Nearly 1 in 4 Canadians can't afford enough to eat.
Farms are struggling to stay afloat.
Small businesses can't compete against the major grocery chains.
Local Food Coupon programs can make a difference.
Dignity
People can shop where they want and buy the products the need, rather than settling for whatever is available from a food bank.
Community
Participants gain better access to farmers' markets and small businesses that may otherwise seem out of reach.
Sustainability
Money spent with the coupons goes straight to farmers, community markets, and other key elements of strong local food systems.
How Does it Work?
People Get Coupons
Coupons are given for free to families experiencing food insecurity, or they can be bought as gift certificates.
The coupons are distributed monthly by community organizations, health professionals, and others with direct links to the people who need them.
People Buy Groceries
The coupons can be spent as a form of currency to buy food from participating merchants.
The merchants — like farmers' markets, community-run stores, and small local businesses — must qualify according to the program's criteria.
Each program has its own set of criteria to match the needs and realities of the communities it serves.
Merchants Get Customers
Participating merchants are paid (in real money) for the purchases made with the coupons.
They get more sales, more visibility, and more access to members of the community who may not have been able to shop there otherwise.
A Few Examples
BC Farmers' Market Nutrition Coupon Program
A healthy eating initiative that supports farmers' markets and strengthens food security across British Columbia. The coupons can be used at any participating market.
Run by the BC Assocation of Farmers' Markets in collaboration with community partner organizations since 2007, it now serves over 95 communities and reaches over 30,000 families, seniors and pregnant people from over 12,000 households.
Carte Proximité
Digital payment cards distributed by a network of participating community organizations and health partners to households experiencing food insecurity in regions across the province of Quebec. Participants can use their cards at accredited stores, who commit to sourcing products directly from local farms.
Operated by the Carrefour Solidaire Community Food Centre, the program has distributed over $3 million since its launch in 2020.
Roots Community Markets
Roots Community Centre in Thunder Bay operates fresh food markets both in town and in partnership with neighbouring indigenous communities. They also distribute digital cards to families with monthly top-ups that can be spent at any of their markets.
The program now distributes $40,000 per year and supports the operation of non-profit markets in remote communities with no other food stores.
FAQ
Where does the money come from?
These kinds of programs can be funded by provincial, federal, or municipal governments (especially health ministries), foundations, or community fundraising.
They are a perfect option for public funding, since the money goes directly towards the people who need it while also providing a secondary investment into local farms, small businesses, and non-profit merchants.
Why not just give people money without any limitations?
That's an excellent idea! Direct cash transfer programs have been shown to be a highly effective form of humanitarian assitance by the World Food Programme, and universal basic income could dramatically improve Canadians' lives at a very low operational cost.
Local food coupon programs are a perfect complement to unrestricted cash programs and important existing supoprts — they are specifically targeted towards families experiencing food insecurity, and they support local economies and local food systems.
Why not just have more food banks instead?
The food bank model — where donated food is distributed to people in need — is outdated, undignified, and inefficient. It's a system where hungry people have to visit special sites to pick through whatever the rest of society doesn't want to eat.
In Canada, most of the food in food banks actually comes from grocery stores, who get tax discounts for donating their leftover stock.
Local food coupons are dignified and effective. They allow participants to shop with everone else, buying the high-quality food they need and want.
Aren't the big chain stores cheaper and more widespread?
Canada used to have lots of different grocery chains and independent grocery stores, but now just five chains control 80 per cent of the market.
This near-monopoly is hidden by "competing" brands that are all actually owned by three mega-corporations. These companies, plus a few American-owned brands, have deep pockets, supply-chain dominance, and sweetheart deals forced on suppliers, making it impossible for small businesses to compete.
Food subsidy programs that target the major chains because of their accessibility only end up funnelling even more money directly to the companies that have been making record profits while raising food prices and keeping wages stagnant.
Instead, local food coupon programs can help support farms and small businesses — they can even fund the creation of new stores and markets in areas without them, and would be a perfect addition to public grocery stores.
Shouldn't the money be restricted to only healthy foods?
Identifying "good" foods is tough, both practically and ethically. Everyone deserves the autonomy to determine their own diets, and a completely healthy lifestyle involves some indulgence.
Filtering out admissible products at the cash register may be technically possible, but it's not simple, and it's hard to imagine it being very dignified for participants.
Local food coupon programs have found that the best approach is to only partner with stores that meet the needs of their communities through their business models and in the products they sell.
Sources and More Info
"Canada's top competition watchdog ... spent months examining many aspects of Canada's grocery business, which is dominated by three domestic giants — Loblaws, Metro and Sobeys owner Empire — along with foreign players like Walmart and Costco. Together, those 5 companies combine for more than three-quarters of all the food sales in Canada."
Food assistance: cash and in-kind (World Food Programme)
"In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, we consider the quality as well as the quantity of food, with the emphasis on its nutritious character and seasonality. Crucially, food assistance enlists beneficiaries as actors: it gives them a voice, and, wherever possible, a choice in what food they receive and how they receive it."
Ontario Basic Income Pilot Project (Wikipedia)
"Participants reported that their nutrition improved, stress levels lowered, relationships improved and could escape from living in sub-standard housing."
How public grocery stores could work in Canada (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
"Annual operating costs, with government covering labor and overhead like rent, would be an additional $290 million—less than half the lifetime cost of one F-35 fighter jet. Canada recently cut a deal with the U.S. to buy 88 of them. ... After the initial modest investment in the buildout, for every dollar the government puts in annually, Canadian shoppers could save $2 in return."
Poverty and Food Insecurity in Canada (Right to Food)
"Every day in Canada, nearly 1 in 4 people worry about eating, compromise on the quantity and quality of their groceries and/or go without food due to financial constraints. Food insecurity disproportionately impacts some groups, including Indigenous and racialized peoples, people with disabilities, immigrants, renters, and single people aged 18 to 64 who are living alone."