Agape Table and Nutrition

Agape Table knows first-hand the impact of poverty on health and wellbeing. Many low-income families access emergency food programs such as soup kitchens and food banks.  These services are intended to bridge an unexpected gap. Sources of emergency food include leftovers, reclaimed groceries, surplus stock, and other unsalable items. Both the availability and nutritional value of emergency food are inconsistent at best, making it very difficult to prepare complete nutritious meals. Diet and nutrition have an immediate and direct impact on wellness and quality of life, particularly for those living with serious or chronic health problems. Because of this, when individuals regularly access emergency food, they are at risk of poor health.

Our Community Nutrition Centre is a place where access to a healthy choice of food is made possible every day.  Agape Table's subsidized meals and Low Cost Grocery provides opportunities to access good quality and nutritious food, that works on a low-income budget.  

The following excerpt from the Washington Post describes the issue well.

Poverty Drains Nutrition From Family Diet, By Alan Mozes

(Excerpt from the Washington Post, February 21, 2008)

Members of poor households in which it is consistently hard to afford enough high-quality food end up eating nutritionally risky diets, Canadian researchers reveal.

The new study is the first to show that food insecurity directly translates into poor nutrition. It also suggests that in such homes, adults and teens, rather than very young children, are the most likely to be subsisting on diets low in vitamins, minerals, fruits, vegetables, grains and meat.

"Over the long term, [food insecurity] could be expected to precipitate and complicate diet-related chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease," cautioned study co-author, Sharon Kirkpatrick, a doctoral candidate in the department of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto.

Kirkpatrick and study co-author Valerie Tarasuk published the findings in the March (2008) issue of The Journal of Nutrition.

See the original study by the Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, here: http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/138/3/604