Education & Advocacy

Through social media, weekly newspaper articles in the Intelligencer, and community presentations, CDC Quinte works to shed light on root causes of food insecurity and possible pathways to food justice and community resilience. We also bring awareness to community food efforts that are taking place locally and in other communities. 

Since food security and insecurity are complex issues, we attempt to unpack these issues at their core, by delving into different topics from different angles.

By maintaining an ongoing conversation that keeps food security issues top of mind, we hope this will build desire in our local citizens to take action.

About “Food Insecurity”

Food insecurity is the inability to acquire or consume an adequate diet quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways, or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so. Household food insecurity is often linked with the household's financial ability to access adequate food.

Food Insecurity in H&PEC Compared to Ontario

  • 25% (1 in 4) of H&PE households are moderate or severely food insecure versus 8.5% (1 in 12) of households across the province

  • 16.8% (1 in 6) H&PE households experience some level of food insecurity versus 13.1% (1 in 7) households at a provincial level

Hunger is the face of poverty.

1 in 4 Households in H&PEC experiences food insecurity. There are health consequences associated with food insecurity. 

  • The cost of eating poorly over the long term comes in the form of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. 

  • Health care costs can increase up to 3x as the result of severe food insecurity.

If you had to choose between paying your rent or buying food, what would you do, knowing that if you get evicted, you won’t have a cupboard to put your food in?
If you had to choose between paying the hydro bill or buying food, what would you do, knowing that if the hydro is cut off, you won’t have any way to cook your food or keep it refrigerated? 
Hunger is the face of poverty!
We know there is no point in encouraging people to eat healthier when they can’t afford to buy healthy food or healthy food isn’t available in or near their neighbourhood.

Learn More

Learn more about the critical needs of our community through this engaging video brought to you by Bridge Street United Church and Windswept Productions

Past Research & Reports

Featured
Kingston’s LionHearts: Fighting food insecurity effectively, efficiently, and with a smile

Last Friday, July 14th, the CDC Quinte team had the pleasure of taking a field trip to Kingston to visit three outstanding organizations that contribute to food security in Kingston and beyond: Lionhearts Inc., The Loving Spoonful, and Tony Deodato and Sons Limited. All blew us away with their amazing work. I’m going to take the next three weeks to share about each of these great organizations individually. This week, we’ll start with Lionhearts.

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What is Social Planning and Why is it Important?

The goal of social planning is to strengthen communities and build pathways to well-being for all citizens. Creating community well-being is about learning how to live together in a way that gives everyone the opportunity to develop their full potential.

Like any other type of planning, the process includes identifying goals and making a plan to achieve those goals. As the old adage goes, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Building strong communities is no different.

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Food Insecurity Cannot be Solved with Food Charity

Food insecurity is experienced when a household does not have enough money to buy adequate and appropriate food. How this looks can differ from household to household. Some may worry about the rising cost of food, the ability to offer a balanced diet, or the ability to offer a meal at all.

While the result may give the appearance of a food issue, it is in fact, an issue of income.

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Food insecurity: Taking a toll on health and well-being.

The term “food insecurity” refers to the insecure access to food due to financial constraints. It is a serious public health issue that negatively impacts physical, mental, and social health, costing our healthcare system considerably.

In 2005, Statistics Canada started monitoring household food insecurity through the Canadian Community Health Survey. Since this survey started, food insecurity rates have only become worse each year.

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