Re: 鈥淎re leftovers the best we can do for the 鈥榣eft behind鈥�?鈥� comment, May聽12.
While I agree that food insecurity is a problem of income poverty and that 鈥渇ood rescue,鈥� like food banks, is not a solution to food security, to dismiss outright this initiative by the Victoria Foundation and the provincial government seems unnecessarily cynical to me. It鈥檚 like saying needle exchanges or other harm-reduction measures are merely stopgaps and what we need to do is fix all the underlying causes.
Sure, but meanwhile?
Yes, food banks were created in the early 1980s as an emergency measure. They were never intended to become part of the accepted landscape, as they still are today. People feel good about donating to food banks, without questioning why they are still with us, because many of us get overwhelmed by trying to figure out what we can do to address this problem.
I think we never recovered from the neo-conservative economic policies of the powerful triumvirate of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Brian Mulroney. The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few corporations and individuals has only gotten worse. High rents claim a huge proportion of family budgets, especially for those on social assistance.
No one is claiming that 鈥渇ood rescue鈥� will reduce poverty or food insecurity. Yes, governments can and should do more to address causes 鈥� but in the meantime, why not save edible food instead of trashing it?
Heather MacAndrew
Victoria
