Food bank usage hitting unprecedented levels in Manitoba as grocery prices soar

Food bank visits have soared to record levels across Canada, and Manitoba is no exception, according to a new report from Food Banks Canada released Wednesday. 

Almost two million visits to food banks were made across the country this past March, which is a 32 per cent increase compared to March 2022 and a 78.5 per cent increase in comparison to March 2019, the report says.

In Manitoba, the CEO of a local food bank said Wednesday, almost 50,000 people used a food bank in March — numbers that have never been seen before. 

"What stands out to me is just the sheer number of people that we're talking about," said Harvest Manitoba CEO Vince Barletta in an interview with CBC Information Radio host Marcy Markusa Wednesday.

"To put it in a Manitoba context, when we talk about almost 50,000 people using a food bank in a single month in Manitoba, that is like filling the Winnipeg Blue Bomber football stadium and the Canada Life [Centre] combined, every single month, that's how many people go to a food bank." 

A breakdown of the province's food bank usage on Food Banks Canada's HungerCount website shows close to 60,000 visits were made in Manitoba. Almost 21,000 of those visits were made by children, according to the website. 

The HungerCount data said there was a 30.4 per cent increase in Food Bank usage in the province. 

Barletta added seniors in the province are also being badly affected. He said about 20 per cent of Harvest Manitoba's regular users are seniors. And with cold weather and snow on the way, he's also worried about the number of people who will have to line up outside to get food.

"Those moms with kids, those seniors, people with disability are gonna be lining up in the cold in the snow all winter long in record numbers across our city, across our province to get help from food banks." 

Tammy Kutzak has been volunteering at Harvest Manitoba for a month and is also a client. 

She said rising food prices have made it hard to buy food that isn't marked down at the grocery store. And when it comes to buying fresh vegetables, Kutzak said she doesn't even bother because the prices are so expensive.  

"The milk, the dairy, anything you want to buy in a grocery store is expensive," she said. "Trying to make that money that I get at the end of the month try to stretch for a whole entire month, it ain't happening." 

Kutzak added she's also now on permanent Employment and Income Assistance for persons with disability, but has only seen a slight increase as food prices continue to soar. 

"Up our benefits … people that are on EIA barely get enough money to pay for their bills and to buy food out of that too, it's just not happening," she said. "Even I know that and I'm on it and I struggle every month from it."

People with jobs also using food banks at high levels

Food bank use also among people with jobs also increased, according to Food Banks Canada. In In 2023, 17 per cent of food bank clients reported employment as their main source of income, compared to 12 per cent in 2019.

Barletta said that number is about 25 per cent in Manitoba. 

"In Manitoba that number is one in four, so again, trending higher then the national average  of around 17 per cent," he said. "One out of every four people that uses a food bank has a job and that's nothing like we've seen in years past."

He says raising wages would help along with increasing payments for seniors. He echoed Kutzak and also added payments should be increased for people on social assistance. 

"We should not aspire to being the kind of community or society where people need to line up in the cold month after month at a food bank in cities across our country," said Barletta.