At Feed Ontario, we have been sounding the alarm on skyrocketing food bank use spurred by our failing social safety net and the affordability crisis for years. Now, our province has allowed almost 3 million people, including 700,000 children, to become food insecure. This has a human cost.
Over 1 million people in our province have needed to turn to a food bank for support. For each of them food insecurity and economic adversity are not abstract ideas. We launched our postcard campaign to give food bank visitors the opportunity to tell their local MPPs their stories. We asked them to write about how the struggle to afford basic necessities is affecting their daily lives. The responses provided a window into the emotional hardship that can deeply affect people experiencing food insecurity.
The postcard campaign: resilience in extremely challenging circumstances
Many of the food bank visitors who filled out a postcard wrote about how the precarity they are facing is causing stresses that are affecting their overall wellbeing. Their responses highlighted their resilience in extremely challenging circumstances.
Un visiteur de la banque alimentaire a écrit que le fait de ne pas pouvoir joindre les deux bouts "a provoqué un niveau de stress et de dépression très élevé". Nous ne devrions pas avoir à nous soucier d'un toit au-dessus de la tête de notre famille ou de la nourriture sur la table. Les enfants, les adultes et les personnes âgées ne devraient pas avoir à se stresser et à choisir entre la nourriture et le logement.
D'autres personnes interrogées se sont fait l'écho de ce point de vue, dont une qui a déclaré que le fait d'être "dans un état constant de choix en ce qui concerne les produits de première nécessité est incroyablement stressant".
Some said that coping with these stressors made everyday life difficult. Some shared that they worried about the effect it was having on their children: “I worry about the lights getting shut off, internet cut off, missing another car insurance payment, if and where our next meal and school lunches and snacks will come from. I worry about the negative impact all this will have on my son. I worry about being a bad mom because I’m so worried about food and bills. Something has to give!”
When reading the postcards, these themes emerged again and again. The financial challenges that more and more people in Ontario are facing is leading to real emotional impacts. The economic stresses of daily life can affect people’s health.
Food insecurity and mental health
The lived experiences food bank visitors shared highlight that our mental and physical health is in part shaped by our social and economic conditions. This is a concept called the les déterminants sociaux de la santéL'insécurité alimentaire est l'un de ces facteurs. Les chercheurs ont également établi des liens spécifiques entre l'insécurité alimentaire et les problèmes de santé mentale.
Selon PROOF, un programme de recherche de l'Université de Toronto, il existe une lien étroit entre l'insécurité alimentaire et les effets néfastes sur la santé mentale. Their studies show that adults facing food insecurity are more likely to experience depressive thoughts than their food-secure counterparts. PROOF also found that children in food insecure households are more likely to struggle with challenges like inattention and hyperactivity. Their research also showed they are at greater risk for mental health concerns later in life.
Policy change can begin to address the affordability crisis
In Ontario, food insecurity and the impacts on mental health it is connected to are not happening in a vacuum. The affordability crisis that continues to spiral out of control is fueling a surge of people needing a food bank. Our Province needs to make policy changes to support Ontarians. Changes like investing in affordable housing, creating quality jobs that pay a living wage, and making improvements to our social assistance programs, could ensure everyone can afford a good quality of life.
No one should have to bear the emotional toll that wondering where their next meal will come from takes. Addressing the root causes of poverty and the affordability crisis will also work to address the stressors that can lead to mental health concerns those facing food insecurity may be impacted by. It is essential that our Province works to address food insecurity and build an Ontario where everyone can thrive.
Learn more about how you can take bold action today to address poverty and the affordability crisis ici.
