Food Prices Are Not the Only Obstacle to Achieving Food Security: Root Causes Include Systemic Barriers

Increasing food prices and stagnant incomes have been identified as major obstacles to achieving food security. About one in six, or 15.9 per cent, of households in Canada experience food insecurity.

Economic barriers like food prices are not the only obstacles to food security. Our study, published by Food Secure Canada, outlines that systemic barriers like colonialism, racism and other systems of injustice are among the root causes of food insecurity in Canada.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, food security requires economic, physical and social access to food.

Economic access involves factors such as income, poverty and food affordability. Physical access is related to infrastructure and facilities like roads and transportation. Social access focuses on ensuring people have access to all the necessary resources within society for nutritious and culturally appropriate foods. Food insecurity happens if any of these paths fail.

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