Imagine standing in your local market, looking at the price of fresh vegetables, fruit, eggs, or meat, and wondering what you can afford to put in your cart this week.
For billions of people around the world, this is a daily reality. And increasingly, it is an experience that many Canadians recognize as well.
The latest edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) Report 2026, released by the UN’s leading food and nutrition agencies, offers a hopeful but sobering picture of progress in the fight against hunger. Globally, hunger has declined for the third consecutive year since its pandemic-era peak. Yet an estimated 645 million people still faced hunger in 2025, a number that remains higher than before COVID-19.
But hunger is only part of the story.
This year’s report focuses on a growing challenge that affects families everywhere: the high cost of a healthy diet.
While many people may have access to food, nutritious foods such as fresh produce, dairy, fish, and other protein-rich foods often remain financially out of reach. In 2025, nearly one-third of the world’s population could not afford a healthy diet.
The issue may seem distant, but it is one that Canadians understand all too well.
According to Statistics Canada, nearly one in four Canadians lived in a food-insecure household in 2025, including approximately 2.4 million children. Food insecurity is not distributed equally across the country. Northern communities are disproportionately affected, with rates in Nunavut exceeding 50 percent. Even within a high-income country like Canada, rising costs continue to make healthy eating difficult for many households.
The challenge is not simply about food availability. It is about affordability.
Over the past five years, food prices in Canada have increased significantly. As grocery bills rise, many families are forced to make difficult choices about what foods they can afford. Often, this means buying fewer fresh fruits, vegetables, and other nutrient-rich foods and relying more heavily on lower-cost alternatives that may not provide the same nutritional value.
The same forces driving food insecurity globally are affecting food systems here at home.
Conflict continues to disrupt supply chains and increase fuel and fertilizer costs. Climate-related shocks—including droughts, wildfires, and changing weather patterns—are affecting agricultural production around the world and in Canada. Economic uncertainty and trade disruptions add further pressure, contributing to higher costs for consumers and challenges for food producers.
The SOFI report underscores that addressing hunger requires more than increasing food production. It calls for investments that make healthy food more affordable and accessible, including stronger food systems, improved infrastructure, social protection programs, and policies that support both producers and consumers.
Canada is taking steps in this direction. Initiatives such as the National School Food Program and the proposed Groceries and Essentials Benefit recognize the important role that social supports can play in helping families access nutritious food. Efforts such as the Grocery Code of Conduct also aim to improve transparency and fairness across Canada’s food supply chain.
For Action Against Hunger, one message from the report stands out above all: good decisions require good data.
Understanding who is affected by hunger, where needs are greatest, and what interventions are most effective depends on reliable data. That is why we invest in research and innovation initiatives such as SMART+, helping governments, communities, and humanitarian actors collect and use the information they need to respond effectively and advocate for lasting solutions.
The path to a world without hunger is possible, but it requires more than food on shelves. It requires making healthy diets affordable, strengthening food systems, supporting vulnerable households, and ensuring that decisions are grounded in evidence.
Because whether a family lives in northern Canada, East Africa, or anywhere in between, everyone should have the opportunity to access the nutritious food they need to live healthy and productive lives.
Read more: Explore the findings of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 report and learn how Action Against Hunger is turning evidence into action.
Action Against Hunger leads the global movement to end hunger. We innovate solutions, advocate for change, and reach 21 million people every year with proven hunger prevention and treatment programs. As a nonprofit that works across 56 countries, our 8,900 dedicated staff members partner with communities to address the root causes of hunger, including climate change, conflict, inequity, and emergencies. We strive to create a world free from hunger, for everyone, for good.
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