Last month, Peterborough Public Health (PPH) published their annual report on household food insecurity within Peterborough City and County.
The 2024 report discussed the growing concern about household food insecurity in the region. Food insecurity occurs when individuals and families find themselves in the difficult spot of choosing to pay for rent or food and is a key indicator of financial hardship. In Peterborough City and County, nearly one in five households worried about running out of money to purchase food between 2021 and 2023. This is the highest reported risk ever recorded in our community.
Data from all provinces indicate this trend extends across the country, where the number of people in food-insecure households has risen by more than 42% between 2019 and 2023. Those most affected are one-parent households with children, renters and those whose primary income source is social assistance. Unsurprisingly, the problem seems to have worsened significantly in 2023 according to Stats Canada, where the number of individuals facing food insecurity rose by more than 25%. Prices began to ramp up in 2021, and by 2022, Canada’s inflation rate as indicated by the increase in the Canadian Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 6.8% , the largest increase in 40 years. In 2023 the rate of price increases slowed to 3.9% and is now in the neighbourhood of 2% per year. The problem is that while prices have been rising, incomes, particularly at the lower levels, have not kept pace, leaving more people with incomes that do not cover basic necessities such as food and shelter.
Food relief programs such as food banks and Sandwich Sisters offer temporary help, but do not address the cause and cannot keep up with the need. The report suggests that the problem requires an income-based solution.
PPH indicates that Household food insecurity is a complex income problem that affects our community. When incomes do not match the cost of food and other basic needs, there are serious consequences. These include long-lasting impacts on child health and well-being, including delayed brain development in young children and chronic stress impacting the ability of parents to create healthy, safe and nurturing environments for the development of their children.
The report concludes that food insecurity is an income problem that requires an income solution. Some of the options include a basic income guarantee, reduced income tax rates for lowest-income households, social assistance, minimum wages and targeted benefits such as disability and child benefits matched with cost of living. There was support for the Canada Child Benefit program as an effective tool to address the problem but research indicates that it would be more effective if it provided more funds to recipients at the lowest income levels.
The best indicator of food insecurity in Cavan Monaghan is the level of demand at the Millbrook Foodshare. It was established twenty-five years ago by the late Reverend John Sloan and the Clark Mayhew to provide food to local people facing food insecurity.
In 2023, demand for the services of the organization increased threefold significantly. The organization reports that they currently support 84 families consisting of 184 adults and 83 children, representing approximately 2.31% of the population. The noticed a spike in weekly visits in the last three months of almost 50%.
To make food distribution more equitable, Foodshare began to categorize their clientele by the size of their household in 2023. The established the volume of food clients are eligible to collect each week. The organization also extended its service to four Tuesdays a month instead of three to better serve this group.
Food insecurity is a health issue. To get to the root causes of food insecurity and reverse its growth, Dr. Thomas Piggott, Medical Officer of Health and CEO of PPH believes that we need to address inadequate income. He encourages residents to take action to promote income solutions, including the right to affordable housing. The full report is available at www. https://www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-Report-Addressing-Food-Insecurity-in-Peterborough.pdf. KG