First and foremost, I must thank my Mr. & Mrs. G.W, my neighbour for allowing me to use pictures of their garden in today's blog. His garden is well managed and its produce is suitable for everyone.
Like millions of people his family is affected by type 2 diabetes. Early in the pandemic when he found the grocery store shelves empty, he made a quick decision to become self-sufficient and thus his gardening talents were exposed.
In the past year or so, the terms Food Security and Food Insecurity has been discussed in the literature. During COVID-19 accessibility to food became a concern for a great majority of the population. We all remember the shortage of flour and chicken. A 25% increase in flour was reported as more people stayed home and started to enjoy cooking and making bread either for the first time or more often.(1) People started to “hoard” supplies in fear of running short.
Food security is the measure of the availability of food and individuals' ability to access it.
Food insecurity, or insecure or inadequate access to food due to perhaps financial reasons is not new and not caused only by the pandemic. Actually, before Covid-19 pandemic, approximately 13% of the population felt insecure about their access to food. It is not a secret that lack of ,or access to proper nutrition is associated with many physical and mental health problems leading to increased health care costs.(2)
Results from a survey done during the pandemic by Statistics Canada in March of 2020 found that people were increasing their consumption of junk food and sweets in the range of 27-35% as time progressed. Weight gain and less physical activity was also common. (1) Global News reported an overall increase of 20% in the use of food banks across Canada during COVID-19.(3) What does this tell us?
Diabetes Canada has developed a position statement on Food Security and diabetes. We know that Improper nutrition and a diet lacking in essential nutrients increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. (4)
The report of a provincial survey titled Food Access, Concerns and Perceptions During Covid-19 First Wave, Ontario Survey was published (5) and the author Irene Knezevic has given me permission to use some of the information. The survey was done between May 21st and August 31st, 2020 with a total of 1431 participants. Please keep in mind that this survey was sent to the general population and not specific for people with diabetes, however, we can assume that out of the 1431 participants there were at least a few people living with diabetes.
But before I give you some of the results and key findings I want you to think about or ask yourself some of these questions which I have adapted from the survey. With the rising cost of food and the current inflation rates in our country, as well as many others, food insecurity may become more of an issue and we need to take what we learned from the pandemic in preparation for the years ahead. We have all heard the phrase that “history repeats itself” and during my lifespan I have been witness to this.
Questions to think about (adapted):
1)Accessing food:
Did your start ordering your groceries on line and have them delivered or did you pick them up at curbside?
Did you stop going to restaurants and ordering out your meals? Did you feel safer doing this?
Did you support local markets (eg.farmer’s) and if so why? Would you do it again?
Did you plant your own garden? Did you enjoy doing this or did it become a burden?
Did your buying behaviour change? If so, what types of foods were different? Did you buy them because of the lack of availability of what you normally bought or because you had more time at home (working or not), you were willing to try different foods? Did you continue with these changes? Do you think your new choices were healthier or not?
2)Food consumption:
Did you increase or decrease your consumption of sweets, fruits and vegetables or protein? If so, what made you change your habit? Did you feel better or worse as a result? Did it lead to losing or gaining any weight? Has this change continued? Overall, would you say your eating pattern changed?
3)Global food supply:
Were you concerned about your access to food because of the border closures? If so, what would you do in the future to be sure food choices were available to you?
I asked myself these same questions and I would like to think that I would plant a small garden and preserve as much as possible. I might buy ahead some ingredients like flour but I would avoid hoarding food.
Some of the key findings from the Ontario population survey results mentioned above include the following (adapted):
54% of respondents reported changes in diet due to the pandemic. The most common increase was the consumption of sweet and/or salty snacks.
Restaurant dining declined by almost 77% and take-out ordering decreased by 63%.
About 30% of the respondents started to order groceries on line from grocery stores while another 10% started ordering from online vendors.
10% of the population had concerns about access to food before the pandemic, however this number rose to 16% when they completed the survey and 18% became worried about having enough food in the month ahead. This concern was higher in lower income households.
COVID-19 gave us plenty to think about, our diets, our housing, our families, our friendships, and even ourselves. People were given a lot of support from our governments and other organizations. However, during another pandemic this may not happen so we have to think and plan ahead. No doubt the future holds more opportunities to work at home which might influence our eating pattern and change our routine of physical activity.
It doesn't take a pandemic to experience food insecurity, it could be a war, loss of employment, droughts, fires, border closures, inflation, etc. I encourage you to refer to the references ( all on line) I have used for a greater insight on the topic of Food Insecurity and what may lie ahead.
Feel free to reply to anything I have mentioned.
This blog is for information purposes only.
References:
1)Sunstrum K. How COVID-19 is affecting the eating habits of Canadians. Available at: https://keenoa.com/blog/how-covid-19-is-affecting-the-eating-habits-of-canadians/
2)Polsky JY, Garriguet D; Household food insecurity in Canada early in the COVID-19 pandemic- Statistics Canada release date, February 16th,2022 Available at:
3)Reimer W. Food bank use in Canada Climbed 20% during Pandemic, Global News. Available at: https://globalnews.ca/news/8339332/food-bank-canada-use-rises-pandemic/
4)Diabetes Canada. Food Security and Diabetes: A Position Statement. Available at: https://www.diabetes.ca/DiabetesCanadaWebsite/media/Advocacy-and-Policy/Diabetes-Canada_Food-Security-Diabetes_Position-Statement_March-2020.pdf
5)Knezevic I, Dong BM,Tyson H. Food Access,Concerns and Perceptions During Covid-19 First Wave: Ontario Survey . Available at: https://www.kpu.ca/sites/default/files/Food%20access%20concerns%20and%20perceptions%20during%20COVID-19_ON_0.pdf