B.C. food banks face record demand, plummeting donations

Food banks across British Columbia are facing an unprecedented crisis: record-high demand and rock-bottom donations. For the first time ever, Food Banks B.C. reports that its members served over 100,000 users in a single month. 

Surrey Food Bank's Kim Savage revealed the staggering numbers to Global News: “Last month alone, we had 482 new clients, which represents about 1,500 people.” Think about it — each new face is another family struggling to put food on the table.

Donations are drying up fast. New data from the Greater Vancouver Food Bank paints a grim picture: a 30% surge in adult clients, a 24% jump in families, and a 16% increase in seniors needing help. 

The reasons are crystal clear. Unaffordable food, skyrocketing housing costs, and wages that simply aren’t cutting it. A growing number of Canadians will access their local food bank this fall — more so than reported during the pandemic.

Canadians took to the streets to voice their opposition to the Liberal-NDP ruling regime, overseeing multiple financial pressures from housing, inflation, and cost of living.

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Almost a quarter of Canadians are under such incredible financial duress that they rely on food banks to eat, according to Statistics Canada.

“Findings from the current analysis show certain groups are experiencing greater financial strain due to rising prices including those with lower incomes, younger adults, households with children and persons with disability,” wrote analysts.

Twenty three percent of Canadians surveyed said they were “likely to obtain food or meals from community organizations in the next six months.” The rate in 2021 was 20%.

Reliance on food banks was even higher among low-income households, reported Blacklock’s Reporter. Forty-two percent of low-income Canadians were likely to use a food bank this fall. Another study found that an ever-growing number of Canadians are open to eating food past its best-before date.

“When asked about financial related stress, more than one third of Canadians, 35 percent, described most days as ‘quite a bit’ or ‘extremely stressful’ due to financial issues,” wrote StatsCan.

The average family spends more on taxes (43.0%) than it does on basic necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing combined (35.6%), according to a recent Fraser Institute report. There has also been a steady increase in taxation in recent years, with noticeable jumps in 2022 and 2023.

Families with young children were most stressed, said the report. “Over half of households with children, 55 percent, reported rising prices were greatly affecting their ability to meet day to day expenses,” wrote analysts.

According to the national Food Price Report, groceries on average will cost Canadian families $16,297 this year. Grocery costs continue to climb, from $16,288.41 last year and $15,232.81 in 2022.