SOC 808 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: John Van Hengel, Food Bank, Food Desert

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 808
• Professor: Monika Korzun

Document Summary

In 1989, they made a promise that in 3 years, the hunger problem would be solved and that all food banks will be closed: the(cid:396)e(cid:859)s a(cid:271)out 6(cid:1006)(cid:1004) (cid:396)egiste(cid:396)ed food (cid:271)a(cid:374)ks (cid:449)ithi(cid:374) ca(cid:374)ada, (cid:271)ut a(cid:271)out (cid:1006)(cid:1004)(cid:1004)(cid:894)? (cid:895) (cid:373)o(cid:396)e u(cid:374)(cid:396)egiste(cid:396)ed. Food banks in canada: 1981, 13% of canadians live in a state of food insecurity; increasing, 863,000+ people turn to food banks every month. 1/6 are employed; only 5% are homeless. Most of these people a(cid:396)e payi(cid:374)g (cid:373)a(cid:396)ket p(cid:396)i(cid:272)e (cid:396)e(cid:374)t, a(cid:374)d a(cid:396)e(cid:374)(cid:859)t a(cid:271)le to pay fo(cid:396) food: 1/3 of people using food banks are children and youth. Food banks usually provide only 3-4 days(cid:859) (cid:449)o(cid:396)th of food. Good: avoids food waste; assumes there is a surplus and depends on it, feed hungry. Questionable: dependence on corporate donations; the(cid:396)e(cid:859)s (cid:374)o go(cid:448)e(cid:396)(cid:374)(cid:373)e(cid:374)t fu(cid:374)di(cid:374)g. Food banks do not bring up the issue of food quality because they fear corporations will stop donating: governments save money on social programs.