The 2016 HungerCount report, published by Food Banks Canada shows that food bank use in BC is at a record high. In March, 2016, 103,400 people living in British Columbia received assistance from a local food bank when the annual hunger count took place. Food bank use has increased 3.4 percent since 2015 and has increased three years in a row in B.C. Of the food bank users, 32 percent were children. In a story published on www.cbc.ca, Shawn Pegg, the director of policy and research at Food Banks Canada and the author of the report, said the increase in B.C. is tied to the high cost of living and the disappearance of high paying jobs. “We see people working two or three part-time jobs and still being unable to make ends meet. We also see people transitioning back and forth between low paid work and social assistance,” he said. United Way and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Working Poverty Report revealed that there are over 100,000 people living across the Lower Mainland who are working but not earning enough to escape poverty. Pegg said that food bank users range from “households who worry about not being able to afford enough food, to households who eat less and lower quality foods to save money, and households who skip meals altogether to survive.” He said people experiencing what he calls “food insecurity” often turn to a food bank as a last resort. “We find people often ask friends and family for help. They sell their possessions to be able to buy food. They move into lower quality housing and take on credit card debt before choosing to go to a food bank,” he said. According to the annual hunger count report, more than 863,000 Canadians accessed a food bank in the past year, up 28 per cent since before the 2008 recession. Single people living alone have grown as a proportion of households helped. A large number of households accessing food banks are on some form of government assistance, including pension, disability-related income supports, and welfare. The HungerCount report also showed that 13 percent of people who used food banks in the past year across Canada were immigrants or refugees. The Surrey Food Bank had a 17 per cent increase in the last year due in large part to Syrian refugees, according to a story published in The Globe and Mail. Over 1,500 government assisted refugees arrived in BC this year from Syria. More than 50 percent settled in Surrey. United Way British Columbia helps Stop the Growl by funding 21 food initiatives in the Lower Mainland. United Way gives people the skills and knowledge they need to access and prepare nutritious food for their families through community kitchens, community gardens and food education. Last year, 1.5 million meals or snacks were served to kids, families and seniors through United Way community service providers. Healthy families and kids pay it forward helping to make our communities stronger. United Way helps people move from poverty to possibility. Learn more.
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