Island organization says food bank report fails to reflect full scope of demand

From rising living costs to gaps in service delivery, food security leaders on Vancouver Island say addressing hunger will require a multifaceted approach from all levels of government.

Food security organizations on Vancouver Island say bleak new statistics about the demand for food banks fail to reflect an even harsher reality.

Food Banks Canada released its annual HungerCount report Wednesday, which revealed food bank visits have climbed to 2.35 million per month — nearly 9 per cent higher than last year.

Those statistics don’t capture the growing need for organizations like Flourish School Food Society, which offers hot lunch and grocery distribution programs to thousands of students in Greater Victoria.

“There has been a real increase in the provision of food at schools in the last three years. And even with that, we’re seeing an increase in the need for food at food banks,” said Matthew Kemshaw, executive director for Flourish.

“It’s really concerning to see that there is still this need at food banks, even though the government has been increasing support for food in other places.”

Kemshaw said a growing number of dual-income families are leaning on food programs.

“It’s a really big problem when people who have gainful employment are still unable to afford basic necessities like food,” he said.

Food Banks Canada said roughly 9 per cent of people who access food banks are seniors. At the Mustard Seed food bank in Victoria, that number is just under 20 per cent.

The Mustard Seed’s executive director said solutions go well beyond non-profits.

“They’re living wage conversations. They’re rental housing conversations,” Treska Watson said. “There are a lot of solutions, but it’s going to require a really multifaceted approach from all levels of government.”

In Nanaimo, the executive director at Loaves and Fishes said there are solutions to be found in streamlining services.

“I don’t think the solution is to just always throw more money at the problem,” Peter Sinclair said. “We need to look at the money that we already have in the system.”

Sinclair said that means reducing redundancies, such as having multiple organizations spending money on fuel to pick up food.

“That’s food that we could pick up, that we could supply to them,” he said. “Then they can take that money that they are using to go collect food and they can put it into the programs that they’re running.”