Food Security ≠ Food Aid: What's the Difference?

By: Dakota Cherry

At the door, when folks read “food security” on my platform leaflet, they’re immediately drawn into conversations about food banks, soup kitchens, and food drives. While these are fantastic initiatives, they are not necessarily food security. Food security is about building more resilient, self-sustaining food systems that are less dependent on volatile world markets... and volatile political leaders.

As we’re now seeing with increasing tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of Canadian products, Canada is extremely vulnerable to the decisions of our southern neighbours. In fact, while living in Ottawa during the pandemic, I learned from someone who worked at the Canada Border Services Agency that we have only a three-day domestic food supply. This was incredibly eye-opening.

Many people are surprised to learn that municipal politics can make a significant impact toward improving our food security, but in reality, research shows it's one of the MOST impactful places change can happen. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of the things we have control over:

• Adopt land-use policies that protect our most arable farmland from development.

  • University of Guelph researcher Dr. Asim Biswas’s work on soil mapping and sustainable soil management can help inform where we build housing while protecting our most productive soils. Take the Niska lands beside the former waterfowl park, for example: a large portion has been cultivated for at least 70 years, historically growing food for the waterfowl, while also helping absorb rainfall into the ground. These are functions we need to consider before paving over productive land.

  
  

• Introduce community-run grocery stores to challenge these monopolies. I explore this topic in greater detail in another article.

  
  

• Expand municipal composting to include multi-unit buildings, such as apartments, as well as businesses, including grocery stores and restaurants, to increase local production of nutrient-rich compost and reduce reliance on imported soil amendments.

• Pursue simpler measures such as community gardens and edible landscapes, including fruit trees and berry bushes on city land rather than grass.

  
  

• Eliminate restrictive real estate clauses, known as “property controls,” that prevent smaller grocers from operating on or moving into certain properties (even after larger retailers have left - National Food Security Strategy, p.9)

Ultimately, what it comes down to is this: whoever controls the food controls the people. Strengthening our sovereignty will not happen within a four-year council term. It will be a slow and arduous process requiring collaboration across all levels of government. The federal government has already begun with its $3-billion investment. The question is: will we take advantage of it?