September 2020 – Grandview Woodland Food Connection

As a Community Food Centres Canada Good Food Organization, the Grandview Woodland Food Connection endorses this report.

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Today we are releasing Beyond Hunger, our new report on the hidden impacts of food insecurity on people’s lives.

As a valued supporter, we ask you to take action with us by letting your Member of Parliament know you want to see progressive policies to address food insecurity in Canada.

Beyond Hunger surveyed 561 people from across the country. These individuals shared dramatic first-hand accounts of living with food insecurity: from facing life-threatening health concerns and not celebrating holidays to isolating to hide the issue from friends and family.

And the problem is getting worse. Before COVID, one in eight Canadians struggled to put good food on the table. During the pandemic, it’s become one in seven—a 39 per cent increase.

Beyond the statistics and heart-wrenching stories, our report shows that food insecurity goes much deeper than hunger. Its impacts are far-reaching, affecting physical and mental health, social connection and community, employment and aspirations, family life and more.

We urgently need a national solution that goes beyond emergency food assistance. We need a solution founded in solid policy that addresses inadequate social programs, systemic racism and low incomes.

Please join us in advocating for transformative policies that will change lives. Read and share this report and tell your Member of Parliament it’s time to fight food insecurity and poverty in our communities.

Read the report and take action at beyondhunger.ca.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

In solidarity,

Sasha McNicoll
Senior Specialist, Policy
Community Food Centres Canada

Pleased to have completed a very successful Wild Minds program this past summer with a group of 14 amazing youth, mostly from Britannia Secondary. Despite COVID, we were able to run the program with two groups of 7 youth each. The youth, all who face various systemic barriers in their lives, participated in this two week food and ecology program in Strathcona Community Gardens in partnership with the Environmental Youth Alliance . Wild Minds program focused on increasing local biodiversity while learning about ecology, native plant propagation, habitat restoration, pollinators, Indigenous knowledge systems, and food & medicinal plants. The youth developed meaningful connections to the land, while gaining valuable life skills.

Thank you to CLICK (Contributing to the Lives of Inner City Kids) for their funding support.