An Examination of Print Media Coverage of Household Food Insecurity Action in Canada

Patricia A. Collins, PhDSchool of Urban and Regional Planning, Queen’s UniversityCanadian Public Health Association Annual MeetingMay 28, 2014

Presentation Overview

• Background on HFI and HFI-Action in Canada

• Knowledge gaps, study objective, and methods

• Preliminary results

• Conclusions and implications

HFI in Canada

• 13% of Canadian households are food insecure – 34% marginal worry about food– 46% moderate making compromises with food– 20% severe forgoing food

• Health impacts– Compromised nutrition– Adults Low SRH, nutrition-related chronic diseases– Children Overweight, low BMD, asthma

Tarasuk et al. 2014Kirkpatrick & Tarasuk 2008

Che & Chen 2001Vozoris & Tarasuk 2003

Dubois et al. 2011Kirkpatrick et al. 2010

Determinants of HFI

• Low income is primary determinant of HFI– 72% of households dependent on welfare– 38% of households dependent on EI/WC– 62% of households dependent on wages

• Increasing prevalence attributable to rising costs of living

• Proximity (or lack thereof) may not be a strong determinant of HFI

Tarasuk et al. 2014Emery et al. 2012

Kirkpatrick & Tarasuk 2010Apparicio et al. 2007

Pearson et al. 2005

Action on HFI

• Lack of coordinated provincial and federal policies to reduce HFI– UN rep De Schutter’s call for national food strategy in

2012

• Neoliberalism, welfare state decline, downloading to municipalities

• Action primarily at municipal level– Unable to redistribute income– Food-based solution to income-based problem

Riches 2002Emery 2012

Tarasuk et al. 2012FCM 2006

Tarasuk 2001

Conceptual Framework for HFI Action in Canada

Municipal-Level Food-Based

Approach

Charitable Model

Household Improvements & Supports Model

Community Food Systems Model

Federal & Provincial

Level Income-Based

Approach

Income-Support Model (e.g.,

social assistance, child care

benefits, housing supports)

HEALTH (e.g.,

diabetes, CVD, stroke, hypertension, mental illness,

asthma, obesity)

HOUSEHOLD FOOD

INSECURITY

Access to (healthy)

food

Self-efficacy

Dignity

Social cohesion

Income Security

Anxiety & Stress

Nutritional Status

Disease Mgt

Approach to HFI HFI InitiativeHFI Determinant or Distal Health

DeterminantHFI Status Proximate Health

Determinant Health Status

Coping Skills

Collins et al. 2014

Knowledge Gaps and Study Objective

• Food-based initiatives supported by various groups– Fed & prov health policy-makers, public health units– Local service providers, food security advocates

• Gaps– Limited evidence of effectiveness of initiatives in reducing HFI – No evidence on how media might be driving/perpetuating

support

• Study Objective– To critically analyze Canadian print media coverage of HFI

issues

Methods

• Quantitative media content analysis

• Eighteen newspapers – 2 national, 16 regional/local

• 6 provinces – QC, ON, MB, SK, AB, BC

• Published between 2007-2012

Codebook

• Bibliographic details – Title, author, newspaper, date, section, type, length

• Initiatives profiled – Name, level, type, model

• Recommendations for action – Yes/no, prescribed action, organizations, government level &

sector

• Tone – Positive, neutral, negative

Article Sample Flowchart

Excluded articles that discussed international initiatives

Articles mentioned either “food security” or “food insecurity”

N=2456

Excluded articles that were not a news story, editorial, opinion/commentary or a letter to the

editor

Excluded articles that defined food security/insecurity differently (e.g., food security

meaning food safety)

N=952

N=707

N=547

General Characteristics of Article Sample

• Nearly one-third from three newspapers – Vancouver Sun 14%– Toronto Star 9%– Globe and Mail 8%

• Article Type– News story 72%– Opinion or commentary 13%– Letter to the editor 9%– Editorial 5%

Article Coverage from 2007-2012

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Year of Publication

Num

ber

of A

rtic

les

Coverage of Food-Based Initiatives

57

20.1

13.4

4.35.3

Level of Operation of Initiatives Profiled in Newspaper Articles

Neighbourhood Municipal RegionalProvincial National

13.1

27.5

40.9

8.8

9.6

Models of Food-Based Initiatives Profiled in Newspaper Articles

CharitableHousehold improvements and supportsCommunity food systemsMultiple modelsAwareness/consciousness raising

Types of Initiatives Profiled

Community ga

rdens &

urban

agric

ulture

Food ban

k/soup kit

chen

/mea

l progra

m

Multiple initiati

ves

Policy/b

ylaw ch

ange

Protec

tion of farm

land & lo

cal fo

od move

ment

Food ch

arters

& policy

councils

Educ &

skills

devel,

comm kit

chens

Awareness

& consci

ousness

raisin

g

Public mark

ets

Good food boxe

s0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Num

ber o

f Arti

cles

Responsibility for Action

• Organizations responsible– Government 70%– Multiple orgs 16%– Private citizens 6%– NGOs 5%– Educational institutions

