Canada’s new strategy won’t solve food insecurity or the health issues it creates

It would be easy to mistake the new National Food Security Strategy as a plan that will reduce food insecurity in Canada.

In launching the initiative in June 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney declared that it was meant to “ address structural causes of food insecurity… particularly [for] the most vulnerable .” While the National Food Security Strategy does include important food systems initiatives, it does not address the root causes of food insecurity nor its health consequences.

As food insecurity and health researchers, we join a chorus of concern , particularly stemming from charitable food sector leaders , who stress that we cannot donate our way out of a problem rooted in income inequality.

This is despite promises of a generous allocation of funds both through, and complementary to , the strategy for charitable food operations.

Food insecurity is a health issue Food insecurity is not the flip side of food security.

Food insecurity refers to the inability to afford enough food because of financial constraints .

Because the primary cause of food insecurity is insufficient or inadequate income for food , the initiatives to address it do not lie in strengthening the food system, but rather in increasing household income.

Food insecurity is therefore an income problem, not a food problem .

Food insecurity, when unaddressed, does not threaten only household food access and other material needs; it also becomes a health problem that befalls our already-strained health-care system.

Individuals from food-insecure households are more likely to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety and serious chronic conditions, among other health concerns .

Our research shows that food insecurity is associated with increased emergency department visits and hospitalizations .

Similarly, a Canadian population-based study showed that food-insecure adults are more likely to be admitted to hospital, have longer lengths of stay in hospital and incur $400 to $565 more per person-year in acute care costs compared to food-secure adults.

For context, Statistics Canada reported that 24 per cent of households experienced food insecurity in 2025 , affecting approximately 9.8 million people.

The health-care system has little capacity to absorb this added strain.