'Never enough' food for the hungry: new report showcases Ontario food bank use

A new report states the need for food bank use in Ontario continues to rise.

According to Feed Ontario, more than 507,000 adults, children and seniors accessed a food bank in Ontario in 2018, including more than 9,600 people in the Sudbury area. The group released an online interactive map to break down who is using food banks and where.

"In Ontario, someone visits a food bank every 10 seconds," Amanda King, interim executive director of Feed Ontario said.

"Food banks are doing their best to assist those in need in their communities."

King says the data is broken down by provincial riding boundaries.

"So the intention of the map is to help inform policy-makers and elected officials that hunger exists in every riding across the province," she said.

"[We want] to encourage them to develop long term solutions and evidence based solutions that address hunger and poverty in the communities that they serve."

The Sudbury Food Bank provides food for 44 agencies across the city and throughout northeastern Ontario.

Executive director Dan Xilon says the data shows him exactly who the food bank is helping. For the Sudbury riding, it shows more than 2,600 children needed services from a food bank.

"It may be necessary to put some more school breakfast programs coming up this September," he said.

"There's never enough food for everybody who needs it. What fluctuates is how much you can give you and what quality you can give out. And that's always determined by what donations you have in."

Xilon says he always welcomes donations to the food bank, adding his shelves are not full due to demand. He says he hopes the information is shared with the public and elected politicians who can legislate change.

"I think it could give them some real solid and accurate evidence of where assistance should be given," he said.

Xilon says he feels food insecurity would be better addressed if housing was more affordable.

"If you have a home or a place to live … a lot of the security issues [and] health issues we have would disappear," he said.

"To me, it all boils to housing. This might give you a better idea where housing has to be."