One in four parents say they reduce their own food consumption to feed their children: report

One in four parents say they have cut back on their own food consumption in the past year to ensure their children had enough to eat, according to the Salvation Army.

The figures are in the nonprofit's annual report on poverty in Canada, which was released Thursday. The report states that parents are experiencing a “disproportionate number of challenges” related to the cost of living, especially when it comes to grocery bills.

“The reality is that many Canadians continue to struggle to meet basic daily needs, for themselves and, more importantly, for their children and their family members,” said John Murray, a spokesman for the Salvation Army.

“And for us as an organization, that signals a deep, deep crisis for us in the country.”

Of parents surveyed, 24 percent said they had reduced their food consumption in the past year to keep their children fed. Of these parents, 90 percent said they have reduced their grocery bills to spend money on other financial obligations, 86 percent said they have started buying less nutritious food because it is cheaper, and 84 percent reported skipping meals entirely.

While half of all respondents said they have experienced 'food-related challenges', a higher proportion of parents (58 percent) reported the same.

Food Banks Canada recently reported more than two million visits to Canadian food banks in March of this year alone – a six per cent increase from the previous year and a 90 per cent increase since 2019.

The Salvation Army reported on Thursday that there has been an increase in the number of new users of the food bank in the past year.

Fifty-eight percent of those who visited the organization's food banks last year did so for the first time, compared to 43 percent the year before.

But the Salvation Army report also indicates that general concerns about food affordability and inflation have diminished since last year.

Thirty-six percent cited inflation as their biggest challenge in 2024, up from 47 percent in 2023. Food affordability was cited as the top issue for 33 percent of respondents, up from 39 percent in 2023.

Canadian inflation fell to 1.6 percent in September, after peaking at 8.1 percent in June 2022.

Healthcare tops the list of concerns

More Canadians appear to be concerned about health care and homelessness in 2024, with 59 and 44 percent citing these as their top concerns, respectively.

Murray said food insecurity and health care are “deeply linked.”

“I don't think it should be a surprise to us when you look at an individual living that kind of life, in that kind of environment – ​​they're experiencing emotional stress, mental health stress, physical stress – and it's a vicious cycle which just keeps going around,” he said.

“These are impossible choices that people have to make every day. So it does affect people's health.”

The Conservative Party released a statement Thursday blaming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government for the food insecurity highlighted in the report.

“It wasn't that way before Justin Trudeau and it won't be that way after he's gone,” the statement said.

A spokesperson for Minister for Families, Children and Social Development Jenna Sudds said the Conservatives were using the report to “divide and exploit people's real insecurities” for political gain and that they would cut programs designed to help people .

“The reality is that these cuts will not restore affordability and leave Canadians better off,” Sudds press secretary Geneviève Lemaire said in an email.

NDP agriculture critic Alistair MacGregor accused both the Liberal and Conservative governments of failing to address food security issues.

“This is what corporate greed and years of corporate liberal and conservative deference to grocery store CEOs have led us to,” MacGregor said in a social media post.