The holiday season is filled with calls for generosity, with food banks and food drives regularly making headlines and news feeds. This focus on charitable food giving can be uncomfortable for people focused on long-term solutions to food insecurity. We know that food insecurity needs income-based solutions. Yet the fact that food charities are not the answer to food insecurity does not lessen the fact that many people access them for food.

This month's read feed is about holiday giving, short-term responses, and long-term solutions to food insecurity.

PROOF’s latest Food Insecurity in Canada report is out, reporting on Statistics Canada’s Canadian Income Survey (CIS) data from 2022. The results are clear: food insecurity is getting worse.

22.9% of households in Newfoundland and Labrador experienced some degree of food insecurity in the previous 12 months, amounting to 116,000 people. That’s the highest rate in any of the ten provinces.

The province announced its new Poverty Reduction Plan earlier this month. The announcement included a variety of program additions and changes and largely focused on childhood poverty, supporting seniors, income support, and employment support.

The Poverty Reduction Plan is a fine first step and could have a positive impact on those who are most vulnerable but, in this current crisis, that’s not enough.

In the past month, Food Banks Canada released two stellar reports: the 2023 Hunger Count and the Poverty Report Card. Both reports describe national trends and province-specific information. This blog highlights N.L. and nationwide data from both reports and what it means for our province.

The Provincial Government has just released the updated cost of a 2022 Newfoundland and Labrador Nutritious Food Basket. It highlights the costs of nutritious food in our province, and is the second release of data using the updated food basket developed for 2021, allowing us again to make year-to-year comparisons.

The Nutritious Food Basket is a standardized tool used to calculate the weekly cost of meeting the nutrient requirements for a family of four, consists of 61 foods from the 2019 Canada Food Guide, and is based on the National Nutritious Food Basket.

Food First NL is inviting proposals for our annual audit, starting fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. The contract period is for the next three fiscal years, starting 2023-2024.

There's a real focus on labour right now, with labour organizing in the news and the celebration of International Labour Day on May 1st, including a large May Day rally in St. John’s. So this month we're focusing on food insecurity and decent work.

This content first appeared in the May 2023 newsletter.

Food First NL’s Food on the Move is outgrowing its current storage and preparation area and is looking for a new home. This space is used for all of our food storage (mostly fresh fruits and vegetables and some shelf-stable items), packaging, and market preparation.

We’re aiming to move into this new space by June 2023. We’re open to sharing a space with another organization but our ideal would be a space where we can grow and adapt to our changing needs.

At the end of March, 2023, the Community Food Helpline will be closing. Here’s more information about why, which services will be available until the end of March and beyond, and how to get involved.
We would like to send heartfelt thanks to all of our partners, supporters, and staff of the Helpline over the past nearly three years. We couldn’t have done it without all of your dedication and contributions.

Back in October 2022, Food First NL partnered with PROOF, Nourish, and the Coalition for Healthy School Food to submit our recommendations for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Social and Economic Well-Being Plan. Our public policy recommendations approach social and economic well-being through a food systems and food security lens. Our hope is that these recommendations will encourage the provincial government into immediate and bold action as they develop and implement the plan.

The Provincial Government recently released the updated cost of a 2021 Newfoundland and Labrador Nutritious Food Basket. It highlights the costs of nutritious food in our province and the widening gap between the income floor and the costs of necessities.

Any individual resident of Newfoundland and Labrador who is aged 18 or older as of December 31, 2022, has filed a 2021 tax return as a resident of N.L., and earns an adjusted income of less than $125,000 per year, is eligible for the Government N.L. Cost of Living Benefit. This resource includes more information about accessing the benefit and filing your 2021 tax return.

Food First NL is looking for a new physical space in St. John’s — and folks to share it with.

PROOF’s latest Food Insecurity in Canada report is out, reporting on Statistics Canada’s Canadian Income Survey (CIS) data from 2021. The results are perhaps not surprising but disappointing all the same.

15.9% of households surveyed in the ten provinces had experienced food insecurity in the previous 12 months. In Newfoundland and Labrador, that number rises to 17.9% of households.

The Community Food Helpline will be pausing all new requests for two weeks, from July 29th to August 14th. This will allow the staff to focus on the overwhelming number of requests made throughout July and hopefully decrease the future wait time. Folks can call, text, or email again to request food help as of August 15.

Food First NL and PROOF have co-authored a submission to the 2022 Newfoundland and Labrador Minimum Wage Review Committee, titled “The Minimum Wage: A Powerful Tool to Reduce Food Insecurity.”

An update on what we’re seeing (and expect to see) with food prices in NL

Since early 2020, Food First NL has been trying hard to look at our own organization through an equity lens. Unsurprisingly, we found lots that needed changing.

At the end of this month, two elections will be taking place: the federal election, happening on September 20th, and then municipal elections across the province will be taking place on September 28th.

Today, Food First NL is proud to mark National Indigenous Peoples Day. We do so by calling on all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to spend the day celebrating Indigenous cultures, reflecting on Canada’s ongoing legacy of colonialism, and committing to take action to advance truth and reconciliation.