The number of Ontarians lining up at food banks across the province rose dramatically last year, by an average of 13 per cent, according to figures released by the Ontario Association of Food Banks on Tuesday.

Ninety per cent of all food banks reported an increase in the number of people turning to them as a last resort between September 2007 and September 2008, according to the OAFB's Ontario Hunger Report.

In places hit hard by job losses, especially in the manufacturing sector, the figures are higher still. Cities such as Thunder Bay, St. Catharines and St. Thomas have all seen the number of people being served by local food banks jump by more than 20 per cent.

Meanwhile, 22 per cent of food banks in Ontario said they didn't have the enough food to meet the growing demand.

The greatest spikes in usage were experienced in the latter six months of the study period. The unprecedented hikes are thanks to widespread increases in the cost of living, especially food prices, and a downward spiraling economy, said OAFB Executive Director Adam Spence.

Two-thirds of all food items tracked by Statistics Canada saw an average rate of inflation of 5.6 per cent since the fall of 2007.

Staple grocery items including pasta, baby food, milk and chicken have all seen price hikes of twice the general rate of inflation. That's amounted to a more than $200 increase in a single person's annual grocery bill and more than $400 for the average family of three.

"That is going to take food off the table for a lot of families," Spence told ctvtoronto.ca on Tuesday.

"People who were living just on the edge to make ends meet, have been pushed over that edge," he said.

Another reason for the troubling figures is the record low number of people receiving Employment Insurance benefits in Ontario, Spence said.

"In the last recession we had coverage for about 60 to 70 per cent of people, and today it's only about 30 per cent."

That means people who wouldn't normally look for assistance are being forced to turn to food banks, Spence said.

Currently, well over 100,000, or 37.6 per cent, of monthly food bank users are children.

"Kids are going to school without adequate nutrition," Spence said. "And that means costs down the road."

Children in Toronto may be worst off, suggests another report released on Tuesday. The Children's Aid Society of Toronto found the Greater Toronto Area is now the child poverty capital of Ontario.

Half of the province's children living in poverty reside in the GTA, up from 44 per cent in 1997, according to the report.

The OAFB is urging community members to continue providing local food banks with cash and food donations.

"They are the lifeblood of our programs," Spence said.

But food banks alone cannot withstand the pressures of recession, Spence said, adding anti-poverty and job training programs are essential.

Spence said his association is calling for more aggressive action on the part of the federal and provincial governments to help reverse the trends.

If current rates continue, 350,000 Ontarians will be turning to food banks every month in 2009 -- a record high for usage in the province, according to the report.