Canadians face food insecurity as national campaign takes aim at waste

A new celebrity-backed campaign hopes to reduce waste and help Canadians struggling with food insecurity. Maria Sarrouh reports.

CHARLOTTETOWN - Nearly one-in-four Canadians face food insecurity, even as millions of tonnes of excess food go to waste each year.

A national campaign launched Tuesday by the charity Second Harvest is trying to close that gap, with 100 ambassadors, including celebrities, raising money over 100 hours. In Charlottetown, the push comes as food bank staff say they’re seeing single people, working families and seniors on fixed incomes struggling to afford the basics.

“Almost everything that we hear from them is the high cost of food, gas, rent,” said Mike MacDonald, executive director of Food Banks P.E.I. and the Upper Room Hospitality Ministry.

He added the province-wide network sees more than 5,000 visits every month, and almost 35 per cent of the people coming in are employed.

“They have jobs and are hard-working Islanders, and just aren’t making enough to get by,” MacDonald said.

Statistics Canada data released this spring suggests 24 per cent of Canadians lived in food-insecure households in 2024. In P.E.I., a Right to Food Canada analysis of the same survey put the provincial rate at 23.3 per cent, down slightly from the year before and close to the national rate.

At the same time, Second Harvest says Canada wastes 8.83 million tonnes of edible food annually, enough to feed 17 million people three meals a day for a year.

The charity collects surplus food from across supply chains, including farmers, manufacturers, retail distribution centres and the hospitality industry. It then prepares and redistributes that food through charities coast-to-coast-to-coast, helping them fill hampers with items such as potatoes, milk, eggs and more.

The Race to Rescue campaign aims to raise enough money for one million meals. A star-studded roster that includes retired astronaut Chris Hadfield, singer Shania Twain and chef Matty Matheson, among others, is helping drive donations. Second Harvest says just $1 provides enough for five meals.

“We’re not just going to hit that goal. We’re going to blow that goal right out of the water,” said CEO Lori Nikkel.

She added that higher costs, from rent to interest rates on mortgages to transit, are leaving more people stretched.

“The middle class is no more,” she said. “Unfortunately, inflation keeps happening, but wages are not keeping up.”

Getting involved was a “no-brainer” for Tim Chaisson and Jake Charron of the Juno Award-winning P.E.I. group The East Pointers.

“It feels really like an urgent thing, to step up and try to help out,” Charron said. “One in four people, that’s our neighbours. That’s everyone around us.”

“Everybody’s feeling it,” Chaisson said. “It’s tricky to make ends meet for a lot of people today. We’re very happy to be able to spread the word.”

At the Upper Room Hospitality Ministry, MacDonald said staff are there to help, not judge. The food bank is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. People who come in may be asked for basic information, including their source of income, but not how much they make, he said.

“Please reach out,” MacDonald said. “Our goal is really to get food into people’s hands.”

The campaign runs until Friday at 12 p.m.