Highlights from the Household Survey
Food First NL has used a model of “Community-Led” Food Assessment process to examine and take on issues of food security, by working together and using our strengths. Our goal is to engage with community members, inform people and policy makers, and help everyone take action on food.
As we move into setting priority for action, information from community members is invaluable.
About the Survey
In consultation with the Working Group, a survey about food was developed for households in St. John’s. This was available online through Typeform from January 25th - February 26th. The survey was widely promoted through mailing lists, social media, and news media. This survey was also available in French, thanks to the support of the Association Communautaire Francophone de Saint-Jean.
In total, 802 responses from across the City were analyzed. While we received over 1000 responses, some responses were removed as they were outside the city boundaries, duplicates, or incomplete. We are especially grateful to Andrew Tsai, a student with the Masters in Applied Psychological Science Co-op program at Memorial, for his assistance with this analysis.
About the City Wards
The City of St. John’s is divided into 5 wards, each representing roughly 23,000 people. Each Ward is represented by a Councilor, serving as one part of 11 members of St. John’s City Council.
Survey respondents provided their postal code, which was used to compare answers between each wards. A listing of postal codes and a map of ward boundaries was completed with assistance from the NL Centre for Health Information. We had at least 110 responses in each ward, but heard much more from folks in Ward 2, who make up 36% of all responses.
Using this survey, we can show differences between wards in terms of transportation, shopping, or program needs. This analysis will help us develop an appropriate action plan that is representative of the diverse neighborhoods within the City.
Highlight of Results
This document is an overview of the major findings of the survey.
Places to Buy Food
When asked a series of questions about how frequently people shopped at different locations, we found that 69% of people “always” shopped at a grocery, meaning once or more, per week.
14% frequently shopped at retail stores with food
Examples of places, such as Dollarama, Pipers were included in the survey text
9% Frequently Shopped at Convenience Stores
9% Frequently shopped at small vendors, such as buying directly from a producer or market, or from an independent fish shop or bakery
How to get to the locations for food
In this survey, people were asked about the most common way to get to locations for food. The results of this question varied on two major factors: Ward and Income. During the time the survey was open, the City of St. John’s was in a Level 5 COVID lockdown. The best advice from public health was to limit the number of shopping trips, to designate just one person to get groceries, and to stay in your own bubble. Along with winter weather, these measures have likely affected the degree of ride sharing and other transportation modes.
Looking at all responses across the city:
75% of all respondents used their own personal vehicle to get to locations for food
13% used active transportation (walking, wheeling, biking)
5% used the bus, 4% got a ride with someone else, 2% used a taxi, 1% mentioned ‘other’ such as an equal split of transportation type or using home delivery.
Responses by ward revealed very different habits:
Ward 5 had the highest rate of personal vehicle usage: 91%. Other modes were sharing a ride (6%), taxi (3%), bus (1%), but no one chose ‘walking or wheeling’ or biking in ward 5.
In Ward 1, 86% used a personal vehicle, followed by walking or wheeling (6%), bus (2%), sharing a ride (2%), taxi (1%), and 0% biking.
In Ward 3, 81% used a personal vehicle, followed by walking or wheeling (8%), bus (6%), sharing a ride (4%), taxi (1%), and 0% biking.
In Ward 4, 76% used a personal vehicle, followed by bus (9%), walking or wheeling (7%), sharing a ride (4%), taxi (2%), bus or biking at 1% each.
Ward 2 had the lowest rate of personal vehicle usage and a much higher rate of active transportation overall. Only 62% used a personal vehicle, followed by walking or wheeling (25%), bus (5%), sharing a ride (4%), taxi (4%), and 0% biking as their main way to get to locations for food.
“Living downtown, the nearest full grocery store is an uphill walk, and with incomplete sidewalk clearing this is both difficult and dangerous, and even waiting for a bus is inaccessible”
Access to a personal vehicle was also clearly tied to income.
