The media food drive under the sign of inflation
The 22nd edition of the Media Food Drive was launched today in the Moisson Montreal warehouse, beating at full speed to provide in foodstuffs the various organizations which are struggling to fulfill their mission of helping the poorest because of inflation.
Section of the Moisson Montreal warehouse filled with foodstuffs that will be distributed by Friday evening. Caption: David Beauchamp, Subway
“We won't be sharing numbers or statistics on poverty this year, because it's all been said this fall. We are all aware that inflation in all its forms affects a larger part of the population, but we still turn to them to help us throughout this collection,” says Denise Deveau of the communications agency 180two.
The impact of inflation on the portfolio of donors was the issue most discussed by the five spokespersons present during the event, inviting the public to be more generous to compensate for those who will give less for this edition.
The food drive, a band-aid and not a solution
Some poverty experts were present at the launch of La guignolée to explain to the media the solutions that exist to tackle this issue more effectively.
It was important for Janie Houle, holder of the Research Chair in the Reduction of Social Inequalities in Health at UQÀM, to take advantage of this forum to talk about poverty and ways to reduce it sustainably to eventually put an end to food drives.< /p>
Poverty is all year round and every year you find yourself in the same situation, and it gets worse with the housing crisis. The food drive remains a bandage on a big sore that is continually infected. It takes a much stronger social safety net to leave no one behind.
Janie Houle, holder of the Research Chair in the Reduction of Social Inequalities in Health at UQÀM
The community psychologist specifies that $3.9 billion would be enough to allow everyone to meet their health needs. base. She deplores the CAQ government's initiative to send checks for $400 and $600 to the population, a measure deemed ineffective when the poorest are the most affected by inflation.
“We should give everyone a basic income, by raising the minimum wage and improving social assistance benefits to allow people living in poverty to have life plans”.
Solutions by and for people living in poverty
Janie Houle was also accompanied by “experience experts”, that is to say people who live in a situation of impoverished poverty in the Chair. They offer concrete solutions based on their own experiences.
“Certainly reducing government aid to a smaller, low-income social stratum would allow the pie to be shared between those who need it the most, but this must be accompanied by market restrictions,” says Alain- Antoine Courchesne. More foods need to be regulated so that prices remain fixed, as in the case of milk or bread. »
For Pierre Cardinal, member of the governance committee of the Chair led by Janie Houle and himself a financial aid recipient due to a severe employment constraint, food aid It is not a structuring measure to tackle poverty, unlike social housing.
“We need to deploy more social and affordable housing. I have had subsidized housing in a housing cooperative for two years and it allows me to balance my budget and no longer have to use food banks. Major investments in housing would mean that we no longer need food drives, which would be ideal. »
