It was “like a hurricane,” Rebecca Dorris recalled. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic left grocery store shelves in Ottawa as barren as an arid desert landscape in the midst of a drought.
As fear of the virus spread rampantly through the city, Dorris, a community advocacy manager at the Parkdale Food Centre (PFC), said people began stocking up on essentials as if in preparation for an incoming natural disaster. But for those most vulnerable to the imminent viral threat, the disappearance of non-perishable foods from shelves created a perilous position.
“The things [food insecure people] normally would budget for and could afford, they couldn’t actually reach because people had cleared off a lot of the non-perishables,” Dorris said.
Inflation and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have left a sour taste in the mouths of food-insecure Canadians.
According to the PFC’s spring “Knowing Our Neighbours II” report, which surveyed PFC users, only three per cent of PFC users surveyed were identified as food secure. Meanwhile, 63 per cent were moderately food insecure and 32 per cent were severely food insecure.
To be food secure is to have financial and physical access to enough food to fulfill one’s dietary needs, according to the European Food and Agriculture Organization. Food insecurity is the lack of access to culturally appropriate, accessible and nutritious food, often as a result of income inequality, Dorris explained.
Access to culturally appropriate food is an essential part of being food secure because people need access to food they know how to cook. What’s important to eat in certain cultures may not always align with what Canada’s food guide recommends within its guidelines, Dorris said.
Affordability barriers may also prevent food insecure people from following the recommendations of Canada’s food guide.
Food insecurity is often connected to poverty. People do not choose to be food insecure, but end up without access to food for reasons outside their control, such as being the sole caregiver of a family, living off minimum wage, or facing gender- or race-based inequalities.
“The takeaway I would have is that food insecurity is a product of poverty and it’s a product of legislated poverty,” Dorris said. “It’s not that the government doesn’t have the money. It’s just that they’re spending it in ways that benefit [themselves].”
According to a study from the Journal of Poverty, COVID-19 income support programs enacted in Ontario “systemically excluded constituencies most likely to be living with poverty.” The report suggests these findings highlight the need for comprehensive social welfare programs, instead of programs that reinforce the privileging of those already working.
Factors of food insecurity
In the “Knowing Our Neighbours II” report, the PFC surveyed 324 households, a total of about 700 individuals. The report focused on questions of food insecurity and food bank access. It also considered what types of housing respondents were living in, whether they identified as BIPOC and if they were receiving support from the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) or Ontario Works (OW).
According to the survey, more people were moderately food insecure than severely food insecure. The survey defined moderately food insecure as skipping meals, reducing food intake or replacing nutritious food with less nutritionally dense, cheaper alternatives. Severely food insecure was identified by the survey as having already run out of food and likely not eating for days.
Through the survey, the PFC identified race as a predictor of food insecurity. 66 per cent of households that reported having at least one BIPOC member identified as severely food insecure, while only 33 per cent of non-BIPOC households identified as severely food insecure.
“We found that if we’re looking at not just households but individuals, BIPOC individuals were twice as likely to be severely insecure compared to non-BIPOC individuals,” Dorris said.
PROOF, a Toronto-based food insecurity research program, determined Black people in Canada are more prone to food insecurity because the protection of seniors’ incomes and the benefits of homeownership differ by race, often disproportionately negatively impacting Black households.
The Parkdale report also identified socio-economic status as a leading factor in determining food insecurity.
Pandemic influence
COVID-19 and its subsequent isolating effects have significantly affected how many people experience food insecurity.
When people were laid off from work and had no idea when their next paycheque would come, it placed more pressure on local food banks, according to Emilly Renaud, the national co-ordinator at Canada Without Poverty.
“The series of events from the COVID-19 pandemic put more strain on food banks when a lot of people lost their jobs,” Renaud said. “Even once benefits kicked in, there was still this overreliance on food banks that we had never seen before.”
The PFC report also noted not all wage supplements being distributed by the provincial government during the pandemic were in line with minimum income requirements to satisfy basic needs as calculated by Statistics Canada.
People who lost their jobs due to the pandemic were paid $2,000 per month through the federal government’s Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). Those receiving support from the provincial government’s ODSP or OW were given monthly payments of approximately $733 and $1,200. If someone receiving CERB was also receiving provincial support, the province deemed their income too great and deductions would be taken off following provincial support cheques.
The report’s authors argue that people depending on ODSP didn’t get the same financial aid during lockdown as someone only receiving CERB may have.
“It is no surprise that these individuals [on ODSP] are unable to meet their basic needs and must resort to using a food bank,” the report states. “There is nothing temporary about poverty.”
Dorris said when she spoke to people who were ordering food from the food centre on the phone, they said they didn’t have access to the same food as they did before the pandemic.
“When COVID came around, we had the first lockdown that involved the closing of a lot of physical services,” Dorris said. “That happened at Parkdale as well. People weren’t able to come in and shop for their groceries anymore. They weren’t able to come to meal programs and things like that.”
As more people turned to local food banks like Parkdale, those previously in need saw excess strain placed on the resources they depended upon.
