Who's hungry in your riding? Feed Ontario's new tool fighting food insecurity will give you an idea

As many sit down to Thanksgiving meals on Monday or mull what to do with an abundance of leftovers, Feed Ontario wants Canadians to also think about what they can do to advocate for those who don't have large feasts for the holiday.

Feed Ontario, an organization of food banks and industry partners, is working to end food insecurity — defined as a lack of access to adequate food because of limited money or other resources — and its new tool aims to raise awareness about what's happening in communities across the province.

Interim executive director Siu Mee Cheng said it was disappointing when the provincial government didn't mention food insecurity or the rising cost of living when it introduced its throne speech as MPPs returned to Queen's Park on Oct. 4.

"Food insecurity is often looked at as almost being separate and alone from other critical social issues. But food insecurity really is a symptom of broader systemic issues, and one of the key issues is around affordability, housing and employment," Cheng said in an interview.

"In fact, food insecurity really kind of is a symptom as a result of the intersection of those three key issues. Many times, many of our food bank users are unable to afford housing, and as a result, food becomes a discretionary expense."

Rising housing costs have also impacted individuals, who've had to turn to food banks for help.

"Given that many of our users are minimum wage earners, for instance, there is again that challenge of being able to just afford rent, and once rent is taken up, there is very little discretionary expense to direct towards securing healthy food," she said.