Hunger and homelessness go hand in hand on P.E.I., symposium looking for solutions hears
'Cut out the guys that have chateaus in France and extra yachts,' NFU rep suggests
About 80 Islanders attended a symposium at the University of Prince Edward Island Thursday night that zeroed in on the intersection of food insecurity and homelessness.
"We need to have a conversation between consumers [and] farmers — and maybe cut out the guys that have chateaus in France and extra yachts," said Rita Jackson, a district director for the National Farmers Union, adding that farmers don't make enough when trying to get their products into big corporate grocery stores.
"There is greed; it is not the farmers," she said. "We're getting older and we are being forced out by all kinds of international forces."
The symposium on food insecurity in the province was hosted by the Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island.
Ideas suggested in the room included things like turning shipping containers into affordable small homes.
Jennifer Taylor is a professor teaching about food and nutrition at UPEI. She told people at the event that food insecurity and homelessness go hand in hand.
"They both are separate and important problems, but a lack of income is a major determinant of both those things. If you don't have enough money for good healthy food, you also certainly can't afford rent, and that is an ongoing problem in P.E.I.," Taylor said.
"We have 24 per cent of the Island who are food insecure, practically, and it's a great concern that these numbers just keep going up and it's really clear what we are doing isn't addressing the problem enough."
Taylor says places like food banks were originally intended to be used for emergencies, but more and more they're being used by people who simply can't keep up with inflation. The Upper Room Food Bank in Charlottetown fed more than 100 families on Wednesday alone, for example.
Food insecurity in rural areas is even worse, according to a Mount Allison University student who's been researching the topic.
"We were able to put out a survey in the six communities and we were able to get 106 responses in return. And after running the numbers, we found that 52.8 per cent of [respondents] are experiencing some level of food insecurity. This is well above the provincial average," said Oliver Batchilder.
He said many factors make it more difficult for rural Islanders to get the food they need.
"In rural areas, rural communities, the distance people have to travel to get to their primary food sources [is] much further than similar individuals who live in urban areas," he said.
Batchilder said the distance food has to travel to get to shelves on stores in rural communities is longer as well, "which means there may possibly be a less diverse range of foods that people are able to access in those communities."
At the Community Outreach Centre in Charlottetown, food is an issue that comes up often.
Jacinta Brown is the centre's program manager, and says hardly anyone who's a client there has enough affordable and healthy food to eat. That's why wrap-around services like shelters and soup kitchens are needed, she said.
"For folks who are experiencing homelessness, all of their food needs are met through services in the community... What they receive is what they can get their hands on through the food bank, the soup kitchen, the shelters and the Community Outreach Centre," she said.
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