2%– Private corps 0.5%– Public health units 0.2%

42.5

26.3

18.4

12.7

Level of Government Responsible

Municipal Prov/TerrFederal Multiple levels

Initiatives Profiled and Tone of Coverage

Initiative Type Positive

Neutral

Negative

Community gardens (N=65) 49 46 5Food banks (N=48) 33 46 21Multiple initiatives (N=47) 49 23 28Policy/bylaw change (N=42) 0 95 5Protection of farmland & local food mov’t (N=39)

21 72 8

Education & skills development (N=38) 71 29 0Food charters & policy councils (N=38) 16 76 8Awareness & consciousness raising (N=35)

6 54 40

Public markets (N=14) 71 29 0Good food boxes (N=8) 63 37 0Total (N=374) 34 53 13

Government Level and Tone of Coverage

Level of Government

Positive Neutral Negative

Municipal 19 70 11Provincial/Territorial

16 52 32

Federal 3 50 47Multiple Levels 10 43 47

Findings Summary

• Print media news coverage of food insecurity issues in Canada risen steadily

• Majority of coverage profiles initiatives delivered at neighbourhood- and municipal-levels

• Non-charitable initiatives (i.e., those from household improvements and community food systems models) positively framed

• Municipalities implicated often and positively

Conclusions & Implications

• These findings suggest that news media may be mediating the widespread support for food-based approaches to address HFI in Canada.

• This study's findings reinforce the need for critical evaluation of such initiatives to ensure that Canada's food-based approach to HFI action is driven by evidence, not rhetoric.

Acknowledgements

• Senate Advisory Research Committee, Queen’s University

• Dr. Megan Gaucher, Trent University

• Drs. Elaine Power & Margaret Little, Queen’s University

References

• Apparicio, P., M.-S. Cloutier and R. Shearmur (2007). "The case of Montreal's missing food deserts: Evaluation of accessibility to food deserts." International Journal of Health Geography 6(4).

• Che, J. and J. Chen (2001). "Food insecurity in Canadian households " Health Reports 12(4): 11-22.

• Collins, P., E. Power and M. Little (2014). "Municipal Level Responses to Household Food Insecurity in Canada: A Call For Critical, Evaluative Research." Canadian Journal of Public Health 105(2).

• Dubois, L., D. Francis, D. Burnier, F. Tatone-Tokuda, M. Girard, G. Gordon-Strachan, K. R. Fox and R. Wilks (2011). "Household food insecurity and childhood overweight in Jamaica and Quebec: a gender-based analysis." BMC Public Health 31(11): 199.

• Emery, J. C. H. (2012). Why a basic annual income is necessary to reduce food insecurity prevalence. North American Basic Income Network Conference. Toronto, ON.

• Emery, J. C. H., A. C. Bartoo, J. Matheson, A. Ferrer, S. I. Kirkpatrick, V. Tarasuk and L. McIntyre (2012). "Evidence of the Association between Household Food Insecurity and Heating Cost Inflation in Canada, 1998–2001." Canadian Public Policy 38(2): 181-215.

• FCM (2006). Building prosperity from the ground up: Restoring municipal fiscal balance. Ottawa, ON, Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

• Kirkpatrick, S., L. McIntyre and M. L. Potestio (2010). "Child hunger and long-term adverse consequences for health." Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine 164(8): 754-762.

References (cont.)

• Kirkpatrick, S. and V. Tarasuk (2008). "Food insecurity is associated with nutrient inadequacies among Canadian adults and adolescents." The Journal of Nutrition 138: 604-612.

• Kirkpatrick, S. and V. Tarasuk (2010). "Assessing the relevance of neighbourhood characteristics to the household food security of low-income Toronto families." Public Health Nutrition 13(7): 1139-1148.

• Pearson, T., J. Russell, M. Campbell and M. Barker (2005). "Do 'food deserts' influence fruit and vegetable consumption? - A cross-sectional study " Appetite 45: 195-197.

• Riches, G. (2002). "Food banks and food security: Welfare reform, human rights and social policy. Lessons from Canada? ." Social Policy and Administration 36(6): 648-663.

• Tarasuk, V. (2001). "A critical examination of community-based responses to household food insecurity in Canada." Health Education & Behavior 28(4): 487-499.

• Tarasuk, V., L. McIntyre and E. M. Power (2012). Income-related household food insecurity in Canada: A policy failure to address poverty. Submission on Civil Society Priority Issue #1: Hunger, Poverty and the Right to Food. Toronto, ON, Report to Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Mission to Canada: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

• Tarasuk, V., A. Mitchell and N. Dachner (2014). Household food insecurity in Canada, 2012. Toronto, ON, Research to identify policy options to reduce food insecurity (PROOF).

• Vozoris, N. and V. Tarasuk (2003). "Household Food Insufficiency Is Associated with Poorer Health." The Journal of Nutrition 133(1): 120-126.

Thank you!

Contact Info:patricia.collins@queensu.cawww.healthycityprof.com