‘Demand is unprecedented’: Food banks across the country see increase in need

Food banks across the Maritimes are struggling to keep up as demand continues to climb.

The strain on Canadian families is being felt more than ever, as inflation rises, but income remains the same.

“I just did our annual report for the year and our visits were up, several thousand extra visits. So, we’re definitely seeing a lot more people coming in,” Anastasia Payne of Parker Street Food & Furniture Bank told CTV News.

Payne says Parker Street books online appointments and they’ve seen the need first hand.

“We’re busy almost every day. We typically take, I feel like it’s close to 300 appointments a week.”

Ash Avery, executive director of Feed Nova Scotia, says she’s seeing similar numbers to Parker Street.

“What we’re seeing is food banks across Nova Scotia are still seeing extremely high demand. So, if we look at February alone, more than 34,000 people were supported,” said Avery. “We know that this continues to be a cost of living issue between the cost of housing, utilities, groceries. The expenses are rising faster than people’s incomes. So of course, you know, we’re also seeing more people with employment accessing food banks.”

Because of that alone, less people are able to support the organizations helping.

“This often does mean that fewer people are able to support charities. Fewer people are able to donate food and funds. And, we have been seeing that as a trend over the last few years as this food insecurity crisis has increased demand and of course, decreased support,” she added.

Payne says the community and local businesses are still contributing despite the fact that everyone is feeling the strain.

“Here at Parker Street Food and Furniture, we actually are unique in that we’re the largest independent food bank in Nova Scotia,” explains Payne. “We don’t get any government funding. We rely entirely on donations and our partners.”

Some food banks across the country have had to limit the number of times patrons can visit in a month, something food banks in Nova Scotia have yet to do.

“We haven’t seen any food banks within the network that we support that have had to make sacrifices around the quantity of food that they’re providing,” said Avery. “But we do know, of course, the demand continues to increase and food banks continue to be under enormous pressure and are trying their very best to respond to this crisis on the front lines.”

While things are staying afloat for now in Nova Scotia, times could get tough.

“For Feed Nova Scotia, we’re also trying our best to increase support where it’s needed to help food banks to build capacity and to respond to community needs in real time,” sad Avery. “We are in a place now where the demand is unprecedented and so we would not be surprised if we started to see food banks in community having to make really difficult decisions around who, how often they’re able to support people.”

And while monetary donations might not be possible for folks, time is always encouraged as a form of giving back.

“Obviously times are economically tough for everybody so we understand not everybody can make a monetary donation or a food donation, but if you are looking to give back, volunteering is a great way to really get involved and be a part of it,” said Payne.

The numbers at food banks only scratch the surface of the bigger problem, according to Avery.

“We also need to recognize as well, people that come to food banks are only really the visible part of the crisis. We know that many others are experiencing food insecurity even more now than ever before. And, they are making really difficult choices, whether it is skipping meals, borrowing money, leaning on friends and family because groceries and the cost of living more broadly has just become so unaffordable for folks.”

Luckily, there are other options, especially in the Halifax region, for those needing a meal.

“We have our regulars, so we pretty much serve lunch to almost the same people every day. There are new faces showing up, which is obviously a sign that more people are looking for other resources in the city,” said Marni Yukes, with Souls Harbour Rescue Mission.

“Our numbers are increasing because food insecurity is a big deal, especially the rising costs of everything else going on around us. So, we’re serving people lunch every day. I would say we’re trying to make our portions even a bit bigger than normal, just to make sure that they’re getting a really full belly at lunchtime, just in case they don’t have something to get them through until the next day when they can come back.”

Open Monday through Friday for lunch around the HRM, Yuke said Souls Harbour is a place for all.

“Just walk through the doors, anyone is welcome. There’s no prerequisite. As long as you are hungry and want to come in and have a meal you come in and have a meal,” said Yuke.

“There’s no judgment, no anything. You can have a place to live. You could have a job. It doesn’t matter if you just need community and you just want to have a safe, warm place. Then just come in.”

As for what needs to be done, Avery said its about income at the end of the day.

“Food banks are often seen as a safety net. But the reality is that they’re a warning sign and when thousands of people need food support every month, it’s telling us that the cost of living has outpaced what people can afford to survive. So, we’ve been in this crisis already, and it continues to get worse. And we know that food insecurity is an income problem and it’s not because there is not enough food,” said Avery.

“So ultimately, we need government to take affordability seriously.”

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