The Government of Canada released their 2024 budget earlier this week. Some of the changes the budget announces will significantly impact if, and how, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians access food.
Let’s take a look.
A National School Food Program
Until now, Canada was the only G7 country without a national school food program.
Food First NL has advocated for a national program as part of the Coalition for Health School Food for many years. The program has been neglected as an unfulfilled campaign promise since 2021. Finally, it is in the federal budget.
The investment is still small, at $200 Million per year across the country. That said, it will help tie together provinces that have invested in expanded school food programs, like N.L., P.E.I., Nova Scotia, B.C., and Manitoba. Hopefully, it will also encourage the other provinces to join.
Recent research outlines some of the large-scale impacts on household budgets, women’s labour force participation, and more.
The Canada Disability Benefit
The Canada Disability Benefit was long-promised and finally passed into law last year. This Budget finally puts some structure to the Benefit and that structure is deeply disappointing.
The Benefit will max out at $200/month. This will not come close to lifting many people with disabilities out of poverty and food insecurity. It will also only reach a relatively limited number of people.
The Disability Benefit is high on the list of evidence-driven solutions to food insecurity. But, at this scope and scale, it is unlikely to create much-needed change.
The Local Food Infrastructure Fund
The Budget includes an additional $62.9 Million for the Local Food Infrastructure Fund (which is exactly what it sounds like). The infrastructure supported by this fund plays all sorts of important roles in strengthening local food systems. It is good to see the fund focused on equity-deserving communities.
That said, the fund is framed as a way to reduce food insecurity, which is not an evidence-based position. We know that the way to do that is primarily through increasing people’s incomes.
Supporting Farmers
There are some new measures to support farmers in this budget. These measures include the beginning of a process to support “interoperability.” This mandates that different brands of farm equipment can work together. Another measure is increasing interest-free loan amounts available to farmers.
Other Cost-of-Living Measures
Food is just one of many things that we purchase. So, one way to free up space for people to afford the foods that work for them is to cut costs elsewhere. The budget has a whole range of smaller cost-of-living measures that aim to reduce things like bank fees and cell phone bills. It also includes the early stages of a pharmacare program. This program would have a major impact on many households’ finances if built out fully.
Overall Impressions: The Power of Advocacy
There are some bright lights in this budget from a right-to-food perspective.
The Canada Disability Benefit is a real achievement, born from years of tireless advocacy from people with disabilities. Over time, and if it grows, it could result in the biggest strengthening of the right to food since the start of the Canada Child Benefit. But we’re not there yet.
Similarly, the National School Food Program is a huge win. However, it also needs to be consolidated and built on before we can realistically say that no kid in Canada is spending their school day hungry.
Years of grassroots advocacy made these programs happen, but this budget clearly shows that work is not done yet. Advocates will continue to push to build these programs into what they could be. They will also continue pushing for new programs to patch some of the other gaping holes in Canada’s social safety net.
Budget Analyses From Our National Partners
Read more thoughts on the 2024 Federal Budget from other right to food, food insecurity, and poverty reduction organizations:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives budget analyses on housing and climate change measures
PROOF’s commentary from last year about how budget talks about the Local Food Infrastructure Fund (unfortunately, still relevant)
