With one in three Kingston households facing food insecurity, City Council’s decision to declare it an emergency is a call to action.
At the first meeting of the year on Jan. 14, City Council unanimously declared food insecurity—defined by public health units across eastern Ontario as the inability to afford food wanted or needed for good health because of financial constraints—an emergency. In 2023, Kingston, Frontenac, and Lennox & Addington Public Health reported one in three households were food insecure and struggling to afford basic needs.
In an interview with The Journal, Professor Elaine Power from the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies described food insecurity as inadequate access to adequate amounts of food due to financial reasons—meaning individuals or families can’t afford food or are worried they’re not going to be able to buy the food they need.
“One in three households [are food insecure] in Kingston, and it’s the same across the country because the cost of housing and groceries have gone up so much, and wages haven’t kept up. Social assistance rates haven’t kept up,” Power said in an interview with The Journal.
The motion to declare food insecurity an emergency in Kingston was moved by Councillor for Kingscourt-Rideau, Brandon Tozzo. Along with the declaration, the motion requested the Ontario Government immediately increase base funding for existing school food programs and raise social assistance rates to meet basic living needs. The motion also requested for the Provincial and Federal Governments to address the root causes of food insecurity by establishing a Guaranteed Liveable Basic Income.
The rising cost of living is a growing concern for Kingstonians and students alike. The 2023 Shift Survey, administered by the University, found over 11 per cent of respondents went a full day without food due to financial constraints.
In 2023, the Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS) announced the closure of its food insecurity relief program. In a notice published on Nov. 23, 2023, the SGPS announced it only had sufficient funding to offer grocery cards to 50 applicants, who were randomly selected, despite receiving nearly 500 applications in just the 24 hours the program was open.
READ MORE: PSAC 901 and SGPS close food insecurity funds
According to Vice-President (Graduate) Zaid Kasim, the SGPS collaborated with the AMS Food Bank earlier this year to assess the number undergraduate and graduate student users. Through the fall semester, the AMS conducted surveys on the patrons of the food bank, which later revealed that 70 per cent of the users were graduate students, according to Kasim.
“Stipends are simply too low to sustain the cost of living, and the reality is that most of the users of the AMS Food Bank are graduate students. The only real solution to the crisis is to increase stipends, but the university has been slow to act,” SGPS President Emils Matiss said in an interview with The Journal.
Despite continued efforts of collaboration with the AMS Food Bank, the SGPS is struggling to meet the increasing demand.
“We can’t keep up with the growing demand,” Matiss said. “The most pressing need of our members is simply access to food, which isn’t acceptable.”
The SGPS is calling on the University to address graduate student food insecurity by increasing stipends, emphasizing that food bank funding is merely a “band-aid solution.” Matiss emphasized their commitment to advocating for graduate funding and ensuring students’ basic needs are met.
Matiss wants all struggling graduate students to know they aren’t alone, acknowledging many face financial constraints.
“This is a systemic issue that needs to be fixed, so raising your voice isn’t helping just yourself but others as well. I also recognize this is very challenging for everyone,” Matiss said.
Tags
AMS food bank, city council, food insecurity, urgency
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.