London Food Bank launches 39th spring drive, director warns ‘old era is over’ amidst escalating hunger crisis

The kickoff of London Food Bank's Spring Food Drive was punctuated with a sombre message - the need continues to grow. CTV's Gerry Dewan reports.

The London Food Bank officially launched its 39th annual Spring Food Drive on Thursday, a critical initiative underscored by a stark warning from co-director Glen Pearson: the era of incremental improvement in combating hunger is over, and the situation has worsened significantly.

“I’m going to get criticized for this by saying that the old era is over - but it is,” Pearson stated at a small gathering Tuesday. “We have been talking for 40 years about how this is going to get better, and it’s gotten worse.”

Pearson attributes the escalating crisis to a confluence of economic pressures, including the lingering effects of the pandemic, an affordability crisis in housing, U.S. tariffs, and current inflation driven by global conflicts. He believes government intervention is desperately needed but is not forthcoming. “We can do a lot by ourselves,” Pearson acknowledged, praising the food bank’s 4,000 volunteers as ‘the true heroes.’ However, he stressed, “without the government, we can’t defeat hunger. It’s impossible.”

The pressing need is reflected in the food bank’s latest statistics. In 2025, an average of 5,610 households (16,604 individuals) sought help each month. While this represented a slight 0.2 per cent increase in families compared to 2024, the number of individuals rose by 3.8 per cent. More concerningly, preliminary data for January to March 2026 shows a significant 9.4 per cent jump in households seeking help compared to the same period last year, with an average of 5,736 households per month.

Jane Roy, also a co-director, highlighted a worrying trend: “It’s the numbers of people coming to us, and it’s there’s actually less families than there was the year previous where people are coming more often. And so, our monthly numbers keep going up. So, the emotional challenge is that that poverty, hunger is actually deepening.”

In 2025, the food bank distributed 67,322 hampers to 199,251 individual equivalents. Of those accessing services, 22 per cent utilized off-site locations, while 78 per cent came directly to the food bank. In total, 38,043 unique Londoners (14,339 households) received aid in 2025, representing 9 per cent of the city’s population. While 26.5 per cent of clients visited once, 8 per cent came every month, and 60 per cent visited four times a year. Notably, 26 per cent of households accessing the food bank in 2025 were first-time visitors, a figure similar to 2024 but down from 46 per cent in 2023.

In response to the growing demand, the London Food Bank is pursuing innovative solutions. Initiatives include a greenhouse project, a shipping container grow project, and a new food recovery program designed to divert edible food from landfills.

Pearson also suggested that at the local level, the city could play a crucial role in coordinating institutions and agencies addressing food insecurity, potentially forming a dedicated task force. Mayor Josh Morgan expressed openness to this idea. “If there’s more that we can do by working together, if we can coordinate in a better way, if we can be more effective, you know, that’s always a conversation I’m open to,” he said.

The city has a history of supporting food security initiatives, including community gardens and urban agriculture, and annually funds the Business Cares Food Drive. Mayor Morgan recently facilitated the arrival of Lionhearts, a food and products recovery group, to London. The city is also working with Lionhearts to establish a commercial kitchen, where chefs can process donated food into meals for distribution to organizations like the Ark Aid Mission and local homeless shelters.

This year’s Spring Food Drive, which runs until Easter Monday, April 6th, is a hybrid model accepting both direct food donations and monetary contributions. In 2025, the food bank received the equivalent of 82,062 pounds of food, a total comprising 61,022 pounds of donated food and $74,061 in monetary donations, which were converted to an additional 21,040 pounds using a previous valuation. For the 2026 drive, monetary donations will be valued at $3.64 per pound, in line with Food Banks Canada guidelines. Last year, 50 per cent of all food donations were distributed to partner agencies, while the other 50 per cent directly supported London Food Bank clients through its main location and mobile services.

Last year also saw a record 3.6 million pounds of food donated, valued at an estimated $12.7 million, a 1.4 per cent increase from 2024. Fresh food donations constituted 60 per cent of the total, a steady rise from 58 per cent in 2024 and 50 per cent five years ago.