Almost one-in-eight Canadian households did not have access to safe, sufficient, and nutritious food in 2011. That is the finding of a new study on food insecurity in Canada. The study says almost 4,000,000 Canadians were affected; an increase of 13 per cent from 2008. The study’s lead author, University of Toronto professor Valerie Tarasuk, says food insecurity rises as household income drops. The study found the highest rate of food insecurity was in Nunavut at 36 per cent. Surprisingly, the lowest rate was in Newfoundland and Labrador at just under 11 per cent. Tarasuk credits Newfoundland and Labrador’s very aggressive poverty reduction program that took effect seven years ago.