Feed Ontario reports visits to food banks have gone up 10% over the past year, the largest jump since 2008.
Almost 600,000 adults and children visited a food bank between April 2020 and March 2021.
Even the working class is turning for help, reporting a 44 per cent increase among those employed prior to the pandemic.
Interim Executive Director Siu Mee Cheng says with the root causes of poverty still not grabbing the government’s full attention, the numbers aren’t surprising.
“As long as these issues are not being dealt with properly, we will continue to see, unfortunately, many Ontarians making their way to food banks.”
Insufficient social assistance programs, precarious employment, and unaffordable housing are cited as the primary drivers.
Cheng notes almost half of all users struggle with housing costs.
“After you’ve accounted for the cost of housing and utilities, there’s really little left over to address their hunger needs and so they have to turn to food banks to address their hunger.”
Cheng adds there are solutions for the province to strongly consider including improving wages so that people can afford a living wage as well as investments in affordable housing.
(With files from Randy Thoms: Fort Frances)
