Screenshot: Thunder Bay + Area Food Strategy Community Food System Report Card January 2023

The Thunder Bay + Area Food Strategy Community Food System Report Card has been released for 2023.

On the introduction page, the Report Card is meant to provide highlights of initiatives in the community, programs available and indicators all surrounding food and its availability and affordability to members of the Thunder Bay community.

There are several chapters that cover various topics throughout the report card;

• INTRODUCTION 1
• FOOD ACCESS 4
• FOREST & FRESHWATER FOODS 21
• FOOD INFRASTRUCTURE 29
• FOOD PROCUREMENT 40
• FOOD PRODUCTION 46
• SCHOOL FOOD ENVIRONMENTS 57
• URBAN AGRICULTURE 63
• REFERENCES 69

Some key data points from the document include what the living wage is for the area vs other regions, along with food affordability and food security.

On food security, those most at risk of being “severely insecure” are individuals and families using social assistance at a rate of 31.1 per cent. Compared to those who receive wages, and salaries or are self-employed only a 3.1 per cent of being “severely insecure” but 6.5 per cent of “moderately insecure”.

Breaking it down further, it shows that households who are led by a female lone parent are 12.3 per cent at risk of being “severely insecure” around food, compared to a male lone-parent home at 2.5 per cent.

The report also breaks down food security levels by racial and cultural identity. It notes that 89 per cent of Indigenous adults in Thunder Bay are below the before-tax-low-income cut-off.

Food Banks have seen a demand for their free services in Thunder Bay by 35 per cent since 2019. The report card indicates that 1 in 7 people that use food banks are unemployed, and 33 per cent of them are children.

The report card is in-depth and even covers food procurement and production and how many local businesses are using local farms and food producers to supply their needs.

School food programs are also discussed as well as food and pollinator gardens, Student Nutrition Programs and even providing cooking classes for grade 7 & 8 students in the Lakehead District School Board as well as an indoor/outdoor program from Roots Community Food Centre which spurred to more schools offering outdoor cooking classes across the city.