Canada’s food banks see spike in demand; needs higher in Ottawa

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OTTAWA, Ont. – The annual report by Food Banks Canada, shows a 31 per cent jump in use since the end of the recession in 2009.   

The “Hunger Count 2012” report posts a 2.4 per cent jump in use from last year.    

“The need is higher in Ottawa”, said Patty Murphy of the Ottawa Food Bank.  “It’s five per cent so if we look at our numbers for March 2012, we were serving 49,000 people.”   

Murphy said the local numbers mirror those in the national report. “We are seeing as well, that about 38 per cent of our numbers, of all the programs we support are children.” That could be with their parents or through a school breakfast program.

Among the other staggering statistics, 93,000 Canadians are going to the food bank for the first time and more than one in five households needing the food bank is on disability or old age pension.       

The numbers don’t surprise Murphy. “When there’s low income, it’s difficult to make ends meet.”

Food Banks Canada recommends the provincial and federal government address the issue by investing in affordable housing, create a Northern Food Security Innovation Fund to help with poverty in the territories, and boost the Guaranteed Income Supplement to ensure seniors never go hungry.  

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