Policy

One of the biggest barriers to comprehensive food support services is policy. 

“Since the 1980s, governments have persistently favoured the charity model to address hunger over developing adequate social policies and welfare programs,” writes Wyld. This charitable leaning puts the nonprofits and charities who run food service programs at a financial disadvantage, as governments are unlikely to provide core funding or service agreements to these services, despite these programs offering a service in lieu of the city having to provide it. This lack of government partnership leaves programs to depend on donations, volunteer support, and fluctuating grant funding. 

LeBois says, “grassroots, front-line workers … aren’t included in high-level organizational or government conversations about solving these issues.” The lack of understanding from policymakers about what it is like to coordinate these service programs, or to be on the receiving end of them, produces inadequate government support for the programs that are feeding our communities. 

Shayne Ramsay, CEO of BC Housing, has said, “We acknowledge that people experiencing homelessness have been systematically excluded from decision-making, so it’s critically important that we are opening a dialogue with folks to get a better understanding of what their individual needs are.” 

Despite acknowledging this need for input from those with lived experience, there is still a huge gap in existing policy and the changes that we need to see to create more comprehensive support programs for vulnerable populations. How can we get policy to change in support of community services, when the policymakers aren’t recognizing flaws in the current system?

Intersectionality 

The issue of community services and inefficient policy isn’t isolated to food. Housing, rehabilitation, and mental and physical health sectors, among many others, experience the same struggles.  

A 2020 paper on women’s housing needs highlights a number of systemic failures, including: 

• “Failure to provide access to supports, housing, or income to women transitioning out of public systems, such as healthcare settings, prison, or child welfare placements”

•  Child welfare policies and practices that fail to make a distinction between neglect and poverty”; and 

• “Social assistance systems [that] cut entitlements for a mother as soon as her child is apprehended by child welfare, putting her in a position of losing her housing (which is not easily re-established).”

Those with intersecting identities are at higher rates of food insecurity. Wyld writes that “Stats Canada confirms that, as of 2022, Indigenous and Black households, lone-parent families (women-headed families, in particular) and people living with disabilities are disproportionately affected by food insecurity.” These populations are also most at risk for other systemic oppressions, including job security, housing, and mental and physical health care.

Further systemic issues, such as a lack of public transportation and affordable housing make accessing some food supports, like food banks, extremely difficult. If you can’t get to a food bank during its opening hours, or transport a large amount of food home with you, you might not use a food bank. If you don’t have a kitchen or the mobility to prepare fresh ingredients, what you can get from a food bank may be limited. 

The need for varying types of meal support services, and appropriate social services across all sectors, are vital to the success of effective community food programs. LeBois speaks about The Groove’s adaptive food hamper and meal delivery program, saying, “if [recipients] don’t have cooking facilities, then they get something a little different. If they’re not capable of cooking, then that’s okay. You don’t stand anybody up to fail. …If I have corn, and I know that they don’t have teeth, I don’t offer them corn.”

Meghan, a community member experiencing homelessness in Kamloops, shared with our team that trying to buy a can opener or start a fire to cook a meal are both barriers to feeding herself. She also noted the lack of public washrooms and drinking fountains accessible in Kamloops. Access to water is essential for preparing food and for hygiene.

Stigma

Unfortunately, the city of Kamloops has seen public washrooms and drinking fountains close since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic. What started as a public health measure is now in effect indefinitely, with the city citing a lack of capacity to maintain these facilities as the cause. 

When we make bathrooms and drinking water a private asset, determined by capitalism, we alienate our vulnerable community members. A person experiencing homelessness might not be able to access water before becoming dehydrated; a pregnant or elderly person may not be able to access a washroom before having an accident. 

Changing our community’s mindset about our vulnerable populations will improve the quality of life for everyone in Kamloops. If we advocate that everyone should be able to freely access a bathroom and water, no matter who they are, or what part of town they are in, we all benefit. If we advocate that everyone has access to appropriate and quality food for little or no cost, we all benefit. 

For example, this is a self-perpetuating cycle, where if people don’t have access to a bathroom to relieve themselves, they are considered a nuisance and are further barred from public amenities. 

Because of the stigma associated with accessing social support services, like a food bank, those who are food insecure may still choose not to access help, reports a 2023 HungerCount report. Further, the “insufficient quality, quantity or appropriateness of donated food” available at food support services sends the message that those who are food insecure deserve “worse” food. By breaking down the stigma around support services and our idea of who accesses these programs, we can help nourish our community. 

Hilke suggests that the stigma around support programs illustrates our community’s desire to make vulnerable populations disappear. Some believe that these programs increase the number of vulnerable people or problematic behaviours, when really these individuals are aggregating around a service which can create a safer environment, and a community, for them. These services also help alleviate “nuisance” behaviour like loitering, public urination and defecation, and drug poisonings. 

How can you help?

Again, we at KFPC challenge you to ask yourself: if so many people are actively working to provide food supports in Kamloops, why are there still people going hungry in my community? Because of siloed programming, the lack of adequate policy and funding support, intersectional and systemic oppression, and stigma. Our communities need the advocacy of people like you to help break down these barriers and create a more comprehensive social support system for everyone. And you can help!

How To Get Involved:

• Write to your political representatives;

• Volunteer with community support services;

• Help organise collaboration between key players/support providers; 

• Talk to your friends and family about stigma and systemic oppression of vulnerable populations.

Changing mindsets can often be the biggest barrier to social change. Thankfully, this is one of the easiest ways to create grassroots change. By talking to your family and friends, remaining curious about why your co-workers feel the way they do, getting involved with community initiatives, and sharing educational resources on social media, you can make small rippling changes in the way our wider community thinks and responds to social welfare and the supports available for community members. 

Statistically, middle-class and blue-collar individuals, like the majority of Kamloopsians, are all a lot closer to homelessness than riches when examining the wealth gap. If you were to be without shelter or work tomorrow, you deserve to have a robust support system to help you meet your basic needs. We all do.