Price gouging equalizes local and imported produce
The rising cost of living affects many Canadians. The effects of inflation are written all over bills related to shopping and housing.
The rising costs of groceries are now comparable to prices at farmers’ markets, Phil Mount, associate director of Just Food, a non-profit working to solve Ottawa’s food and farming issues, explained. People who previously could not afford to buy organic or local fruit and vegetables at farmers’ markets are now paying the same price for imported fruit and vegetables at grocery stores.
Due to rising grocery store prices, Mount said there’s been a shift toward people buying local produce because it’s now relatively the same price. It could also be more convenient to buy locally, as many communities have pop-up markets and some farms offer delivery, he added.
A study on grocery store prices conducted by Dalhousie University this year found large grocers have increased their gross profit over the past year. So far in 2022, Loblaws has outperformed its highest gross profit of the past five years by $180 million.
Mount said when large grocery stores gouge prices—raise them by exorbitant amounts—they contribute to higher levels of inflation.
“What you’ve called inflation is really price gouging by the retailers in our industrial food system, and we have to name that right,” he said.
With inflation, people who could afford food before the pandemic may no longer be able to afford that same food. According to Mount, price gouging also puts more pressure on food banks and other local programs trying to combat food insecurity.
Dorris said people are noticing the prices of the things they used to buy have doubled and, with a minimum-wage job, they can no longer afford them.
According to the Ontario Living Wage Network, the 2019 living wage in Ottawa was $18.40 an hour, while the provincial minimum wage was $14 an hour. Since then, Ottawa’s living wage has increased to $19.60, while the provincial minimum wage has increased by only one dollar to $15 an hour.
Dorris said she wants to see the province’s minimum wage become a livable wage.
Federal funding solutions needed
To help eradicate food insecurity, the PFC is calling for action at the federal level.
“The money needs to come from the [federal government], ideally straight to the people themselves,” Dorris said. “[But] we’ll take anything in between. We’ll take a promise that actually has a real action plan.”
In the meantime, Just Food has been working toward ensuring people in Ottawa have access to fresh and nutritious food by supporting local farmers and helping increase yields of locally grown food. The organization does this at its 150-acre farm where it runs programs such as plant-a-row, donate-a-row, greenhouse training and the Ottawa Farm School.
Another company making fruit and vegetables more accessible for people living in Ottawa is the Ottawa Good Food Box. Those interested in receiving a box can order on the company’s website for a pickup or delivery of fresh fruit and vegetables on Wednesdays, Thursdays or Fridays. In the summer, a Good Food Box that cost $20 could be valued at approximately $40 at a major grocery chain.
Accessibility is another issue for those facing food insecurity. If people are taking a bus, they may be limited in what they can carry home, especially if they’re travelling with children. Some people also have disabilities that stop them from being able to travel far from home for food.
Access to markets or grocery stores at any time is a privilege not afforded to all people. The Ottawa Good Food Box offers a solution to this issue through its free delivery.
Faheem Khan, project officer for the Ottawa Good Food Box, said the company purchases its food from wholesalers and local growers, just like grocery stores do.
“I think we’re actually providing more local and organic options than a lot of grocery stores do,” Khan said. “But the main difference is that we’re only applying a very small margin to cover our operational costs and that’s how we’re trying to keep the produce more affordable.”
Academia suffers when students don’t eat
Debt due to student loans can add to the severity of financial, housing and food insecurity for many students.
International students have been hit particularly hard by inflation, due to only being able to work up to 20 hours per week on a study visa until recently.
“There are a lot of international students that use our services,” Neeharika Saha, a full-time administrator at Carleton’s Unified Support Centre (USC), said. “20 hours per week is not sufficient enough to be able to pay for groceries, rent, all the other bills, phone, your school tuition.”
On Nov. 15, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that as part of an effort to combat the labour shortage, international students will now be able to go over the 20 hour work week limit by an undefined amount. This temporary measure will remain in place until Dec. 31, 2023.
For Carleton University students struggling with food insecurity, the USC on campus provides food hampers to those who request them. Saha said being food insecure can affect students academically.
“If someone does not have enough food for the day, they may be feeling lethargic or tired, and have a hard time focusing on their studies,” Saha said.
Many students will either not eat or buy cheap, less nutritionally dense food that does not give them the slow-burning energy they need to keep going with their day.
Pre-pandemic, the USC would distribute around 80 hampers per month, Saha said. In September 2022, she said they distributed 426 hampers to students, and in October 2022 they distributed 488 hampers. With inflation, Saha said students are relying on this service more than before.
Carleton students can request up to two hampers per month filled with essentials, including fresh fruits and vegetables from the Ottawa Good Food Box. To do so, students fill out a form on the USC’s website and pick up their hamper at the University Centre.
Student status aside, Dorris said impossible choices have become more common for many Ottawa residents while prices have risen and incomes have stayed the same.
“You have to choose between paying for childcare and maintaining your job,” she said.
Inevitably, Dorris said these impossible choices include who gets to eat, and who doesn’t.
Featured image by Jessica Campbell.
