Food Security

For our Community Project, my group has been working with the London InterCommunity Health Centre to develop an outcomes-based Food Strategy Action Plan for the Health Centre. The Health Centre is embarking on a process to develop an outcomes-based Food Security Strategy, and the plan was for us to do the ground work, research, and initial survey to begin this Food Security Strategy. I have been feeling like I don't have a solid understanding of exactly what Food Security is, so this week I have decided to delve deeper into the topic/look at how Food Security applies to Canada.

Food Security, (Emerald Research You Can Use, 2011).

Food Security is: “a condition in which all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.


Important Facts:


- 9 % or 1.1 million Canadian households = 2.7 million Canadians, experience food insecurity


- Families with children = 5.2% child-level food insecurity




According to The Canadian Community Health Survey:


- Food insecurity is more common in households that contain:
Children = 10.4%
Without children = 8.6%


-Food Insecurity is especially common in:
Households led by lone mothers= 25%
Aboriginal households (with and without children) = more likely to be food insecure than non-
Aboriginal households


Factors that lead to hunger in a family:


-Family acquiring another mouth to feed either through birth or family melding


-Change in number of parents in the home


-Loss of job


-Change in employment hours


-Health of an adult or child declining




· **It has been found through studies that getting out of hunger, happens generally only under one condition = the mother of the household began a full-time job which caused the family’s income to rise.




-Dietary insufficiencies are more common among food insecure households.


-Increased chance of chronic disease and difficulties in managing these diseases occurs in food insecure households.




-Heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and food allergies are more common in food insecure households, even when factors such as age, sex, income and education are taken into account.


- Food insecurity produces stress and feelings of uncertainty that have health-threatening effects.


In Food Insecure Households:


- 80% are more likely to report having diabetes
- 60% are more likely to report high blood pressure
- 70% are more likely to report food allergies than households with sufficient food

Food Insecure Households by Province, (Health Canada, 2008).

-Food banks = last resort support to food insecure households and exist as a consequence of failed public policies




-As of March 2009- 800,000 Canadians used food banks




**Food Insecurity is almost always caused by lack of economic resources- (things of value) that an economy (or business) may have available. Used to supply and produce goods/services to meet the ever-changing needs/wants of individuals (in the case of a business) and society as a whole**

Food Insecurity Framework. (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, 2006)

References

Alaimo, K., Olson, C. M., & Frongillo, E. A., Jr. (2001). Food insufficiency and American   


     school-aged children’s cognitive, academic, and psychosocial development. Pediatrics,


     108, 44–53. 

Allen, P. (1999). Reweaving the food security safety net: Mediating entitlement and 


     entrepreneurship. Agriculture and Human Values, 16, 117–129.

Bellows, A. & Hamm, M. (2011). Thinking Outside of the Breadbox. Food Security Network (1-


     4). 

Child and Youth Network (2011). London’s food charter. Retrieved February 18, 2011, from

      http://www/london.ca/Child Youth Network/

Emerald Research you Can Use (2011). Food security. Retrieved March 6, 2011, from 

     http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1881660&show=html

Health Canada (2008). Food Insecure Households. Retrieved March 6, 2011, from


     http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/surveill/nutrition/commun/income_food_sec-sec_alim-


     eng.php

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (2006). Food insecurity framework.


    Retrieved March 5, 2011.

Kaiser, M (2011). Food security and community. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group (62-76).


Kamphuis, C. B., Giskes, K., de Bruijn, G. J., Wendel-Vos, W., Brug, J., & van Lenthe, F. J. 


     (2006). Environmental determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption among adults: A 


     systematic review. British Journal of Nutrition. 96, 620–635.

Morland, K., Wing, S., Deiz Roux, A., & Poole, C. (2002). Neighborhood characteristics


      associated with the location of food stores and food service places. American Journal of


      Preventative Medicine, 22, 23–29.

Siefert, K., Hein, C. M., Corcoran, M. E., & Williams, D. R. (2001). Food insufficiency and the 


      physical and mental health of low-income women. Women Health, 32, 159–177.

The London InterCommunity Health Centre (2011). Retrieved February 18, 2011, from 


      http://lihc.on.ca/


United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. (n.d.). Food 


     environment atlas data. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/FoodAtlas/ 


    downloadData.htm

United States Department of Agriculture. (2009a). Food security in the United States: Key 


      statistics and graphs. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/ 


      FoodSecurity/stats_graphs.htm