OPINION
Study finds food banks that partner with corporations may be perpetuating food insecurity DENNIS RAPHAEL, ZSOFIA MENDLY-ZAMBO, ALAN TAMAN Dennis Raphael is a professor in the school of health policy and management at York University. Zsofia Mendly-Zambo is a PhD candidate in the school of health policy and management at York University and Alan Taman is with the School of Social Sciences, Birmingham City University.
Organizations that partner with large corporations in an effort to reduce hunger in Canada are at risk of perpetuating household food insecurity in Canada. Perhaps these findings could be considered a cautionary tale for Kawartha Lakes Food Source and others fighting poverty and food insecurity in this area, should Walmart establish a store in Lindsay. The study we authored was recently published in the journal Critical Public Health and was led by York University. It’s called “Take the Money and Run: How food banks became complicit with Walmart Canada’s hunger producing employment practices.” It looks at how Food Banks Canada’s partnership with Walmart Canada’s “Fight Hunger. Spark Change” project serves to essentially endorse Walmart Canada’s employment practices, which are themselves characterized as contributing to food insecurity. The study analyzes why Walmart Canada’s corporate branding as an ally in reducing food insecurity is a problem. Historically, critics have highlighted Walmart Canada as a driving factor in household food insecurity through its lower wages, few benefits and opposition to unionization. However, the company has successfully branded itself as an ally in reducing food insecurity by partnering with Food Banks Canada. In the study we evaluate this partnership and examine the contradictions between Walmart’s employment practices and Food Banks Canada’s goal to reduce hunger. We found that by entering into a partnership with Walmart Canada, Food Banks Canada has “become complicit in maintaining the structures and the processes
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that create and perpetuate” food insecurity, which impacts Canadians’ health. Rather than partnering with corporations with employment practices that perpetuate problems, Food Banks Canada and its affiliated food banks should highlight how unjust employment creates household food insecurity and call for major reform of the employment market as a way of improving living conditions for people. Food banks and food diversion (where food is saved from being thrown out) does not address the fundamental drivers of food insecurity and instead obscures the role Walmart Canada and other corporations play in creating food insecurity.
Rather than partnering with corporations with employment practices that perpetuate problems, Food Banks Canada and its affiliated food banks should highlight how unjust employment creates household food insecurity and call for major reform of the employment market as a way of improving living conditions for people. Corporate social responsibility should be a way for companies to broaden their perspectives and act for the common good, not just the benefit of a select group of stakeholders. Unfortunately, it seems to be increasingly the case that companies use this an extension of image creation and reputation enhancement. Food banks should resist the role that corporate lobbying plays in maintaining low wages and povertyinducing social assistance levels. Embracing corporations and polishing their images through partnerships is not a solution to food insecurity in Canada. You are welcome to request a copy of the full study by emailing draphael@yorku.ca
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