FOOD SECURITY +SOCIAL HOUSINGSYSTEMATIC AND COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATION THROUGH POLICY AND RESEARCH

Photos by Judy Graves

FOOD INSECURITY A POLICY GAPCurrently

After rent people receiving income assistance or welfare do not have enough left over for food1

An ad hoc aggregation of charitable organizations provide meals

1 Dietitians of Canada. (2007) BC Cost of Eating Report. Vancouver: Dietitians of Canada. Retrieved from: http://www.dietitians.ca/news/frm_resource/imageserver.asp?id=1009&document_type=document&popup=true&contentid=1944

The needs of the population are not met:There is not enough food

“They often run out of food before everyone gets to the front of the line” ~Judy Graves, Coordinator, Tenant Assistance Program, City of Vancouver

“There should not be lineups” ~Joyce Rock, Executive Director, Downtown EastsideNeighbourhood House

FOOD INSECURITY A POLICY GAP

Nutritional, Social and Supportive needs of the population are not met

The charitable food providers become a dumping ground for unhealthy food ~Joyce Rock

“The food may be of dubious nutritional quality with starch, sugar and salt being key ingredients.” ~Dr. Graham Riches, Professor emeritus, Department of social work, UBC

FOOD INSECURITY A POLICY GAP

In many social housing units Food security considerations are not planned for

“71% of the residential hotel rooms have no fridge or hotplate…[often] there are no insect and rodent proof storage facilities.” ~Judy Graves

FOOD INSECURITY A POLICY GAP

FOOD INSECURITY A RESEARCH GAP

People who work in social housing know the positive effects of providing food

“The staff noticed a change in the atmosphere and there was not a single 911 call during those two weeks” ~Liz Evans, ED of the Portland Hotel Society, talking about the effect of a two week long three-meals-per-day program at the Stanley

FOOD INSECURITY A RESEARCH GAP

Yet…there is little research to:Build the case, or

Provide best practice suggestions

POLICYFOOD SECURITY + SOCIAL HOUSING

Solution requires policy so that food security is:

Systematic: A consideration in every social housing unit; and

Comprehensive: Meets the various needs of the population.

To be Comprehensive three factors must be addressed:

The Geographic Location;

The Built Form; and

The Programming and Amenities available

POLICYFOOD SECURITY + SOCIAL HOUSING

POLICYRESEARCH + ADVOCACYAdvocacy needs to start

immediatelyFood security considerations

must be in every new social housing plan

Research is necessary to support advocacy. Two kinds are needed:

Building the Case

Best Practice

RESEARCHBUILDING THE CASEImportant to demonstrate the advantages of

improving food security

Several potential areas for future research include:

The effect of FS on health service use

The effect of FS on community and housing

The effect of FS on mental health

RESEARCHBEST PRACTICESolutions should be population

specific.

Recommendations should address the needs of the specific population. They should touch on:

Geographic Location

Built Form

Programs and Amenities

CURRENT RESEARCHBUILDING THE CASE

Dr. Karen Cooper: Volume and type of critical incident reports before and after the inception of a 1-meal-per-day program

Trend: critical incidents have decreased since the program started

Cost of 3 meals: $5.75 - $6.95 per day (food only)

Early analysis shows the decrease in emergency costs approximates the increase in food costs.

CURRENT RESEARCHBEST PRACTICE

Dr. Christina Miewald: Assessed the needs of the DTES Hard-to-House and applied the findings to their housing situations.

Focus groups and interview with housing providers and residents

Objective: Describe food security barriers and make policy recommendations

CURRENT RESEARCHBEST PRACTICE (Dr. Miewald continued)

Three policy recommendations emerged: 1) Increase food programs that deliver meals or

provide meals in-house to improve access,

2) Look for ways cooking facilities can be included as part of basic housing infrastructure, and

3) Make healthy food available where people are because the hard-to-house are often not housed.

ADVOCACYThree recommendations for policy

Food security should be incorporated into social housing policy

All new and refurbished social housing units should have food security considerations incorporated into the planning

Existing units should assess the degree to which their residents are food secure and where potential barriers to food security lie

ADVOCACY STRATEGYIncrease awareness through media and other

opportunities to inform decision makers

Target Housing Providers

Demonstrate the needs by helping providers evaluate the food security of their residents

“Learn what levers the city can control and map out the resources they can contribute” ~Dr. Penny Ballem, City Manager for the City of Vancouver