Unit 3: Food Security

How many people experience chronic lack of food on a daily basis?

1 in 5 people

• In many cases, those who are experiencing hunger live in countries that produce excess food, but do not have access.

Food security

Access by all people at all times to nutritionally adequate, safe, personally acceptable foods from normal food channels.

Food insecurity

Uncertain or limited access to foods of sufficient quantity or quality

• Food insecurity leads to hunger, and hunger is a major health issue.

Risk factors for food insecurity

anything that limits resources available for food acquisition, such as an increase in non-food expenditures, under-employment and poverty, poor intake of micronutrients

Food poverty

Occurs in areas where there is enough food, however for some reason people cannot obtain it, and hunger occurs. Reasons can include war, political reasons, lack or resources (such as money or transportation).

Hunger

an uncomfortable or painful sensation caused by insufficient food energy consumption.

• Scientifically, hunger is referred to as food deprivation.

Famine

Extreme, widespread food scarcity which causes starvation in the areA

Four pillars of food security

Availability: access to sufficient amounts of food at all times. This is affected by time of year/season, civil conflict/war, food preservation and supply.

Accessibility: physical access and economic means to access food at all times. Accessibility is determined by

entitlements (the bundle of resources needed to acquire food).

Adequacy: access to food that provides adequate nourishment and is safe. Adequacy is affected by: control over resources, nutrient content of the food/quality, knowledge of food/nutrition.

Acceptability: access to food that is…

• personally palatable

• acquired by a socially-acceptable means of obtaining food (e.g. some people may not want to accept foods from a food bank or beg for food even if hungry because this compromises their dignity)

• culturally appropriate

  Agency (Fifth pillar * sometimes included):

• encompasses the policies and processes that make food security achievable

What is accessibility affected by?

MEP Wa(S)H GET

• market prices

• employment/funds

• production and marketing systems

• gender and power relations within the household

• education

• transportation

• water

• sanitation

Goals of the food security Quest game

1. Develop an understanding of the complexities of food security beyond being able to access food.

2. Develop an understanding of and empathy for the choices and difficulties faced by those living with food insecurity.

• food insecurity arises from intersecting risk factors such as income instability, health status, caregiving responsibilities, immigration status, systemic inequities, and access to transportation, rather than individual food choices.

Dawn risk factors

• Low and unstable income (contract work, no job security)

• Health issues (Type 2 diabetes → higher food and medical costs)

• Rural location → limited access to affordable, healthy food

• Transportation dependence (fuel costs affect food budget)

• Age → increased vulnerability to income and health shocks

Dolores risk factors

• Single parenthood → high household food needs

• Student debt limiting disposable income

• Time poverty (work + parenting → reliance on convenience foods)

• Systemic inequities faced by Indigenous women

• High housing and childcare costs

Saad risk factors

• Refugee status → limited employment opportunities

• Low fixed income supporting a large household

• Language barriers limiting job access

• Cultural food needs (Halal food often costs more or is harder to access)

• Large family size → increased food demand

• Limited social networks

Max risk factors

• Low student income and financial independence

• High housing costs

• Limited cooking skills & food knowledge

• Lack of family financial support

• Life transition stress (first time living alone)

Food poverty

• the primary cause of hunger in developing countries

• Women and children are usually the most affected

• Food insecurity is increasing in Africa and in Western Asia

• Approx 8.2% of the world faced hunger in 2024

Reasons of hunger in developing world (RIDAII)

Regional quantity: quality and availability of food

e.g. drought preventing adequate food production in an area; can all people in the region access the available food?

Discrimination factors that affect distribution

e.g. war; government corruption; unemployment and lack of borrowing power; racial, ethnic of religious discrimination.

Individual household access to available food

e.g. transportation to get food; necessary infrastructure such as passable roads to food delivery.

