Feed Scarborough shared information on poverty reduction and social protection at recent conference in Thailand

By AMARACHI AMADIKE, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Feed Scarborough, a local organization that has been fighting food insecurities in East Toronto, was recently invited to the 14th Poverty and Social Protection Conference in Bangkok, Thailand to counsel a global community of policy makers, scholars and professionals about current methods used to address systemic poverty in Toronto.

From March 9 to March 11, Suman Roy, the founder of Feed Scarborough, attended the three-day event in order to shed light on what has led to his organization’s rapid growth after having been in operation for only four years.

Having heard about Roy’s methods for the battle with food insecurity within his community, organizers of the conference reached out in order to learn about his three-tiered system.

“Non-profit organizations tend to stay in the lane they started with, but Feed Scarborough is different because we realized that if we stuck to just meal programs we would never solve the problem of food insecurity and hunger in this country,” said Roy.

Feed Scarborough instead opted for a three-pronged approach.

The first step, according to Roy, is the provision of emergency relief programs.

Currently, Feed Scarborough’s relief program provides support to more than 8,500 people every week.

Roy told Beach Metro Community News that this is double the amount of assistance that was provided just last year. Unfortunately, due to inflation and many people having less spare finances, donations have simultaneously declined.

With statistics indicating a rapid increase in the number of individuals seeking food assistance, Roy said other steps are necessary to tackle food insecurity.

“We just opened up a food court in North York where refugees who have been here for less than three months get training on how to start their own food business,” said Roy.

This is just one of a few programs available through the second tier of Feed Scarborough’s three-tiered approach. The long term impact programs are aimed at targeting the root causes of food insecurity.

Along with their newly introduced food court program, Feed Scarborough’s second tier of services includes Startup Scarborough, Food Hall TO, Golden Age cooking classes, youth mentorship and community gardens.

By developing individual skills, Feed Scarborough hopes to create “lasting solutions to food insecurity”.

The final step which was shared with those in attendance at the Bangkok conference is research and advocacy.

Through this tier, Feed Scarborough works closely with Toronto Metropolitan University, the University of Toronto, and Centennial College in order to come up with various research and policy recommendations which are then presented to all three levels of government.

With a drastic increase in food bank usage partly due to an influx of immigrants who have discovered their new life in Canada to be quite challenging, Roy said that all levels of government must work together to create a more efficient system.

“Canada is a country that is heavily dependent on immigrants, but I think our immigration policies are deeply flawed,” said Roy.

Although he was invited to share his own knowledge with those in Bangkok, he said he left the conference having learned a lot as well – most notably, the similarities between Japan’s social safety net and that of Canada.

“I’m sure down the road there will be more information exchanged and learning from both sides,” said Roy.

To learn more about Feed Scarborough and their approach to tackling the city’s food insecurity, visit https://scarboroughfoodsecurityinitiative.com/home

Anyone who would like to donate can do so at https://scarboroughfoodsecurityinitiative.com/donate-1

– Amarachi Amadike is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Beach Metro Community News. His reporting is funded by the Government of Canada through its Local Journalism Initiative.