Learn about food Insecurity

It’s important to understand why people in Nova Scotia are food insecure and the challenges that creates.

Household food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. 6.9 million people in the 10 provinces in Canada, including 1.8 million children, lived in food-insecure households in 2022.

28.9% of the Nova Scotians were living in food-insecure households in 2024, which amounts to a staggering 312,000 people, and the highest rate of food insecurity in the country.

Food insecurity can be devastating. People who are food insecure are more likely to experience poorer mental and physical health outcomes. They often experience social isolation and face barriers to employment. With limited income, they face tough choices every day that take an incredible toll that’s impossible to sum up in a short paragraph. To gain a deeper understanding of the issues, we recommend looking at some of our resource links.

Overall, in Canada, the highest percentage of individuals living in food-insecure households in 2022 was found among Black people at 39.2% and Indigenous Peoples at 33.4%. We can’t talk about food insecurity without confronting the racism, oppression, and white supremacy that fuels income inequality, and subsequently, food insecurity. 

Food insecurity can be devastating. People who are food insecure are more likely to experience poorer mental and physical health outcomes. They often experience social isolation and face barriers to employment. With limited income, they face tough choices every day that take an incredible toll that’s impossible to sum up in a short paragraph. To gain a deeper understanding of the issues, we recommend looking at some of our resource links. 

Ready to learn more about food insecurity and poverty? Here are some helpful resources from us and from organizations in our community. 

Feed Nova Scotia and the network of members are located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq Peoples, and we acknowledge them as past, present, and future caretakers of this land. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Mi’kmaq, Wəlastəkwiyik (Maliseet), and Passamaquoddy Peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1725. We are all Treaty people.

We acknowledge that African Nova Scotians have existed and persisted on the traditional land of the Mi’kmaq for more than 400 hundred years and their significant presence has contributed to the existence of Nova Scotia.

We are grateful to live and work in Mi’kma’ki.