Access to clean water (in sufficient quantity) and health services (to prevent disease and illness)

Individual childcare practices and knowledge (e.g. child fed while others in the family go hungry; knowledge of how to mix baby formula“ if too much water is used, this will dilute the nutritional value, or using unclean water to mix formula)

Inadequate food or nutrient intakes causing malnutrition, weakness, disease (family may be too weak to compete for food)

Effects of hundreds of in developing countries

• Ultimately disease conditions and malnutrition can worsen one another. This affects the life expectancy rates in some African countries, the life expectancy averages 50 years of age.

Two major challenges exist to banishing world food insecurity

1. Provide enough for the worlds expanding population, without destroying natural resources needed for continued food production.

2. Make sure everyone has access to this food.

• When you look at the world food supply, enough food is produced to feed the entire current population, however many that are in need are unable to get adequate food, while others have an overabundance.

• approximately 735 million people who experience hunger and protein-energy malnutrition vs over 1.1 billion people worldwide who are overweight/obese.

Factors that affect the ability to eradicate hunger (Food and Agriculture infographic)

1. Improving food demand

2. Ensure sustainable natural resource base

3. Address climate change and intensification of natural hazards

4. Eradicate poverty and reduce inequality

5. End hunger and malnutrition

6. Make food systems inclusive, efficient and resilient

7. Improve income earning

8. Build resilience to crisis

9. Prevent agricultural threats

10. Address need for governance

Reasons behind world hunger and potential solutions (video)

• conflict

• Drought

• Covid-19

• Fuel price and fertilizer price increase

• Escalating costs

What Changes Need to Happen to Banish Food Insecurity in the World?

• Sustainable agriculture

• Improved Infrastructure

• Access to Resources

• Education and Training

• Technology and Innovation

• Reducing Food Waste

• Empowering Women

• Nutrition Programs

• Social Safety Nets

• Trade Policies

• Climate Change Mitigation

• Government Policies

• Population Control and Family Planning

Causes of Hunger in Developed Countries

Lack of Money: To buy nutritious foods and pay for other necessities like housing, clothing, medications, utilities

• Often food is the sacrifice made.

Political reasons: Up to 80% of hungry children live in countries that produce surplus food, but the decisions of policy makers in those areas, largely determines who in the population has access to the food.

Countries of War:Food transportation may be limited. Also, have other concerns beyond hunger

Lack of transportation: Can they get to a store to access food?

Cannot Afford: may be on welfare (prices have increased, but welfare moneys have stayed fairly constant), or may be part of working poor (not on welfare because working, but pay too low to meet needs).

To stretch meager food supplies, adults often

• skip meals or cut their portions

• may be forced to break social rules: beg from strangers, steal from markets, scavenge through garbage cans, may even harvest dead animals from roadside. Can lead to dangerous food borne illnesses.

• may rely on foods with low nutrient density, but high calorie density, so calorie needs are met, but not nutritional needs. Inexpensive foods like white bread, mac and cheese, pastas. Diet tends to be low in fruit and vegetables, milk product and meats/protein.

• Single parent households (especially female lone-parent families) can be at greater risk for food insecurity

The main cause of hunger in developed countries like Canada

Food poverty

Households are more likely to experience food insecurity if they… (in developed countries)

• Receive their income from minimum wages, part time jobs, workers compensation, employment insurance or social assistance

• Are First Nation, Métis or Inuit living rural or remote communities

• Have children (especially with a lone mother)

• Are homeless

• Are new immigrants

• Have chronic health problems

Food insecurity and effects on health

Food insecurity can have many negative effects on health. Food insecurity at any level (severe, moderate, and marginal) increases the prevalence of most chronic health conditions in Canadian adults.

• Those living in food insecure households are also at greater risk for poor mental health compared to food secure Canadians, and this risk increases with the severity of food insecurity.

