Food bank demand continues climb in northeastern Ontario after record years

At the St. Vincent Place food bank in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., demand was up 30 per cent in January compared to the same period last year.

"It's looking like we're going to have another tough year," said Sara McCleary, St. Vincent Place's marketing manager.

McCleary said demand has risen steadily since the COVID-19 pandemic due to the increased cost of living.

"We have seen a lot more people coming to us with jobs that are just not able to make ends meet." 

In its annual Hungry for Change report, the organization Second Harvest estimated non-profit organizations that provide food charity, including food banks, can expect an 18 per cent increase in demand in 2024 compared to the previous year.

At St. Vincent Place — which also runs a transitional home, soup kitchen and school lunch program in addition to its food bank — demand increased by 45 per cent in 2021, another 10 per cent in 2022 and 31 per cent in 2023.

"Fortunately, we've been really lucky that the community has really stepped up in terms of donations," McCleary said.

But if more people struggle to meet their basic needs, she said, there's concern the food bank could also struggle to keep up.

Dan Xilon, executive director of the Sudbury Food Bank, said if demand rises by 18 per cent this year, it would create "quite a crisis in the community."

Xilon said many people are turnning to the food bank for the first time.

"We are consistently getting requests for service from individuals and we are hitting numbers that were never envisioned when we first started," he said.

A 'Band-Aid solution'

Xilon said food banks were never meant to solve poverty and food insecurity and have always been a "Band-Aid solution" for providing temporary relief to people going through a difficult time.

He said long-term solutions to those problems require societal changes and government policies.

"The first thing that has to happen of course is affordable housing," Xilon said.

"After that, you've got to deal with a basic wage supplement for everybody."

Finally, he said, government "clawbacks" need to be reduced to help people who are working get ahead.

If the Sudbury Food Bank sees a significant increase in demand this year, Xilon said, it would find a way to get by and help those in need.

"All I can say about food banks is we will always do 100 per cent the best we can with what we've got."