Throughout the 21-page report, De Schutter also takes direct aim at some of the core items of the federal government's agenda, saying they undermine access to food.

These include the controversial decision to cancel the long-form census in 2009, the ongoing Canada-EU free trade negotiations, the scrapping of the Canadian Wheat Board, and how Ottawa oversees the money it transfers to the provinces for social services.

"The Special Rapporteur was disconcerted by the deep and severe food insecurity faced by Aboriginal peoples living both on- and off-reserve in remote and urban areas," read the report.

The report found that one in ten of the 851,014 people who relied on food banks across Canada in March 2011 self-identified as an Aboriginal person. Food security concerns were also found to be the highest in the territories, said the report, with 11.6 per cent of Yukon residents suffering from food insecurity in 2007 to 2008, 12.4 per cent in the Northwest Territories, and 32.6 per cent in Nunavut.

As the UK's Conservative led coalition government strives to reduce public expenditure, cuts in the welfare budget are likely to force more UK citizens to fall back on food banks to meet their nutritional needs. Just a few years ago food banks were virtually unknown in the UK. But, since the banking collapse and the financial tsunami of 2008 left in their wake what some economists believe is a triple dip recession, The Independent reports the use of food banks in the UK is up 1000%.

The UK's growing food poverty crisis has now come to the notice of Olivier de Schutter, the UN's Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. In 2012, as reported in the National Post, Mr. De Schutter received a barrage of criticism from the Canadian politicians after he'd accused the Canadian government of a failure to ensure food security for thousands of its poorest citizens. Today, Mr de Schutter has the UK's Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition firmly in his sights.

Their stories are interwoven with insights from experts including sociologist Janet Poppendieck, author Raj Patel and nutrition policy leader Marion Nestle; ordinary citizens like Pastor Bob Wilson and teachers Leslie Nichols and Odessa Cherry; and activists such as Witness to Hunger's Mariana Chilton, Top Chef's Tom Colicchio and Oscar®-winning actor Jeff Bridges.

Ultimately, A Place at the Table shows us how hunger poses serious economic, social and cultural implications for our nation, and that it could be solved once and for all, if the American public decides-as they have in the past-that making healthy food available and affordable is in the best interest of us all.

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