Food banks bracing for increase in demand in 2024, new report finds
Food banks and charities across Canada are bracing for an increase in demand in 2024, with more than one-third already reporting they have to turn people away.
According to the Second Harvest’s annual “Hungry for Change” study, demand across the country is expected to increase by 18 per cent. That translates to more than 1 million Canadians accessing food charity programs for the first time in 2024, the report stated.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
“People in Canada can’t keep up with rising food costs,” said Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest. “More people are being pushed towards food charity, which for most people comes as a last resort. Food charities already struggle to meet the current demand, with many of them being forced to turn people away and add their names to growing waitlists for support. Our systems are buckling under the pressure.”
In Toronto, demand is expected to increase even more, as high as 30 per cent.
For many clients, it’s a difficult choice of paying for bills or groceries.
“It’s hard, I feel pressure,” said Christian Herrera, who lined up at the Fort York Food Bank for the first time after recently being laid-off from his construction job. “After I pay rent I have no money.”
Food banks and non-profits have been experiencing unprecedented demand while facing resource challenges, forcing many organizations to turn clients away or put them on waitlists.
Second Harvest surveyed more than 1,400 non-profit food programs and found that 36 per cent have a waitlist. In Toronto, that number is even higher at 50 per cent.
“We're absolutely seeing an increase and it has not stopped. So we've had to, because of limited resources, we had to limit our catchment areas, so that in turn makes people go other places,” said Aretha Khaloo, the director of Operations at Haven on the Queensway.
The small Etobicoke food bank serves more than one thousand clients every week, with between 40 to 60 people put on a waitlist.
“We have limited space, so we have food that comes in on Tuesday and we give it out right away. On top of that food, we would love to give out as much fresh food, as much fresh water and produce and all of that. However, we don't have that coming in,” said Khaloo.
Haven has already seen its demand increase by 38 percent from last year, and concern is mounting about that demand continuing to rise.
“We're going to have to do a lot of praying to be able to meet the demand - we will do our best,” said Khaloo. “At this point, where we're looking for help, we're looking for financial support, we're looking for community support and government support.”
Second Harvest is calling on the federal and provincial governments to bring back the Surplus Food Rescue Program, expanding the eligibility for the GST Grocery Rebate, increasing minimum wages and social assistance rates and lowering taxes for the lowest income households.
“Food charity is not a sustainable solution to food insecurity, it’s a band-aid for a gaping wound,” said Nikkel. “Starting now, we need to treat the cause of food insecurity, not just the symptoms. Solutions that address poverty and provide quick relief are sorely needed.”
At the municipal level, Second Harvest is advocating for a mandated surplus edible food redistribution from food businesses, distributors, street festivals and events and policy related to the measurement and reporting of food waste by businesses.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
It's 30 years since apartheid ended. South Africa's celebrations are set against growing discontent
South Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital Saturday that included a 21-gun salute and the waving of the nation's multicolored flag.
Britney Spears settles long-running legal dispute with estranged father, finally bringing ultimate end to conservatorship
Britney Spears has reached a settlement with her estranged father more than two years after the court-ordered termination of a conservatorship that had given him control of her life, their attorneys said.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
Haida elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
From pop to politics, what to know as Sweden prepares for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest
Taking place in May in Malmo, Sweden, the 68th annual competition will see acts from 37 countries vie for the continent’s pop crown in a feelgood extravaganza that strives — not always successfully – to banish international strife and division. And you don’t have to be in Europe to watch, or to help pick the winner.