Kingston City Council declares food insecurity an emergency

The motion called specifically for the provincial government to raise social assistance rates to meet basic needs, and for the federal and provincial governments to establish a guaranteed basic livable income.

Courtesy of Partners in Mission Facebook

With more and more people struggling with food insecurity and food banks struggling to meet the growing demand, Kingston City Council has declared an emergency in the city.

A motion from councillor Brandon Tozzo which called for City Council to declare food insecurity an emergency, and urging the provincial and federal governments to take action and address the root causes of food insecurity passed unanimously on Tuesday night.

“It had gotten worse this year than any other year, not just in my district but throughout Kingston,” Tozzo said presenting the motion.

“We heard the food bank here talking about how the numbers had increased by 10% this year. And every single provider, that number has gone up.”

Dan Irwin, Executive Director of Partners in Mission Food Bank, said when founded the food bank was expected to fill a temporary need and be closed within 2-5 years.

Now though, there are more people than ever using the service.

“In 2024 Partners in Mission food bank experienced it’s fourth record year in a row,” Irwin said.

“1 in 17. In 2023, that was 1 in 19… our numbers do not include those who are using at Queen’s AMS food bank or St. Lawrence College’s food bank.”

The motion called specifically for the provincial government to raise social assistance rates to meet basic needs, and for the federal and provincial governments to establish a guaranteed basic livable income.

Dr. Kristen Lowit, a professor in Environmental Sciences at Queen’s, food insecurity for the most part boils down to lack of income, and those kinds of changes would make an immediate impact on lessening the burden for people who struggle to afford food.

She says they’re changes that could be made that would make a huge difference and could be made without much hand wringing.

“Food insecurity, if we’re thinking about an individual household level not having enough food, it’s an income problem,” Lowit said.

“Those are immediate improvements we could make. It wouldn’t require new policies, huge changes to systems… We could increase those social assistance rates.”

Lowit said that it is significant to see City Council declare food insecurity an emergency situation and just bring further awareness to it, and while not the first municipality in Ontario or Canada to do so she certainly doesn’t expect Kingston to be the last either.

And while many more institutional changes will require action from upper levels of government, there is still reason to look for more to be done at a local level to make life more affordable for those who need it.

“Food insecurity is about having enough income to purchase food, so there are other ways municipalities can also engage and support that,” Lowit said.

“Social housing, which municipalities do have some jurisdiction over, transportation networks and providing public transportation so folks can get to grocery stores or other places in less expensive ways… there are also other household needs municipalities can help meet and play a role in providing.”

Lowit added that the city’s official Food Strategy, which is building off of the existing Food Charter, is something that could help establish community pillars that prioritize access to nutritious, affordable food for everyone.

In 2023, it’s estimated that over 20% of the population lived with food insecurity.