Everybody eats, but how much and what are the issues

New Brunswick has a way to go to achieve food security, says the director of the New Brunswick Food Security Action Network.

The network is holding meetings across the province to help fix what Laura Reinsborough says is a broken food system. 

"When one out of five children are going hungry at some point in New Brunswick, it means something is broken," Reinsborough said Friday on Information Morning Saint John.

Part of the security problem has to do with the shrinking number of food producers in the province. New Brunswick is self-sufficient in potatoes, wild blueberries, maple syrup and seafood, but only grows eight per cent of the vegetables needed to feed the population.

For all people at all times

The food security network says that food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

People's insecurity about food can cover a spectrum of conditions, according to the network's resource material. Marginal insecurity includes worrying about running out of food. Severe insecurity includes actually going days without a meal, the network says.

"When your pocket book is strained you're vulnerable to so many effects," Reinsborough said. "But all of us need support in being able to make sure not just that we're getting enough food but it's good quality healthy food."

The network wants to get conversations going that might inspire solutions, so it has been hosting Everybody Eats, a community discussion about food security in the province.

"Whether it has to do with farming, the age of farmers, healthy eating, what's served in our schools for food, and definitely poverty rates and how that affects getting good healthy meals each day, we want to bring those conversations together and really set a course for how New Brunswick can become more food secure."

Five discussions have already taken place. A two-day session is happening in Saint John on Friday and Saturday, and another two are planned for Fredericton and Campbellton next week.

Solutions won't be easy

Reinsborough acknowledged that it's not an easy fix but it is an issue worth spending time on.

"Hopefully, through Everybody Eats we'll learn a bit more about what the reality is, and we'll put our heads together around some of the solutions."

For those who can't attend a session, there is a do-it-yourself guide. 

"We're calling them kitchen table conversations," Reinsborough said.

"Whether it be co-workers or a family or some friends or a community group you're involved with, we've got the discussion guides that can be downloaded or mailed out and even a facilitator's guide to help you get going on that conversation."

Facts about food

The guide contains some facts and figures to spark ideas. For example, the network says that between 1950s and 2011 the number of farms in the province declined 90 per cent.

The guide also cites statistics that say 64 per cent of New Brunswick adults are overweight or obese, compared to an average of 54 per cent nationwide.

Reinsborough credited places such as community kitchens with taking a step in the right direction toward food security: getting people to together to "cook good local healthy food and making sure many people are gaining access to it."

She also said some school cafeterias are trying to feed children healthier foods, and some farmers are trying to grow in a sustainable way, taking the focus away from maximizing yields at all cost.

Food brings people together and she's looking forward to what comes out of the meetings, Reinsborough said.

"Ensuring that we all have enough food and good healthy food is what makes all the difference."