We are seeing the recurrence of an old disease. It’s an old disease many people never expected to see again. It’s a disease we have already solved with nutrition, except it’s back. Scurvy is showing itself again in recent studies in Saskatchewan and Ontario and it’s a sign we need to pay attention to.
Scurvy is a disease that shows itself through a variety of symptoms like fatigue, joint pain and gum disease and tooth loss. We are aware that it was also deadly for sailors in centuries past. Those sailors didn’t have access to the fresh foods that are rich in vitamin C and without them they got scurvy.
Nowadays, people also don’t always have access to those foods because of food insecurity and they are also getting scurvy. André Picard’s article in the Globe and Mail explains well that the problem isn’t the scurvy, it’s the food insecurity and the solution to food insecurity is “decent paying jobs, affordable housing, reasonably priced food and better income redistribution.”
In short, all people need enough money to be able to access the food they need.
The foods that are highest in vitamin C are tropical fruits like guava, oranges, kiwi and pineapple. Vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and kale also have a good amount of vitamin C.
If you have access to variety of fruits and vegetables and you usually eat some of both most days you will easily get enough vitamin C. In fact, a vitamin C supplement is rarely recommended because it is relatively easy to get from food. But what if you don’t have food, especially fresh food?
The current cost of food is changing food access with increasing numbers of people having to use free food in food pantries or food banks to meet their needs. Many of these agencies work hard to ensure that vitamin-rich foods and especially fresh fruits and vegetables are available for their community members. And no matter how hard they work we know there are so many people and families who are food insecure who do not even go to foodbanks.
Food insecurity is a crisis and scurvy is just one of the many red flags shouting to us, “It’s getting worse!”
Kate runs the Good Food Box in Mount Forest. This great program started in February, modelled on a similar program in Harriston. The Good Food Box helps to address food security by helping folks buy food at a good price.
Eating up the lovely food in the box boosts folks’ nutrition. Take that scurvy!
Interested in finding out more about the Mount Forest Good Food Box? Join the many other folks in the community who put in their order on the second Thursday of every month. For $22 you can pick up a variety box of produce on the following Tuesday between 1 and 6 p.m. at the Legion.
Boxes often include eight or more staples like lettuce, onion, potatoes, cucumber, celery, bananas, apples, squash, rutabaga, oranges and seasonal items. Feedback from customers has been very positive. Kate says you can’t get value like this at the grocery store.
Check them by contacting Kate at [email protected], 226-626-5786 or on Facebook at Good Food Box Mount Forest.
