The Expense of Food

The cost of living has not been unfelt by Canadians. The costs of living have impacted everyone in different ways. However, one major impact of the cost of living has been felt by the rise in food insecurity.

Dr. Jennifer Black, associate professor at the University of British Columbia said, “The most recent national report from 2022 just came out…and now we’re seeing numbers that are close to 7 million Canadians and almost 1.8 million children under the age of 18 who live in households experiencing some levels of food insecurity over the last year.”

But what is food insecurity?

Dr. Black says, “The definition I’m going to use is really just talking about food insecurity as the inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints. So really just talking about what it means to not have stable, adequate access to food, largely driven because you don’t have enough money to get it.”

A Dalhousie University report said, “In 2022, Canadians spent, on average, 11 per cent of their income on food. Those with the highest incomes spent 5.2 per cent on food, while those living with the lowest incomes spent up to 23 per cent of their income on food.”

These numbers might not reflect the enlarged image you would have expected after looking at your grocery bill. The reports do not take into account the typical costs individuals have like rent/mortgage, utilities, transportation, etc. which have a larger drain on your income. These necessary costs combined with the accumulated cost of food are what cause you to feel the strain at the checkout line. 

Dr. Black said, “So I think people are feeling that more and more as grocery prices rise and as the cost of living rises, for some, it’s just really that constant sort of mental juggling about how they’re going to make ends meet and feed themselves and their families.”

According to Canada’s Food Price Report 2023, “Canada also saw the highest rate of food inflation since the 1980s—a 40-year high.”

According to Feed Ontario, “Food bank use remains at an all-time high with this year marking the seventh consecutive year of food bank use increases.” 

On a local level, this change has also been felt by Food Banks. Vishal Khanna, owner of Sai Dham Food Bank, in Etobicoke, spoke about the increased use of his food programs. “If we are talking about International students, we were hardly having 50 to 55 students coming in on a weekly basis. Today it’s 150 kids.” 

The Sai Dham Food Bank is one of the only Food Banks open 24/7 in the GTA and Khanna said that they have felt the burden of increasing food insecurity on their shoulders.

Locally, the Sai Dham Food Bank has seen an uptick in the use of their services, which has prompted them to offer their services to an expanded area. Khanna spoke about the crisis not only impacting highly populated cities like the GTA but also as a national issue that has impacted everyone to some degree.

However, this increase has highlighted larger issues for sustainability. “We used to have donors coming in on a monthly basis, to give at least $100 worth of things, now they don’t even come in [every] three months. It’s not their fault. Their own expenses have risen to a point that they are finding it [harder] to help.”

The Situation

Dr Black said, “Well, it’s pretty clear that food insecurity at the foremost is driven by a lack of sufficient income to meet household needs. So arguably it’s really a policy failure and a decision to continue to ignore approaches to making sure everybody has enough money to meet their household needs, including food.”

Both Dr. Black and Khanna believe that food policies in Canada need to be adjusted to meet the current needs of Canadians with food insecurity. In 2019 a budget of $134 million was announced in the Food Policy by the federal government. As of now, Canada has not updated the 2019 budget for the Food Policy. However, there have been some updates to note, namely, the Local Food Infrastructure Fund (LIFF) is set to expire in March 2024 and has closed its application intake. 

There are some food relief programs that are running today, however, there is still a lack of access to these funds for many Canadians who have been feeling the burn in their wallets. 

While the situation has expanded the use of food banks, most Canadians treat food banks as a last resort. People will make cuts to their needs before utilizing food banks. Dr. Black said that many people will go without food, limit their typical expenses, and borrow from family and friends before accessing these charitable organizations. 

This means the use of food banks is growing at a slower pace than potentially needed by Canadians, with deferred use acting as a camouflage to the gravity of the issue at hand. The stigma on food bank usage is still present, however, their use of food banks has still been expanding among Canadians. 

Khanna said, “I think it is unfortunate that this business is growing In Canada, it should not be.”

The current reflection of Canadians’ mental and physical financial struggles is not accurately portrayed in Canadian policy. “What we know very clearly from 40 years of evidence in Canada is that relying on a charitable response to a systemic policy issue isn’t working.” Dr. Black continued to say, “Even though food banks have been growing and expanding over these 40 years, that food insecurity has been getting higher and higher.”