This blog was written by Pam Hanington from Huron Perth and Maureen Owens, Tamarack Institute.
“Food security is the condition in which all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”
Food insecurity in Canada isn’t caused by a lack of food — it’s driven by income inadequacy and political choices. While food donations and charity-based models may ease the symptoms of poverty, they do not address its root cause: insufficient income.
The rise of food banks in Canada is not accidental — it is the result of deliberate policy decisions made during economic downturns and cuts to government income support programs. In other words, policy created food banks. And with political will, policy can eliminate the need for them.
Despite living in one of the world’s wealthiest nations, food insecurity remains a persistent reality for far too many. The idea that someone is going without food often provokes action. This emotional response drives food donations, positioning food banks as repositories of compassion and expedient “solutions” to household, commercial, and corporate food waste.
However, this well-meaning impulse can obscure the deeper issue: donating food may feel like an immediate fix, but it often prevents us from recognizing that food insecurity is not a temporary inconvenience — it is a chronic condition rooted in systemic failures. As a result, food banks and the systems that support them have created and continue to expand a separate, parallel food system for people living in poverty.
Created to support the “deserving poor,” food banks were never meant to be permanent. Today, over 5,500 food banks and sources operate across Canada, alongside thousands of community-based programs like pantries, hampers, meal programs, and community fridges. And yet, food insecurity persists.
Only about 1 in 4 food-insecure households access food banks. Volunteer-driven and reliant on donations, food banks can offer only limited, inconsistent support. Eligibility screening, rationing, and restrictive access create power imbalances and can exclude the leadership and voices of those most impacted.
Efforts to establish standards of excellence—intended to promote dignity and equity in accessing services — while commendable, ultimately miss the point. All people should be able to afford life. Some food bank operators themselves acknowledge the limitations of this model. Despite this, there is little evidence that the food charity system is doing anything more than building empires on the backs of the poor.
Achieving equity in addressing food insecurity requires shifting from a charity-focused mindset to one rooted in justice — centring community agency, dismantling structural barriers, and acknowledging the role of racism, colonialism, classism, economic exploitation and corporate greed. To be food secure means that food is always:
Accessible: Geographically near and reachable
Adequate: Enough to meet dietary needs
Appropriate: Culturally and nutritionally relevant
Affordable: Within financial means.
Most Canadians enjoy this reality. All residents of Canada could—if governments maintained a robust social safety net and enacted policies that guarantee livable incomes.
Maybe it’s burnout from chronic emergency response. Maybe we still cling to the notion of the “deserving poor.” We must change the attitude that giving people money entitles us to control their choices. Changing this attitude is just as important as policy changes for a just society. In fact, without that attitude change, we are unlikely to be effective in the work required to realize our fundamental human rights, including the right to food.
Support Food Secure Canada and rights-based food advocacy.
Push for evidence-based income solutions, including Basic Income.
Champion a stable, robust social safety net.
Use food as a tool to build community, not charity empires.
Back organizations fighting for fair employment standards, decent work and a living wage.
Organize for inclusive representation and civic participation.
Champion the rights of people experiencing discrimination.
Consider action around food deserts and cultural access to food and land.
Poverty is the result of policy, and policy can be changed.
Nearly all food insecurity in Canada stems from inadequate income.
Food waste and food insecurity are separate issues.
Providing food obscures income inadequacy and shifts accountability away from policymakers.
Evidence in Canada and around the world is clear: income supports work—they are the most effective solution.
Outdated beliefs about poverty are a serious barrier to real progress, but they can be changed.