Food Security Is A Chicken-and-Egg Problem

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

For those who find themselves pontificating on the root causes of our current affordability crisis,? so-called “chicken and egg problems” might be a cheeky turn-of-phrase to reach for or a way to suggest that grocery stores or the government (and it is always the government) are not doing enough to address our current affordability crisis.

For food bank leaders on the front lines, chicken and egg problems have always been real barriers in ensuring food security in our communities, especially since prices have been up nearly 8.9 percent and 6 percent since August 2022, respectively.

We could spend weeks debating from where this unfortunate reality stems. After all, we want to help, and many of us are scared and concerned about what this means for our families and our futures.?

We could assign blame, or lament what we should have done, or engage in revisionist history. However, anyone who has experience working in the social services sector knows that would be a fool’s errand.

Why?

Because social service challenges are often not caused by one single issue or decision; such problems are not created overnight or in a vacuum; therefore, they cannot be solved unilaterally.

Many Canadians are feeling the pressures of affordability challenges, which can come in all different shapes and sizes: higher energy prices, increasing housing costs, difficulty finding employment, and, of course, higher food prices.

In times like these, it is our non-profit organizations and our community that come together to support those in need. The Calgary Food Bank is proud to be there to support those facing food insecurity, which has been on the rise in Canada since 2021: approximately one-fifth of Canadians live in households that have experienced marginal, moderate, or severe food insecurity; families with children being the most likely to experience food insecurity.

One does not need to be a professor or researcher to understand how concerning this statistic is for not just our communities, but our economy. Food security is, arguably, one of the most essential components a human being needs to thrive; food insecure individuals may find it challenging to care for themselves or their families, lead a healthy lifestyle, the ability to reach their potential at work or at school, and so much more. A population with high food insecurity may even see an increase in crime as people resort to desperate measures to meet their basic needs.

At the Calgary Food Bank, we know that food insecurity is not typically a simple issue with a simple fix. However, it is difficult to deny that inflation is one of the single biggest drivers of increases in food insecurity in our community today. Not because inflation is a catch-all for every problem in our society, but because it is a driver of nearly every other major issue affecting food security in our communities.

Inflation increases the costs of goods for the farmers who grow our agricultural products, who then must increase the price of the goods they sell in the market. High transportation costs and/or geopolitical factors may impact the costs manufacturers pay to convert these raw materials into finished goods. Grocery chains must purchase these goods at higher prices, and the consumer ultimately bears the cost of these increases.

Higher food costs driven by inflationary pressures then impact real wages, which affects not just food security, but access to affordable housing, one’s ability to heat their home in the winter, or the opportunity to use disposable income for kids’ activities or save for retirement, and so much more.

It is no wonder why we see that people are afraid and worried about their families and futures and are calling on governments and grocery stores to act swiftly to solve this issue.

After announcing several affordability measures earlier this month, federal ministers met with leaders of Canada’s five largest grocery store chains to discuss stabilizing high grocery prices.

When food costs are high, it might be easy to vilify grocery store chains, however, these businesses are some of the biggest donors to the Calgary Food Bank every year providing us with perishable and non-perishable goods that help us support those in need.

We have also seen significant support from governments: the Government of Alberta alone has committed more than $20 million to address food security, while the Government of Canada has provided $10 million through the Local Food Infrastructure Fund. It is clear that governments recognize the severity of this issue and want to find a way to help.

This is why the current food insecurity challenges we face are so daunting: because those who can offer support are doing so in a meaningful way, but the issue still appears to be getting worse.

While it might be tempting to point fingers at those we believe are responsible for the root causes of food insecurity, we should not forget to remember the role that inflation has to play in this critical issue and ask ourselves not-so-rhetorically: “What came first, the chicken or the egg?”