Public Health Agency of Canada Infographic

Social determinants of health: income, housing, education, job opportunity

Levels of food insecurity:

Marginal: worried, therefore buy discounted food

Moderate: limited in food they can get (buy cheap, packaged foods)

Severe: skipping meals and choosing between eating and paying rent

Food Security in Manitoba videos summarized

Experiences: household food insecurity (what is a watermelon) not being able to get proper medication affects ( meds must be taken with food) , not getting healthy foods to get you through the day

Causes: community, money, transportation ,

Solutions: help at a food bank or kitchen (remove the stigma), resources (community garden, grocery store, food banks), listen to community (financial and Human Resources), policy change/ decisions about food council

Canadian Programs that Promote Food Security

National food recovery programs involve the collection of wholesome foods for distribution to low-income people who are hungry which would otherwise have gone to waste.

• Second Harvest food rescue is an example of a food recovery program that began in Ontario and British Columbia, and has expanded across Canad

Four common methods of food recovery are

Field gleaning: collecting crops from fields that either have already been harvested or are not profitable to harvest.

Perishable food rescue or salvage: collecting perishable produce from wholesalers and markets.

Prepared food rescue: collecting prepared foods from commercial kitchens.

Non-perishable food collection: collecting processed foods from wholesalers and markets.

Local efforts to promote food security

Food recovery programs depend on volunteers. Concerned citizens work through local agencies and churches to feed the hungry. For example, soup kitchens serve prepared meals. Other community programs include…

Food Banks: provide groceries and food. Food bank use in Canada has increased significantly over the past few years, due to inflation and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Community kitchens: are programs where individuals come together to prepare meals that they can take home to their families.

• Ex: heart Beats, Community Food Centres Canada which supports programs across Canada, including NorWest Co-op Community

Community gardens: are typically grown on donated plots of land, and typically the supplies and seeds are donated to a community group as well. The participants are responsible to care for the garden and benefit from the yield of produce.

• Rainbow Community Garden in Winnipeg is an example

School feeding programs: provide meals, such as breakfast and / or lunch, to children at school. Manitoba's School Nutrition Program provides public schools in Manitoba with funding for nutritious food that can be accessed by any student when they need

Food Share programs: An example of a food share program in Winnipeg is Fruit Connect. People with fruit trees can register to have people come and pick the fruit from their trees. Fruit pickers can register to pick fruit. The fruit picked is then shared equally between the owner, picker and community groups that accept local fruit.

West Broadway Community Organization Good Food Club empower residents to improve their food security Community Green House Projects, Community Food Producers Co-Ops, Community Bee Keeping Projects, Traditional Food and Land Base Projects.

Northern Manitoba Food, Culture and Community Collaborative supports communities to address food security challenges. Examples include Poplar River First Nation - Negginan Food Producers Co-op, Leaf Rapids MB Grow North Boreal Horticulture Project, and Dauphin River Bee Keeping Project.

Here are the top 10 food Harvest Manitoba needs most

1. Canned Fruit

2. Canned Soup/Stew

3. Canned Tuna

4. Canned Vegetables

5. Pasta

6. Pasta Sauce

7. Rice

8. Peanut Butter

9. Baby Formula/Food

10. Instant Oatmeal

Food Loss and Waste in Canada

Globally, around 31% of food produced is lost or wasted. Food loss and waste damages the sustainability of our food systems.

Resources that go to waste: water, land, energy, labor, capital

Environmental impacts: disposal of food and waste lands in landfills leads to GHG emissions

Negative impacts: food security and availability

Food loss and wastage in Canada

Approximately 58% of the food Produced in Canada is listed or wasted and 32 % of that food COULD be recovered for human consumption

Food loss in production

Cosmetic standards, ugly produce, Over / under production – market changes

Diseases / weather events

Lack of labour to harvest

Solutions to food loss in production

• Marketing approaches and collaborations that promote field gleaning, and the sale of imperfect produce (some programs for this already exist (Loblaws)

• Tax credits to encourage harvesting surplus crop for donation

• Support for innovations

• Research programs focused on things such as improving disease resistance

Food loss in transport and Storage

• Lack of temperature / humidity control

• Damage during transfer / mishandling

• Pests rodents, insects, etc.

