We are living through a profit over humanity business model. Hunger is the result.
Who’s hungry?
25% of us! One in 4 Nova Scotians is food insecure.
33% of children are living in food insecure households.
Overall, in Canada, the highest percentage of individuals living in food-insecure households in 2022 was found among Black people at 39.2% and Indigenous Peoples at 33.4%.
Food for thought stickers
“Pink Sticker Suppers” are a necessity for many. We stretch budgets and try to fill tummies however we can as food prices rise. “Just lower prices”? Yes. That would help.
No, we do not support shoplifting, but desperate times may call for a less vigilant eye.
Suggested stickering opportunities include:
Can you think of a better place for stickering?
Who really needs to hear a message from hungry Canadians?
How can I help?
You could sign an online petition. You could petition the NS legislature or The House of Commons. You could write your MLA a strongly worded letter. Those are all great plans and it might make a difference.
There is an immediate need. Community-based organizations are trying to answer this need while supermarkets raise prices and our government stalls. Mutual aid and grassroots efforts need your support.
Provincial budgets have repeatedly failed to increase social assistance rates. Statistics via PROOF (food insecurity research program, report November 2023) show that 74% of households reliant on income assistance in Nova Scotia in 2021 were food insecure.
Many are exercising ingenuity in coping with skyrocketing rent and housing costs, but it is a considerable strain on families and communities. The situation is even worse for our unhoused neighbours who were sheltering in the now “de-designated locations” of Halifax parks. Housing vs food is hardly an attractive option, but this is increasingly a reality.
A majority of Canadians support Universal Basic Income, but bills S-233 & C-223 have yet to become law. Implementation of these laws would create a Canada-wide framework for the implementation of a “Guaranteed Livable Basic Income”. Research indicates that this change would grow the economy, help small businesses and reduce reliance/strain on our healthcare system.
You are one person, but a well-placed social connection could multiply your efforts infinitely.
Food for thought
The role of poverty and the stigma of shoplifting.
"Sometimes life leaves shoplifters no choice." - What drives this? What are the generational and political divides on our attitudes towards shoplifting?
https://humbernews.ca/2022/11/opinion-poverty-is-a-major-legitimate-factor-in-retail-stores-theft-rise/
Most studies have ignored the possibility that more people may be shoplifting because they have less money for food and basic needs. Grocery stores attract a different kind of theft: these shoplifters do not identify as criminals or as being dishonest. More often, theft of food is an indicator of reduced family income, economic hardships and food insecurity. People in these situations are concerned about having money for basic necessities and debt repayment. Food is the top ranking category of stolen merchandise, accounting for about one out of three instances of theft.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1876&context=jssw
Buying into the food theft moral panic - divorced from its broader social conditions - has resulted in increased surveillance, security and policing. People in poverty are struggling - including disproportionate numbers of children, disabled people and caregivers. The “shame the culprits” and “think twice” campaigns do little to solve the deep-rooted issues which are often to blame for crimes like shoplifting.
https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/shoplifting-rise-cost-of-living-children-poverty/
The cost of food theft (as offloaded to consumers by grocers) may be large. However, the cost of policing and incarceration is far more substantial. The additional social toll of such measures is important to consider. Rather than policing food (and incarcerating those who need to steal it), resources should be redirected to feed people. Prison does not solve hunger.
https://theconversation.com/policing-is-not-the-answer-to-shoplifting-feeding-people-is-217046
"Far too often we look to food as the solution... but food insecurity is not a problem that's rooted in a lack of food. It is an issue that is rooted in inadequate income."
"Poverty is a political choice. There is no other way to look at it. We are deciding every day what we are going to prioritize and we have not clearly prioritized addressing food insecurity."
Reported increases in food theft in Canada are linked to pressures from rising inflation along with diminished investment in social supports such as housing, mental health, transit and other crisis and community supports. The social cost of policing food is much higher, and deeply concerning because it produces unequal community impacts. Food theft is framed as a threat to paying customers. That furthers the divide between those who can still afford groceries, and those who cannot.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/food-insecurity-data-nova-scotia-2022-1.6833773
Who is Just Lower Prices?
