People call the food bank in tears, in great humiliation, and in desperate need of help.
Written by Mark Isaac, General Manager/Community Chaplain, Ailsa Craig & Area Food Bank & Thrift Store
Food banks and the communities we serve are facing extremely and increasingly challenging times. Recently, CBC reported that in Ontario, one in six households, or 16.1%, were food insecure in 2021, a number equal to 2.3 million people. As well, 4.6% of households in the province experienced severe food insecurity, meaning family members ate less, missed meals, or went days without eating due to a lack of money.
More locally, in Elgin-Middlesex-London 2,689 people used a food bank a total of 11,764 times in 2021 (Feed Ontario statistics collected from area food banks). That was a 12% increase in visits over 2020… the greatest increase in more than a decade and a situation that only worsened in 2022.
In the past, most people knew there were needy people within our communities but struggled to understand the full scope... people in our rural area are homeless or eating from garbage bins behind restaurants? Not in my community! Sadly, the problems are even more prevalent now… people deciding if they will pay rent and other bills, buy medications, or purchase food. Still, others live in garden sheds, farm drive sheds, cars, trailers, and tents while landlords approach tenants asking for rent increases beyond the allowable annual rate.
Ontario’s insufficient social assistance programs, precarious employment, and unaffordable housing are the primary drivers of food bank use. The pandemic and subsequent economic strain on businesses and communities only served to bring the problem to the forefront. Sadly, pandemic and political woes around the world continue to increase the problem of food security. Food shortages and the rapidly increasing cost of living mean that the already struggling only struggle more and others who, having never imagined they would need to, now call the food bank in tears, in great humiliation, and in desperate need of help.
59 percent of food bank visitors cite social assistance as their primary source of income.
44 percent increase in the number of people with employment accessing food banks for support in the four years leading up to the pandemic.
86 percent of food bank visitors are rental or social housing tenants with over 50 percent of food bank visitors citing the inability to adequately pay for housing and utilities costs as the primary reason for food bank usage.
Some immediate actions we must consider are lobbying the Province for:
Improvements to Ontario’s social assistance programs
Investments in affordable housing
While bureaucrats consider how to address these and many other issues, we must work to meet the crisis head-on. People are hungry and fearful as we face the looming pressure of a cold winter with continued negative financial outlooks.
Many supporters know we were in the midst of a building program well before the pandemic began. We have kept doing our best to meet the increased demand in our current building and continue navigating toward a better-equipped facility.
Food insecurity looks to continue and its impact on health and the healthcare system could become insurmountable if income is unable to keep up with inflation. I find myself questioning if we can do enough to get everyone safely through this time. I have never had to purchase so much food as we have over the past months. We depend on the support of so many others to help us with our work and to help in advocating for those in need. We depend on you.