Potential solutions to Transport and Storage

• Various Canadian organizations provide guidance on supply chain challenges and proper storage

• Research on ways to improve shelf life, and prevent pest contamination

• Reduce the distance food travels, by buying local more often.

Problems with Packaging, Processing, and manufacturing

• Trimming and culling of off-spec produce

• Process and equipment inefficiencies, resulting in products that do not meet quality standards

• Over-production incorrect supply demand forecasting

Solutions to Packaging, Processing, and Manufacturing

• Providing resources to support food manufacturers on ways to reduce food loss.

• Tools to identify, track and reduce food loss.

• Innovative technologies (e.g. hyperspectral imaging to enhance sorting)

• Research on improved packaging options

• Regulatory approaches (e.g. in 2018, Ontario released the Food and Organic Waste Policy which sets targets for industry and commercial facilities to meet related to food waste).

Wholesale and Distribution Problems

• Losses during transport, storage, quality standards

• Inappropriate packaging

• Poor inventory management supply/demand

Wholesale distribution solutions

• Inventory management

• Educate and build awareness – training and support

• Adopt monitoring systems

• Packaging improvements to increase shelf life

Retail sale problems

• Rejected produce quality standards / damage

• Withdrawal of products approaching or exceeding date labels “lack of protocols to held food rescue, redistribution

• Inaccurate forecasting and poor inventory management

Retail sale solutions

• Adequate training of staff

• Develop standardized operating procedures

• Packaging improvements to increase shelf life

• Discount and/or donate foods close to best before dates (e.g. FlashFoods app

Restaurant and Food service Problems

• Food prepared but not served

• Surplus ingredients / lack of on how to reduce food loss and waste

• Restaurants and Food Services storage

• Ensure proper storage and inventory

• Customer leftover food returned to practices kitchen and must be disposed

Restaurant and Food services solutions

• Education: Training, resources, tool kits/ lack of on how to reduce food loss and waste

• Ensure proper storage and inventory practices

Household and consumers Problems

• Over purchasing, lack of meal planning / grocery list

• Spoilage improper handling, storage

• Concern over food safety and freshness best before dates versus expiry dates

• Willingness to store and eat leftovers and acceptability of eating food past peak freshness

Household and consumers solutions

• Ask for smaller portions

• Eat/ reuse leftovers

• Shop smart. Avoid overshopping

• Buy ugly produce

• Share and donate

• Compost

• Practice FIFO (first in, first out)

• Check fridge to make sure it is the correct temperature

Household food waste

Over 60% of Canadian household food waste is avoidable.

Over 60% of Canadian household food waste is avoidable. By practicing more sustainable habits, Canadian consumers could avoid 63% of food waste.

Hierarchy of solutions for food loss

Reduce: (make changes to reduce the amount of grown and harvested food that is not eaten)

Recover: donate surplus food or make animal feed or other products (using the surplus)

Recycle: (use ingredients from the surplus food for non-food products (like pharmaceuticals or cosmetics) make biodiesel or create compost)

Dispose: send to landfill or incinerate

Food Sovereignty

• movement that focuses on self-determination and decolonial mobilization strategies.

• It started as a movement in 1996 when representatives of peasants, small and medium- scale farmers, rural women, indigenous representatives, and farm workers from the global North and global South travelled to Tlaxcala

• "Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agricultural systems. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporate

Seven pillars of food sovereignty

• Friendly Bears Watch Very Loud Cartoons Silently

1. Focuses on food for people: Food is not a commodity . Puts people at the center of food policies.

2. Builds knowledge and skills : Build on traditional knowledges that kept our food production sustainable. Reject the technologies that undermine or contaminate local food systems

3. Works with nature : Build resilience and work with the ecological environment, not against it.

4. Values food providers: Support the people who grow food sustainably.

5. Localizes food systems: Reduce the distance between food producer and consumer. Reject food dumping by large corporations.

