Another step closer to starvation? Southwestern Ontario Health Units report a drastic increase in ‘health issues’ involving residents across the area, west of Toronto and south of Lake Huron. The reason? Food has been priced out of reach for many…
Roughly 194,000 people, or 31 percent of population in the London, Ontario
region do not have enough food to eat, on a regular basis.
“Overall, we’re finding roughly one in four [people across southwestern Ontario] aren’t able to afford both food and other expenses such as rent,” Dr. Ninh Tran, the Medical Officer of Health for South-western Public Health, told the CBC.
“A lot of people think about household food insecurity and think you can make some headway with budgeting, home cooking, food skills, but it’s really an issue of income and housing expenses,” Tran explained.
The Middlesex-London Health Unit, Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, Southwestern Public Health, Grey Bruce Public Health, and Huron Perth Public Health warned last week in a joint stattement, that latest official figures reveal the average single adult receiving social assistance from Ontario Works in their coverage areas cannot afford both rent and enough food to ensure a healthy diet, even with careful spending, and savings from cooking at home.
Real, palpable issues
“What we see is severe impacts on physical and mental health, and this is throughout the life cycle,” Kendall Chambers, a registered dietician with Southwestern Public Health, said. “In adults we might see higher rates of diabetes or cardiovascular disease, impacts on mental health, higher likelihood of depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts. We also see those same things with children.”
In children, food insufficiency often manifests itself as higher rates of chronic conditions like asthma, and impacts on their concentration, memory and mood that can make it difficult for them to succeed in school, Chambers added.
What they’re calling for
The Health Units are calling for immediate increases in social assistance raters to help those most vulnerable meet their needs and commitments. According to the Health Units’ statement, folks on social assistance are receiving only between $300 and $865 per month from the Province.
The Health Units also note that a proper response to the emergency will require responses and commitments from all three levels of government…
My take
‘Food insufficiency’ is just a fancy way of saying ‘starvation’. Albeit, an early stage of the condition we tend to associate with climate ravaged regions such as Sudan, and war-torn locales such as Gaza and Ukraine.
But it’s happening now, right here in my home province. And I’m both aghast and shamed at the same time. Add this to the sad fact that food banks across the county are falling farther and farther behind their commitments to serve an ever-growing growing demand for their direct food relief efforts.
The administrators of the health units in the affected region are right. And immediate response is definitely needed from all three levels of government – local, provincial and federal – to bring this disaster to heel!
~ Maggie J.