This toolkit, created by the Put Food in the Budget Ottawa campaign team, provides information about:
• the Put Food in the Budget campaign: background information about the campaign, the healthy food supplement, and poverty and hunger in Ottawa
• the Social Assistance Review and the Put Food in the Budget campaign: information about how you can support the asks of the Put Food in the Budget campaign during the Social Assistance Review and upcoming Provincial Budget
• How to engage your Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) and City Councillor in the Put Food in the Budget campaign: including contact information
• Sample letters: to guide a letter to your MPP, Premier Dalton McGuinty, and your City Councillor
• The Price of Eating Well in Ottawa: research from Ottawa Public Health about the costs of living in Ottawa on fixed incomes and budgets for a nutritious diet
Click below for a PDF version of the Toolkit.
This document, compiled by the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre, contains a listing of food programs and services operating in downtown Ottawa.
This report, “Furthering Food Security in Ottawa:Examining Partnership-based Policy between Local Government and Civil Society” was developed by a Carleton student and Just Food volunteer in 2010.
The focus of this report is on the history of food insecurity, social and economic challenges in Ottawa, as well as the potential role of the municipality in addressing these problems. In 2001, a significant report was released by the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Food Security Group entitled Food Security in Ottawa: A Community Profile (City of Ottawa People Services Department & Ottawa Food Security Group, 2001). This report is an update to that document, and also asks the following research questions:
- Since the situation of food insecurity was outlined in the 2001 Profile, how has the picture of food security in Ottawa changed in 2010?
- Considering the expectation of municipalities to tend to social issues, what does this mean for the city’s involvement in partnership with civil society organizations in food security matters?
The full text of the report is linked below.
The Social Planning Council of Ottawa published, in 2010, a report entitled “Poverty Profile of the City of Ottawa: Based on the 2006 Census”. The report finds that both the number of people living in poverty in Ottawa, as well as the depth of poverty, have both increased since 2000. Poverty has severe implications for food security, health, and well-being – not just for those experiencing poverty, but for the whole community.
One of the recommendations of the report is:
That the City of Ottawa, in collaboration with Just Food, establish a taskforce which will identify and put in place additional programs / initiatives to increase access in the short term to nutritious food for low income residents in the City. Despite an existing network of food banks and community food initiatives (such as community gardens), many individuals and families do not have enough income for basic nutritious food. This is an urgent issue, made more pressing by recent cuts to the provincial “Special Diet Allowance”.
The report is available in English, French and alternate formats. The English version is linked here:
