Harvest Manitoba gets $3M grant from province amid high demand, increased food prices

The province is spending $3 million on a grant to Harvest Manitoba to alleviate food insecurity, according to a Monday news release.

More Manitobans are turning to food banks for help amid rising food costs, leading to higher demand on those providers, Families Minister Rochelle Squires said in the release.

Harvest Manitoba is expected to use the grant for food purchasing, transportation and other costs in urban and rural food banks across the province, according to the release.

Vince Barletta, Harvest Manitoba president and chief executive officer, said the province's support will help his organization ensure it has the resources required to meet the "unprecedented demand" for food banks.

The $3-million grant follows the province's September announcement of $1.75 million in spending to create the Food Security Fund. That fund went to 29 non-profit community organizations who applied for grants to address food insecurity, according to the release.

Between the global pandemic, summer floods, the war in Ukraine and increasing costs and record inflation, Manitobans have been through a lot, Premier Heather Stefanson said in the release.