Record high inflation is fueling an increase in the use of food banks in Toronto, with many of them running out of their daily supplies.
“Our shelves are bare again,” said Julie LeJeune, the executive director of the Fort York Food Bank, speaking to the Star Tuesday, after being open for three hours. “After serving 95 people today, I have one can of beans left and no pasta sauce.”
Toronto’s high housing costs and the ending of pandemic support programs had already led to an increase in the number of families relying on food banks to survive, a situation made worse by the recent run-up in prices for gas and food.
Inflation in Canada is at its highest levels since 1991, reaching 6.7 per cent in March. The war in Ukraine and supply chain issues have caused grocery prices to increase by 8.7 per cent from March 2021 to March of this year, according to Statistics Canada.
Inflation has meant there’s less money for people to buy groceries that have become more expensive, with many turning to food banks.
In March 2019, there were 60,000 client visits to food banks across Canada. In March of this year, that number increased to 160,000, said Neil Hetherington CEO of Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank. That month saw 5,700 people use food banks for the first time in Toronto alone.
“The new faces that are coming to food banks are people who have jobs, they are working hard,” he said, adding that half of the people using food banks have post-secondary education.
Recent inflation has exacerbated the affordability problems, particularly as pandemic support programs ended, he said.
“We got here because we made dramatic cuts to income support … and none of those have kept pace with inflation,” he said.
“From an affordability perspective, it’s difficult to find a place to live and an income that can support you and your family.”
The Daily Bread Food Bank is sending 80,000 pounds of food to local food banks every day — three times higher than pre-pandemic, said Hetherington.
“We have had to proactively increase the amount of food just so they don’t run into shortages,” he added.
LeJeune said her food bank temporarily ran out of supplies Saturday, but the community organized to bring in more.
At the Lighthouse Community Center on Bathurst Street, the food bank has also started running out of daily supplies earlier than usual, said Tabatha Eastman, the centre’s neighborhood programs director.
Last summer, it was able to stay open from noon to 3 pm without running out of food. Since the start of the year, daily supplies are gone by 1:30 pm, said Eastman.
People needing to use food banks multiple days a week shows that social support and funding interventions are needed, said Hetherington.
“We need to have an honest conversation about how we want to treat the most vulnerable,” he said.
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