Blog 2: To Feast or Famine? That is the Question: Barriers to Food Accessibility

Food availability is a basic human right for all, is it not? How many of us grew up hearing from our parents, “You’re not going to waste all that good food are you? Think of the starving kids in Africa?” But how many of us heard this “Think of the starving people living in Point Douglas?” I would assume that not too many of us heard our parents say that. As Winnipeggers how many of us while growing up realized that hunger is not only an epidemic in Africa, but right here in our own city? Aside from seeing the homeless person on the street, those who go hungry are often not visible. There is no one hour exposé given by a celebrity which uncovers the hunger of older adults living in Winnipeg’s North End. This is not a glamorous subject.

Diet, exercise, income, housing, employment, education, and healthy life style choices are all indicators of whether or not a person is at risk for chronic illness and disease as they age (Gionet, 2006). Knowledge is of key importance in understanding how to build one’s life around healthy choices. According to Mendelson (2004), 46% of people ages 45-64 who identified themselves as Aboriginal had not completed high school. This figure doubles to 80% of self identified Aboriginal adults over the age of 65. For many members of the older population education was often discouraged or unattainable due to lack of resources. Statistics Canada (2009) reports that the level of education seniors have is directly linked to their participation in the labour force. Data collected in 2005 revealed that older adults with a university degree were four more times likely than those with eight years or less of formal schooling, to participate in the labour force.

Education, housing, and employment are intricately linked to one’s ability to engage in healthy aging (Gionet, 2006). Having an educational foundation of at least grade twelve is a necessity in today’s work force. Aboriginal people without this basic educational requirement are in a precarious position, because their income will be significantly lower than the rest of the “educated” population. Gionet (2006) noted that the annual median income of self identified First Nation peoples was $14, 517. This is $11, 000 less than the median income for non-Aboriginal persons. For Aboriginal people living on reserves the median income is even more startling, it sits at $11, 224.

What link is there between education, income, and housing? Gionet (2006) has discovered from the 2006 Canadian Census that Aboriginal people as a whole are five times more likely to live in crowded dwellings than non Aboriginal people, which translates into 15% of Aboriginal people versus 3% of non-Aboriginal people. It was further discovered that 26% of Aboriginal people living on reserve were in crowded dwellings. The quality of housing that Aboriginal people are living in, and aging in, is questionable at best. The study also revealed that 28% of Aboriginal people in the 2006 census were residing in homes in need of major repairs, compared to 7% of the non-Aboriginal population who resided in homes in need of major repairs. On reserves it was reported that 44% of Aboriginal people were found to be living, and aging, in homes that were in need of major repairs.

These frightening statistics leave me with a grim picture in mind of the circumstances that Aboriginal older persons are finding themselves faced with in old age. I began to wonder: what does aging look like for them? Are they part of the baby boom population that is living longer and healthier lives? Or are they succumbing to the health risks posed by inadequate education, income, housing, and employment opportunities?  The picture looks something like this: An older Aboriginal person over the age of 55 living in crowded dwellings, is unemployed and does not yet qualify for old age security, and is likely on social assistance due to a chronic health condition that has affected them at an earlier age than it would have a non-Aboriginal person. This person has a limited income that must cover prescriptions, rent, food, clothing, and transportation.

After reading these articles that outlined the grim circumstances that older Aboriginal people are finding themselves in today I came across a Winnipeg Free Press article that discussed the lack of grocery stores in down town Winnipeg. The article is titled “Hunger Amid the Plenty: The Inner City is a Food Desert—A Nutritional Nightmare”, written by Jenn Skerritt (2009). As I read it I realized that it describes the predicament that many older Aboriginal person’s face as they age in down town Winnipeg. I began to see a connection between the articles I read, and how these statistics translate into real life scenarios.

In Skerritt’s (2009) article she brings to light the progression of events that has led to the depletion of affordable healthy food choices in down town Winnipeg, and its associated ripple effects on the residents in that part of the city. Urban sprawl has contributed greatly to the lack of available and affordable grocery stores that offer healthy food choices at reasonable prices. Many of the big box grocery stores are being built in the suburbs of Winnipeg, leaving what Skerritt calls a “food vacuum” in the centre of the city. The convenience stores, of which are plentiful down town, have a limited produce selection at very high prices. When an older adult is living on a fixed income that stretches just enough to cover living accommodations and prescriptions, than food options are very limited in what can be afforded. A green pepper at a down town convenience store will cost $2.00 but the chips are on sale for 2 for $1.50; what do you think will win out, quantity or quality?

As the statistics demonstrated earlier, the older Aboriginal population is more likely to live in crowded dwellings, in need of major repair. They do not have a high level of education on which to fall back on, and financially they earn considerably less than a non-Aboriginal person. The people who fall within this category do not have the money to spend on the high prices that nutritious food costs in the inner city, and they may not have the resources they need to travel by bus or taxi to the suburbs to obtain the food that they need. The results of such a predicament are evident in the level of Aboriginal people developing Type 2 Diabetes at earlier and earlier ages. Cheap foods are high fat and high sugar, which contributes to heightened risks for developing chronic disease such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

As I look at all the different issues touched upon in this blog: housing, employment, chronic illness, education and income, and food availability, I ask the question what does this have to do with Social Work? Everything. There are so many different facets to the problem of malnutrition among older Aboriginal adults. To begin to explore one issue, such as adequate housing, leads into the next issue of poor employment and lack of education. I believe that people generally know what is best for themselves, and that if the opportunity is given they will choose well. How is food selection any different? However, as it appears from the article and research, the people residing in down town Winnipeg are not being given the option to choose what is best for themselves.

Thanks for reading.

-Michelle Kehler

Interesting links that are Aboriginal Initiatives to fight diabetes in their own communities:

 http://www.quesnel-friendship.org/html/diabetes/

www.nada.ca

References:

Gionet, L. (2006). First Nations People: Selected Findings of the 2006 Census. Canadian Social
            Trends Stats Canada-Cataolgue No. 11-008.

Mendelson, M. (2004). Aboriginal people in Canada’s labour market: Work and unemployment
            today and tomorrow. Caledon Institute of Social Policy.

Skerritt, J. (2009, January 11). Hunger amid the plenty: The inner city is a food desert—A
            nutritional nightmare. The Winnipeg Free Press.

Statistics Canada (2009). Retrieved March 26^th from: www.seniorlivingmag.com/articles/a
            portrait-of-seniors-in-canada