Evidence matters, eh?

Hello, hello, and welcome to The Stitch—a little evidence-based research straight to your inbox.

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Big welcome to this fifth(!) edition of The Stitch. It’s been a minute, but I’m back with another newsletter, this time with a special theme…?

For no reason at all (definitely not due to ever changing geopolitical dynamics, and surely not because of that devastating Jays loss), I have this urge to share some social insights coming out of so-called Canada.  

Researchers in Canada, at universities and colleges alike, are shaping the future with groundbreaking insights in science, technology, health, arts and the humanities. And since I’ve recently amplified some such articles over on KnowledgeStitch.com, I thought I’d share some here.

Gentle reminder: The articles I share here are ‘open access’—meaning you can click on the links throughout this issue (or any issue!) and you’ll be taken straight to the original research—no paywalls, or any of that yuckiness. I would never do that to you!

The government here in Canada has just dropped its budget, and it’s a doosey, as they say. While I’m no economist, some key aspects stood out, like cuts to international development funding, and support for a permanent school food program.

This past year, we’ve seen funding cuts for international development spending from the US and UK. So, I suppose this is Canada just keeping up with this nightmare trend.

The tabled budget from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party has Canada cutting 2.7 billion over the next four years. Are we meant to feel good that these cuts are less than one-party leaders dream of cutting funding for foreign aid by $9.4 billion?

Over 100 Canadian organizations working in this space (think Oxfam, Save the Children, etc.) have penned a powerful letter on this, which you can read over on Cooperation Canada: Canada’s Cuts to Critical Development Assistance Weaken Us All, Undermine Security.

Here’s the thing: If Canada was a person, and you asked it directly, it would likely tell you that it does a particularly amazing job when it comes to global development. But of course, this is a divisive issue.

So, in light of this, I thought I would share an interesting article by researchers out of Dalhousie University: Advocacy, charity and struggles for global justice in Canada, published in the Canadian Journal of Development Studies.

Canada’s engagement with global issues directly impacts everyday life at home for Canadians. I’ve shared research before in this newsletter on food insecurity, food sovereignty, and food banks here in Canada, and recently over on Instagram I’ve been sharing a bit more, like data from this article by Tracy Smith-Carrier out of Royal Roads University: Canada’s rising poverty and food insecurity are deep structural issues.

The articles features data from Food Banks Canada, which gave the government a D rating for how it has been managing food poverty in Canada, with an estimated 25% of Canadians are having a hard time affording food.

Interesting that also featured in the budget, is support to make a national school food program for kids permanent. The challenge, however, is that a patchwork system across the country sees gaps in support, with some kiddos going without. So while federal funding is seemingly necessary, basic income guarantee remains appealing to move the needle on this issue, and so many more.

For those on specific diets, like people with Celiac disease (CD), the financial cost can be especially hard hitting. Celiac Canada claims 1/6 Canadians with CD as facing food insecurity, and that 50% of households with a child who has CD are struggling to put food on the table.

🖊️SIGN //

They have a petition on now that you can sign and support: the petition is calling for a tax credit to help ease some of the financial burden of price-inflated everyday gluten-free products, like breads and pastas. You can sign the petition here.

⁉️ Exciting news! Now that it’s official, I can share that two research assistants will be joining me in the New Year to work on KnowledgeStitch.com. I’m excited to see what we build together—all with the goal of amplifying research and making it much more accessible for wider audiences—and would love your input! What topics are you most interested in? And how about format: are newsletters your jam, or do you prefer podcasts, or social media? You can reply directly to this email ([email protected]) or share your thoughts in the comments.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it with anyone you think might also enjoy it! I’d be ever so grateful if you did.

Until next time,

Mary

If you have an academic, evidence-based, article or project you’d like readers to check out (whether already published open access or not), be sure to submit a pitch here: