Zimbabwe’s food insecurity is not just about food production, but access too. It is affected by, among others, the value of assets when sold and social and cultural dimensions that go into exchange.
This election, one of the top concerns for Canadians is being able to afford groceries, according to a recent poll.
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Canadian politicians on the campaign trail would do well to mention issues of food security. At least 55 per cent of Canadians are worried about how they will continue to pay grocery bills.
It is erroneously assumed that university students are the elite and so don’t experience hunger.
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Students suffer the double burden of malnutrition - hunger and obesity. This results in stress, ill health, poor academic results and increased drop-out rates.
The Democratic candidates discussed health care a lot – but not healthy food.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
The Democratic candidates hoping to replace Trump in 2020 debated a host of critical issues but never brought up the equally important challenge of Americans’ food security.
Social grants provide an important cushion amid poverty in South Africa.
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Prodded by Michelle Obama and other government leaders, Walmart and other major US retailers vowed to build hundreds of stores in food deserts. What happened?
A farmer carries firewood during the dry season in Nicaragua, one of the Central American countries affected by a recent drought.
Neil Palmer for CIAT/flickr
Poverty and violence are often cited as the reasons people emigrate from Central America, but factors such as drought, exacerbated by climate change, are driving people to leave too.
High tide at Nukatoa Island, in the Takuu Atoll, Papua New Guinea.
Richard Moyle
Rising sea levels and tectonic activity have eroded the coastlines of the low-lying Carteret Islands in the South Pacific.
Giving food that would otherwise go to landfill to hungry people does little to ensure the well-being of Canadians who are food insecure.
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Governments need to think about global ways agricultural policies may affect the stability of the food system as a whole, beyond locally focused efforts to increase resilience in production.
Soweto in South Africa. Apartheid’s spacial planning still affects people’s lives.
Flickr/John Karwoski
Canada’s Food Guide makes nutrition recommendations. But the revamped guide does much more. It directs us to consider the broader set of circumstances —the social determinants —of how we eat.
Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, right, and nutritionist Jessica Cole look over samples of some of the food groups at the unveiling of Canada’s new Food Guide, January 22, 2019 in Montréal.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
A new federal report on food insecurity on college campuses does a good job of laying out the scope of the problem but falls short when it comes to solutions.
A man walks through a greenhouse in northeastern Uganda where sustainable agriculture techniques such as drought-resistant crops and tree planting are taught, Oct. 19, 2017.
AP Photo/Adelle Kalakouti
After declining for nearly a decade, the number of hungry people in the world is growing again. Climate change, which is disrupting weather patterns that farmers rely on, is a major cause.
The apparent higher costs of healthy foods like fresh produce compared to fatty, starchy foods is thought to have contributed to food insecurity in Canada. But is there more at play than just cost?
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Although nutritious, inexpensive food options do exist for low-income Canadians, whether those foods are easily accessible or feasible has long evaded both nutrition researchers and politicians.
A resident of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation is photographed while speaking about water and access issues in her community in February 2015. The Shoal Lake community, despite supplying water to the city of Winnipeg, has long been under a boil-water advisory and is only just getting year-round road access.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
Governments in Canada are routinely enacting public policies that primarily benefit economic elites, raising questions about government legitimacy and competency. Who’s looking out for us?
It is estimated that 1.2 million children in Canada live in low income households and 10 per cent of families with children under the age of six report some degree of food insecurity. This places kids at increased risk of developmental vulnerability.
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A government report on an upcoming national food policy is an optimistic indication that it will result in both healthier and more sustainable food for Canadians and stronger agri-food industry.