together a wide range of governance innovations and policy instruments in addition to activities from diverse food-related sectors, sizes, participants, and jurisdictions. I salute the initiatives of nonprofit groups like Food Secure Canada. This pan-Canadian collaboration of organizations and people is trying to improve food security and dominance by concentrating on three interrelated objectives:
- Taking steps to combat food insecurity’s causes
- establishing a society-wide, effective food system
- eradicating food shortages
- offering wholesome meals
- creating sustainable food systems
The coalition’s goal is to increase Canada’s food security and independence. As a result of our efforts for a thorough federal food policy for Canada, the Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council (CFPAC), whose work we urge you to pursue with greater intensity and depth, was established in February of this year. The predictions for 2021 also do not take into account the territories’ data, which is not yet available. The level of food insecurity in the territories, particularly in Nunavut, has always been quite high. Marginal food insecurity is not included in the most recent CIS statistics, which were taken in 2020. In 2020, families in Nunavut (46.1%), the Northwest Territories (23.1%), and Yukon (15.3%) had moderate to severe food insecurity. In Nunavut, over a quarter (23.3%) of the population lived in a home where there was acute food insecurity in 2020.
Through the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), Statistics Canada has been regularly tracking household food insecurity since 2005. After the federal government designated food insecurity as a critical indicator for its poverty reduction plan, the HFSSM was included in the Canadian Income Survey (CIS) in 2019. Because jurisdictions might choose not to track food insecurity in certain years, CCHS could not accomplish consistent monitoring; however, CIS now guarantees accurate, yearly assessments. It is inappropriate to directly compare and interpret variations between the results of the two polls due to methodological differences. We think that since CIS has a greater response rate than CCHS, it may offer more accurate estimates of food insecurity (Dames, Luctkar-Flude, & Tyerman, 2020). The main source of information regarding Canada’s hunger issues before the implementation of food insecurity monitoring was utilization statistics from food banks. Given that not all people who suffer from food insecurity use food banks, measuring food insecurity using the HFSSM has made it possible to directly evaluate household food insecurity and properly estimate the size of the issue.
The number of Canadians who experienced food insecurity soared during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of Canada’s ratification of the United Nations Covenant on Social, Economic, and Cultural Rights, it is as important for you to protect the right to food as you did the right to shelter. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and end food insecurity by 2030, a rights-based approach rather than a charity paradigm is required. The main causes of food insecurity are poverty and institutional inequality, and only the rich have access to a healthy diet (Mills, 2021, p. 200). We require a universal, livable minimum wage in addition to publicly funded initiatives that give people simple access to wholesome food to address the root causes.
Additionally, the commercial sector resisted your earlier attempts to restrict the marketing of highly processed food to youngsters and to enforce front-pack labeling to promote healthier eating. I value the fact that your campaign platform reiterated your dedication to accomplishing them. We need you to assess your policy and program activities against the guidelines of the Canadian Food Guide to make sure that everyone has access to wholesome, environmentally friendly, and culturally acceptable food.
It is crucial to build local food chains that are not only strong and environmentally healthy but also shorten and diversify current food routes in light of the ongoing loss of biodiversity. As a result, towns will be revitalized, and more people will have access to wholesome, fresh meals, and food systems that produce fewer greenhouse emissions, are more shock-resistant, and squander and lose less food will be encouraged. I concur with the Farmers Climatic Solution programs’ demand that climate change adaptation and mitigation should be given top priority in the next Agricultural Policy Framework. To create policies and solutions that are advantageous to farmers, people, and the environment, cooperation with the national government and other charitable movement players is important (Kohnen, 2021). Although it is vital, the battle against food loss and waste should not be confused with the fight against food insecurity. The latter is not about charity programs, but more about fulfilling the right to eat and having respectable access.
The most pressing problem that has to be resolved quickly is the administration of food policy. I think that the nation’s food policy can help us accomplish a lot of other national goals. A sustainable and healthy country with a reduced carbon footprint and more opportunities for residents are only a few of these goals, which may be attained by adopting a creative, cooperative strategy that aspires higher than merely advancing the nation’s economic interests. This plan looks at how the nation’s other national goals may be advanced by the federal government’s food policy. A national policy for healthy eating may be supported and developed with the help of the health minister, to put it another way.
In response to a questionnaire Food, Secure Canada sent, respondents indicated support for a federal strategy to reduce food insecurity in Canada, as well as for the strategy’s planning and funding. Here, it is acknowledged that the right to adequate, wholesome, and sufficient nourishment is a fundamental human right (Pollard & Booth, 2019). This information leads me to believe that the Minister of Families and Children will assist in the creation of a framework for food policy. The Canadian Coast Guard and the Ministry of Fisheries, Oceans, and Climate Change should also be added to this list of food-related Ministries. Although Agricultural and Agri-Food Canada is an important part of our strategy, I want to make sure that you understand the need for a government-wide strategy.
I want to share my satisfaction with your government’s commitment to forging new relationships with Canadians and adopting a more open method of formulating public policy. Civil society organizations must be incorporated into the governance structure from the beginning for a national food plan to be deemed comprehensive. You may already be aware of this, but a truly strong and diverse national network of organizations supports Food Secure Canada. These groups represent several industries and regions of the nation (Kohnen, 2021). Resetting the Table is a report that was published in 2011 that looks into several ways to get healthy, risk-free food on Canadians’ tables. Thousands of Canadians participated in the report’s development. It benefited Canadian farmers, including those who may start as farmers in the future. Another way that it helped reduce food insecurity was by battling poverty. It also made sure that every kid had access to wholesome meals at the schools where they attended.
As a result, it lessened the negative consequences that our agricultural system had on the nature around it. I’m eager to share my expertise with food groups so that they may successfully influence the formulation of Canadian food policy. Over 68 community meetings on this topic have already been held as part of the Eat Think Vote campaign. Additionally, training sessions and webinars have been hosted, and there is complete trust that the networks in place have the necessary expertise to contribute to this national discourse.
I am aware that many ideas are being debated regarding developing a national food plan. I have great expectations that the government will be successful in creating a process that is inclusive, efficient, and allows for participation from all important stakeholders. At your earliest possible opportunity, I would be happy to meet with you to discuss how Food Secure Canada may contribute to this process. It would be my pleasure to do so.
References
Dames, S., Luctkar-Flude, M., & Tyerman, J. (2020). Edelman and Kudzma. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Ed., S. J., & Ed., M. J. (2020). COVID-19 and global food security. Intl Food Policy Res Inst.
Kohnen, A. (2021). Household food insecurity among recent immigrants to Canada: A quantitative analysis. Web.
Lee, J. J. Y., Shen, S., & Nishita, C. (2022). Development of Older Adult Food Insecurity Index to Assess Food Insecurity of Older Adults. The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging, 26(7), 739-746. Web.
Mills, C. M. (2021). Food Insecurity in Older Adults in Canada and the United States: A Concept Analysis. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, 82(4), 200-208. Web.
Pollard, C. M., & Booth, S. (2019). Addressing Food and Nutrition Security in Developed Countries. MDPI.