The cost of food may be plateauing, but it’s still high enough that many are facing food insecurity. Here are some resources for those who are food insecure.
Food insecurity, as described on the Niagara Region website, occurs when a person or a family does not have enough money to purchase food. People facing food insecurity may “worry about running out of food, compromise quality and quantity of food, miss meals, limit their intake or go without.” It can lead to poor health as well as an increased risk of physical and mental illness.
According to CBC News, grocery prices were up 6.9 per cent in August 2023 from the year prior, a number almost twice the rate of inflation in Canada, which recently reached four per cent. This number is not the highest it’s been in 2023, but it is still staggering, an after-effect of a variety of factors including the Canadian dollar decreasing in value, climate change, geopolitical turmoil, post-pandemic supply chain issues, increased revenue, profit and sharefholder takehomes from large grocers and more.
With prices so high, it’s no wonder that nearly two in five students surveyed by Meal Exchange had experienced food insecurity in one way or another. Thankfully, there are local resources for Brock students who need them. Here are a few.
Brock Food First Program
This program, run out of the university, provides students with a gift card for a local grocery store. All they need to do is fill out the form on this website, wait for their request to be reviewed and then receive the gift card electronically. While a helpful resource, this is “not intended to be a primary source of food for any one undergraduate or graduate student.”
Niagara Food Asset Map
This is an interactive map that allows you to look for resources to improve food security in and around your area. There are a variety of categories you can choose from when using the map, including community gardens, community meals, farmers markets, food banks and pantries, good food boxes, home-delivered meals, school nutrition programs and senior’s meals.
Food Fed Forward
Organized by Small Scale Farms, the Food Fed Forward program provides those in need with local produce. Those with the resources to do so can pay produce forward, allowing Small Scale Farms to deliver free food to those in need. They also run a Pay What You Can market on Saturdays from 10 a.m to 3 p.m.
Feed Niagara
As members of Feed Ontario, Feed Niagara is a collection of ten regional food banks with “access to more food security programs [and] grants” that “follow[s] strict health and safety standards and protocols.” The website details all of the food banks included in this collective, but Community Care has locations in both St. Catharines and Thorold, the closest of these ten food banks to Brock.
211
A phone line that operates much like 911, 211 “is a helpline that easily connects people to the social services, programs and community supports they need.” It is also a website. Those in need can call or visit the website to get information regarding food, family services, health care, housing, financial assistance and more.
The pandemic was years ago at this point, but many are still suffering as a result of it and other social issues that have shaped the world since then. Those facing food insecurity may be frightened or feel lost, but there are many local resources – even beyond those highlighted in this article – available to help. They exist to be used, and nobody should feel ashamed for needing a bit of assistance, and nobody should go hungry.