Food prices aren’t the only barrier to achieving food security

Food prices are rising, along with stagnant wages, have been cited as significant obstacles to attaining the goal of food security. Around one in six or 15.9 percent of the households living in Canada suffer from the problem of food security.

Food prices and economic barriers aren’t the only obstacles to ensuring food security. Our study, which Food Secure Canada published, exposes that systemic barriers like racism, colonialism, and other forms of injustice are among the major reasons for food insecurity within Canada.

In accordance with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, food security is dependent on physical, economic, and access to food for all.

Economic access is a result of aspects like income, poverty, and food accessibility. Access to physical access is a result of infrastructure and facilities such as highways and transport. Access to social access focuses on making sure that individuals are able to access all essential resources in society to provide healthy and appropriate food. Food insecurity can occur if one of these pathways does not work.

The interconnected obstacles to food security

Our research uncovers three key obstacles to food access:

The results show that people living on a lower income require long-term solutions that address all types of food insecurity.

Our research identified affordability as the biggest obstacle to access to food. Its Consumer Price Index has shown that the cost of food has gone up by 10.4 percent in 2022. In the same way, Canada’s Food Price Report for 2023 suggests that food costs remain a major issue for Canadians and are putting more stress on the food security of families.

The income gap in Canada has risen in the last two decades. It is the Canada Crisis Response Benefit (CERB) has been a measure aimed at reducing the negative effects of job loss during the outbreak. For many food advocates, CERB is an illustration of how a fundamental income indicator can mitigate the issue of income inequality. Recent data, however, show that it is not effective at enhancing the food security of those who get the benefits.

This means that any future policies should more effectively address the issue of income disparities. Policymakers also have to consider the reasons why certain groups -such as Indigenous people who live off reserves or recent immigrants, as well as those who have disabilities — are often in the top tier of the people having a low income when compared to other groups.

Colonialism, discrimination, and racism

Indigenous communities face a challenge in sustaining traditional practices such as fishing and hunting, which are vital for the production of food that is appropriate to their culture. (Shutterstock)

Different systems of discrimination, like colonialism and racism, further impact the availability of food. The highest proportion of people living in food insecure households within Canada comprise Indigenous Peoples (30.7 percent) and Arab/West Asian (27.6 percent) in addition to Blacks (22.4 percent). The study also reveals the fact that colonialism and racism significantly affect the relationship Black, Indigenous, and people of color experience with food. One participant in the study said that:

“Colonialism has an ongoing impact on how we view food, portions, and our relationships with food that needs to be challenged in order to move towards sustainable consumption.”

The ongoing and historic colonialism has isolated Indigenous Peoples from their land and food systems. This created significant obstacles in accessing the foods essential to Indigenous well-being and health. In addition, Indigenous groups face issues when it comes to maintaining traditional practices such as fishing and hunting that are essential for the production of conventional food.

Read more: Why are babies going hungry in a food-rich nation like Canada?

In addition, our study found that community initiatives led by Indigenous, Black, and people of color face barriers to receiving grants and funding due to the Eurocentric structures and processes included in the application and reporting processes. This limits the number of culturally or heritage-specific programs that organizations can offer to their communities.