6. Puts control locally: Give control to the local bodies and reject large corporations that abuse local food systems.

7. Food is sacred: Value food as a gift and not as a commodity.

Practicing Food Sovereignty

• Community Gardens and Urban Agriculture

• Indigenous Food Sovereignty (Indigenous communities in Canada maintained holistic relationships with the land and the food it provides)

• Seed Saving and Heritage Crop (Seed saving involves preserving and exchanging traditional crop varieties to maintain agricultural diversity and prevent the loss of heirloom plants)

• Farmers' Markets and Local Food Movements

• Community-Supported Agriculture (programs involve consumers purchasing shares of a farm's harvest in advance)

• Agroecology and Sustainable Farming Agroecology: is the application of ecological principles to agriculture to mitigate climate change.

• Food Policy Councils: Food policy councils do consultations with government representatives, farmers, consumers, and community organizations, to shape local food policies.

• Farm-to-School Programs: Farm-to-school initiatives connect schools with local farmers, providing students with fresh, locally produced food in their meals.

• Land Conservation and Agroforestry: Agroforestry integrates trees and crops on the same land, providing ecological benefits while also producing food. Indigenous communities in various regions practice agroforestry.

• Social Movements: Grassroots movements and organizations advocate for policies that support food sovereignty principles, such as fair trade, local food procurement, and protection of small-scale farmers' rights

How do the following factors impact the implementation of food sovereignty?

Cost of production of food: With minimal external input such as synthetic chemicals, the crops may have lower yield. Without the use of GE seeds, the yield and disease resistance may be low. Low yield leads to less profit and/or higher production cost. Higher costs would result in less competitive pricing. Further, patents don’t allow seed saving in many cases.

Law and regulations: Zoning regulations may restrict urban and peri-urban agriculture, limiting individuals' ability to grow food in their own communities. These restrictions can hinder the development of community gardens, urban farms, and other initiatives that promote local food production. Inquire about your community, do the by-laws allow you to plant a vegetable garden in the front yard?

Cost of land acquisition: Agricultural land acquisition favors large farmers. Non-agricultural land is often too expensive.

Governmental support: lacks for small scale sustainable agriculture. The subsidies favor large scale production creating an uneven playing field

Free trade agreements and globalization: Import of cheap food from other parts of the world and can compete with locally grown food.

Economic framework: Canadian and global economic framework is based on mass production at low cost. 

Indigenous Food Sovereignty

Indigenous food sovereignty is an important issue in Canada. Reclamation and resurgence of self-determined, traditional food systems.

• indigenous food system consists of all living and non-living things, including relationships between people, place, and food. It is a spiritual system and also includes language, ceremony, teaching, learning and sharing. Thus, Indigenous food sovereignty is more about systems of food and the relationship between food and people.

• The colonization of Canada resulted in a colonized food system. A colonized food system was forced upon Indigenous peoples in Canada. Through the deliberate eradication of the bison, beaver, salmon, and cedar. By eliminating key species that were central to Indigenous diets, starvation was introduced to communities to coerce Chiefs into signing treaties and thus, remove any claims Indigenous peoples had to the land. Treaties were meant to end the starvation by providing rations to communities; these rations were part of a European food system and included pork and flour which contributed to diabetes.

• Hunger is a weapon, a tool used by governments to oppress and eliminate Indigenous peoples, bodies, and cultures.

7 Pillars of Food Sovereignty

• Friendly Bears Watch Very Loud Cartoons Silently

1. Focuses on food for people: Food is not a commodity. Puts people at the center of food policies.

2. Builds knowledge and skills: Build on traditional knowledges that kept our food production sustainable. Reject the technologies that undermine or contaminate local food systems.

3. Works with nature : Build resilience and work with the ecological environment, not against it.

4. Values food providers: Support the people who grow food sustainably.

5. Localizes food systems: Reduce the distance between food producer and consumer.

Reject food dumping by large corporations.