Recipes for Hunger: Saskatchewan Women Speak about Food Insecurity

Recipes for Hunger:Saskatchewan Women Speak about Food Insecurity Yvonne Hanson, B.A., M.Ed. Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence Webinar – February 18, 2011

Today’s Presentation • Research purpose & methods • Concepts and terms used • Food Insecurity as a Gender issue • Study’s findings • Analysis, Policy recommendations • Questions & comments

Research Purpose & Methods To explore how policies & initiatives aimed to address food security (right to food) influence women’s health in urban, rural and remote locations in Saskatchewan. • Literature (academic/grey) review • Testimonials: lived experiences of food insecurity • Feedback: Community-based Organizations

TERMS AND CONCEPTS • FOOD (IN)SECURITY • Food insecurity as social determinant • Food insecurity intersected with other determinants • Individual vs. community food insecurity • Right to food

Food (In)security ? In 1996, 180 countries met in Rome at the World Food Summit, to enact a global movement for the eradication of hunger within 10 years and develop a plan for global food security. This is their agreed-upon definition: “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical & economic access to sufficient, safe & nutritious food to meet their dietary needs & food preferences for an active & healthy life.” A reverse of this definition is considered in understanding food insecurity (i.e. differential access to nutrition, etc), however, food insecurity is also about requiring the knowledge and skills necessary for healthful food and eating.

Food Security as Social Determinant of Health • Food security described as social determinant (access, availability, culture-specific) Nutritious food = optimize healthy living & body

Food insecurity intersected with other social determinants • Like many other social determinants of health, food insecurity crosses over paths of gender, culture & ethnicity, religion, geography, income, education and age • Food also crosses over socio-political and economic lines, viewed as “commodity” and traded internationally • Corporatization of food

Food Insecurity as Gender Issue • What does food insecurity “look” like for women in Canada (Sask)? How are women affected by food insecurity and the policies/ programs set to address them? • What roles do geography & culture, income and education play in food insecurity? • Differential access to nutrition – at the household and community level for women?

Food Insecurity as Gender Issue, cont… • “Women are most likely to be responsible for feeding their families on a daily basis, and least likely to be involved in shaping the policies that determine the food system they must access.” Source: Penny Van Esterick (1999)

Food Insecurity: General • At global, national & regional levels, food security can be affected by macro/micro economics, terrorism/war, climate instability/disasters & global or national energy crises • At the community or household levels, food insecurity –through distribution and allocation of food resources – can be affected by income, gender inequality & food skill deficits

Food Insecurity: Canada • In 2004, > 1.1 million households in Canada were food insecure at some point in the previous year (9.2% overall; 24.9% of lone female headed households; 8.3% of lone male headed households) • Aboriginal off-reserve households are the most significantly high numbers to experience sustained food insecurity. (Statistically, 33.3 % of Aboriginal households were food insecure as compared to 8.8 % of non-Aboriginal households) • Of the 33.3% of Aboriginal households, 42% of these are severely food insecure. Source: Canadian Community Health Survey, 2004

Right to Food “The right to have continuous access to the resources that will enable you to produce, earn or purchase enough food to not only prevent hunger, but to ensure health and well-being. The right to food only rarely means that a person has the right to free handouts”. -UN Food and Agriculture Organization “Right to Food” aimed duty-bearer (national gov’t): 1. RESPECT the right to food; 2. PROTECT the right to food; 3. FULFILL the right to food.

Right to Food: Limitations • Food rights are discussed in terms of product over process (food aid, food distribution & food banks). • What is left out, is the understanding that final realization of these rights occur in homes, often the site of women’s efforts. (Source: VanEsterick, P.1999)

Mapping women’s stories • Geography: urban, rural, remote/northern SK • Age • Ethnicity & Language • Source of income • Education • Mode of Transportation • Housing • Family (household members) • Health risks/status

Recipes from the field: Urban • Key findings: • Income-related household food insecurity (most participants interviewed were living on social assistance, worker’s comp or minimum wage, stipends ) • Food insecurity experienced through institutional aid (food bank use, soup kitchens), however, personal safety is expressed as a concern for women using these supports. • Not unlike referenced literature, stories of women going hungry – or eating less quality foods - to ensure children are well-fed (Level 1-2 food insecurity index) • Food security is perceived as a matter of hunger relief. Nutritious food is nice, but not expected. (*Wieners)

Food insecurity in Saskatchewan From a photo-voice project 2006, entitled, Looking Out/Looking In: Women, Poverty and Public Policy, this image concurs with some of the study’s participants’ perceptions: • An empty shopping cart • A winter’s day • A empty parking lot

Urban recipes, Continued … • Women living alone –without social supports – vulnerable to food insecurity • Core neighbourhoods – limited access/availability to nutritious foods • Transportation problems (esp. in winter), long distances to available sources, lack of childcare support • Over-supply of junk or processed “food” in core neighbourhood • New Canadians talk about lack-lustre taste of food in Canada • Immigrant families – children opting out of cultural food consumption in exchange for “Canadian food” • Colonization of diets

Urban recipes, Continued… • Foods that last longer in storage are preferred to fresh food • Price gouging on welfare cheque days • Breastfeeding support is lacking in core neighbourhood (among peers, social environments) • Health risks compounded by food insecurity: HIV+, addictions, depression, anxiety, diabetes, isolation, homelessness

Urban Recipes Day at the Food Bank From the Photo-Voice exhibit, 2006 “I went to the food bank not only for this purpose but because my kids needed to eat. What is shown here is everything I got. Any time I have gone to the food bank, at least half of what I get has gone in the garbage because it’s either old, rotten or mouldy. Why are expiry dates blacked out? This is the one time in a number of years where everything is decent, but is it? Maybe not old, rotten or mouldy, but lots of unhealthy junk food. My thoughts were like “Why now?” Mostly unhealthy junk food and this little bit is to last a family of three for fourteen days.”

