It says that “since the 2008-2009 economic recession,
food bank usage has increased by 25 per cent,
with children and youth now representing over 30 per cent of
food bank users.
“There are far more who do not visit
food banks and also experience food insecurity.
“Among Inuit adults living in Nunavut,
the rate of food insecurity is shockingly high at 69 per cent or six
times higher than the Canadian national average.
“Dignity for All recommends that Canada
develop, in collaboration with all levels of government, food producers,
community stakeholders, and food insecure people, a National Right to Food
Policy.”
Its second recommendation is to ‘increase
federal investment to address the very high levels of household food insecurity
among First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples
in a manner that respects cultural, community, and gender considerations and
Aboriginal land sovereignty.”
There was a push a couple of years ago,
including from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, to develop and implement
a national food policy, but so far neither the federal nor any provincial
government has done so.
