EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

It is critical that through our research we focus on identifying and understanding the root causes and intersections of food insecurity and systemic barriers in Canada to allow us to drive meaningful policy targeted at these root causes, to decrease food insecurity in Canada.  

The Walmart Foundation has invested in the community Participatory Action Research project that explores issues that impact food access and food security among those struggling to afford food. This project will lead to the building of knowledge and impact across the food bank network, informed by those with direct lived experience. 

“As part of our strategy to become a regenerative company we are advocating and driving systemic change to build more inclusive communities across Canada. We will use our size and scale to make an impact towards a more just and equitable society across Canada”

– Nabeela Ixtabalan, Executive Vice President People and Corporate Affairs, Walmart Canada

Across the country, vulnerable groups are continuing to encounter inequitable social and economic conditions. Refugees face extensive disadvantages resulting from their forced displacement. Adapting to life in a new country can be depleting, which is why it is so imperative to improve access to affordable, culturally appropriate foods that play a significant role in the emotional and mental well-being of newcomers to Canada. Food Banks Canada engaged its partners to respond to the immediate food and settlement needs of asylum seekers arriving in Canada.

With contributions from Walmart Canada and the Walmart Foundation, Food Banks Canada introduced its $200,000 Afghan Refugee Food Support Fund to help food banks and other food security organizations purchase and move culturally appropriate food and community supports.

Shahpoor Amiri, store manager at the Walmart Kingsway Village Supercentre in Oshawa, ON said “We’ve worked hard, started new lives and now we’re giving back. That’s why I’ve been helping sponsor my fellow Afghans. I feel it is my duty to help my people, who never asked for this fate.”

He says he’s proud that Walmart Canada is donating to Food Banks Canada to provide hundreds of thousands of meals to the newly arrived Afghans in Canada.

“My fellow Afghans will need sponsors. I have personally sponsored Afghan refugees and continue to do so. I know this has inspired other Walmart associates to do the same, including some of my assistant managers: Patricia Kirton, Patrick Duffie and Spencer King. It’s overwhelming to see the compassion humans can have for each other.”

Through this support from the fund, food banks across the country have subsequently improved access to culturally appropriate, halal food for Afghan refugees in their communities.

The executive director of the House of Omeed food distribution centre in Burnaby, B.C. also reported being able to enhance food accessibility by improving the food security status of dozens more refugee clients.

“We received a large influx of Afghans right after the Taliban took over and Canada started receiving refugees,” Executive Director Ahmad Zeividavi said. “Because most of the cultural food that we offer needs to be purchased, we are very limited in registering new people and usually have a waiting list. But through this grant, we were able to fast-track over 70 Afghan families and they have been receiving culturally appropriate food tailored to their needs since. We have helped their kids register for school, helped with the paperwork for the settlement process, and they are going to have a Canada-born baby very soon. We have told them that all their food has been made possible by this generous grant from Food Bank of Canada and Walmart, and the father said, “Every time I enter Walmart, I say, ‘Thank you Walmart!’”