HungerCount 2011 – Ontario Provincial Report
HungerCount 2011 – Ontario Provincial Report
Prepared by the Ontario Association of Food Banks, Member of Food Banks Canada
Food Bank Use By the Numbers, March 2011
- 395,106 individuals accessed Ontario food banks
- 37.5% were children under 18
- 63% of households receiving food were rental market tenants
- 25% lived in social housing
- 10.5% were gainfully employed
- 44.5% depended on social assistance
- 27.5% received disability-related income supports
- 10% of those assisted in March were turning to food banks for the first time
- 15% of food banks ran out of food during the survey period
What does food insecurity mean to nearly 3% of Ontario’s population? In simple terms, it
means not having the means to properly feed themselves and their families, causing them to
turn to food banks for some type of emergency food relief. This assistance can range from a
food hamper designed to sustain a person for three days to a community drop-in program that
serves hot meals to those in need.
According to the World Health Organization, food security was defined during the 1996 World
Food Summit as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious
food to maintain a healthy and active life.” Commonly, the concept of food security is defined
as including both physical and economic access to food that meets people's dietary needs as
well as their food preferences.1
Sadly, in 2011 this is still far from reality for the 395,106 Ontarians who access food banks and
their affiliated programs across the province every month. This number can further be broken
down into 246,887 adults and 148,219 children under the age of 18 who must swallow their
pride and turn to food banks for help. And although overall food bank usage in Ontario
decreased ever so slightly by 1.7% over last year, it continues to remain unacceptably high. The
percentage of children accessing food bank programs, for example, has remained consistent at
more than 37% since 2001.
As the 2008 recession pushed hunger in Ontario to record levels, food banks have undertaken a
rapid expansion of capacity over the past two years to deliver food to the hungry. Food banks
across Ontario are doing their very best to meet the seemingly unrelenting demand in
communities both large and small, however 50% reported that they had to purchase more food
than usual, and 41% had no choice but to cut back on their hamper sizes. The top five items
reported by food banks as most lacking are fresh and frozen vegetables, fresh and frozen meat,
milk, canned fruit and breakfast cereals, followed by personal care products which are also
placed in high demand.
Taking into account reports from 1,470 food banks and other food programs across the
province, a whopping 10% of households they served were helped for the very first time by a
food bank. This translates into 15,817 households that needed to turn to food banks in order to
stretch their meagre disposable incomes and put food on their tables. No less than 784,460
prepared meals were served by Ontario meal programs, and 150,830 snacks were made
available through various snack programs. We are continuing to see a trend of single people
leading the pack, followed in descending order by single parent families, two parent families,
and couples without children.
While food banks are an essential source of support for many low-income Ontarians, we know
that over 70% of users do not receive the minimum recommended daily intake of fruits and
vegetables. Through the Ontario Association of Food Banks’ ongoing agricultural initiatives,
Community Harvest Ontario and Buy Local Share Local, we are able to provide a greater volume
of fresh produce to Ontarians in need.
It is difficult to articulate the challenges one faces when one is struggling to find a nourishing
meal. Therefore it is important to remember that people seeking food assistance are often also
seeking access to various other social services. We recognize that our food banks do so much
more than provide emergency food relief. But we need the new Ontario government to address
the root causes of hunger, and implement long-term sustainable solutions that will end hunger
in our province and make food banks obsolete.
To this end, the OAFB will continue to take advantage of every opportunity to be the voice of
the food bank community in Ontario, and advocate three key recommendations for action by
the provincial government. These are to implement a Food Bank Donation Tax Credit for
Farmers to benefit farmers who donate excess food to local food banks; to introduce a Housing
Benefit for Low-Income Tenants so they won’t have to choose between paying rent and buying
food; and to work with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) to
encourage food producers and processors to donate a fixed percentage of their annual product
to food banks across the province.
- Debra Hubner, Ontario Association of Food Banks
NOTES
1 World Health Organization (2011). Food security. http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en/ .