At I Can for Kids, we follow third-party research closely to ensure that our program maintains an evidence-backed approach. We were very interested to dig into a recent systematic review of research compiled by the Public Health Agency of Canada – assessing the effectiveness of food-based interventions to mitigate household food insecurity.
After analyzing over 20 Canadian research studies published since 2000, the researchers concluded that food-based interventions fail to reduce food insecurity.
Highlights of their findings included:
- Participating in a good food box, community gardens, school food programs, Indigenous hunting and fishing, and traditional food charity programs has little to no effect on household food insecurity.
- Food-insecure households’ utilization of food banks is likely low and depends on the severity of food insecurity and the population group – most people do not access this option until they have become severely food insecure.
- The rate and frequency of food bank utilization is higher among people experiencing homelessness – particularly among unhoused youth – but these interventions are unlikely to reduce household food insecurity in the long term.
For example, one study included in the review and conducted in Ottawa, Ontario, found that most people accessing food banks remained food insecure during follow up 18 months later. During a similar one-year food bank study in Toronto, Ontario, the number of severely food insecure participants remained virtually unchanged.
A related commentary by Valerie Tarasuk, PhD, and Lynn McIntyre, MD, provided additional insights.
“This is a time for reckoning,” they wrote. “There is little to no evidence of food-based interventions having an impact on household food insecurity. Yet the fund-raising communications of charitable and alternative food providers explicitly claim that they are addressing or preventing food insecurity.”
Food insecurity is an economic issue
Since household food insecurity is a result of broader economic deprivation, the researchers call for policy approaches that supplement income to effectively alleviate financial strain.
While it will take time for our society to work towards this goal, some charities have started delivering forms of income supplementation to support food-insecure families.
For example, some organizations offer food vouchers, and the researchers found evidence that these programs may reduce food insecurity for as long as recipients can access vouchers.
I Can for Kids provides an income-based response – paired with other supports
We remain concerned about society’s widespread focus on traditional food banks and food programs that provide short-term interventions without addressing the underlying challenges that food-insecure families face.
I Can for Kids’ model is unique in that we provide a flexible income supplement – grocery gift cards – in combination with other supports delivered by our agency partners. We partner with front-line organizations that provide more holistic support to vulnerable families and target the grocery gift cards to those in greatest need. Our model recognizes that people experiencing food insecurity often face other challenges in their lives and require additional supports to improve food security over the long term.
Research conducted in partnership with the University of Calgary and the O’Brien Institute for Public Health, validated the effectiveness of our collaborative grocery gift card model. This research contributes to a growing body of evidence that income-based supports have greater impact.
iCAN remains highly committed to conduct further research on our grocery gift card approach and to collaborate with other agencies who share our mission to alleviate food insecurity among low-income populations. Together, we CAN take food insecurity off the table.
References:
- Food-based interventions to mitigate household food insecurity in Canada: a systematic review (Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada: 45(9), 2025 September)
- The evidence is in: accountability needs to be injected into the policy-making process for household food insecurity reduction ((Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada: 45(9), 2025 September)
- Experiences and perceived outcomes of a grocery gift card programme for households at risk of food insecurity (Public Health Nutrition: 26(11) 2023 August 2)
