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Food Insecurity Impacts Newcomers’ Ability to Engage in Culture.
• A lack of income means people cannot buy the food
they want — that they like and enjoy eating. This has
impacts on people’s sense of happiness, self-worth
and respect.
• For many immigrant families, food is often a part of
celebrations, and brings communities together as they
prepare, share and enjoy it together.
• Food is seen as a way of sharing cultural values, traditions,
memories and helps children to develop cultural self-esteem. It is a
way of preserving culture and heritage in a new country and sharing
intergenerational wisdom.
• Growing, cooking, eating and sharing cultural foods can support
well-being in the face of stress and isolation.
How the Food System Affects Us Locally
• Supply chain disruptions often lead to fewer options in
grocery stores. Hui, A., Robertston, S.K., and E. Atkins (2022). How
Canada’s fragile food supply chain is being disrupted.
• Canada’s largest grocery stores (including Loblaws,
Sobeys) control 70% of the market.
• Suppliers say Canadian supermarkets have fewer
products and higher prices compared to stores in the
United States because consolidation allows our grocery
chains to charge sky-high listing fees and fines, which
push out small producers.
Alsharif, G. (2023). ‘Supply chain bullying’: Inside the food fight between
Canada’s grocery giants and their suppliers.
• All this means higher prices and fewer choices for all
Edmontonians at the grocery store.
The food system is huge and complicated, but
it deeply affects our access to food.
Canada is over reliant on transporting
goods across long distances.
The Future of Food Security
Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) provided a lesson for how we
can transform our income security net — people need a stable and sufficient
income to meet their basic needs.
The financial assistance CERB offered allowed recipients to pay for their
basic needs and avoid taking on excessive debt at a time of great financial
uncertainty. 85% of respondents reported they used CERB to buy groceries
and household goods.
CERB played a key role in easing the transition back to the labour force,
allowing recipients to think about the career they wanted and look for the right
job rather than just the first that came along, allowing Canadians to get better
jobs. Scott, K. and T. Hennessy (2023). CERB: More than just an income program.
Studies on basic income have similar findings: Research on a basic income
pilot in Ontario revealed positive impacts on physical health, mental health
and well-being for the recipients. Ferdosi, M., T . McDowell, W. Lewchuk, and S. Ross (2022).
On how Ontario trialed basic income.
86%
ate better
Food Security is Rooted in Income Security
With basic income:
It can be isolating when people do not have food to share.
The Persimmon Project (2021). Newcomers engaged in food dignity: Edmonton 2020-21.
The best system is where everyone can buy their own
food on their own terms.
Hui, A., Robertston, S.K., and E. Atkins (2022). How Canada’s fragile food supply chain is
being disrupted. von Massow, M. and A. Weersink (2020). Why we aren’t running out of
food during the coronavirus pandemic.
46%
reported better living
accommodations
69%
went without food less often
85%
could afford more essential
household items
Sources for these statistics are available at ecfoundation.org
LEGACY IN ACTION
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