The Gleaner is a bi-weekly round-up of blog posts, new stories, featured resources and important happenings from the BC Food Security Gateway.
The Gateway supports knowledge exchange and collaboration to address food security in BC, including hosting an amazing community of practice, whose work we are delighted to highlight.
Hunger in wealthy Canada and the Right to Food: A conversation with Graham Riches

Food is a Right
As charitable proclivities to donate to food banks have been in hyper-drive in response to COVID-19, including by the provincial and federal governments, Graham Riches continues to name a deep concern around how food banks prop up a broken food system in a pandemic context.
Graham argues they are distracting us from the poverty reduction and income security policies it would take to uphold government’s responsibility to the Right to Food and progressively realize food security for all.
Thanks to our community of practice whose collective ‘interview’ of Graham made for a rich conversation. Read more.
News Highlights
New Resources on the Gateway
The Gateway links to food security resources, such as tool-kits, policy papers, and action plans specific to BC. The resource section also includes a small number of non-BC resources that have direct relevance to BC food security.
Household Food Insecurity in Canada, 2017-2018
Proof’s latest report draws on data for 103,500 households from Statistics Canada’s Canadian Community Health Survey conducted in 2017 and 2018, finding that 12.7% of households experienced some level of food insecurity in the previous 12 months, higher than any prior national estimate.
Food Waste Redistribution Handbook
A handbook on developing a food waste rescue and redistribution program from Surrey’s Sources Food Hub.
Water Governance
Video on water governance in Secwepemculew in so-called BC with Dawn Morrison of the Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty.
Share and Share Alike
Do you have a story, news item or resource from your region you’d like to share? Contact Us.
Share the Gleaner or any of this content with your networks, in your websites, social media and newsletters. You have our permission and gratitude. We appreciate a link back to the Gateway.
And of course, any views or opinions presented in the news articles are not necessarily representative of PHSA and PHABC.