Agriculture Minister Bibeau completes the food security fund

The federal government is spending another $ 30 million to help people at risk of hunger.

The Emergency Food Security Fund supplement will provide more money to the charitable sector to help Canadians access needed food services.

Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says the move is a response to increased demand for programs and food banks from Canadians across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government has provided hundreds of millions of dollars to the fund since the start of the pandemic.

The latest federal money will be distributed to various programs and food banks, including the Food Banks of Canada, Second Harvest, Breakfast Club of Canada, and The Salvation Army.

The fund’s beneficiaries will use part of the money to buy surplus potatoes from Prince Edward Island and distribute them to local food organizations in need, a product that Bibeau says is of “excellent quality.”

Fresh PEI potatoes are currently facing a nearly a month export ban to the United States after the discovery of a fungus, called a potato wart, growing on two potato farms.

Kirstin Beardsley, director of network services for Food Banks Canada, said the extra money “couldn’t have come at a better time” due to increased demand for help in recent months.

Beardsley said demand has doubled in a few weeks compared to the same period last year, but the average has been 67 percent higher, a trend he said is “worrisome to say the least.”

Tommy Kulczyk, general manager of the Breakfast Club, says he has seen a “dramatic increase” in demand for breakfast programs in the last year, with more than 600 schools on the waiting list to benefit from his help.

Agriculture Minister @mclaudebibeau announces a complement of emergency funds for food. # Covid19 #CDNPoli #EmergencyFoodSecurityFund

Lori Nikkel, executive director of Second Harvest, said her latest research shows that more than six million Canadians have visited one of the more than 60,000 charities, schools, nonprofits and food centers to get food since inception. of the pandemic.

Nikkel said groceries are becoming increasingly out of reach for families as a result of rising food costs driven by inflation, prompting many Canadians to seek help for the first time.

A drop in wages, coupled with an increase in utility costs, means the Salvation Army is seeing more users for the first time, not just in urban settings but also in rural and smaller communities, Lt. -Colonel. John Murray, spokesman for the organization.

Meredith Hayes, Senior Manager for Community Food Services Canada, expressed her appreciation for the additional support as solutions are sought for the systemic causes that drive people to starvation.

This Canadian Press report was first published on December 22, 2021.

This story was produced with financial assistance from Facebook and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Reference-www.nationalobserver.com

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