More people are relying on food banks, but support is lacking, says organizer

More people than ever are relying on food banks to put food on the table, says one organizer, and the recent increase in demand is far beyond anything she has imagined.

Tina Bishop, general manager of the Community Food Sharing Association, says it's getting harder to meet people's needs — and the provincial government should do more to help.

"The demand on food banks has been increasing since, really, the pandemic. But we continue to see significant increases," Bishop told CBC News on Monday.

"I'm hearing from food banks right across the province that their numbers are up."

Bishop said people are being squeezed by the cost of living. To cover rising expenses, she said, people are dipping into their food budget and that's leaving them short on food.

"We're having a lot of people have to come now to the food banks that never, ever had to before," said Bishop.

But while demand is up, donations are down.

"There were times that we would have people just drop by our office and bring food in probably once a month and things like that," Bishop said. "That's not happening anymore."

Some people are still working from home in the post-pandemic world, meaning businesses aren't hosting as many food drives as they would have, and food banks are losing out on that benefit, she added.

Bishop said the demographic of the people who are now relying on food banks has changed. She said there are more working families who aren't able to make ends meet at the end of the month.

In addition, she said, many are seniors who are on a fixed income.

Change needed

Bishop said there are solutions to tackling food insecurity, and pointed to programs that were introduced as part of the provincial poverty reduction plan — which included expanding the prenatal-early childhood nutrition supplement, child benefit payment increases and more funding to school lunch programs.

One thing she'd like to see is a boost to income support for older people.

"We need to look at the whole income support program. You know, it needs to be revamped," said Bishop.

She added the provincial government needs to review those programs so people aren't just scraping by.

The provincial government is currently reviewing income support and Children, Seniors and Social Development Minister Paul Pike recently announced that as part of the ongoing review, the death benefit had more than doubled so people could apply for up to $5,000.

Christmas ahead

While the Christmas season is months away, Bishop said, her organization is already getting calls from people looking to register for Christmas food hampers.

"It's certainly going to be very difficult," she said.

"We're trying to get the donations in so we can make sure that everybody has a meal on the table for Christmas."

She said they accept non-perishable food items and would happily accept donated foods like turkeys, vegetables, personal care items, as well as household items such as toilet paper, paper towels and cleaners.

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