You might. While the cost of living is getting higher in BC’s Lower Mainland, you probably have a job and money to put towards regular meals in your home. But if you’re household is relying on social assistance as the main or only source of income, a BC Center for Disease Control study found that 75% of these households are food insecure, and female lone-parent households with children under the age of 18 face the highest rate of food insecurity. [1]
What is Food Insecurity?
When someone has limited or no access to adequate, culturally-appropriate and nutritional food, that person is experiencing food insecurity. Food insecurity contributes to poorer overall health – physical, mental, and emotional – and can negatively impact conditions like:
- Diabetes
- Hepatitis
- Depression
- Suicidal ideation
And someone experiencing food insecurity can also find it harder to concentrate or manage their emotions. [2] [3]
Food Insecurity at RainCity
Over half of the housing at RainCity doesn’t have a funded meal program, and almost all of those buildings are located in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where healthy food is scarce, lineups for hot meals are long, and hours to available food service are limited.
While some of our programs benefit from local food donations
– and thank you for those! – food donations alone do not guarantee ongoing meals.
What can be done?
Our Board has launched a fundraising campaign ‘Healthy Food, Healthy Minds’ to address this! There are three ways to contribute:
- Make a personal donation – Every donation makes a difference at RainCity. 100% of your donation goes directly to food security. A donation of $60 will provide a month of weekly meals for a mom and her two kids!
- Become a Monthly Donor – A monthly donor makes a huge impact while having little impact on your own budget. If you and nine people you know all decided to donate $50 a month (a nice dinner out with a close friend), the total would cover weekly meals for the 24 women living at the Vivian for a year!
- Have Your Business Sponsor a Meal Program! – By sponsoring one or more of these meal programs, your donation will mean people no longer needing to use all of their time and energy to secure food – they will be able to focus healthier brains and bodies on learning valuable life skills, participating in life in a different way, and making their life and the lives of those around them better. Email us for more info.
“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have economic, physical and social access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”
– United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
[1] Li, N, PhD, Dachner, N, MSc, Tarasuk, V, PhD, August 2016, Priority health equity indicators for British Columbia: Household food insecurity indicator report <http://www.bccdc.ca/pop-public-health/Documents/Household%20food%20insecurity%20in%20BC_full%20report.pdf>
[2] Hartline-Grafton, H, DrPH, RD, 2017, The Impact of Poverty, Food Insecurity, and Poor Nutrition on Health and Well-Being <https://frac.org/wp-content/uploads/hunger-health-impact-poverty-food-insecurity-health-well-being.pdf>
[3] Proof Food Insecurity Policy Research, 2016 The Impact of Food Insecurity on Health <https://proof.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/health-impact-factsheet.pdf>