Food insecurity needs to be addressed by government, not food banks, researcher says

Every month, food banks in British Columbia serve more than 125,000 meals to people in need — a number that is growing, according to Food Banks Canada, raising concerns for one researcher over the growing reliance on food banks in the province.

The organization, which supports food and meal providers across the country, released a report in October that found the demand for food banks in the province increased by 25 per cent between 2021 and 2022, compared to the national average of 15 per cent.

The increase is attributed to a number of factors, including the rising cost of living in the province and the number of people displaced by climate disasters such as floods and forest fires.

The findings reflect how food banks — meant to be a temporary solution to food insecurity more than 40 years ago — are more critical than ever, but Tammara Soma, an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University who researches food system planning, says that needs to change.

Archival reporting suggests the first formal food banks in B.C. opened in 1982 and fed about 250 people per week.

The fact that number has grown so much is concerning to Soma.

"It's unfair to put all the needs of people in Canada and the growing issue around hunger and put it squarely on the lack of food banks and on food banks to solve," she said.

"Food banks rely on volunteers, donations and kindness. They don't have the capacity to solve that. We have five million Canadians who are food-insecure, many of whom are children."

Soaring food prices are also putting a strain on both the ability of individuals to get food and food banks to provide it.

Daniel Huang-Taylor, executive director of Food Banks B.C., told CBC donations to food banks have been down even as the need grows.

'We're serving more families than ever'

At Loaves and Fish, a food bank in Nanaimo that distributes across Vancouver Island, demand is at its highest, according to  Alex Counsell, the director of operations.

"[We're] serving more families than ever."

Currently, Loaves and Fishes serves an average 3,044 individuals a month out of Nanaimo and Port Hardy, but the food bank estimates that number could be as high as 15,000 when accounting for all the organizations it supplies across Vancouver Island.

According to Abby Sauchuk, director of development at Loaves and Fishes, that represents a 35 per cent increase from the year before.  She estimates that the food bank is supplying upwards of $600,00 worth of food free of charge every month across the Island to keep up with demand.

Other food banks are seeing similar increases: the Greater Vancouver Food Bank says it has seen an almost 30 per cent increase in clients over the last year.

The Muslim Food Bank in Surrey has seen an increase of 500 to 1,000 visits monthly.

In Chilliwack, Don Armstrong, the manager of food service programming at the Salvation Army, said the number of people accessing food services has tripled over the past year.

A need for permanent solutions

In May, the provincial government announced $2.85 million in funding to help Food Banks B.C. and other organizations better support those in need, with additional funding for research on food insecurity challenges in remote, rural and Indigenous communities.

"We would all like to reach a place where food banks are no longer needed, but in the meantime, we appreciate the valuable role that food banks play helping people in need," Nicola Simons, B.C.'s minister of social development and poverty reduction, said in a written statement.

The minister also cited recently introduced cost of living credits and an enhanced B.C. family benefit package coming in 2023 as measures they have taken to help alleviate the strain of inflation.

But Soma says she believes the solution is not more donations to food banks but for senior levels of government to step in to manage food insecurity.

Soma pointed to plans for a national school food program announced on Nov. 1 as something she is excited about as a long-term solution, pointing out that one in five Canadians who experience food insecurity is a child.

The program, which is currently in the consultation stage, will be aimed at providing meals to kids at school, according to  Karina Gould, the federal minister of families, children and social development.

"Canada should guarantee that all Canadians have access to food," said Soma.