There's something horribly wrong when Canada produces plenty of food for everyone, yet there are many people who are dependent on food banks to eat, says Graham Riches, the co-editor of a new book looking at how wealthy countries around the world address hunger.

A retired director of the school of social work at the University of British Columbia, Riches co-edited First World Hunger Revisited: Food Charity or the Right to Food? with Tiina Silvasti, a social and public policy professor from Finland.

"Hunger has successfully been socially constructed as a matter for charity and not an issue requiring the priority attention of the state and public policy," says a chapter that deals with Canada's response to hunger, which Riches co-authored with Valerie Tarasuk at the University of Toronto.

While it may be close to the hearts of local residents, a homegrown program that feeds the hungry with dignity is gaining major momentum nationally and is on the verge of becoming a pilot project in several locales.

After being highlighted on the front page of a national newspaper in early February, Operation Sharing's Food for Friends program is getting a lot of attention from both those in the industry and media.

"We're getting emails and phone calls off the hook," explained Chaplain Stephen Giuliano of Operation Sharing, who introduced Food for Friends in Woodstock in 2005. "Part of it is there is a change in the wind in terms of the whole food bank system. People are looking for something else more progressive and dignified."

An east London food bank is preparing to switch from the usual hamper program to a food card that can be redeemed at a retailer.

"We're looking at a change and we believe this will work," said Nancy Howard, who runs the East London United Church Outreach, a ministry supported by several United Churches to address poverty in east London.

"It's an awesome model, it's about dignity and being able to choose food when you shop."

Did you know that 20% of Canada's homeless population are youth and that nearly 300,000 young people in Canada are forced to turn to food banks each month? And did you know that the poverty rate for young people in Canada is 17.3% and a startling 19.2% for aboriginal youth?

Since the recession, citizens' groups have been springing up across the country to push for a guaranteed annual income...

The core of the movement is still academics and social activists, but they've been joined by growing numbers of middle-income Canadians who have grudgingly concluded a universal income floor is the only way to keep their country livable.

Toronto, a city increasingly segmented between rich and poor, now has more super-rich residents than any other city in North America except New York, a new survey has found.

The report from real estate consultancy Knight Frank ranked Toronto as the 12th "most important" city in the world for people with a net worth of US$30 million or more, referred to as "ultra high net worth individuals" (UHNWIs).

The survey found there are 1,216 such super-rich people in Toronto, the second-highest number in North America, behind only New York, with 3,008 super-rich people. Los Angeles recorded 969 people with US$30 million or more, while Chicago had 827.

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