B.C. food banks struggle to keep up as demand across Canada soars

New data shows food bank visits are rising across Canada, and British Columbia is no exception.

A new report from Food Banks Canada released Wednesday found that this year food bank usage rose to its highest level since the survey started in 1989.

The annual HungerCount report is based on surveys sent to food security organizations, tracking their usage in the month of March. This year's report found there were nearly two million visits to Canadian food banks in March 2023 alone, up 32 per cent from the same month last year.

Almost 200,000 of those visits were in British Columbia, a 20 per cent increase from March 2022 and 57 per cent higher than in March 2019.

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Paul Lagace from the Prince Rupert Unemployment Action Centre tells BC Today host Michelle Eliot that more people, including full-time workers, are requiring assistance as the cost of living soars across the province.

Cynthia Boulter, chief operating officer with the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, says more and more people are accessing its services each year, and with greater frequency than in the past as low wages and high rents squeeze people between inflation and other rising costs.

She says almost a third of people who use the food bank are employed. 

"This is no longer a service provided for people in between jobs or who are on some kind of assistance like EI or pensions," said Boulter. 

Boulter believes one way to deal with increased demand is through reclaiming food. 

"We make enough food in Canada for over 50 million people and there are about 40 million of us," she said.

The food bank works with an organization that reclaims food rejected by retailers for cosmetic reasons and donates it in large volumes. 

"There's a lot of food out there for them, and we will find it, and we will get it into their hands," Boulter said. 

Hajira Hussain, executive director of the Richmond Food Bank Society, says donations to the organization have not kept up with demand. 

The society has increased spending by about 51 per cent in order to feed their clients, says Hussain, which means digging deeper into saved funds. 

"Somehow we are managing," Hussain said. "We are just getting by." 

For Hussain, the new data was not surprising. She says the society, which feeds close to 4,000 visitors every month, has seen a 56 per cent increase in visits since last year and a 41 per cent increase in new households registered. 

She says this upward trend is not sustainable long term. 

"I foresee us getting to a breaking point," said Hussain. "I do worry about how long this is going to continue." 

Sheila Malcolmson, B.C.'s minister of social development and poverty reduction, said the latest numbers are cause for concern. 

"The impact with global inflation has been a really hard hit," Malcolmson said Wednesday. 

She says the province has been working directly with Food Banks B.C. and encourages other food banks, such as ones at universities, to connect with local food-serving organizations in their community. 

"Communities, school districts, food banks know their own communities. We're not doing any kind of cookie-cutter approach," said Malcolmson.