Soul Table forum

Community conversation series puts focus on food insecurity

Starting last September, a monthly series of community conversations have been taking place at Bethany Christian Reformed Church in Bloomfield. “The community here wanted to discuss issues of common concern, and we thought we could facilitate that. We approached the County and they wanted to partner with us so we could offer this on a non-sectarian basis,” said Pastor Bruce Adema. The sessions take the form of a community meal, followed by a presentation from someone knowledgeable about the topic, and then an ensuing discussion. The light dinner served is an important part of the evening, as it allows participants the opportunity to get to know each other. “Community happens around the dinner table,” said Pastor Adema, adding that this is not a church program, but a community event open to all. “We identify a topic, invite a speaker who has good information for us, and that’s followed by a conversation so that people really understand it and bring their own input.” Previous sessions have included the lack of affordable housing in the County, and the shortage of family physicians. Last Wednesday the topic of discussion was food insecurity, and it was presented by Vital Signs coordinator Anne VanVlack and The County Foundation executive director Dominique Jones.

Jones opened the discussion by noting that The County Foundation (TCF) is one of 201 such community foundations across Canada. TCF has three main priority areas. It collects data on the community in order to provide reports on a range of issues of interest; it develops charitable funds and facilitates grants to the community; and it works with other organizations to catalyze actions towards formative changes. The data collected is available to the public at PECdata.ca, and is updated monthly. The major publication is the Vital Signs Report, which is issued every couple of years, with interim updates, the last of which was in September 2022. The update provides a snapshot of the community in areas such as the economy, housing, education, transportation, food security, and safety and justice.

Anne VanVlack then began her presentation on food insecurity in the County. She said that a number of factors have led to a rise to food insecurity in the County, the foremost of these being the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent rapid rise in the rate of inflation. “The problem with food insecurity is now the worst we’ve seen. There has been a 26 per cent increase in the use of food banks, and only about a quarter of the people who are food insecure use a food bank,” she said. “Food insecurity is not just when people don’t have enough to eat; it’s also not knowing where your next meal is going to come from or how you’re going to feed your children. That’s food insecurity.” She said the problem is not one of lack of availability of food, it is lack of affordability. “It’s not a food problem, it is an income problem. When money is tight, food is often sacrificed.” She said the Prince Edward Family Health Team is seeing the effects on families who are not able to afford to buy nutritious food. On a nationwide basis, one in three hospitalized children are malnourished on admission. There are several factors within the County that contribute to the problem of food insecurity. Among them is the high rate of self-employment and precarious employment, often resulting in wages that are substantially below the provincial average. “More than half the people using County food banks are the ‘working poor’. They are working fulltime and they still can’t afford to put enough food on their table consistently,” said VanVlack.

There are some general approaches to addressing food insecurity. Providing affordable housing and childcare, raising levels of social assistance, maintaining rent subsidies for low income families, and raising education levels are some of the systemic level changes needed. At the community level, there are a number of County organizations trying to alleviate food insecurity. One development of a previous Vital Signs Report was the creation of the Food Collective, which is a collaboration of 25 County organizations who now work together. The PEC Fresh food market at the Prince Edward Learning Centre and County Food Hub provides fresh, nutritious food at a reasonable cost. When it was operating, the County Food Depot provided over 3,000 no-cost food hampers during a 63-week period. The Food to Share program provides fresh and frozen meals to seniors, youth at the ROC, and to some of the residents at Kate’s Rest. The HUB also has the low-cost Good Food Box and Good Baby Box program. And there are community meals, such as at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Wellington, that are open to anyone.

On the income side of the equation, the PELC Income Tax program has enabled people to capture benefits that they may not have been aware of, bringing thousands of dollars back into the community. Additionally, PELC’s Inspire program is training young people and linking them to local employers. “Providing food for people in need is an emergency stop-gap measure. It is not sustainable. The Food Collective is trying to move to that next step to make it more sustainable and looking at ways to empower people to help themselves,” said VanVlack.

The floor was opened for questions following the presentation. One person asked whether there could be a more cohesive approach between all the organizations. VanVlack replied that it would require a central coordinator, and there has been a funding application for that position in the Food Collective. Someone else asked if food recipes or cooking classes can be offered to help people cook nutritious meals. VanVlack said there were pre-Covid cooking classes, but they are not yet back up and running. The County Food Hub is expected to offer cooking classes in the near future, and PEC Fresh provides recipes in their email notifications. The question of increasing education levels to provide better employment opportunities came up. Jones said thanks to an anonymous donation, The County Foundation will be offering two two-year scholarships in the trades apprenticeship area to students at PECI. One scholarship will be by application, the other by nomination from PECI staff.

The Soul Table sessions will continue until May. Upcoming presentations are on the County’s Official Plan as well as the impact of tourism. For more information, please email bethanycrc.office@gmail.com, or call 613.393.1684