Kraft Dinner® not a comfort food for people obliged to eat it, study finds
Study contrasts the experiences of Canadians who are food-secure and food-insecure
(Calgary, AB) Discomforting comfort foods: stirring the pot on Kraft Dinner® and social inequality in Canada, a study published today in the international journal Agriculture and Human Values, finds that Kraft Dinner® means different things to Canadians depending on whether they are food-secure, or food-insecure.
"The goal of our study was to spark a discussion, and a new understanding of poverty," says Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Investigator Melanie Rock, PhD, an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Investigator. "For many of us, Kraft Dinner® is a comfort food. But what we heard very clearly from low-income Canadians is that Kraft Dinner® is not comforting when you cannot always afford basics like milk and butter."
The study is based upon the following:
- Face-to-face interviews with 18 francophones in food-secure households in Montreal
- Individual and group interviews with 54 low-income, lone mothers in Nova Scotia
- Follow-up group interviews with 34 women in Nova Scotia (some original and somenew participants) around policy strategies from the previous study
- In-depth interviews with 24 low-income, lone mothers from Atlantic Canada who also recorded their quantitative dietary intake
- Media analysis of 155 national newspaper articles published between 1990 - 2003
"It is not acceptable that nearly 10% of Canadian households are in such financial distress that they do not always have enough money to buy food to meet their personal needs," says Rock. "The ultimate goal of this research is to spark policy reforms that will bring an end to income insecurity in Canada."
"This important research can help inform public policy strategies related to food and income insecurity," says Nancy Edwards, PhD, Scientific Director, CIHR's Institute of Population and Public Health. "There is a need to monitor the problem of food insecurity and its effects on the health of Canadians, to identify policy drivers, and to investigate options for effective policy reforms."
"Having no money for food is really scary. As my cupboards got more and more empty, I remember that feeling of not knowing where to turn," says Calgarian Lorrie Herrick.
Five years ago, Lorrie's husband Darrell fell off his bicycle while commuting to work in downtown Calgary, and suffered a brain injury that left him unable to work. With two small children at home, Lorrie found herself trying to make do on her income of $1000 a month from operating a home-based daycare. "After we paid the rent and our bills, we had about $50 left over for food," remembers Lorrie. "The pastor's wife at my church knew about Darrell's accident, and asked me what she could do, and I told her, we need food." The Community Kitchen Program of Calgary provided three months of food hampers to the Herrick family. Soon afterwards, Lorrie began volunteering at Community Kitchen and today, has a full time job as the Community Kitchen Program Coordinator. "When I see people come through our doors, I know where they have been – I have been there myself," she says. "I would like to see better support for low income families. People can't live on what they've got now."
"The Herrick family's story is one we hear too often. That's why we appreciate the insights offered by studies like this," says James McAra, CEO of the Calgary Food Bank. "Almost half of the clients receiving Emergency Food Hampers in Calgary are the 'working poor'. They have a wage but they are unable to fully provide the necessities of life for themselves and their families. In fact, over 40% of our clients are children."
For interviews please contact Karen Thomas, AHFMR Media Specialist, 1.877.423.5727 x225, 403.651.1112 (cell), Karen.Thomas@ahfmr.ab.ca
For more information on the study, please contact Melanie Rock, PhD, mrock@ucalgary.ca
The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research currently provides funding for more than 600 researchers and researchers-in-training at the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge, and their affiliated institutions. AHFMR's commitment is to fund health research based on international standards of excellence and carried out by new and established investigators and researchers-in-training. In 2005 the Alberta Government pledged an additional $500 million to the Foundation's endowment. The endowment supports an annual investment of approximately $60 million in health research in Alberta. Since 1980 AHFMR has committed more than $1 billion in funding to Alberta's medical research community. For more information, visit www.ahfmr.ab.ca
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian healthcare system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to nearly 12,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada. www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca
Backgrounder
The study uses a standard definition of food insecurity: "the inability to obtain sufficient, nutritious, personally acceptable food through normal food channels or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so."
This study was co-authored by:
- Dr. Lynn McIntyre, a Professor in Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Chair in Gender and Health. Much of her research investigates how women and children experience food insecurity.
- Krista Rondeau, a Research Associate in Community Health Sciences at UCalgary's Faculty of Medicine, is a registered dietician who is currently doing her master's degree at the University of Alberta.
Funding for this research was provided by: the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Health Economics (Alberta), National Health Research and Development Program, Capital District Health Authority (Halifax, NS), Dairy Farmers of Canada Open Operating Grants competition
Health Canada's Canadian Community Health Survey from 2004, Income-Related Household Food Security in Canada, finds that about 1/4 of households led by lone mothers were food-insecure. That is 2.5 times the national average. For the full report, go to: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/alt_formats/hpfbdgpsa/ pdf/surveill/income_food_sec-sec_alim-eng.pdf
A Poverty Reduction Coalition report provides real life examples of low-income families. Surviving Not Thriving: The untold story of struggling Calgarians is at: http://reducepoverty.ca/pdf/Surviving%20Not%20Thriving_Final%20(electronic).pdf
The 2006 Canadian Association of Food Banks Hunger Facts 2006 shows that food bank use has increased by over 99% since 1989, and at least 649 food banks operated across Canada, in all provinces and territories. The full report is available at http://www.cafb-acba.ca/documents/HungerCount_20061.pdf
Visit the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank website for a list of most needed food donations: http://www.calgaryfoodbank.com/fastfacts.html
(Calgary, AB) Media are invited to attend a news conference releasing the results of a paper published in the international journal Agriculture and Human Values on Wednesday, August 27, 2008, at 10 a.m. in the Libin Lecture Theatre, Health Sciences Centre, University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine, 3330 Hospital Drive NW.
This media announcement includes the primary author of the study, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Investigator Melanie Rock, PhD, an assistant professor in the UCalgary Faculty of Medicine, and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Investigator. The news event also includes James McAra, CEO of the Calgary Food Bank, and Rock's co-author Dr. Lynn McIntyre, a professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, and Canadian Institutes of Health Research Chair in Gender and Health.
The study uses a standard definition of food insecurity: "the inability to obtain sufficient, nutritious, personally acceptable food through normal food channels or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so."
A video news release will be distributed to reporters attending the news event. The release includes a Calgarian who has experienced food insecurity.
The video news release will be available on satellite news feed at
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 8 a.m. Mountain Time
Anik F2C/5B (C-Band, 36Mhz Analog), Orbital Location: 111° West, Up: 6125 H, Down:
3900 V, Audio: 6.8 & 6.2
WHAT: Kraft Dinner® not a comfort food for people obliged to eat it, study finds
WHEN: Wednesday, August 27, 2008
10 a.m. - noon
WHO: AHFMR and CIHR Investigator Melanie Rock, PhD, RSW
James McAra, CEO, Calgary Food Bank
CIHR Chair in Gender and Health Dr. Lynn McIntyre
WHERE: Libin Lecture Theatre, Health Sciences Centre
3330 Hospital Drive NW, Park in Lot 6 for free parking.
For more information please contact Karen Thomas, AHFMR Media Specialist,
1.877.423.5727 x225, 403.651.1112 (cell),