Halifax food security, poor health options focus of new report

Food accessibility rarely winds up on political platforms or meeting agenda, but the authors of a new report on food security hope that will soon change.

The inaugural Food Counts: Halifax Food Assessment was launched today in Halifax at the Seaport Farmers Market. The document does not list recommendations for improvement, but offers an overview of the current local food situation.

According to the report, Halifax has the highest reported household food insecurity among 33 major urban centres in Canada.

"Many residents are still not able to afford a healthy diet," the report states. "Some neighbourhoods lack places to purchase healthy foods and there appears to be a loss of food-related knowledge and skills."

The big picture

The report analyzed the entire food system, from farmers and fishermen to grocery stores, to the kitchen table.

"The job is to raise awareness around these issues and to keep talking about food wherever we can, so bringing food into the conversation as much as possible," said Aimee Carson, Community Food Coordinator at the Ecology Action Centre.

Many of the speakers at today's launch event spoke about the importance of healthy, accessible food to a community.

"As clinicians, we are used to telling people that they need to eat healthy food," said Dr. Gaynor Watson-Creed, medical officer of health."What we often remain unaware of is that when they leave our clinical facility and go out into the community to find that food, it may not be there."

The report states a lack of healthy food options primarily affects rural and low-income communities.It also warns that many farmers and fishermen are aging without a younger generation eager to learn and take over the task of primary food production.

The main message was that this report offers a starting point to build upon.

"It tells us where we are currently in the food system so that we can start to work together, identify targets and measure our progress over time," Carson said.