A Letter for Human Rights, for a Right to Food
Concern for the increasing rates of food insecurity is an unacceptable reality for provinces across Canada, specifically Nova Scotia. To bring awareness to this issue and push for long-term reduction strategies, Aimee Gasparetto, our Executive Director wrote a Letter to the Editor sent to The Coast for Human Rights Day.
Topic: Right to Food
December 10th marks United Nations’ Human Rights Day and commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec 10th, 1948. This landmark document states that every person is entitled to fundamental rights, including the right to food.
As a province we stand out. Respectively, these numbers reflect the highest rates of poverty and food insecurity across the ten provinces. But the numbers are not the same for everyone. Rates of poverty and food insecurity rates are significantly higher among racialized households and alarmingly, more than one in three children (40.5%) in Nova Scotia live in food insecure households.
Access to food is a human right and to realize this right, we need adequate incomes for all.
The government of Nova Scotia needs to re-design our social safety net and create a Basic Income Guarantee, ensuring everyone can meet their basic needs with dignity and security, regardless of their work status. This means creating an income floor that no one can fall below, including targeted income interventions for households on the lowest end of the income spectrum.
We all have the right to food – so let’s make it a reality for all Nova Scotian’s.
Aimee Gasparetto, Executive Director at Nourish Nova Scotia
Date published: December 10, 2024