We’ve been hearing, since the end of they 20-teens, that the poverty line is rising, putting more average folks in trouble meeting their financial obligations. And the most serious aspect of that is, some average families can’t afford decent food…
The figures are alarming, to say the least: “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.
Everyone hurts…
“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 also 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 we need
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.
Their statement stresses that a proper response to the emergency will require 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 ashamed 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.
My questions to you..
Are you one of the growing crowd who used to think of themself as ‘middle income’, but now strug-gles to make ends meet at the end of the month?
Do you agree with the Southern Ontario Public Health Units, that it’s time for government inter-vention to bring food prices down?
Do you believe the recently-announced Federal Government plan – to investigate the food industry, end to end, looking for ways to make it more competitive, and bring prices down – will do the job?
Muse on that!
~ Maggie J.