GivingTuesday: Food banks need help, but charity won't end hunger, advocates say

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -

The annual GivingTuesday is a big day for charities and non-profits to collect donations, but for some food banks and anti-poverty organizations, the day underlines a conundrum.

On one hand, demand for food banks is surging to historical heights, pushing facilities to their breaking points and leaving them in desperate need of donations and help, said Matt Noble, executive director of the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank.

On the other hand, food banks cannot and should not be leaned on to fill gaps in the social safety net that would be better addressed by public policy, the director said.

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"In a country like Canada, food insecurity should not be the responsibility of the charitable sector and the goodwill of donors," Noble said. "Optically, it's almost like we give the government a break by being here and looking like we're taking care of it we kind of take pressure off the government to actually solve the problem."

The .GivingTuesday hashtag started in 2012, and has since grown into a worldwide network of local organizations that promote giving in their communities. This year the day falls on Dec. 3.

Josh Smee with Food First Newfoundland and Labrador urged anyone donating to a food bank for GivingTuesday to also write to their government representatives to ask for systemic change, such as a basic income program. Polling has shown that Canadians support measures, including a basic income, to relieve poverty and hunger, he said. It's just not clear what it will take to trigger the political will to make it happen.

"The public attitude is there but our political systems are not very well set up to listen to concerns like this," he said.

His organization is one of many across the country that have signed onto the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank's campaign to "Put Food Banks Out of Business," calling for a means-tested basic income to keep people above the poverty line.

Canadians made more than two million visits to food banks in March 2024 -- a record-breaking figure, according to Food Banks Canada. That's nearly double the number of visits recorded five years ago in March 2019.

Rapid inflation, housing costs and insufficient social supports are driving new levels of poverty and food insecurity, said the study released in October. Renters, racialized groups, people with disabilities, newcomers to Canada and residents across the North are among those seeking the most help. The report also noted a "deeply concerning" need among seniors and families with children.

West of Toronto, many of those using food banks are working people who spend all or most of their money on rent, and they're embarrassed to need help, said Meghan Nicholls, chief executive officer of Food Banks Mississauga.

"People are going to borrow from friends, max out credit cards, they're going to sell their personal possessions, anything they can do to avoid going to a food bank," she said in an interview. "The fact that two million people in Canada still go to a food bank each month, even after doing all those things -- we're failing our people, badly."

Other people are on income support or disability programs whose rates fall well below the poverty line and effectively legislate people into poverty and hunger, she said.

Nicholls said it is difficult to watch governments ignore calls for systemic change as Canada plunges further into what she described as a food insecurity emergency.

"I have never been so angry," she said. "We keep shouting to elected officials. I meet with them face-to-face and tell them what's needed, tell them what's happening in the community. And I get a pat on the back and a 'Thanks for all your work."'

The first food bank in Canada opened in Edmonton in the 1980s as a temporary measure to help people weather an economic downturn. Edmonton's Food Bank is still open, running "at capacity, plus," said Marjorie Bencz, the organization's executive director.

Many of the issues that led to its opening -- few affordable places to live, income support rates below the poverty line -- have not changed, she said.

"I think that the gravity of the situation is not understood by decision makers or maybe even broader community members, because what's happening on the front line is food banks are just scrambling for resources," she said.

"This is not sustainable for any of us."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024.

-- With files from The Associated Press