I wanted to express my discomfort in that regard. We did not come here this morning for that.
We talked about housing programs. Our colleagues in Quebec who are fighting for affordable housing are doing excellent work. Housing meets an essential need.
However, it is clear that people seem to have forgotten that food is also an essential need. When the costs of housing or transportation go up, what do people cut from their budget? Food.
That is why we think action has to be taken to ensure that people can eat better. In fact, eating healthy food has an impact on an individual's physical and mental health, and so on. There need to be programs that will help people to eat properly. That way, they will have more energy to go back to work or school, depending on their circumstances.
There have been significant advances in the battle over housing over the last 20 years. However, the battle over food has not advanced at all. I think this is a priority that you should consider. Earlier, I named a number of organizations that have proposals to make in that regard, including the Collectif pour une politique nationale de l'alimentation in Quebec, and Food Secure Canada. I urge you to contact them to find out what specific solutions they can propose in that respect.
We also talked about the economic crisis. However, I am anxious to hear people talk about the economic and social crisis, because the economic crisis affects people. It affects industries, but it mainly affects people—people who end up with no food and no money to pay for their housing. When these individuals are in trouble, the first thing they do is seek help from community organizations, such as the one Ms. L'Archevêque represents, and the 1,400 community kitchens that are providing services all across the province.
I would like to close with a comment about the specific needs of community kitchens. According to our assessment, community kitchen groups needed some $6.5 million, just to carry out their mission. In some organizations, there are 300 people waiting to join a community kitchen group. But we simply do not have the means to give them a spot in these groups.
Once again, I just want to emphasize the importance of our demands with respect to the right to food.