Feed NS executive director calls for public policy intervention on food insecurity

With the sticker shock of inflation showing few signs of slowing at the grocery store, more people are battling food insecurity and turning to food banks for help.

Feed Nova Scotia is currently supporting 75 food banks and 65 shelters and milk programs across the province, sending out five trucks with over $1 million worth of food each month. Their home delivery program also sent out 53,000 boxes of food to more than 21,000 Nova Scotians. 

In an interview with CityNews Halifax, Executive Director of Feed Nova Scotia, Nick Jennery, noted that the number of new clients at food banks in the first quarter of 2022 has doubled compared to the same time period in 2021.

“It's a lot of work to do that we are not moving the needle on the level of food insecurity,” he said, noting that one charity organization can’t be responsible for solving such a complex social issue. “It requires public policy intervention.”

Not only does Nova Scotia have the highest level of food insecurity in Canada (with one in six households being food insecure), child poverty rates in the province have decreased by just 0.1 per cent between 1989 and 2019. 

“We cannot fix this thing by trying to put out more food there,” he said. “We need public policy that says how do we allow people to have access to the foods that they need when they need it. The current system is not going to be the solution.”

Earlier this week, Jennery shared the stories of three clients to emphasize how widespread food insecurity is hitting Nova Scotians with the provincial government’s Public Accounts committee. 

For one individual living in their car since last fall, the price of gas has meant they have to choose between filling up the tank to stay warm or buying food that can be prepared without an oven or microwave. 

Another person, Jennery says, is suffering from mental exhaustion after scrambling for support from churches to help make sure their power isn’t turned off.

The final story was about a single dad who works full-time but is struggling to afford groceries for his children. 

To make food bank programming more accessible, he noted that Feed Nova Scotia started a home delivery program to provide meals to clients who can’t get to a food bank themselves. The program, available by calling 211, is being used by 20 to 30 per cent of clients, according to Jennery. 

He also noted the organization issued a couple of recommendations to the Progressive Conservative government, led by Premier Tim Houston, related to income assistance rates and the minimum wage.

“There are lots of metrics that say this is all going in the wrong direction,” Jennery said of food security in the province. 

Pointing out that more than 35,000 Nova Scotians rely on income assistance to make ends meet, Jennery noted the exorbitant rise in the cost of living is spreading assistance rates too thin for thousands of people, something that could be remedied by indexing rates to inflation, ensuring the proportion of income assistance remains consistent with the rise of food and gas prices.

Jennery also believes the province needs to address the growing affordable housing shortage because people can’t afford food when many are spending more than half of their income on housing.

“We need to start thinking about moving the minimum wage closer to a living wage,” he said. “I understand that's difficult, especially at this time, but we have to find a way to allow Nova Scotians to buy food and to afford the increasing cost of living.”