VIPIRG Report – Beyond Rice and Beans: Food Experiences of Newcomer Immigrants & Refugees in Victoria
On October 27th, VIPIRG launched a research report we worked on this past summer called “Beyond Rice and Beans: Food Experiences of Newcomer Immigrants & Refugees in Victoria.”
=>Download the report here
Importance of this Report: A Statement from the VIPIRG Board & Staff
Summary of our findings
We surveyed 260 individuals, 124 of whom identified as being racialized. Our survey findings show that:
- Our findings support data from Statistics Canada which suggests that racialized individuals are the largest group affected by food insecurity. As we outlined earlier, the concept of acceptability is directly linked to food (in)security. Over a quarter respondents strongly agreed that there are challenges accessing cultural specific foods and ingredients. Zero non-racialized participants strongly agreed.
- Racialized individuals are the largest group affected by food injustice. Over a quarter respondents strongly agreed that there are challenges accessing cultural-specific foods and ingredients. Zero non-racialized participants strongly agreed.
- More racialized people found food to be a significant part of their culture in comparison to their non-racialized counterparts. 61% of racialized people strongly agreed that food was an important part of their cultural heritage, while 36% of non-racialized participants agreed.
- Almost 70% of racialized off-campus respondents strongly agreed or agreed that their personal and community relationships would improve with better access to culturally specific foods, compared to 12.6% of non-racialized respondents.
- Discrimination when accessing food is a major component of food injustice. Our research suggests that 24% of racialized people have experienced this, compared to 3% of non-racialized participants.
- Almost 70% of racialized off-campus respondents strongly agreed or agreed that their personal and community relationships would improve with better access to culturally specific foods, compared to 12.6% of non-racialized respondents.
- The racialized and non-racialized participants sampled had the same median monthly income, but non-racialized people spend more money on groceries every month. These figures show that racialized people are more vulnerable to food insecurity because they have less money to spend on food.
- Non-racialized people feel that they obtain more than basic nutritional benefits from their diet than racialized people.