Food Banks Call Out In Hard Economic Times...Like Now

Open letter from
Katharine Schmidt, Executive Director, Canadian Association of Food Banks:

One month ago, a CBC/Environics poll found that37% of Canadians were worried about being able to make ends meet. Thedisturbing developments of the past week in the world's financial markets haveshown that they had good reason to worry.

The Canadian Association of Food Banks is very concerned that the currenteconomic crisis could lead to an increase in hunger and food bank use inCanada. As a national network of charitable food programs, we have reason tobe concerned during a weak economy. Food banks face an increase of people inneed of assistance, combined with a decline in donations of food and funds asindividual and corporate donors are forced to tighten their discretionarybudgets.

We are particularly concerned about two groups in particular: seniors,and working people with a precarious hold on the labour market. Seniors, whomake up a small but significant proportion of people assisted by food banks,may be facing drastic reductions in the value of their nest eggs. Workingpeople face job losses as businesses struggle with slackening demand, and withfinding the credit necessary to maintain their operations.

More than 720,000 people in Canada are assisted by food banks everymonth, and 2.7 million live in households where hunger is a daily anddistressing reality. The past 10 years have seen unprecedented economic healthin Canada overall, with GDP rising and unemployment declining. Nevertheless,food bank use was 8.4% higher in 2007 than it was in 1997.

As it is, downturns in Canada's manufacturing and forestry sectors havekept food banks busy, particularly in hard-hit areas like Windsor, ThunderBay, northern Quebec and western Alberta. According to recently-releasedStatistics Canada data, 247,000 manufacturing jobs were lost between 2004 and2007. In the past year alone, employment in the forestry sector has plummetedby 15%. And hunger is not limited to households in regions that have seeneconomic downturns. Though we hear about the thriving energy and resourcedevelopment sectors in our western provinces, many in the west are being leftbehind. Economic growth has brought with it rising costs of housing, gas,heating oil and food. It is too often the case that those who have moved westto find prosperity quickly discover that their most pressing need is to find afood bank.

After several years of economic growth, it is now crystal clear that arising tide does not lift all boats. On a daily basis, Canadians struggle withhunger. This problem has been plaguing our country for almost three decades.To properly address it, we need federal party leaders to provide visionaryleadership, focused into a realistic, long-term, actionable national povertyreduction strategy. Though it touches many, hunger is too often a problem thatgoes unvoiced. Our leaders must face up to the problem and join the search forsolutions.


(About the Canadian Association of Food Banks: CAFB is a national charitableorganization representing the food bank community across Canada. Over 720,000people access food banks each month - 39% are children. CAFB conductsresearch, engages in public education and advocates for public policy changeto eliminate the causes of hunger in Canada. In 2007, the CAFB acquired andshared 8 million pounds of food industry donations through its National FoodSharing System for hungry Canadians.)

Community meals means communion with commonality -- and that's the best sauce for hunger

We all know where any good party ends up: in the kitchen.

The kitchen is a hub -- it's the source of sustenance; a source of warmth and an easy place to find good icebreakers (let's face it, when pushed for conversation, nothing breaks the ice better than a discussion of food and wine).

So, it is with this in mind that I offer you two choices for community kitchen dinners this Friday night.

Community dinners (and subsequently community kitchens) are popping up all across Canada, yet, they are not a new notion. In fact, they are a return to values that were once prevalent in community-oriented cultures -- cultures that, in North America, have been usurped by the cult-of-the-individual. So, in a world of marketing and unauthentic experiences, community dinners are providing urban and rural dwellers with an opportunity to break bread with their extended community.

In Toronto, this Friday, there are two community dinners. The first is the long-standing tradition of Dufferin Grove Park. This community dinner attracts a wide variety of people from all across the neighbourhood (and beyond); as one community member stated, the dinner has helped to rejuvenate the community. For as little as $6 a plate ($5 if you bring your own plate) a person can look forward to a meal filled with locally produced food (purchased from the Farmer's Market held in the same park year round, every Thursday) and prepared onsite in the wood ovens. The second option is across town in Corktown. Again, the neighbours gather and for $5 a person can expect a home-cooked meal and chit-chat with people from every socio-economic and political background (including apolitical!).

Given our anonymous urban lives, these community dinners offer us all a chance to reach out and connect with the very people that deliver our papers, cut our lawns, teach our children and invest our money. They are a meeting point -- as food always is -- that does not rely on labels and schemas, but rather on nurturing and communion. And we could all use a little more communion.

Bring your plate (sustainability matters) and see you there!