Food basics
In the Ottawa Citizen this week I talk about food insecurity and how extraordinarily incomprehensible it is for a society so rich and advanced that it can catch freaking rockets with giant chopsticks to have so many hungry people. It’s one in four households in Ottawa suffering from food insecurity. One quarter.
If that’s not an emergency, then I don’t know what the word means.
The people who run and volunteer at food banks do incredible work, but clearly that‘s not enough. There are other solutions out there and my column describes two of them: community markets and food sharing.
As Wendy Leung, executive director of Foodsharing Ottawa, says:
At Foodsharing Ottawa, our food rescue program plays a vital role in recovering surplus food and redistributing it within the community, to help good food find a new home. This is important because in Canada, 3.2 million tonnes of surplus food are produced each year, yet 96% of it goes to waste while millions remain hungry. We also work very closely with the community through initiatives like the Share It, Don’t Toss It platform on Facebook. This platform empowers residents to share surplus food from their homes, increasing access to nutritious food while fostering a spirit of giving. We provide the space for people to take what they can use, and we make it easier for residents to feel empowered to contribute to their community and the environment. The powerful reality is, 50% of the food from households are getting wasted, but can be avoided by simply sharing.
J’ai récemment eu le plaisir d’être interviewée par la conseillère municipale Stéphanie Plante, pour l’émission Dans mon quartier sur Rogers TV. Vous pouvez visionner l’entretien sur YouTube.
