Rising food costs driving more Canadians to food banks

TORONTO -

In some cities, visits to meals banks have practically tripled as the rising price of groceries continues to take a toll on Canadians, says Each day Bread Meals Financial institution Toronto CEO Neil Hetherington.

Toronto meals banks have reported a rise to 160,000 shopper visits per thirty days, compared to 60,000 earlier than the pandemic. Hetherington tells CTV’s Your Morning these visits will solely proceed to develop.

“We count on that quantity to rise to about 225,000 shopper visits per thirty days. Individuals are in want within the metropolis, and we have to do one thing about it,” he mentioned on Tuesday.

Meals banks in Charlottetown and Calgary have additionally seen a rise in visits, together with the Higher Room Hospitality Ministry in P.E.I. that’s reporting a 60 per cent spike in shoppers since April 2021.

The Calgary Meals financial institution mentioned, of the 9,500 individuals who had been despatched meals hamper deliveries in April, 75 per cent of them had been new shoppers.

Statistics Canada’s April report discovered meals costs have seen a 9.7 per cent enhance in grocery shops since April 2021. Moreover, the present inflation price sits at 6.8 per cent, marking the best price reported in three a long time.

Whereas area people members proceed to ship donations, it nonetheless isn’t sufficient to attenuate the lineups exterior meals banks, Hetherington mentioned. Inexpensive housing and a gradual revenue are among the many important elements in tackling Canada’s meals insecurity, he defined.

“We dedicated as a rustic that we would cut back poverty by 50 per cent by 2030. We're not on observe to have the ability to do this and this inflation has exacerbated that state of affairs,” he mentioned.

In March, the Each day Bread Meals Financial institution and the College of Calgary performed a examine that decided a 53 per cent enhance in visits to Toronto meals banks between January 2014 and March 2020 had been pushed by components together with lease will increase and reductions in incapacity advantages.

In Ontario, social help offers residents with about $1,100 a month, nevertheless Hetherington says a rise of simply $15 month-to-month may translate to 56,000 fewer visits to meals banks within the metropolis.

“We all know the solutions to those social issues. We all know the levers to tug. We all know the impression that they are going to have. We simply have to have the political will and braveness and management to have the ability to make that distinction,” he mentioned.