Food Security Study

PAN was a partner on the Impact of Food Security on Health Outcomes in People Living with HIV/AIDS Across Canada project, a national study examining how access to safe and nutritious food influences the health of people living with HIV/AIDS. The project brought together stakeholders from AIDS service organizations, academics, and leaders in the field of service delivery, advocacy, HIV policy and knowledge transfer and exchange in three provinces: British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.

What is Food Security?

According to the United Nations, food security can be defined as the condition which exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

Conversely, the United Nations defines food insecurity as having uncertain or limited availability of nutritionally adequate or safe food, or the inability to procure food in socially acceptable ways. People living with HIV/AIDS are more likely to experience food insecurity, which can in turn lead to poor health outcomes.

Findings and Resources:

FS poster 1

Read some of the preliminary findings from BC. You can learn more by looking at the BC Food Security Summary Presentation and the Food Security One-Page Summary Handout.

 

Two posters from the BC Food Security Study were presented at the Canadian Association for HIV Research: one poster focused on the experiences of peer research associates in the study, and the second outlined the association between food insecurity and food procurement methods.

Post Cards:

As a team, we created the following three postcards. The front of each postcard describes key findings from the study. The reverse of each postcard has one of three healthy and simple recipes, along with related tips for cutting costs and eating well.

Fact Sheets

Our team also developed a fact sheet summarizing the study’s results from BC. Check out the fact sheets sharing results from Ontario and Quebec as well!

Briefing Note:

Finally, a briefing note was developed and sent to policy- and decision-makers across the province.