![]() An increase in precarious work has meant that a job is no longer the way out of poverty: we have seen growing numbers of workers who need to rely on a food bank because they aren’t earning enough to afford today’s cost of living. Cuts to programs like the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) have meant far too many of our neighbours with a disability are living on what is becoming known as the “ODSP Diet” – a potato a day or using instant coffee as an appetite suppressant. Make no mistake: we have been moving in this direction for a long time. However, building up food bank capacity while failing to address why people need to visit them in the first place runs the risk of further institutionalizing a two-tiered food system, between those who can afford to shop in grocery stores, and those who must turn to charitable services to put food on the table. Add a quadrupling of demand on top of all that? At first, it seems like the obvious solution is to give (a lot) more money to food banks. With food bank use increasing every year since 2018, many organizations are already running at capacity. The rising cost of food means those donations don’t stretch as far when it comes to food purchasing. Food banks rely heavily on the generosity of individuals, and as more of our neighbours feel the pressure of inflation, there’s less to spare for donations. But there are limits to every system, and food banks are, once again, facing a perfect storm of adverse conditions. At Feed Ontario, we are always working to build the resiliency of our network of food banks to respond to new challenges. Food banks have done their best to serve their communities for decades, providing emergency food support through recessions and austerity, adapting through pandemics and natural disasters. A recent op-ed discussing rising food bank visits asks, “at what point does the system collapse?” This is a question that should weigh heavily on Ontario’s newly elected MPPs, as well as all politicians at the federal and municipal level. Either way you look at it, it would be an unprecedented disaster. Even the conservative estimate of only the “very likely” respondents would be a staggering 72% increase. If Statistics Canada’s survey proves to be accurate, and all those people need to use a food bank, that would quadruple food bank demand in six months. ![]() At the time, that was huge: it was a 10% increase from the year prior, and the largest single-year increase since the 2008 recession, when demand for food banks skyrocketed by 18%. So, when a recent survey by Statistics Canada shows that one in five Canadians are somewhat or very likely to use a food bank in the next six months, we must ask: is our country in an emergency? During the first year of the pandemic, just under 600,000 people used a food bank in Ontario – about one in 25 Ontarians. OPINION: Are we headed for a two-tiered food system?Īshely Quan Food banks are meant to be places people turn to in an emergency. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.
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