As more Canadian households experience food insecurity, food banks and other organizations are struggling to meet demand for their services. In 2023 alone, about 23% of Canadian households experienced some form of food insecurity. That means 8.7 million people, including 2.1 million children, had difficulty accessing enough safe, nutritious food.

Researchers and food organizations have long worried that food charities alone cannot effectively respond to this growing demand. Community food groups across Canada are advocating for a more systemic, structural approach to addressing food insecurity, rather than relying on reactive, short-term solutions like food banks.

For example, Food First NL and Community Food Centres Canada are pushing for income-based solutions; the Regroupement des cuisines collectives du Québec is working on a framework bill to establish a right to food; and the Maskwacîs Education Schools Commission in Alberta has developed and implemented a universal school nutrition strategy called Nanâtohk Mîciwin.

These groups draw on decades of food security research, as well as their field observations, to develop solutions that address food security more equitably and effectively.

My colleagues and I recently hosted an event called Food insecurity: Let’s move beyond charity! , which focused on how efforts to address food insecurity can go beyond charity. Research and collective nonprofit efforts underscore the urgent need to move beyond short-term fixes to long-term, equitable strategies that address the root causes of food insecurity.

The Limits of Charity

Decades of research, exemplified by PROOF, the University of Toronto’s food security research group, clearly show that we cannot solve food security by relying solely on charity. Charity is important in helping those who are at risk.

However, the root causes of food insecurity are systemic issues such as insufficient income, social inequality, and inadequate social support. Food donations alone cannot address these root causes.

Not everyone is equally vulnerable to food insecurity. The latest data from Statistics Canada confirms that in 2022, Indigenous and Black households, single-parent families (particularly female-headed households), and people with disabilities are disproportionately affected by food insecurity.

Researchers argue that food charity may even exacerbate the problem by creating the impression that food insecurity is being solved and by weakening the political imperative to find lasting solutions. Indeed, since the 1980s, governments have persistently favored the charity model of addressing hunger over developing appropriate social policies and programs.

Only a fraction of people affected by food insecurity use food banks, often due to stigma associated with poverty, insufficient quality, quantity or adequacy of food provided, or a lack of food banks in their communities.

Meanwhile, community food programs are struggling to meet growing demand from those who use them. A recent Food First NL report documents the many challenges faced by community food programs, including limited resources (funding, food, volunteers). The report highlights the inherent limitations of a model dependent on donations and limited resources; it cannot effectively and sustainably meet specific human and household needs, such as dietary restrictions.

What are the proposed alternatives?

Food First NL and Community Food Centres Canada are two nonprofits pushing for income-based solutions. In Newfoundland and Labrador, Food First NL is advocating for a basic income program to provide unconditional financial support, a proposed solution that has attracted significant attention in the province.

Nationally, Community Food Centres Canada is working to advocate for changes to federal income and social policy, including targeted income programs with revised benefit thresholds to ensure adequate financial assistance is provided to those most at risk.

These income-based solutions are consistent with the income- and policy-based approach favored by PROOF. Research has shown that insufficient income is a major factor leading to food insecurity.

The Maskwacîs Education Schools Commission presents an inspiring model that the federal government, recently announcing a new national school nutrition program, should take note of. Nanâtohk Mîciwin, an Indigenous-led universal school nutrition strategy, goes beyond providing free, nutritious and culturally appropriate breakfasts, lunches and snacks to all students and staff in 10 schools.

The Commission has created a collection and distribution system to bring traditional foods to schools, established partnerships with producers and gatherers to strengthen the local food system, and strengthened connections to traditional foods and practices. Students learn about food in their Cree classes and participate in land-based and harvest-based food activities.

The program is an approach to food provisioning that takes into account the cultural and environmental dimensions of food security. Based on Cree values ​​and a commitment to Indigenous food sovereignty, it provides a rich example of a systemic and structural solution to food insecurity at a more local level.

For its part, the Regroupement des cuisines collectives du Québec is proposing a provincial draft framework law on the right to food, based on the work of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Such efforts are essential. They emphasize that addressing food insecurity is a government responsibility and that food security is a fundamental human right.

They also approach food security as a matter of food systems rather than social inequality, taking into account the sustainability of food production, processing and distribution. This is all the more important in light of the detrimental impacts of climate change on food production and access, which overwhelmingly affect marginalized communities.

We are moving forward

A systems approach to food security must focus on restoring the agency and dignity of individuals and communities. Such initiatives develop long-term solutions based on both research and the experiences of people struggling with food insecurity.

Food charity can continue to play a role in these solutions, but it cannot be the primary response to the challenge of food insecurity. It is time for all levels of government to move beyond food charity, listen to the advice of those working on the front lines of this crisis, and respond with equitable and sustainable social policies and programs.

This article is reprinted from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.