The computer-enabled event featured Mr. De Schutter's report on his 2012 right to food mission to Canada, a coast-to-coast fact-finding commission with food rights stakeholders and government officials...

York Region was represented by Newmarket LAMP community lunch program volunteer Teresa Porter. She asked Mr. De Schutter about the dangers of Canada's reliance on a volunteer and charity-driven food system as opposed to a concerted focus on poverty - the underlying cause of food insecurity...

"The issue should be treated as a priority," he replied, noting it needs to be co-ordinated on municipal, provincial and federal levels.

Since food is that important to the current federal government, I wonder what Mr. Fantino and his cabinet colleagues think about this week's release from the UN's rapporteur on Canada's declining food security. Actually, we already know the answer to that. Back in May, when the UN's right-to-food envoy, Olivier De Schutter, toured Canada for 11 days, he was publicly mocked by a number of cabinet ministers.

His efforts to assess the country's ability to provide food to the marginalized were belittled by the likes of Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney as "patronizing" and "completely ridiculous". For many citizens it was an occasion of national embarrassment and international humiliation.

Many other marginalized groups also experience higher levels of food insecurity. 50% of households in receipt of social assistance were food insecure. Across the country social assistance rates are insufficient to cover basic necessities, and the high cost of housing in Canada forces many to go hungry and become reliant on food banks just to make ends meet. 2012 calculations reported that a record 882,000 people in Canada used food banks each month. Of particular concern is the severe food insecurity faced by Aboriginal peoples and immigrants across Canada.

The report expressed concern about the discrepancy between Canada's international human rights commitments and its domestic human rights, and encouraged policy makers to develop a national food strategy that addresses economic and social barriers.

Out of a population of just over 34 million, De Schutter estimates as many as one million Canadian households - or 4.3 million people - are food insecure.

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