Urban Recipes - Quotes One participant, on the notion of visiting the farmer’s market: “There's an awesome Farmers Market that's on the West Side - state of the art - but not affordable for anyone who live in this community - not one person. I'm about three blocks away from the Farmers Market and I went there and the only thing I could afford to buy was a bag of cucumbers and that was in a zip-lock bag - like about six cucumbers. So even if we wanted to eat healthy we can't – they're not allowing us to.” One participant in regards to rent and income: “And the other thing is the rent has a lot to do with it too. Because a lot of us, well I'm lucky – I'm fortunate, but most of the people I know that live in this neighbourhood are paying more for rent and how much do they have left after rent, utilities and then grocery money left over? They are getting paid minimum wage and then they expect us to pay $900 rent and then we have not even $200 a month left over and it's not even enough to get groceries for the whole month”

Urban Recipes - Quotes • One participant suggests, “Student loan payment, phone bill, food, transit, power. I'm sliding fast and I'm going to hit the skids… There's all these schools with food programs but it's also important to keep the mothers healthy and a lot of people on welfare use [meal programs] because welfare’s an inadequate fund. And as a government person I think that they're trying to embarrass people off welfare.” • Another participant on culture, food and obesity, “Here it is a culturally different – food tasted different just 2 ½ years ago when I went to India from here and over there we eat lots of food and we do not become bigger and here we eat a little bit and getting bigger.” • On the monotony of “sameness” of food: “I won't eat deer anymore. I ate too much of it and now I can't stand it. Or tuna fish because tuna fish was really cheap so it was part of our school lunch all the time. This is the weirdest thing, I can remember mom she used to clean the grocery store at nights to make some extra money and for groceries and you've got food all over the place and I was hungry so I took an apple and started eating it. Boy did I ever get a licking for that because I took something that didn’t belong to me. It's so hard to eat tuna fish today because I ate too much of it back then.”

Images/Text from Photovoice Project, Saskatoon, 2006 “The choice is clear. If I don’t eat – no one will know. If I don’t buy sanitary supplies – everyone will know. I already use $110 toward extra rent money needed, out of the $210 that I have to live on.”

Recipes from the field: North/Remote • Key Findings: • Traditional diets of moose, fish, berries (1/3 of all consumed meal-time foods). • Food purchases – major (1.5 hours commute); minor (in community). Prices vary significantly (up to 200%) • Two small stores in community are expensive, inadequate in fresh food provision & inconsistent (closed between 12-1 pm & 5-6 pm) • Community food insecurity – availability is limited; access denied

Remote Recipes, Continued … • Nutritious foods are over-priced; junk “food” is affordable • Few consumed fruit/vegs. (potatoes, frozen peas & carrots) • Food shortages are considered part of a community’s wider responsibility; sharing with neighbours & family

Remote Recipes, Continued … • Some concerns over environmental contaminants (toxins in duck meat). • Gardening proven difficult due to roaming dogs, lack of knowledge/ technical skill • Freezer-usage (100% of all ppts) • Health risks: diabetes, hypertension, addictions, obesity

Remote Recipes: Quotes • One participant, “I think the fish are okay except sometimes you hear about the ducks from the south. I don't know where they come from – so that's one concern I have with the ducks and geese. With our commercial fishing and we sell are fish to markets all over so our fish are still good.” • One participant, on breastfeeding, “I think the young ones are a little too shy.”

Towards a Health Policy that incorporates food security in context An integrative health policy which addresses the ecological, physiological, place-culture- psychosocial and gender needs of its population in the context of food security. Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Health does not have a distinct policy that addresses food insecurity and its health impacts. Wild rice

Gendered food security – Policy implications (for development) • Unique health, socio-cultural and economic needs of women recognized within “Right to Food” • Women’s representation & participation in agricultural & health policy development. Identify & address gender issues & impacts. • Community-based, participatory processes to develop policies on food insecurity that would include those affected

Right to Food/Food Security: Implications • Long term food security programming aimed at self-sufficiency (i.e. urban agriculture, gardening) • Policy to support program development • Inclusion of benchmarks for skill development (i.e. collective kitchens) • Long term strategies to recognize importance of empowerment and capacity building • Gender analysis of policies(to address income disparity, childcare, health insurance)

Policy Recommendations • Integrate women’s involvement & attention to food production, purchasing & nutritional fulfilment into policy • Address differential access to food: poverty reduction strategies that cap rental fees, etc. • Allocate land, capital & human resources towards fostering skills and education on food • Work towards changing our ideology of “food” (from food as commodity to food as sustenance for life)

Service Providers speak about policy recommendations • From a service provider, urban: “Why I am so committed to the Good Food Junction? Because I think it is the issue of access. It’s the issue of access not just to any food but where you have a store where they know you and where you can send your kids on their own and know that they are not going to be taken in a back room and accused of stealing and where you can get some healthy food and feel part of the community.” • Another participant, “I have a built-in habit around healthy food and the knowledge of what to do around healthy food. I think that’s an area of food security that’s a challenge for the three of us and the work we do at CHEP* because some people - and especially younger people - have been disempowered around food prep, food knowledge.” (*CHEP – Child Hunger and Education Program)

Questions and Comments?

Recipes for Hunger: Saskatchewan Women Speak about Food Insecurity