Toronto company partners with celebrity chef to raise funds for food banks

Celebrity chef Vikram Vij is partnering with a Toronto company to help raise funds for cash-strapped food banks.

Vij partnered with Cooks Who Feed to create red cotton aprons with the words "eat with your hands" written on them.

"I've always been a fan of giving back to the community," said Vij, whose aprons will be sold with proceeds from each apron being used to provide 100 meals to those in need.

The aprons are handmade by marginalized women in India in an effort to support them financially, according to Seema Sanghavi, CEO of Cooks Who Feed.

Vij, who is Indian, says that was part of the appeal for him to join the cause.

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"I just love the fact that we are able to give back to those families and those women who need the most amount of emotional and financial health," Vij said. "You're giving them hope, you're giving them a way of life."

He says the wording on the aprons is also reflective of his culture and upbringing.

"I love eating food with my hands," he said. "I've always believed that Indian food especially should be eaten with your hands, and so we created this."

Vij said he hopes supporters will listen to the words written on the apron, and contribute to the fight to end food insecurity in Canada.

"It never used to be like this," said Neil Hetherington, CEO of the Daily Bread Food Bank.

At his food bank, he says, they're serving more than 330,000 people a month compared to pre-pandemic when they served 60,000.

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The proceeds from Vij's apron sales will go to Second Harvest, a charity that distributes food to various food banks across the country. 

"We're seeing wait lists like we've never seen before," said Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest.

The group has had to stop accepting applications while they work to obtain more food to supply, Nikkel said.

Hetherington says he blames systemic issues such as unaffordable housing, high cost of living and fixed incomes such as disability support for increasing numbers of people relying on food banks. He says policy changes are needed to bring down food insecurity.