PRESENTATIONS
Social
inequalities in access to food in Montreal
Lise Bertrand -
Coordinator of the working group on food security. Montreal Public
Health Department.
Diet is one of the principal factors on which we need to act to reduce
social inequalities in health. However, it is not appropriate to dictate
nutritional behaviours if access to recommended foods is limited.
Poor people are subject to constraints linked not only with the cost
of food but also with availability, freshness, and proximity to source
of supply. Ms. Lise Bertrand will present a study of food supply based
on type, number, and distribution of food stores throughout the CLSC
territories on the island of Montréal. Inequalities are noted
in the geographical sectors that are strongly associated with level
of income of the inhabitants of these neighbourhoods. Access to quality
foods is problematic in at least 10 of the 29 CLSC territories. Food
supply should not be studied only from the angle of food superstores.
In urban settings, other interesting formulas can lead to opportunities
to use nutrition as an element of neighbourhood revitalisation and
social development.
