More Ontarians relying on food banks and visiting them more frequently: Feed Ontario
“There’s concern in the food bank networks that donations will not be sufficient to meet the need, that we won’t have enough food resources for this continuing growing need of people,” Stewart said.It attributed the spike to long-standing issues such as precarious employment, inaccessible unemployment aid and inadequate supports for those with disabilities, as well as more recent factors like rising inflation and the increased cost of living.
“Imagine you already had a budget that was stretched thin. You’re already making impossible choices between keeping a roof over your head or keeping your lights on, buying winter clothes for your child or paying for more medication you might need,” said Stewart, noting those who turn to food banks are facing such dilemmas every day.
She said 30 per cent of food bank clients are children and youth under the age of 18, a number that has remained consistent in recent years. More than 50 per cent of those accessing such centres are on some form of social assistance, she added.Stewart said food banks are now being asked to serve a role they were never designed to fulfil.
“We were developed as a stopgap measure in the ’80s and we were never intended to be a social safety net,” said Stewart. “We were supposed to be turned to in terms of emergencies. But now as more and more Ontarians are unable to afford their most basic necessities, at what point is it enough?”
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