While overall 75% of all respondents use their own motor vehicles, only 25% of those who earn less than $20,000 annually do so.
Nearly 50%, or half of respondents, used their personal vehicle when the household income is from $20- 29,999. This rate rises to nearly 75% at $30 - 39,999 income level and just keeps increasing as the income increases.
Given the significant cost of vehicle ownership, this is a significant portion of household expenses for those living with a low income.
How satisfied are you with the food you can get?
We asked people to rate their satisfaction with the food they could obtain; 10% were ‘very’ satisfied, while 9o% wished either some things, many things, or that everything was different.
Top rated reasons for dissatisfaction were very consistent across each ward (less than 10% difference between highest and average)
68% said food is too expensive
55% low quality
47% unreliable availability
Of the 23% respondents who indicated ‘access to cultural foods’ as an important issue, it was felt more keenly in Ward 4 and Ward 2 - approximately 30% of respondents identified this issue (just 10% in ward 5).
Out of 45 respondents who noted they are either Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Colour, 67% cannot find cultural foods.
Sharing and Gathering Food
Many people share food with their family and friends, or take part in community initiatives to improve access to food.
88% of people shared with or received food from friends or family
84% of people have donated food or volunteered to help out in food programs
Of the 60% of people who either grow, hunt, or gather their own foods:43% pick wild foods, including berries, mushrooms, medicinal plants
39% grow food at home
19% fish; Ward 5 had the highest rate of participation at 26%
9% hunt; Ward 5 had the highest rate of participation at 20%; compared to just 5.5% on average in Ward 2, 3, and 4
6% take part in a community or school garden; 11% in Ward 2 took part, but 0% of respondents in ward 5 took part in this
Food Programs
The survey asked about different programs and services, such as Food banks, Drop-in meals, Food vouchers, programs in schools, and other community programs such as gardens, cooking programs, or bulk buying clubs, which aim to offer food or make it more affordable.
78% of people do not participate in food programs, however 10% of respondents indicated they had used a food bank to help make ends meet.
When asked what would help them participate, 38% of people wanted to learn what is in their neighborhood, which was the most high rated things across each ward
When we asked people what works for them, and why the most common response was location - people use programs that are easy to get to. A second theme was ‘pay what you can’; having a sliding scale to participate in food programs. This was mentioned in connection with the innovative work of School Lunch Association. One respondent said “Children eat at school. Helps bring mental load down and gives them diverse options”.
Healthy food was also a top factor for participating in food programs.
It is worth acknowledging that for many people ‘food programs’ did not work for them. People shared that too often programs can be stigmatizing and inadequate for their food needs.
“.. It’s very degrading to get the courage to ask for help. Then to have to make due with beans, sidekicks, diced tomatoes, cream of celery soup, a pack of hot dogs, 1 Costco carrot cake, and 3 bags of freezer burned hot dog buns - all past best before date [...] and then have no choice but to go back again the next month because I can’t afford to get groceries. Have you ever eaten a out dated cheese wiz hot dog sandwich for every meal in a day? In 2? I’m glad to have something. But it’s hard to feel like society thinks I matter when that’s my reality while I’m on Long-Term Disability.”
Changes you would like to see
People were asked to rank 5 possible focus areas for changes to improve food in your neighborhood. The way people prioritized these answers was very clear: Income Solutions are the #1 needed change to improve food in the city
Consistent across income brackets, household size, and areas of the city
With an analysis by age, the issue of income is most keenly felt by younger respondents aged 18-29, who rated income solutions as highest importance, compared to any age. For people in people aged 70+, income solutions tied with ‘changes in places to buy food’ as the most important change.
Next Steps
In March, the results of this survey were shared in 2 virtual updates, attended by over 60 people for community alongside staff and volunteers for facilitated discussion in breakout rooms. A full report alongside feedback from focus groups and other Eat the City Events - please join our mailing list to take part in a community priority setting meeting in June 2021.
Many thanks to our project team and everyone who took part in completing this survey!
Full Slides from Community Meeting
