LEARN2 (Hunger in Canada)

For this "Learn" blogpost, I decided to research hunger statistics in Canada, and I was shocked. You never know the extent of misery until you see either the hard numbers, or the harsh sights - as someone who's been taking roughly the same itinerary from my house to my school for the past 6 years, I see the same homeless people everyday and don't get a true feeling of hunger and poverty in my city, much less in my country. This is true for a great margin of the population, people like me who are mostly unaware (hopefully this post makes me a little more aware, let's say). These statistics are mostly taken from this doc**ent, found on Food Bank Canada's official site.

• In March 2009, in Canada, a little under 800 000 people walked into a food bank - this is a considerable number, for a population of 34 millions.

• This year, 37.2% of food bank clients were under 18, and families with children make up more than 50% of the food recipients. Child poverty right now is as high as it was in 1989, the year the federal government made an all-party resolution to end underage poverty, yet nothing is being done now.

• 25% of single-parent families benefit from food banks, and 80% of these families are lead by women.

• 51.5% of the food bank clients in 2009 were receiving social assistance - this is a clear sign that with the ever-increasing cost of life, welfare just is not sufficient to cover even the basic needs of poorer families.

• 8.8% of the population, or 2.7 million people, will experience food insecurity at some point during this year.
  

These are only the statistics that stood out to me, but that doc**ent is a very interesting read. As for solutions, Food Bank Canada offers a very valuable 10-point recommendations list to counter the Canadian population's dependency on food banks that is mostly aimed at the government and it's expenditures. It also offers a 3-point recommendations list for individuals, composed of the following elements:

• Mentor an individual or family that is struggling economically. Maybe you have already overcome the same challenges they are facing and have lessons you can share.

• Join the board of a community social service agency or other non-profit organization. And tell your friends and family about it.

• Volunteer at a community centre or after-school program. If you don’t already, contribute to building your community’s capacity to support all its members – physically, socially, and economically.

This has definitely opened my eyes to hunger in Canada. I guess that's the point of this first step of Evoking, right? :)