Wasaga Beach food bank increases reflect provincial trend

The Wasaga Beach Ministerial Food Bank has seen a steady increase in the number of registrants in September and October and organizers expect the trend to continue.

In August, 313 people were registered users at the food bank. The number increased by nine in September, with 322 people registered and in October, the number jumped again to 351 people.

Jessie Somerville, a volunteer with the food bank, said the numbers for October are unofficial at this time as she has not yet completed the accounting process but the numbers for September and August are final. She keeps a careful tally of those using the food bank and provides information to the Ontario Association of Food Banks, of which Wasaga Beach is a member.

The statistics are included in the association's recently released Ontario Hunger Report 2008.

The report states, "between September 2007 and September 2008, food banks in Ontario have reported an average increase of 13 per cent in the number of neighbours turning to them for support. Although many major centres have witnessed significant growth in demand, the greatest increases have been seen in mid-sized communities that have been hit hard by job losses".

In Ontario, 19.7 percent of people who use a food bank are currently employed or have recently lost their job. Children make up 40 per cent of users and people with disabilities make up another 20 per cent.

With the report being released last week, it does not take into account the economic downturn of November and December.

Somerville also conducts interviews with new food bank clients and trains other volunteers to conduct interviews. She said recently, she is talking to people who have been laid off, had hours reduced or lost their jobs entirely.

Somerville said the food bank experiences an increase in clients every fall because many local people work in the construction industry and are laid off in the winter and others work in seasonal businesses, which shut down for the winter.

In January 2008, 16 new people registered to receive food. Clients in Wasaga Beach are entitled to visit the food bank one per month to collect three days worth of food for each person in the family.

"The biggest problem is having enough weeks to qualify for EI (Employment Insurance) to start," said Somerville. "But there is also a time lapse between when they do get laid off and when EI kicks in. It's a long period of time. We have to do something about that and I think you'll find that with most food banks, it's the biggest problem, this time lapse."

She said a larger portion of local food bank clients receive benefits through Ontario Disability Pension or Ontario Works. Somerville said people receiving Ontario Works get $500 per month and even with the cheapest accommodation in Wasaga Beach - often a motel - 75 per cent of their monthly earning is allocated to rent.

"If you go on a delivery run the housing is third world country and I am not kidding. It is awful," she said. "And a lot of these cottages that are converted into rentals have no basement and therefore they are heated using hydro. And some of the bills are like $400-$500 per month during the wintertime. They are not insulated, the windows are substandard. So it's a vicious circle that these people are in and what they really need is an advocate. They don't have anybody. They don't want to rock the boat."

Somerville said 75-80 per cent of the people using the food bank do not have jobs to lose in a weakening economy and gas prices are not an issue because they do not own vehicles.

But the economy is affecting other donations, specifically as food prices rise, some grocery store donations have been reduced.

As a result, the Wasaga Beach Ministerial Food Bank has had to buy more food than usual and is relying more on individual donations of food and money.

Did you know?

•314,258 Ontarians were served by food banks in March 2008.

•The price of many basic household items from groceries to gas, increased tremendously in the past year. The price of key food items including pasta (48.1 per cent), bread (16 per cent), baby food (11.5 per cent), milk (8 per cent) and chicken (7.8 per cent) have all increased at greater than twice the rate of inflation in the past twelve months. The cumulative impact of price increases is tremendous. In the past year, an average single person would have seen their household bills increase by $433, and a family of three would have seen their bills go up by more than $800. We believe that the rising price of food and energy coupled with changing economic conditions have contributed to the short-term trend of increases.

•One in five food banks does not have enough food to meet the needs of those they serve. We have also surpassed the threshold by which a community can provide enough food donations to support their local food bank. One quarter of food banks in Ontario receives more than a third of their food from outside their community. Many food banks must also purchase a significant amount of food every year. Twenty one per cent of food banks in Ontario must purchase over 40 per cent of their food supply in order to provide for hungry neighbours in their community.

-Ontario Association of Food Banks' Ontario Hunger Report, December 2008

The Wasaga Sun
Trina Berlo
Wednesday, December 10, 2008