CBC podcast Hard to Stomach looks at food insecurity

Hunger means more than inconvenience or discomfort. For Chris Martin of Waterloo region, it meant physical pain.

His story is one of many personal looks at food insecurity in Ontario in the newCBC podcastHard to Stomach.

In this four-episode series, CBC'sNana Aba Duncanexplores what food insecurity feels and sounds like through the stories of people who have experienced it firsthand.

Between the ages of four to 12-years old, Martin said food at his family's home in Elmira was rarely a consistent thing.

He and his brother would go entire days without eating, or they'd get a single meal of just bread. When food was available, it was cheap and unhealthy.At school, Martin's teachers would discipline him for his poor and inattentive behaviour.

"I had a very difficult time concentrating," he said. He remembers being skinny, lacking athleticism and irritable.

"Back then I thought, 'I'm the problem here.'

Listen to Chris Martin's experience:

Check out the Hard to Stomach podcast: