I’m getting to the point where I’m really ready to start eating the way I normally do. How lucky, being able to choose to go back to a plentiful, healthy diet. I’ve become quite apathetic about meal time and I don’t look forward to it. As a foodie and a dietitian student, this is extremely unlike me. I live and breathe food.
Today I’m thinking about food security. When we think about food security, we often think about a country, far far away from us. We think about those television commercials we all saw as children. We think of a place that isn’t Canada. How could it be? We’re a safe, resource-rich country, a developed Western nation.What if I told you that 1.6 million homes in Canada experience some sort of food insecurity? What if I told you that British Columbia has the highest poverty rate in the entire country? 1.6 million, that’s 4.4% of our population. That’s 1 in 8 households. That’s huge, when it could be zero.
There are many definitions of the term Food Security, I’d like to cite one definition from The World Health Organization:
Food security is having access to sufficient quantities of food, having sufficient resources with which to obtain foods for a nutritious diet and appropriate use of food based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care… Food security exists when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life. http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en/
All people. That’s the part that sticks with me. To be food secure, all people must have access to food. Healthy food, at that. Something I have noticed over this past week is my intense and insatiable cravings for fat and sugar. Fat, mostly. This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. Our bodies are still programmed to prepare for the next moment when food is scarce. For many of us, food is not scarce. For a lot of us -1.6 million to be exact- food is still a scarce commodity. So, if you are chronically hungry, and you need cheap foods that satisfy those cravings, what would you reach for. Me? I would reach for foods high in sugar, fat and salt, because my body wants them. It needs them for fuel. Of course, since money is extremely limited, can I indulge in “healthy” fats or rich foods that are fatty but also nutrient dense? Of course not, those are far too expensive. So there it is, the foods I would eat (I cannot consciously call them food choices because really, where is the choice?) are not nutrient dense. Calorie dense, but not nutrient dense. Foods that have been linked to illness and disease. What if, long term, these are the only foods I am able to eat? Are welfare recipients food secure? Absolutely not. If a welfare recipient cannot consistently afford foods that are part of a nutritious diet, how can this person be expected to thrive? What if you’re a child, in the most crucial stages of development. What then?
So, back to the all people part. We are living in a country that is not food secure, and something must be done. Even if you are food secure, your country is not. Can you really live with that? $610 a month. $21 for food. This amount of money says, we don’t care if some of you have to eat food that could make you sick. Good, healthy, nutritious food is too expensive for you. Food is not a human right, it’s a privilege. I disagree. Food is a basic human right; let’s change this mind set. It was Mahatma Ghandi who said, “The measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members.” I think we need to carefully consider those words and, as a country, step up. We have the power to change the rates of food insecurity in Canada. Let’s do it. Let’s raise the rates of Welfare.
Today was a difficult day for Kaleigh and me. We started out with a pretty decent breakfast; eggs, toast, beans and the remainder of the sautéed mushrooms and onions I saved when cooking the chili. Lunch was not so great. We accidentally burned our toast, but since we are running low, needed to salvage it. We scrapped off the burned bits and ate it anyway. We had the toast with plain tuna and half a carrot each. It was dry. Very dry. Dinner started out ok, but we quickly realized our chili had gone bad, so it had to be thrown out. Having only oatmeal and two servings of rice and beans left we decided to have oats and peanut butter for dinner, we will save the beans and rice for tomorrow. It would be a lie to say that I’m not counting down the hours until I can eat well again. I have the choice, 1.6 million people in this country do not.
I encourage you to visit this website to learn more about a Food Secure Canada: http://foodsecurecanada.org
As always, I encourage you to sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/christy-clark-raise-social-assistance-rates-in-bc
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