Food Insecurity and Participation in Community Food Programs among Low-income Toronto Families
Food Insecurity and Participation in Community Food Programs among Low-income Toronto Families
复制标题
DOI：
10.1007/bf03405523
复制
发表时间：
2009-03-01
影响因子：
4.3
通讯作者：
Tarasuk, Valerie
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kirkpatrick, Sharon I.;Tarasuk, Valerie
目的：加拿大应对粮食不安全的措施主要是基于社区的粮食倡议，而很少注意缓解这一问题的潜在政策方向。本文的目的是研究粮食安全的情况下，参与社区，粮食计划，并在应对粮食短缺的低收入家庭居住在高贫困多伦多neighborhoods.Methods的抽样策略：从484个家庭和邻里映射进行调查的数据进行了分析。在过去12个月里，三分之二的家庭粮食无保障，四分之一以上的家庭粮食严重无保障，表明粮食匮乏。在过去12个月里，只有五分之一的家庭使用过粮食银行，而在粮食不安全的家庭中，使用粮食银行的可能性更高。三分之一的家庭参与了儿童食品计划，但参与与家庭食品安全无关。每20个家庭中就有一个使用社区厨房，参与社区花园的比例更低。这是相对常见的家庭推迟支付账单或租金和终止服务，以腾出钱的食物和这些行为是积极相关的粮食不安全。讨论：虽然记录粮食不安全的高利率，这项研究挑战的假设，目前以社区为基础的粮食计划正在达到那些需要的人。公共卫生从业人员有责任严格审查他们提供的方案，以评估其对粮食不安全家庭的相关性，并倡导政策改革，以确保低收入家庭有足够的粮食资源。
Objectives: Responses to food insecurity in Canada have been dominated by community-based food initiatives, while little attention has been paid to potential policy directions to alleviate this problem. The purpose of this paper is to examine food security circumstances, participation in community, food programs, and strategies employed in response to food shortages among a sample of low-income families residing in high-poverty Toronto neighbourhoods.Methods: Data from surveys conducted with 484 families and neighbourhood mapping were analyzed.Results: Two thirds of families were food insecure over the past 12 months and over one quarter were severely food insecure, indicative of food deprivation. Only one in five families used food banks in the past 12 months and the odds of use were higher among food-insecure families. One third of families participated n children's food programs but participation was not associated with household food security. One in 20 families used a community kitchen, and participation in community gardens was even lower. It was relatively common for families to delay payments of bills or rent and terminate services as a way to free up money for food and these behaviours were positively associated with food insecurity.Discussion: While documenting high rates of food insecurity, this research challenges the presumption that current community-based food initiatives are reaching those in need. Public health practitioners have a responsibility to critically examine the programs that they deliver to assess their relevance to food-insecure households and to advocate for policy reforms to ensure that low-income households have adequate resources for food.